Weird News Thread ....

[the fugative]

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd

Published January 29, 2004

National Geographic TV reported in January on "designer breeding" of dogs, with emphasis on the not yet officially recognized species of Labradoodle. Breeding decisions must be carefully made because, experts say, some interspecies pairings create unhealthy offspring. For example, mating a pug with a Pekingese would probably create a dog whose eyes would fairly easily dislodge from their sockets, and a Newfoundland-Saint Bernard match-up would produce a dog particularly vulnerable to hip dysplasia. On the other hand, Yorkipoos and schnoodles appear to be safe, and the Labradoodle is a low-allergy, lightly shedding version of the Labrador retriever.

• People who accidentally shot themselves recently: Anthony McCoy, 20, Edwardsville, Pa. (while he was playing with a gun, said police, it fired, nicking his scrotum, July). Maceo Price, 32, a bodyguard for singer R. Kelly, Marietta, Ga. (accidentally shot himself in the leg while removing his gun at a nightclub, September). Randy Robinson, 19, Toronto (fatally shot himself while pocketing his gun as he fled a taxi robbery, December). Thomas Morris Van Dyke, 40, South Buffalo, Pa. (fatally shot himself in the neck while climbing into his shoddily made hunter's tree stand, December). And police officers in Collinsville, Ill. (December), and Hopatkong Borough, N.J. (November). The Collinsville officer shot his foot during a drug raid, and the New Jersey officer shot his leg during his annual firearms qualifying test.

• Police in Franklin Township, N.J., charged a 20-year-old man with shoplifting two pythons from the Animal Trax pet shop and driving away with them. The man's poor judgment was not the reason police caught him, but when they did later encounter the stolen snakes in the man's house in January, he admitted that one of the snakes had wriggled out of his pocket during the getaway, wrapped itself around his leg, and bit him in the "groin area."

Can't possibly be true

• Junior Allen, 63, feels 2004 will be his year. The North Carolina Parole Commission will decide soon whether to grant his application for release, after 25 straight rejections. Allen's only conviction, in 1970, was for stealing a TV set, which today would carry a probable sentence of probation only. Meanwhile, the same commission released Howard Washington on parole in January after 10 years in prison for murder; he committed his crime one week before the state eliminated parole as a possibility for murders like the one Washington committed.

• In December, New Hampshire's state drug abuse and prevention program was turned down for a $17 million grant on the sole ground, said the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, that its application was typed with smaller margins than permitted. The federal agency did not give the state an opportunity to correct the formatting, even though the victims of the rejection were not the grant-writers but drug-addicted patients.

• Deborah Hayes, who was awarded more than $1.3 million by a jury in Beaumont, Texas, in November for the heart damage she suffered while taking the Fen-Phen weight-loss drug, said in December that that was too much money and that she thought she had demonstrated only about $588,000 in damages.

• Wanda Hudson, 44, said she was inadvertently padlocked into her 30-by 10-foot locker by a careless employee of the Dauphin Island Parkway storage facility near Mobile, Ala., on Nov. 7, 2001, and did not get out until a neighboring unit renter heard her cries 63 days later. Hudson, who said she survived on canned foods and juice, was found weighing 85 pounds and in a clinical state of "advanced starvation." She sued Parkway for $10 million but in September 2003 was awarded $100,000 by a jury.

• Americans continue to be divided over the wisdom of "zero tolerance" laws that require heavy punishment even for slight, technical violations, especially as applied to public school students. In December, for example, the Bossier Parish, La., school board voted to uphold the yearlong expulsion of a 10th-grade girl for "drug" possession, specifically an Advil tablet. And in January, a Rio Rancho, N.M., middle school student was drug-suspended for five days for possession of a Gas-X tablet. (National media attention eventually caused both school districts to lessen the penalties.)

• In December, payoff checks started arriving from Citibank's class-action lawsuit settlement that required it to refund overcharges for credit-card fees, but since the $18 million payout had to be split among 20 million customers and former customers, the checks were for as little as 4 cents, while the lawyers who brought the lawsuit shared $7.2 million. A major Citibank "abuse" corrected by the lawsuit: It was charging interest from 10 a.m. on the payment-due date but agreed to start charging it only as of 1 p.m.

Update

• News of the Weird reported in 2002 that Armin Meiwes, 41, had been arrested for killing and eating a 42-year-old man in Kassel, Germany, but presented videotaped evidence that the murder was consensual (which would still be a crime in Germany but with a lighter sentence). Prosecutors have since learned that the "international cannibal community" may include hundreds of men who communicate on the Internet, including several who visited Meiwes to discuss becoming his dinner but who changed their minds (and were permitted to leave). Among Meiwes' e-mail exchanges (revealed at his trial, which is continuing), a potential victim wrote, of the symbiotic nature of their proposed relationship: "Hey, we seem to have discovered a market niche." Meiwes: "We could solve the problem of overpopulation and famine at a [single] stroke."

• According to police in Spokane, Wash., two young men on a lark decided to stop their car at a Denny's on a cold Jan. 14 morning at 5 o'clock, take off their clothes, and give the customers and staff a thrill by cavorting through the restaurant. But one customer had the last laugh. He left, got into the streakers' idling car (which contained their clothes) and drove off. The car turned up five days later, minus CDs and the clothes. (Remarkably, the streakers, and a third pal, who remained clothed, have not yet been identified by local media.)

• Also, in the past month: German and Swiss engineers, finally connecting their respective parts of the new Upper Rhine Bridge in Laufenberg, Germany, discovered that one half had been built a little less than 22 inches lower than the other, requiring massive reconstruction. A 16-year-old boy, after holding a weeklong series of parties while his father and stepmother were away, and seeing the damage done to the $380,000 house, burned it down to hide the destruction, according to police (Cincinnati). A 28-year-old man was sentenced to 10 months in prison for embezzling money from his company (a law firm), which is under indictment for stealing money from its clients (Brattleboro, Vt.).

:p

[the fugative]

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd

Published February 5, 2004

Derek L. McSmith of Forest City, Ga., has filed 10,618 formal open-records requests to local governments in the last eight months, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report. Most were, he said, to satisfy his curiosity about how government works, but one day, he asked for 490 magazines and on another day, he checked out 100 books (and soon, according to the librarian, walked outside and dropped them into the return bin). Each request must be logged in and processed, and a Forest City clerk spends almost full-time on McSmith's work. Several officials said that after they locate his documents, he only glances at them (or, if there is a cost involved, declines the documents). A local First Amendment advocate said the situation was merely "one of the downsides of a free and open society."

• Steve Danos, 24, was arrested as allegedly the man who had been sneaking into young women's apartments to watch them sleep and to snuggle with them (and, sometimes, to fold their laundry) (Baton Rouge, La., October). Stephen P. Linnen, 33, an assistant to Republican legislators in the Ohio House, was indicted on 56 counts stemming from an 18-month spree in which a naked man jumps out from hiding and photographs startled women's reactions (Columbus, Ohio, November). Japanese men's fetish for schoolgirls' used underwear is such a problem, concluded a civic panel, that shops that cater to them are proliferating, thus enticing more and more girls to become suppliers (Tokyo, October).

News that sounds like a joke

• In November, police in Brooklyn set a trap and arrested a 44-year-old man and his 22-year-old associate for having kidnapped a teenager earlier in the day and having sought a $20,000 ransom from his mother; the sting was set up after the men, released their victim (who went straight home) but continued to demand the ransom. According to a December Miami Herald story, the condition of museum-goers who grow faint or suffer anxiety attacks while viewing art (or viewing too much in a short time) has a name, Stendhal's syndrome, that, although rare, has been studied for almost 200 years.

Compelling explanations

• Timothy Paul Kootenay, 43, jailed in Aspen, Colo., in November on a California warrant for probation violation, said he would fight extradition on the ground that he is a citizen of the notorious "Republic of Texas" and that, actually, Aspen and Vail are located on a sliver of land that is also part of the Texas nation. Kootenay's separatist colleagues (some of whom have taken up arms) believe that Texas was never legally annexed by the United States and is thus a sovereign nation that should respond only to international law.

• In a deposition as part of his divorce proceedings (and released in November), the president's brother, Neil Bush, admitted that he had had sex with several women while on business trips in Asia, but that he did not seek them out, insisting that they simply came to his door. Asked his ex-wife's lawyer, "Mr. Bush, you have to admit it's a pretty remarkable thing for a man just to go to a hotel room door and open it and have a woman standing there and have sex with her." Responded Bush, "It was very unusual."

• The parents of a teenage girl, who had inhaled nitrous oxide from "whippet" propulsion cartridges just before a car crash that left her with permanent brain damage, filed a lawsuit in Boca Raton, Fla., in December against the store that sold her the canisters. A store manager claimed that, even though his is a video store whose whippets are sold from an "adult" room, he believes that his customers are not inhalant-abusers but just people who want to make their own whipped cream.

The latest human rights

• In September, a government appeals board in Melbourne, Australia, changed its mind and ruled that organizers of a lesbian festival could not, after all, limit attendance to just those lesbians who were born female, because that discriminates against transsexual lesbians. The female-born organizers had said they needed to exclude ex-males in order to affirm their identity and "consolidate our culture."

• Spain's Catalonian High Court ruled in November that the Barcelona construction company Perez Parellada Promotions had improperly fired a worker who admitted smoking marijuana on the job, finding that he only smoked during meal breaks and did not smoke enough to affect his work.

Least competent criminals

• In November, Michael Patrick Mikitka, 35, was arrested and charged as the man who had held up six banks in one week in the Pittsburgh area, including one in which he had written the holdup note on a check issued to him when he opened his account. In the final robbery, at the PNC Bank in Wilkinsburg, he was on his way out the door when the security guard said that the teller needed to see him again, and as he walked back in, the doors locked, and the guard grabbed him. Pending trial, Mikitka was sent to drug rehabilitation, but he left the facility Dec. 22 and was re-arrested the same day when he allegedly robbed the same National City bank that he had robbed twice during his November spree.

• In November, a jury in Montgomery, Ala., ordered Exxon Mobil to pay the state $11.8 billion in punitive damages based on its conclusion that the company, having allegedly inflated its expenses, underpaid the state $63.6 million in natural gas royalties (a penalty of more than 18 times the state's alleged loss). Exxon Mobil said its expenses were legitimate, that it owed the state nothing, and that it would appeal. One juror said afterward that the fact that the Alabama government is in such dire financial straits and needs the money might have influenced his vote (though that was not legally proper).

• Also, in the past month: A woman was summonsed for dangerous driving after she tied the child's seat holding her 20-month-old child to a rear door to keep it from swinging open (Perth, Australia). About 50 inmates at a Portuguese prison refused to eat special Christmas lunches because the bread, usually freshly baked, was not, due to bakeries having closed early the day before (Belas, Portugal). Police said a 29-year-old woman ordered her 11-year-old daughter to help her shoplift clothing, including some items the woman later returned to the girl as Christmas presents (Fort Myers, Fla.).

:p

[the fugative]

Swedish police skeptical of camel call
Associated Press

Published February 2, 2004

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- It took some convincing before police would respond to reports of a camel on a southern Sweden road in the middle of a snowstorm.

``We were somewhat doubtful at first,'' said police spokesman Sten-Ove Fransson in Skoevde, 162 miles south of Stockholm, of Friday's incident. ``But then more people called, so we were finally convinced that there really was a camel gone astray on the road.''

Before police arrived, friends of the camel's owner came and led it back to a stable, where it has been kept while awaiting a home in a new barn.

Owner Anneli Arvidsson said in a telephone interview that the 22-year-old Siberian camel, Emat, might have wandered off because of the absence of his usual companion, a horse.

``On Friday, the horse had been taken inside the stable and the camel was left alone in the pasture, which probably made him feel lonely,'' she said.


:p


Hell toupee: Holsteins wore hairpieces, State Fair alleges
Associated Press

Published February 5, 2004

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Three livestock exhibitors at last year's Ohio State Fair have been disqualified for allegedly outfitting their Holstein cows with hairpieces.

State Fair inspectors said the three glued or painted hair from another part of the animal or from another animal to create straighter backs on the cows and enhance their appearance in the show ring.

Kreg Krebs and his brother Kenneth of Fredericksburg, and Scott Long of Clayton, Mich., could be required to forfeit all winnings, said Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Melanie Wilt. The winnings had been withheld by fair officials.

Wilt said state inspectors at the fair discovered the fake hair when the cows were leaving the show ring on Aug. 10.

The men have 30 days to request a hearing in which they could present their cases to an independent hearing officer.

:p

[the fugative]

Ohio man allegedly steals prisoner's identity to marry

The Associated Press, AP Online
Published February 6, 2004

WARREN, Ohio (AP) - It's no surprise that Dallas James King can't remember anything about his wedding day - he was in prison at the time.
King, an inmate at Belmont Correctional Institution, says a man assumed his identity to apply for a license and apparently marry the mother of his child.

Probate Judge Thomas A. Swift voided the marriage Thursday. He ruled that the married couple had made a false statement about the groom's identity on their sworn marriage license application. He referred the matter to the prosecutor.

King, 23, who has been in prison since 2001 on a three-year robbery sentence out of Cleveland, said Tefawn Myers sent him a marriage certificate "stating she and I had gotten married on April 22, 2002."

"I don't want to be married to this woman," King wrote to the judge in December.

King said he was concerned about any crimes committed in his name by the man who apparently used his identity. He told the judge that Myers was living in Warren in April 2002 when the marriage license was issued.

Myers could not be reached for comment Friday because there was no phone listing for her in Warren.

:p :p

[the fugative]

Fishing the big prize
A reluctant angler from Buffalo, Minn. outfishes 4,000 others to win the Golden Rainbow Ice Fishing Contest on Forest Lake.
BY CHRIS NISKANEN
Outdoors Editor

FOREST LAKE, Minn.

Mike Moen hadn't planned to go ice fishing Saturday.

But his brother Brian talked the ironworker from Buffalo, Minn., to try his luck at the Golden Rainbow Ice Fishing Contest, where first place was a boat, motor and trailer package.

"I said, 'I might as well. I ain't got nothing else going on,' '' Mike said.

So Mike and Brian joined 4,000 ice anglers on Forest Lake, tromping through deep snow when the opening siren sounded at noon. About midway into the three-hour contest, Mike felt a tug on his Swedish pimple and minnow, and he reeled up a 4.73-pound northern pike.

He'll be tooling around in a new Lund this summer.

"My line broke, and I had to reel him up hand over hand,'' Mike said later while standing next to his boat package valued at $15,000. "I ain't won anything but maybe $200 on pull tabs.''

Luck. It's the trademark of ice-fishing contests such as the Golden Rainbow. Organizations drilled nearly 10,000 holes within the official fishing area, which measured 1½ miles in circumference. No one could start fishing early, and anglers could bring only equipment that fit on sleds or in 5-gallon buckets.

Still, the weigh station was jammed during the first hour of the contest, with anglers weighing mostly small perch. A handful of walleyes between 1 and 2 pounds were weighed, along with several northern pike. Organizers tried to return most fish alive to the water.

Ron Rubenzer of Cameron, Wis., caught a perch weighing just 0.12 pounds. He didn't expect to win much, but his fish was big enough for 100th place and a $10,000 check.

A bit flabbergasted while television cameras rolled, Rubenzer wasn't sure what he would do with the money.

"I guess I should give half of it to my wife, I suppose,'' he said.

The Golden Rainbow, sponsored by the Hopkins Jaycees, raises money for community projects in Hopkins and Forest Lake. In its 22nd year, the Golden Rainbow used to be Minnesota's largest ice-fishing contest until an event in Brainerd took the title. (About 8,000 to 10,000 people fish that event, held in January.)

Participation in the Golden Rainbow sagged this year because the past two events were canceled because of insufficient ice.

"It will come back,'' predicted Jason Green, one of the organizers. "Some of our sponsors have backed out because we had to cancel the last two years. So it's good we're back this year."

Participants pay $35 for a ticket. Winners are subject to polygraph tests after two Wisconsin men were suspected of cheating several years ago. When large fish were caught, organizers drove to the spot and interviewed nearby witnesses to verify the angler caught the fish.

Mike Nelson had plenty of witnesses when he hauled a 2.83-pound walleye out of his ice hole. To a cheering crowd of fellow anglers, he gripped the walleye with a mittened hand and ran to the weigh-in tent because dead fish are disqualified.

"I've never been so nervous pulling up a fish,'' Nelson said. "I missed a couple earlier, but this one came in and stared at my bait a few times. He took it down for a second, and that's all I needed."

Nelson's fish was in second place for about a half-hour until it was knocked to fourth. That's how he finished and claimed a $500 fish locator.

Irene Barry didn't catch a winning fish, but she basked in the warmth of a sunny day and ate pizza with her husband, Steven, and daughter Lindsey. Lindsey's boyfriend, Marcus Etoll, helped out by giving fishing advice and baiting Irene's hook.

Wearing a leopard-print scarf, leather jacket and several large diamond rings, Irene didn't fit the stereotypical ice angler.

"What they really need out here is some wine coolers,'' she said, chuckling. "Or maybe some champagne. I should have brought my own."

But you didn't need to leave your bucket if you had a yen for hot pizza and beer. Vendors pulled both on kiddie sleds around the event, yelling, "Hot pizza!" and "Beer!"

Celeste Brosenne of Minneapolis and Ben Morales of St. Paul volunteered to sell beer for the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 320. About an hour into the event, they had sold 10 cases.

"It's $2 a can, but we encourage our better deal, three for $5,'' Morales said. "But business is pretty slow."

Fishing wasn't. Organizers said 806 fish were weighed, more than usual. Mike Moen, who said he loves to fish during the summer, happened to make the right decision to fish on a warm day in February.

"I tell you, he's a man that needs a boat more than anything,'' said Brian, slapping his brother on the shoulder.

WINNERS OF THE GOLDEN RAINBOW ICE FISHING CONTEST

1. Mike Moen, Buffalo, Minn., 4.73-pound northern pike. New boat, motor, trailer.

2. Kevin Grandy, Blaine, 3.37-pound northern pike. All-terrain vehicle with trailer.

3. David Nelson, Minneapolis, 2.98-pound northern pike. Fish house with trailer.

100th place winner: Ron Rubenzer, Cameron, Wis., 0.12-pound perch. $10,000 in cash.

:p

[Jolie Rouge]

Surprise! Top 3 Most Hated Inventions

We hate them. But we need them. They drive us nuts. But we can't live without them. We are talking about the top three most hated inventions that we absolutely have to have, which are:

1. Cell phones

2. Alarm clocks

3. Television



That's the word from the annual Massachusetts Institute of Technology survey, known as the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index. Fully 30 percent of the 1,023 adults and 500 teenagers polled in this annual survey cited cell phones as the most hated, must-have invention, which placed it in the top spot. Alarm clocks followed closely at 25 percent, with television at 23 percent. (What? You don't like reality shows?)

Other hated, but must-have inventions:

Shaving razors
Microwave ovens
Coffee pots
Computers
Vacuum cleaners

So what is this love-hate relationship we have with our cell phones?

"The interconnectedness you get from the cell phone is a very positive thing, and I think that's one of the most important things, the bringing together of people. The downside of that is that you sometimes want to be alone," said Lemelson Center Director Merton C. Flemings. The Lemelson-MIT Program is a non-profit organization that celebrates inventors and inventions.


What inventions make our lives easier?

Teens overwhelmingly said e-mail and voicemail, while more than half of the adults cited credit cards and debit cards. We do agree on one thing. Almost all of us--95 percent--say inventions have improved the quality of our lives.

[Jolie Rouge]

Ark. Escapee Tries to Buy Bolt Cutters

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040209%2F1403178611.htm&sc=1120

MAGNOLIA, Ark. (AP) - James Cotton looked just like any other Wal-Mart customer buying a bolt cutter at 4:30 in the morning - until the cashier noticed that Cotton was wearing handcuffs.

According to police, the clerk took Cotton's money, gave him the bolt cutter, then called officers. Cotton was caught minutes later Saturday, after he had gone into the bathroom and cut off the handcuffs.

Cotton had been arrested the night before by the Haynesville, La., police on charges of battery and possession of a narcotic, but he kicked out a window in a police car and fled, authorities said.


02/09/04 14:02

[Jolie Rouge]

The Best Reason Yet to Sleep In Late

People who sleep eight hours a night are more creative, artistic, and possibly even smarter than folks who sleep less than that, according to a new experiment that actually proves that sleep can help turn yesterday's problem into today's solution, reports Reuters. Conducted by German researchers at the University of Luebeck, the study shows that the sleeping brain undergoes specific changes that lead to creativity and problem-solving insight the next day. This typically happens during "slow wave" or deep sleep that occurs in the first four hours of the sleep cycle--but a full eight hours of sleep is needed to reap the benefits. In other words, while we snooze, our brains continue to work on the problems that stumped us during the day, making it quite likely the right answers will come to us more easily once we awake.

The study: 106 volunteers were divided into five groups of men and women ages 18 to 32. All were given training on the main experiment. Then group No. 1 slept, group No. 2 stayed awake all night, and group No. 3 stayed awake all day for eight-hours before testing. Two other groups were used in a supplemental experiment.
The task: The participants were given a math test that involved a "number reduction task." They were asked to transform strings of eight-digit numbers into a new string that fit two rules they had been provided. A third rule was hidden in the pattern, and researchers monitored the test subjects continuously to see exactly when they figured out the third rule.

The results: Those who had a good night's sleep--defined as eight hours--were three times more likely to do well on the math test and figure out the hidden rule for converting the numbers into the right answer than those who were sleep-deprived. Lead study author Jan Born told Reuters that the results support biochemical studies of the brain that indicate memories are restructured before they are stored. Creativity also appears to be enhanced in the process, he said. "This restructuring might be occurring in such a way that the problem is easier to solve," Born he told the news service. This German experiment is unique because it's the first time that the value of sleep has been scientifically demonstrated with hard evidence. The study findings were published in the journal Nature.



Don't believe it? Consider these great insights that occurred after a deep sleep:

--Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev established the periodic table of elements.

--British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote his epic "Kubla Khan."

--Robert Louis Stevenson was inspired to write scenes in his novel "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

[Jolie Rouge]

Eerie Van Gogh Letter Stuns the Experts

The letter, a condolence note that was recently found and authenticated, was written in 1877 by artist Vincent Van Gogh and is the only known reference to a Van Gogh family tragedy, reports Reuters. But one thing in particular has stunned the experts.

First, some background: Historians have long speculated that Van Gogh was a "replacement child" for his parents, who lost an infant boy at birth on March 30, 1852. They named the stillborn child Vincent. One year later to the day, another boy was born whom they also named Vincent. He grew up to become a world-renowned artist. Very little is actually known about the family tragedy or how it affected Van Gogh as a child or an adult. Until now. This newly-found condolence note was written to Hermanus Gijsbertus Tersteeg after his 3-month-old daughter died. Tersteeg was the manager of an art gallery in The Hague where Van Gogh had previously worked. The letter was written in black ink on two sides of a single page and included lengthy quotations from the Bible. The long missive reads much like a sermon--at the time, Van Gogh was preparing to study theology--and broke just about every etiquette rule of the day for such notes, which were typically brief with a few well-chosen, comforting words.



The English translation from the Dutch in which Van Gogh wrote about his brother's death:


My father has also felt what you will have been feeling these past days. I recently stood early one morning in the cemetery in Zundert next to the little grave on which is written: Suffer the little children to come unto Me, for of such is the kingdom of God. More than 25 years have passed since he buried his first little boy there.



But there is one thing about the letter that has stunned experts: the passionless tone.

It is this tone--bereft of much feeling--that seems to contradict theories by some of Van Gogh's biographers that he may have suffered from alienation as a "replacement child," reports Reuters. "There has been much speculation about the effect this event must have had on Vincent--the inevitable trauma of being the 'replacement child' and the influence this supposedly had on the development of his personality," Jansen and two colleagues wrote in a paper published by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in which the letter is now on display. They concluded, "There is nothing to indicate that Van Gogh dwelled excessively on the event; on the contrary, he attaches to it no personal emotion or recollection." Reuters notes that although Van Gogh was a serious artist, he only sold one work in his lifetime. Depressed, he sliced off an earlobe in 1889 after an argument with French artist Paul Gauguin. A year later he shot himself and died two days after the incident.

[the fugative]

Robot Dogs Get Social Conscience Installed
By STEPHEN SINGER, Associated Press Writer

Published February 9, 2004

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - They sniff, wag their tails, fetch and run in packs.

Inside their plastic and metallic skins, robotic dogs programmed by engineering students at Yale University even have a social conscience.

The mechanical canines, equipped with just about everything but a wet nose, are wired to sniff out toxic materials at former landfills and radioactive sites, providing environmental information about parks, school yards and other public spaces.

The robots have spurred toxic search projects in the United States, Europe and Australia. They are the brainchild of Natalie Jeremijenko, a lecturer in engineering at Yale and self-described technoartist.

"Technology is a social actor," she said. "These dogs are programmed into instruments for social activism. It's technological politics in another form."

The dogs were originally designed, manufactured and marketed commercially as toys by Sony Electronics Inc., Mattel Inc. and other companies.

Sony's AIBO, which has been on the market since 1999 and sells for $1,599, is intended to draw emotional responses from its masters, said Jon Piazza, a spokesman for Sony robotics entertainment in New York. The dogs' software platform is available on the company's Web site and may be used for other purposes, he said.

For example, a competition has drawn 20 universities with programmed robotic toys that participate in a "Robo Cup," he said.

The Yale project is different.

"I think that's a surprise," Piazza said.

Jeremijenko, a mechanical engineer and computer scientist, designed the robotic dogs 18 months ago as a spinoff from a research project she began in the late 1990s that she calls an Interaction Triggered System. Its intent was to see how people interact with technology.

Distribution and cost are two major advantages of transforming the dogs into community activists. The toys are easily available, and gutting them for a university engineering project is the least expensive way to teach robotics, she said.

And dogs - the real ones - are a good model for robots because they're companion animals and "can sense things we can't sense," Jeremijenko said.

Robotic technology is hardly new. It's increasingly being applied to repetitive factory tasks or dangerous work such as defusing bombs or finding victims in collapsed buildings.

Advances in microtechnology lead to ever-smaller sensors as engineers and scientists seek new uses.

For Jeremijenko, it's the feral dog project - so named, she says, because feral dogs are street-smart and wily.

The dogs' "brains" are upgraded and their "noses" programmed to pick up the scent of common volatile organic compounds - such as paint thinners or dry cleaning fluids - or more dangerous toxins. They also are built to navigate a variety of terrains.

In addition, cameras are placed in the dogs' hindquarters to allow researchers to observe their interaction with handlers.

The dogs also are wired to move in packs. To collect samples from a larger area more effectively, the pack is programmed to follow the dog with the strongest sensor reading.

The result is the collection of data from a broad area with time-specific samples and extensive mapping of the area being surveyed.

The robotic dogs have been assigned to work at several sites, often with youngsters who are fascinated by the machines and, Jeremijenko hopes, learn from the experience.

Of 12 robotic dogs wired at Yale, several have been put to work at Hamden, where tests have found arsenic, lead and other pollutants in soil beneath a school and nearby homes. Four canine robots also have been sniffing around a park on former Consolidated Edison property along the Bronx River in New York.

Jeremijenko's project has spawned an Internet presence, inspiring others to sic robotic dogs on sites in Belarus that were in the path of radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear plant, on sites in Australia used for atomic testing in the 1950s, and on radioactive waste sites in Idaho.

The dogs are available "wherever there's a site of community interest and kids are interested in robotics," Jeremijenko said.

They also advance her teaching philosophy.

"It's part of a larger shift in education: how to apply your knowledge to local problems," Jeremijenko said. "It's extremely important that engineers understand the social implications of their designs."

She also has a practical concern.

"Anyone who wants to dump a robotic dog, bring them here," Jeremijenko said of her lab at Yale. "Call this the robotic dog pound."

http://xdesign.eng.yale.edu/feralrobots/



:p

[Jolie Rouge]

Church: Three Wise Men Were Women?

Just as "The Da Vinci Code" has captured the imagination of religious women with the idea that Mary Magdalene was a powerful figure in Jesus Christ's life and his circle of disciples, comes word from the Church of England that the Three Wise Men may not have been men. Or wise. That's not to say they were Three Dumb Women, but there is no reason to assume they were men.

Christians believe that the Three Wise Men, also known as the Magi, followed the star in the East to Bethlehem bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh for the baby Jesus. Reuters reports that the Church of England, which is busily updating its Book of Common Prayer to remove gender-specific language, determined this week at the General Synod in London that the term "Magi" is actually a transliteration of the name used by officials at the Persian court and the three who traveled to visit Jesus could well have been women. "Magi is a word which discloses nothing about numbers, wisdom, or gender embodied in the term," a Synod spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday after the revision was agreed upon by the Church of England's parliament which meets twice a year. "Changing 'Wise Men' to 'Magi' seems to be an entirely sensible move," he added.

When the King James version of the Bible was authorized in the 17th century, it referred to those Epiphany visitors as the Three Wise Men. But in the new Anglican prayer book--not the Bible--they will be simply known as the "Magi." The Church of England's revision committee did admit this much: "While it seems very unlikely that these Persian court officials were female, the possibility that one or more of the Magi were female cannot be excluded completely."

One thing they are not disputing: The gifts were gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Of course, women have long joked that were the Three Wise Men really the Three Wise Women, they would have brought diapers, blankets, and casseroles instead.) The news was greeted in London with this newspaper headline: "The Three Fairly Sagacious Persons."

[Jolie Rouge]

Parent body-slams ref at high school basketball game
Tuesday, February 10, 2004 Posted: 8:16 AM EST

www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/02/10/referee.assault.ap/index.html

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A parent body-slammed a high school referee after he ordered the man's wife out of the gym for allegedly yelling obscenities during a basketball game.

The referee, Ronald Bell, 57, was treated at a hospital for a concussion and released after the attack Friday night.

Peter J. Dukovich, 47, was charged with simple assault, assault on a sports official and disorderly conduct. His wife, RaeLynn, who claimed the ref was making bad calls, was cited for disorderly conduct.

After Bell asked security to escort the woman out of the gym, "her husband came down onto the court, picked up the official, threw him on the ground with his back striking first and then his head hit the floor," West Deer Township police Chief Jon Lape said.

Officials say the rivalry between suburban Deer Lakes and Hampton high schools prompted administrators to allow only parents and grandparents to attend the game.

"We have parents who are supposed to be role models but instead we have problems occurring with parents fighting," Lape said.

Dukovich declined to comment Monday.

[Jolie Rouge]

Weird! Why Fevers Are Good For Infants

Is there anything that makes a new mom or dad fret more than when the baby runs a fever? Stop fretting and start cheering. Turns out, babies who get fevers early in life are less likely to develop allergies later, Reuters reports of new research from the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Mich.


When researchers examined the medical records for 835 children, they realized that half the kids who did not have a fever during their first year of life did have an allergic sensitivity by age 7. Of those who had one fever, 46.7 percent were allergic or sensitive by age 7, but this number dropped to 31 percent among children who suffered two or more fevers during infancy, notes Reuters.


This all goes back to the "hygiene hypothesis," which is widely recognized, but largely unproven. It holds that if children's immune systems don't have the opportunity to fight infections early in life, they go into overdrive later--and that can lead to allergic reactions. Allergies among children are on the increase in the United States, and doctors don't know why. This study, which was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, is significant because the findings strengthen the hygiene hypothesis and could lead to preventative therapies for asthma and allergies

[Jolie Rouge]

Do This One Thing and You'll Be Happier

Get a hobby.

Any hobby.

Whether it's white water rafting or collecting miniature tea cups, having a hobby makes you happier, ABC News reports of a large, 15-year research study from Southern Illinois University. Translation: Play is good for us.

"Participating in leisure activities contributes to your physical and mental health and overall life satisfaction. You're healthier, happier, and more cheerful. You enjoy life more," lead study author Howard E.A. Tinsley, professor emeritus of psychology at Southern Illinois University, told ABC News. The study, which involved interviewing 4,000 people, showed that hobbies were beneficial to people from all walks of life--from high school students to aging widows. "People who were more active in leisure activities reported greater satisfaction of life; they scored higher on standardized tests about satisfaction," Tinsley added.


And that's not all.

David Schlenoff, a psychologist for the Baltimore County Public Schools, told ABC News that people who have hobbies function better in society. They're more balanced and relaxed. One reason may be the complete mental and sometimes physical--absorption that comes with hobbies.

[the fugative]

Finnish driver gets whopper of speeding fine
Associated Press

HELSINKI, Finland - Police gave a record $216,900 speeding ticket to a millionaire under a system in which traffic fines are linked to an offender's income.

The Iltalehti tabloid reported that millionaire Jussi Salonoja zoomed through the city center last weekend in a 25 mph zone and police handed him a ticket of $216,900. It didn't say what his speed was.

The fine was based on information they got directly for the inland revenue office, the Tuesday report said.

Salonoja, 27, could not be reached for comment, and police declined to discuss the alleged speeding incident until it reaches the Helsinki Regional Court at a later date.

Although it's the costliest ticket to date, it's not the first with a big price tag.

Two years ago, Anssi Vanjoki, then executive vice president of Nokia's mobile phones division, landed a $148,000 ticket after being caught doing 46 mph in a 31 mph zone on a motorcycle.

It was later lowered to about $7,500 after he showed a court that his income had dropped, but not before Finns flew into a rage over the high fine. But, after weeks of Parliament debates, discussions on TV shows and expressions of disgust in the media, Finns did nothing and the system remained.

Other hefty speeding tickets have included a $71,000 one for a professional hockey player and one for $190,000 given to one of Finland's wealthiest people.

:p

[the fugative]

280-pound sea lion forsakes ocean for farm
By LISA M. KRIEGER
San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News

A long, strange trip that probably started with a wrong turn at San Francisco's Pier 39 ended Monday morning when a farmer found the traveler near a muddy San Joaquin Valley cotton field.

There sat a tired -- but feisty -- California sea lion.

The marine mammal was 60 miles from the ocean -- as the crow flies. But as the sea lion swims, it apparently had to go about 135 miles up San Pablo Bay, through the delta past Stockton and down the San Joaquin River. When he ran out of water, he waddled across up to a mile of farmland before being discovered.

``We were pretty surprised,'' said Greg Gerstenberg of the California Department of Fish and Game, who got a 7 a.m. call for help from the California Highway Patrol. ``I knew the location, so I figured it must be a calf. Or a beaver. Or anything else.''

As news traveled of his discovery, a crowd of police officers, local farmers and delighted onlookers gathered around the wayward animal.

``He was pretty feisty,'' said Sue Andrews, manager of a Moss Landing-based clinic for the Marine Mammal Center, a private non-profit hospital for injured sea mammals that is based in Sausalito. A young male, ``he's alert and in good health. He's a wild animal. Once they're cornered, they don't like it.''

Displeased, the 280-pound sea lion did what sea lions do -- looked for a place to climb -- and hoisted himself atop the hood of the CHP car, where he basked in the morning sun.

The officers christened him Chippy.

Once biologists arrived, it took a dozen people to scoot him from the car, corral him with a net and herd him into a big steel box. He was taken by pickup truck to Moss Landing, where he spent Monday night resting. This morning, he is to be driven to Marine Mammal Center veterinarians in Sausalito, where he will be evaluated. When he is ready, he will be released at Point Reyes National Seashore, far from human interference.

No one is quite sure where he was headed or why he went there.

This time of year, sea lions have returned home from their migration to their breeding grounds in Southern California's Channel Islands and Baja California. And they won't leave again until late spring.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is crisscrossed by 1,000 miles of channels, sloughs and creeks around artificial islands created from a marsh earlier this century.

``They are very intelligent and curious, and if he saw an interesting-looking fish, he may have just followed it up the river,'' Andrews said.

Chippy was seen Sunday morning in the San Joaquin River at Fremont Ford State Recreation Area, then later at Los Banos State Waterfowl Area. Gerstenberg said he navigated Salt Slough, which has many sand bars and is less than a foot deep in several places.

His journey ended Monday morning on the shoulder of quiet Henry Miller Road east of Los Banos. A farmer spotted him and called the CHP. Chippy was fortunate: Californians of an earlier day might have feasted on him.

The sea lion is very tired but seemed to have suffered no injuries on the long journey, biologists said. They believe he dined on bass and other river fish. Sea lions have no problem surviving, for a while, in fresh water, they say.

It's not the first time a sea lion has gone exploring up the delta. Ten years ago, a 304-pound sea lion wandered up a narrow, five-mile ditch and was rescued from a muddy creekbed near Byron in Contra Costa County. More recently, several have been sighted in the Sacramento River in Sacramento.

No one will ever know what inspired Chippy to leave his friends and cold Pacific waters to travel upstream past boats, bridges and wooden pilings to end up alone in a muddy field, biologists say.

``We'll never really know how he got there,'' Andrews said. ``And we have no way of asking him that question.''


:p

[Jolie Rouge]

Look What They Found Under the Sea !

Beware this new sea creature that has just been discovered: a diaphanous, four-armed jellyfish that dwells in the deep waters off California. Nature News Service reports that the jellyfish--officially called Stellamedusa ventana--is so covered in tiny bumps that the researchers who first found it nicknamed it "Bumpy."

Bumpy is so different in terms of anatomy and behavior from other jellyfish--much like a lion is different from a house cat--that it is a new subfamily of the species. There are now eight jellyfish subfamilies in case you're keeping track. It has a bell-shaped body and four fleshy arms, and you definitely do not want a close encounter with it. It is a translucent blue-white color with trailing arms that make it look like a shooting star. Bumpy lives deep in the water below the reach of sunlight.

Kevin Raskoff of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California discovered Bumpy. He told Nature News Service that the creature is unusual because it has arms instead of tentacles. The arms protrude from the inside bell of the jellyfish and act as a pair of extended lips that help guide food into its mouth. The bumps? Look out! They're clusters of stinging cells that probably eject poison and help it capture prey. This type of jellyfish is very rare and elusive. The first sighting was 13 years ago, and it's only been seen seven times since in the Monterey Bay and the Gulf of California. That's one reason it has taken so long to announce the news of its existence.

[Jolie Rouge]

'Peanut Butter' finally free from 'Jelly'
Turtles joined at the side successfully separated
Tuesday, February 10, 2004 Posted: 1:10 PM EST

www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/02/10/turtles.separated.ap/index.html


MESA, Arizona (AP) -- A pair of conjoined tortoises -- named "Peanut Butter" and "Jelly" because you can't have one without the other -- were recovering Tuesday in a Tucson veterinary clinic after being separated over the weekend.

"I think it was a great success," said Sharon Ehasz, 24, who owns the African leopard tortoises with her husband, Bobby Ehasz. "I think they're going to be a little confused -- the world as they knew it is going to be somewhat tilted."

Peanut Butter and Jelly were joined at the side of the belly near the tail end, slightly offset in a heart-shaped configuration.

The two tortoises spent about half of their lives with one on its back, the other trying to kick itself over.

Bobby Ehasz, 29, said he and his wife routinely flipped over the tortoises, carefully logging the time one stayed on its back while the other was upright.

Veterinarians Jay Johnson of University Animal Hospital in Tempe and Jim Jarchow of Orange Grove Animal Hospital in Tucson worked for about three hours Sunday to separate the tortoises.

Johnson said the condition is "extremely rare." That's partly why Johnson and Jarchow agreed to operate on the animals at no charge to the Ehaszes, other than the cost for anesthesia and other items.

"They seem to be doing well," Johnson said Tuesday. "They should be home probably within a week or two."

-- CNN's Jeordan Legon contributed to this story.

[Jolie Rouge]

:eek: Frenchwoman Marries Her Dead Boyfriend

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040210%2F1807220356.htm&sc=1120

NICE, France (AP) - Dressed in a demure black suit, a 35-year-old Frenchwoman married her dead boyfriend Tuesday - a macabre exchange of vows that required authorization from the French president.

Under French law, Christelle Demichel became both bride and widow as a result of the ceremony, which was performed at Nice City Hall on the French Riviera.

The deceased groom, a former policeman identified as Eric, was not present at the ceremony. He was killed by a drunk driver in September 2002.

Demichel told LCI television she was fully aware that ``it could seem shocking to marry someone who is dead,'' but said that her fiance's absence from her life had not dimmed her feelings for him.


According to French law, a marriage between a living person and a dead person can take place as long as preliminary civic formalities have been completed that show the couple had planned to marry. Before the ceremony can take place, it must be approved by the French president.



02/10/04 18:06

[Jolie Rouge]

Sea Lion Found Stranded Far from Ocean
By Gina Keating

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040211%2F1001243045.htm&sc=reodd

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Why did the sea lion cross the road in central California farm country?

That's what state wildlife officials were trying to figure out on Tuesday, a day after a male sea lion was spotted wandering in a farmer's field about 65 miles inland and about a mile from a canal, the nearest body of water.

Police and wildlife officials in Los Banos were skeptical when reports about the 315-pound sea lion started arriving about 7 a.m. on Monday.

A dubious California Highway Patrol officer making a traffic stop on the same street was the first to the scene after he was alerted by a passing motorist in the town about 120 miles southeast of San Francisco.


"He went to check it out, and lo and behold, there was a sea lion in a farmer's field," CHP Officer Mike Panelli said.


When he got the call an hour later, California Department of Fish and Game biologist Greg Gerstenberg thought he would find a large otter or beaver roaming the farmland.


"We didn't believe it could be a sea lion, or a seal as they called it at first," Gerstenberg said. "Sometimes what people see and what it is are different. I had never heard of a sea lion in Merced County."


The creature was dubbed "CHiPpy" -- based on the nickname for highway patrol officers -- after he climbed up on a CHP squad car to sun himself and gaze at the growing crowd of gawkers while awaiting volunteers from the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito to come and round him up, Gerstenberg said.


Biologists and volunteers from the center herded the barking sea lion into a pen and took him to the facility just north of San Francisco for a checkup.


On Tuesday, CHiPpy, who is believed to be about five years old, was lolling in the California sun and soaking up attention from TV cameras, Cynthia Schramm, Marine Mammal Center spokeswoman, said.


"He's in very good shape and our veterinarians will take a blood test to see if he has any illnesses or infections related to his journey," Schramm said. "We will make a decision at that time when and where he will be released."


Gerstenberg said the sea lion probably swam up the San Joaquin River in pursuit of fish and became lost in a series of canals that crisscross some of the state's most fertile farmlands in a journey of more than 100 miles.


"There are lots of little crossings over the canals and probably when he reached ... a wider crossing he didn't find the other side and he started wandering up the road."



02/11/04 10:01

[Jolie Rouge]

Man Fined $10,000 for Going to Church

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?flok=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040210%2F1402213320.htm&sc=1120

TOWNSHIP 15 RANGE 15, Maine (AP) - A resident in this remote northern Maine outpost along the Quebec border says he is being fined $10,000 for doing something he has done most his life: Going to church.

Richard Albert, 52, said the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection recently notified him that he faces two $5,000 fines for twice crossing from Quebec into Maine on a Sunday when the local border crossing station is closed.

Albert's home is 30 yards on the Maine side of the border, right beside the U.S. Customs office. But the church is on the Canadian side of the border, which means he has to cross the boundary illegally to attend church services.

Albert, a U.S. citizen, said he has been crossing the U.S.-Canada border at his own discretion for more than 40 years. But border security has been tightened since last May when the Bureau of Customs eliminated its Form 1 program.


That program allowed preapproved people to cross the border when certain border stations - including the one between Township 15 Range 15 and St. Pamphile, Quebec - were closed.


``It was never an issue to cross before May 1, 2003, when they put a gate on the boundary and locked it up,'' Albert said. ``This situation, it's like having a nightmare, and you feel that Big Brother is really controlling you and you can do nothing about it.''


A customs bureau spokeswoman said she could not comment on specific cases, but said people may be penalized when they attempt to cross the border at a closed crossing or where no bureau facilities exist.


Entry without inspection carries a $5,000 penalty, and subsequent offenses may carry fines of up to $10,000, said spokeswoman Janet Rapaport.


The elimination of the Form 1 program creates problems for the dozen or so people who live in this settlement. That's because the stores, churches, medical facility and other amenities - not to mention family and friends - live across the border in Quebec.


The U.S. border station is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. To legally cross from Quebec into Maine at other times, motorists would have to travel 200 miles through Fort Kent and over dirt logging roads to get to their homes.


On a Sunday in January, Albert went into St. Pamphile to baby-sit his niece and then attend church. He had no trouble entering Canada because he and other U.S. residents along the border have special passes from the Canadian government that allow them to enter the country when its border stations are closed.


But U.S. law forbids crossing back into the United States when the U.S. border station is closed. Albert said he received a penalty notice in the mail last week saying no final decision had been made about his fines. He expects to hear in the next 60 days how much, if anything, he will have to pay.


Albert, who works for Robinson Lumber Co. on the Maine side of the border, hasn't attended church for the past three weeks. He said it's impossible for him to visit family and friends in Quebec as he has in years he has lived here.


``We're supposed to stay here and not move? There's nothing here on the American side,'' Albert said. ``We feel like we're being treated like animals here, At 9 p.m. we're locked in the barns, and at 6 a.m. we're let out to pasture.''


When the Form 1 program was eliminated last year, local residents appealed to the office of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, for help.


The senator's office has been seeking a solution and is concerned about Albert's fines, said Collins' spokeswoman Jen Burita.


``She was hoping the situation wouldn't come to this,'' Burita said.



02/10/04 14:02

[Jolie Rouge]

Congress focuses on television indecency
Fallout from Super Bowl halftime show
Wednesday, February 11, 2004 Posted: 6:10 PM EST

www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/02/11/house.decency.reut/index.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Outraged by how salacious programs on radio and network television have become in recent months, U.S. lawmakers vowed Wednesday to look at indecent shows on cable and satellite channels.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain urged cable and satellite companies to offer parents the ability to pick and choose what channels they get so they can protect their children from violence, sex and profanity, an idea that resonated with other lawmakers and regulators.

Federal regulators and lawmakers have sought to sharply increase fines for bad behavior on over-the-air television and radio stations after a rash of incidents, from the exposure of pop singer Janet Jackson's bare breast to foul language on the radio encouraging sexual violence against women.

The concept is "more persuasive than ever in providing parents control over their television sets," McCain, an Arizona Republican, said during a hearing that was called before the Jackson incident.

But lawmakers also heard that federal power to enforce decency standards on subscription cable and satellite service was limited compared to material on the public broadcast airwaves.

"It seems interesting that we say ... if it's on just a higher channel number, which you can get just by clicking your channel changer, we're going to ignore it and not pay attention to it," Sen. John Breaux, a Louisiana Democrat, said.

"We ought to look at the whole spectrum of what we get over our televisions," he said.

The Federal Communications Commission was inundated with complaints after Jackson's performance at the February 1 halftime show of the National Football League's Super Bowl. All the parties involved, Viacom Inc.'s CBS and MTV networks, as well as the performers and the NFL, apologized for the incident.

Viacom President Mel Karmazin pledged to use technology to briefly delay airing live events to prevent further incidents, but raised a note of caution that taking more drastic action could end live events altogether.

"With an enhanced system in place, some celebrities in fact may believe they can do and say anything based on the assumption that the network will catch the inappropriate-for-broadcast behavior before it airs," he told the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The panel has been holding a series of hearings on the issue and this time decided to focus on the Jackson incident and pending legislation to increase indecency fines.

While Congress and the FCC have proposed sharply boosting fines, FCC commissioners have called for the return of a family hour on prime-time television, tape and audio delay systems to ensure indecent behavior is excised from live events and to consider revoking broadcast licenses for repeat offenders.

"Absolutely the combination of what packages you get and what rights you have to block programming are the right places to look," FCC Chairman Michael Powell told lawmakers. But, "you can't just easily take the broadcast model and roll it over to cable."

McCain said that legislation may be necessary. Powell said the courts have held that cable and satellite companies enjoy free-speech protections more like a newspaper.

The agency recently proposed fining several Clear Channel Communications radio stations for violations and is on the verge of taking action against NBC television stations for an expletive uttered during the 2003 Golden Globe Awards show.

Federal rules bar the airing of obscene material and limits indecent material, often defined as involving sexual organs or activities, to late-night broadcast television and radio.

Karmazin said that increasing fines could put small broadcasters out of business and instead the agency should provide better guidelines for broadcast indecency.

[Jolie Rouge]

Guess Who Said No Way to Playboy?

Country music star Terri Clark is turning heads--because of what she said. Unlike other music stars who may try to make a name for themselves the quick and cheap way by taking off their clothes, Clark has turned down a potentially lucrative offer from Playboy magazine to appear on the cover of its May music issue. As The Associated Press says, Clark is keeping her cowboy hat on--along with the rest of her clothes.


"I'm mostly just a regular ol' girl who likes to have fun, play her guitar, drink some tequila, hang out with my friends," she explained in a statement to the media. "Exotic beauties and total sexpots get asked to do the cover of Playboy, not girls like me." She did admit she was pleased that Playboy realized that a "normal-sized woman can be sexy."


But the 35-year-old Canadian-born Clark decided that in the big picture, taking it all off for Playboy was not right for her image. "But for me, even as full-tilt as I am, there are just some things I can't quite get comfortable with."

[the fugative]

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd

Published February 12, 2004

While the Statue of Liberty remains closed for lack of $5 million in security upgrades, Congress in January mandated $10.7 billion in "earmarked" projects (also known as home-state "pork"), including: $50 million for an indoor rain forest in Iowa, $50 million to make sure a Florida beach resort bridge remains toll-free, $450,000 to decipher the gene structure of rainbow trout, $225,000 to repair a public swimming pool whose drain Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., clogged with tadpoles when he was a kid, $200,000 to introduce golf to youngsters, $90,000 for the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, and $500,000 for a University of Akron program that analyzes how Congress makes difficult budget decisions.

• Pilgrims recently flocked to the following places: (1) Brancaleone, Italy, to see a life-sized bronze statue of the recently sainted Padre Pio, which was reportedly weeping blood (December); (2) Passaic, N.J., to see a 2-foot-high tree stump whose shape resembles the Virgin Mary (October); (3) Bridgeport, Conn., to see a stain-like image on the ceiling of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church resembling the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus (December); (4) Bethlehem, to see a baby born with a birthmark across his cheek resembling the Arabic letters of the name of his uncle, a Hamas militant killed by Israeli soldiers (December).

Least competent criminals

• In January, Trilane A. Ludwig, 24, called his mother from jail in Clark County, Ala., and asked that she grab the $500 from his wallet at home and come bail him out. The $500 in cash was in the form of oversized, poorly made counterfeit bills, which put him in even more trouble. And in December, Tony Lee Hinrichs, 40, was arrested in Mesa, Ariz., based on video of him in the act of burglarizing the Extreme Surveillance shop; Hinrichs appeared not to be aware that the company is a security firm that might be expected to have cameras set up.

• Charles R. Grady sued Frito-Lay in 1993 after he suffered an esophageal tear and bleeding while swallowing a Doritos chip. Grady has been trying for several years to be permitted to introduce as evidence a study by a retired University of Pittsburgh chemical engineering professor who measured the downward force and quantity of saliva necessary to chew and swallow a Dorito and found them dangerously hard and sharp. In December 2003, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court sided with Frito-Lay, saying the professor's testing was not "generally accepted" science and therefore was inadmissible.

Courtroom follies

• Going beyond bar associations' supervision of lawyers' competence, clients Denzil Dean (in Clayton, Mo.) and Robert Butler (Toronto) exacted their own remedies for what they believed to be their attorneys' substandard performance. Dean, complaining in court in January that he did not want Richard Hereford to represent him, punched Hereford in the mouth, and Butler, complaining in court in December about delays in his case, punched out attorney Iryna Revutsky.

• Practitioners of the Santeria religion are such a presence in Miami area courtrooms, where they spread white dust on the furnishings to bring good luck to their friends and relatives, that attorneys have begun to complain about their higher dry-cleaning bills. Also found from time to time in those courthouses: remnants of Santeria-sacrificed chickens and goats, and mysterious candle formations.

• In New Port Richey, Fla., a 400-pound man fell to his waist through the floor of his home at the Orangewood Lakes Mobile Home Community and said he had been trapped there for two days; a neighbor had called on him during his ordeal, but the man declined help (October). And in nearby Largo, Fla., according to police, a 41-year-old woman offered to pay three teenagers $20 to beat up her son (but told them to be careful with the furniture) (January).

• In December, a federal judge rejected the latest appeal of David Cobb, 66, a former teacher at the Phillips Academy in New Hampshire, who made News of the Weird in 1995 with his attempts to seduce children by dressing as "Pumpkin Man" and encouraging kids to fondle him. He had challenged the child pornography counts against him, claiming that some of the nude photos he had were not of children, but of adults onto whose bodies he had meticulously glued head shots of kids cut out from magazine and catalog ads.



:p

[Jolie Rouge]

Life's Origins?

This Find Changes It All

The translucent rock, called chert, was discovered in Scotland in the 1920s and then carefully packed away in London's Natural History Museum and ignored.

Fast forward eight decades: David A. Grimaldi, curator of entomology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and Michael S. Engel of the University of Kansas examined the chert again and realized it contained a tiny fossil. This is no ordinary specimen. It dates back 400 million years, making it the oldest known insect ever found. This is significant because it pushes back the origins of Earth's most prolific life form some 20 million years, reports The Associated Press.


The insect appears to have triangular jaws, which are very similar to those found only in winged insects. If it did have wings, it means winged insects arose some 80 million years earlier than previously thought. Although the fossil measures just an eighth of an inch square, the live insect was probably a quarter of an inch long and may have looked like a tiny mayfly. It has been given the scientific name Rhyniognatha hirsti.


"We had no idea that insects might have developed wings so early on in their evolutionary history," Bill Shear, a professor of biology at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, told AP. "Either insects have been around for a lot longer prior to this time or wings and flight developed very rapidly after the origin of insects." The report on the fossil discovery was published in the journal Nature.

[the fugative]

Bummer...

Thu Feb 12, 8:19 AM ET



ATHENS (Reuters) - An angry husband who came across a video of his wife having sex with her lover on the Internet called the police who arrested a man suspected of filming a string of people without their consent, police said Thursday.



The 25-year-old cheating wife had been secretly filmed and the video was posted on the net when the man stumbled across it. "The husband saw his wife and immediately called a prosecutor to get his wife's clip off the net," a police source said.


After checking the suspect's computers, officers discovered hundreds of erotic clips filmed without consent which were posted on a free access site. The suspect was charged with violating a "sensitive personal information" act.


(I wonder why he was at those type of sites??)

:p


Teachers Treated After Eating Doped Cake

Fri Feb 13, 8:08 AM ET




BERLIN (Reuters) - Teachers in a German school were treated in hospital after gobbling up an anonymously donated chocolate cake, unaware it was laced with hashish, authorities said on Thursday.



Some 10 teachers from the school in the northern town of Lueneburg were treated for nausea and dizziness after sharing a cake left at the door to their staff room, a police spokesman said.


"They thought it was food poisoning, but the doctors quickly recognized the problem," the spokesman said. "They showed all the classic signs of people under the influence of drugs."


The spokesman said the teachers had not suspected anything because it was customary for them to buy cakes from the schoolchildren as part of a fund-raising project.


Blood tests and a sample of an uneaten slice of cake revealed it had been doctored with hashish. The teachers were later discharged and police said they had not yet identified who was responsible for the prank


:p
Astronomers Spy Massive Diamond

Fri Feb 13, 5:14 PM ET



LOS ANGELES - If anyone's ever promised you the sun, the moon and the stars, tell 'em you'll settle for BPM 37093. The heart of that burned-out star with the no-nonsense name is a sparkling diamond that weighs a staggering 10 billion trillion trillion carats. That's one followed by 34 zeros.


The hunk of celestial bling is an estimated 2,500 miles across, said Travis Metcalfe, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.


"You would need a jeweler's loupe the size of the sun to grade this diamond," said Metcalfe, who led the team that discovered the gem.


The diamond is a massive chunk of crystallized carbon that lies about 300 trillion miles from Earth, in the constellation Centaurus.


The galaxy's largest diamond is formally known as a white dwarf, or the hot core of a dead sun.


Astronomers have suspected for decades that white dwarfs crystallized, but only recently were able to verify the hypothesis.


A paper detailing the discovery has been submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters for publication.


(Liz Taylor is looking for a Jewler to mount it)

:p

Many Schools Ban Valentine Deliveries

Fri Feb 13, 5:14 PM ET



COLUMBIA, S.C. - Many high school students in South Carolina will have to say "I love you" on their own time. A growing number of high schools in the state are banning Valentine's Day (news - web sites) gift deliveries during school hours.


Principals say the flowers, balloons and other love tokens disrupt classes and distract the students. Northwestern High in Columbia instituted its ban eight years ago. Principal James Blake says he pulled the plug on classroom deliveries when some parents wanted the school to pay for roses that went to the wrong kid.


Many school districts have no policy on deliveries, leaving it up to the schools. Some schools allow limited deliveries, for example, letting students picked up deliveries from a room in the school at the end of the day and allowing students to receive delivery only if they don't ride the bus. Other schools ban them altogether.


Gift mix-ups are just part of the problem, school officials say. Large numbers of deliveries can force the school to find volunteers to get gifts to students. On school buses, big balloons can keep drivers from seeing the road. In some cases, students are called to the office throughout the day to pick up gifts.


"It's quite a few interruptions," said Northwestern Principal James Blake. "It was a distraction because when guys and girls are receiving teddy bears they're not concentrating on the instructional process. They're more concerned with the roses and flowers and all those other goodies."


And if the school fails to deliver the gifts until the next day?


"The balloons are flat and the flowers are wilted," said Greer High Principal Marion Waters said. "Woe to us if a delivery gets here late Friday afternoon and the student has early dismissal."


At Greer, school officials let florists and specialty shops know that the school won't accept deliveries.


School "is not the only place in town where Cupid can strike," Waters said. "In fact, it can happen right at their front door."


But it's just not as much fun at the front door, says 16-year-old Priscilla Clousell.


"The exciting part about getting flowers and balloons is having someone there to see it," said Clousell. "It's a competition."


Last year, Clousell wound up with two dozen roses, three balloons and a big bear. With a card and dinner, her boyfriend was out about $150. She spent about $30.


"Boys usually spend way more than girls," she said.


Even with schools' efforts, a few deliveries sometimes come when people are unaware of bans, some principals said.


"If something does show up ... we do call them and give them items," said Randy Reagan, principal of Lakewood High in Sumter.




:p

[Jolie Rouge]

Profanity, partner's name hidden in leaked Microsoft code
File swappers nab Windows secrets
By Jeordan Legon -- CNN
Friday, February 13, 2004 Posted: 8:12 PM EST

www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/biztech/02/13/microsoft.source/index.html

[i]SOURCE CODE : Programs are written by software developers using programming languages. This source code allows computers to understand and run software. The translation of the source code by the machine is known as compiling.




(CNN) -- Eager to get their hands on Microsoft's secrets, a frenzy of Internet file sharing followed the leak of source code for the popular Windows NT and Windows 2000 software.

The chunks of code -- riddled with hidden notes and profanity -- were posted on numerous file-sharing networks Friday. And message boards buzzed with anti-Microsoft comments, including "I hope they hack the hell out of it" and "I'm so glad I have a Mac."

It still was unclear how the security breach would impact millions of computers using the world's largest software maker's products. Microsoft quickly said there were no reports of the breach affecting customers as FBI agents tried to track down suspects.

But security experts said the compromised files -- by some estimates, about 15 percent of the code used to write the programs -- could arm hackers and virus writers with new weapons to launch more effective cyber attacks. Software pirates could potentially use the data to build better bootleg copies of Microsoft's programs. And the company's reputation -- already battered by critics of its security -- took another hit.

"It makes it easier" on hackers, said Ken Dunham, Malicious Code Intelligence Director for security firm iDefense. "Instead of trying blindly to get in, now you can just go in, see the lines of code, run it, test it."

Dunham and others spent hours looking for clues in the code, a mix of assembler, C and C++ programming languages. The leaked Windows 2000 code contained 30915 files and a whopping 13.5 million lines of code, he said. And the Windows NT breach had 95,103 files and 28 million lines. Both were available as zip files being exchanged readily on the Internet, Dunham said.

"You have a mixture of good code and junk that doesn't make sense," he said. "It looks like someone was playing around with it."

It's not clear whether numerous profanities that are written into the code -- invisible to front-end users of the programs -- were put there by Microsoft developers or those who got their hands on the files after them.

Experts looking at the leaked Windows code said they found several mentions of San Jose, California-based software maker Mainsoft. The Microsoft partner got access to the source code in 1994 to build applications that allow Windows programs to run on UNIX servers.

In a short statement released Friday afternoon, Mainsoft chairman Mike Gullard said the firm "will cooperate fully with Microsoft and all authorities in their investigation."

He declined to offer details. Microsoft would not say whether its detective work pointed to Mainsoft.

"Our investigation has shown that this was not a result of any breach of our corporate network or internal security," Microsoft spokesman Stacy Drake said.

Developers looking at the code said it appeared to come from a "core dump" file generated by one of Mainsoft's Linux-run machines, said Nate Mook, editor of BetaNews.com. Core dump files are created when a computer crashes to temporarily store unsaved data in the machine's hard drive.

But Dunham said that while Mainsoft's name appeared in the code at least three times, hackers could have added the information to throw off investigators.

The list of possible culprits could be long because Microsoft shares pieces of its source code with many governments, universities and large corporate clients.

Microsoft's Shared Source Initiative was launched last year in part to combat competition from Linux software, which is often less expensive and makes all its code public, allowing companies more customization.

Drake said Microsoft's detective work cleared the Shared Source Initiative as the cause of the breach.

Despite concerns that such source sharing could lead to more leaks, the program is vital to grow the business, Wilfried Grommen, general manager for Microsoft's business strategy for Europe, Middle East and Africa, told Reuters on Friday.

"I don't think that this kind of shared source usage can be scaled back," he said. "It's become an essential part of our business practices. Governments want it for trust and transparency. Businesses want it for security."

[Jolie Rouge]

:mad: :mad:

Prank Caller Tells Man Soldier Wife Dead

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040213%2F1858372054.htm&sc=1110

WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) - A phone call to Eddie Valentin saying that his wife, a U.S. Army Reserve sergeant, had been killed in an explosion in Iraq turned out to be a hoax.

But it took him nearly 24 hours to find out that the report of Sgt. Betsy Valentin's death was false. ``I went crazy. I banged my head against the wall,'' Eddie Valentin said Thursday.

The caller Wednesday claimed to be a colonel with the U.S. Department of Defense and knew personal information about Betsy Valentin, including her Social Security number, her husband said.


On Thursday afternoon, another call to Eddie Valentin cleared things up. It was his 37-year-old wife telling him that there had been no explosion and no injuries.


Her call was prompted by an e-mail message to her from a reporter for the Republican-American who had interviewed her when she was home on leave last month. The reporter sent the message after being unable to confirm the report of her death with military officials.


A reply came four hours later. She wrote that she was fine and had spent the day packing up gear she no longer needed. She followed that up with the call to her husband.


Police were at the Valentin home when the sergeant's call came in.
``There are a lot of sick people in this world,'' Eddie Valentin told his wife.


After talking to the military, police said Friday they are sure the call was a cruel prank, and they are pursuing a criminal investigation. ``The military was definitive. That is not how they notify next of kin when there has been a casualty,'' said police Sgt. Scott Stevenson.


Army officials said next of kin normally are notified in person by a soldier in uniform. Next of kin are only notified by telephone in rare cases, such as when the military wants to tell a family member before the name is released in the news media, they said.


``No one in the Army has placed this call,'' said Tesia Williams, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army human resources command.


She said there have been at least two other similar hoaxes.


Police executed a search warrant Friday to obtain cell phone records to determine where the call came from, Stevenson said. Potential charges would include harassment and criminal impersonation, Stevenson said.


``The husband, he was just incredulous,'' Stevenson said. ``He could not comprehend who would make a phone call like that.''



02/13/04 18:58

[Jolie Rouge]

Rabbi Urges Pig Fat on Buses to Stop Bombers

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040213%2F0817355752.htm&sc=reodd

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A prominent Israeli rabbi has proposed hanging bags of pig fat in buses to deter Muslim suicide bombers who may want to avoid contact with an "unclean" animal, an Israeli official said on Thursday.

The idea -- suggested by Rabbi Eliezer Fisher, a rabbinical judge, in a letter to police -- signaled the extremes to which some Israelis may be willing to go to stop Palestinian bombers who have killed hundreds of Israelis in recent years.

Judaism, like Islam, considers pigs unclean. But the ultra-Orthodox rabbi has ruled that special dispensation can be given for placing bags of lard in buses and public places in an effort to prevent attacks.

Police had no immediate comment on the proposal.


Asked about the deterrent capability of pig fat on Israeli buses, Palestinian sources called it an exercise in futility.


Islamic militants are told by those who send them on bombing missions that their souls enter Paradise instantly after they explode despite any contamination or defilement of their bodies.


"It's not a problem if it saves lives," Israeli Deputy Public Security Minister Yaakov Edri said, referring to the breaking of Jewish religious law.


"I personally support it," Edri told Reuters. "If it can deter even one suicide bomber -- then wonderful. Security authorities must consider it."


An article on the rabbi's proposal published on the Web site of the Israeli newspaper Maariv drew dozens of e-mail responses from readers ranging from incredulous to complimentary.



02/13/04 08:17

[Jolie Rouge]

``We're going against the evil alien clones,''
Man Charged in Two Ky. Shooting Deaths
By ELLEN R. STAPLETON

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040214%2F1535392505.htm&sc=1110

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A suspected gunman who told a reporter he was battling ``alien clones'' during a 6 1/2-hour standoff at his home was charged Saturday in the deaths of a female firefighter and another woman.

Patrick Hutchinson, 45, surrendered Friday night, hours after fire and police crews converged on his house in southeast Lexington following a report that a woman had been shot.

At one point during the standoff, a reporter from the Lexington Herald-Leader accidentally called Hutchinson while trying to reach his neighbors, officials said. An editor alerted police, who asked the reporter to end the call.

The reporter said Hutchinson made doomsday proclamations, calling the standoff ``Armageddon'' and rambling about the CIA and a conspiracy.


``We're going against the evil alien clones,'' the Herald-Leader reported Hutchinson as saying in its Saturday editions. ``I started with my wife.''


Hutchinson also faces attempted murder and assault charges, and was being held at the Fayette County jail. Police have not commented on his mental status.


One of the victims, 40-year-old Brenda Cowan, was the first black woman to join the Lexington Fire Department and was promoted to lieutenant last month. The other woman, whose identity was not immediately released, was fatally shot at the home before authorities arrived.

Firefighters came under fire when they approached the house, Lexington Police Chief Anthany Beatty said. Police stayed in contact with Hutchinson via telephone.


``It was a very difficult negotiation,'' Capt. Barry Cecil said. ``It went up and down all night long.'' After hours of negotiations, police cut the power to Hutchinson's house, and then blasted chemical agents into the building.


Jim Sandford, another firefighter who was shot, was in fair condition Saturday at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. Another firefighter and a police officer also suffered minor injuries.



02/14/04 15:35

[Jolie Rouge]

Woman Endures Surgeries to Lengthen Limbs
By GRETCHEN PARKER

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1500&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040214%2F1331389579.htm&sc=1500

PICKERINGTON, Ohio (AP) - Once 4-foot-3, Christy Ruhe now stands just 2 inches shy of 5 feet tall. She recently finished a two-year procedure that surgically broke her bowed legs, then stretched and straightened them, an agonizingly painful ordeal that would leave even her questioning how much she could endure.

She had always craved just a few more inches. Enough to drive any car and pump her own gas, or reach the pedals under the piano. Practical things, but seven inches would accomplish so much more.

To understand why she put herself through the surgeries and painful therapy is to understand a spirit determined to be as independent as possible.

Christy Ruhe (pronounced ROO-ee) was born with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. Her short legs were severely bowed. At 5, surgeons broke her hips and realigned them, but as her legs grew they stubbornly bent outward at the knees.


Limb lengthening might help straighten her legs, her pediatric orthopedic surgeon acknowledged, but he discouraged the idea.


The procedure is controversial. The advocacy group Little People of America has taken a stand against it, warning of the risks of long-term nerve and vascular damage.


But Christy, who lives in Pickerington, near Columbus, couldn't get the idea out of her head.


Her parents are not dwarfs, neither is willowy older sister Erin. John and Rita Ruhe nurtured their daughter's independence.


Yet outside the Ruhe house, she would learn about alienation. She would lag behind the group while walking. Strangers would stare.


``I always felt like, why do I have to explain this?'' she says.


At 22, Christy contacted Dr. Dror Paley at the International Center for Limb Lengthening, the clinic he co-founded with two other orthopedic surgeons at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore.


It's now late September 2001. Christy Ruhe is about to undergo the first limb-lengthening surgery, on her left leg. A year later, it will be the right leg.


Once broken as part of the procedure, shin bones and femurs automatically generate new bone. But as they heal, they're pulled apart to make them longer. The surgeries, which typically cost about $200,000, are covered by insurance.


Paley cuts holes in Christy's leg so he can screw the rods into the bone: Seven in her thigh and five in her shin. Each is a foot long. Half the length protrudes from her skin, so Paley can attach them to a graphite brace that Christy will crank.


Paley bores the pins deep into the thick whiteness he sees on the X-rays.


Finding a good place to crack the bone, he first drills a tight chain of small holes. He puts a chisel to the perforation and pounds it hard with a mallet. The whirring and hammering make it sound like a construction site.


The pain is like an ocean that sucks her under again and again.


Christy lies on her stomach, and a physical therapist bends her knee as far as it will go. Muscles and nerves are stretching to meet the length of the new, soft bone.


The therapist pushes until she feels the soft tissue become elastic. It's been only a few days since the first surgery.


Christy's face reddens, and she rides the wave of pain with short breaths. She tries not to scream but can't stop herself.


She wonders if the therapist knows what she's doing. ``This cannot be right!'' she thinks.


There's little blood and not a lot of cutting in limb-lengthening surgery. But recovery is an extended test of mettle and will.


After daily therapy, she gets around in a wheelchair. Four times a day, she uses an Allen wrench to turn the brace and stretch her leg.


The growth of bone and muscle tissue is measured in millimeters - 1 mm a day - but Christy doesn't feel it.


She smiles less these days, snaps at her parents and then regrets it. The steel rods sticking out of her legs interrupt her sleep. But quitting is not an option.


``You have those moments when you say, 'I can't do it anymore. I can't stand it,''' she says. ``You have to look back at why you're doing this. It's for my health, my well-being.''


As the left leg heals, it grows straight and strong. The long leg is a promise to her that the surgeries will be successful. Gradually, she realizes how much her life will change.


She begins to dream differently now, seeing the world from her new height, as a person who blends into a crowd.


It is spring of 2003, a year and a half after Christy's first surgery. A chronic infection has developed around one rod in the right leg, which was operated on six months ago. The rod must be removed.


The procedure will be done without general anesthesia, which always makes Christy's stomach roil.


Paley attaches a T-shaped handle to the troubled rod. With the first turn, Christy begins to shriek. John Ruhe tries to immobilize his daughter's good leg, and wraps his other arm around her shoulders. Her fist slams his chest as the pin turns.


Three minutes later, the end of the 12-inch pin appears. The hole in her thigh looks like a gunshot wound.


Christy's back slumps. Her eyes are closed.


There would be more ordeals ahead before the leg would finally heal.


The banner at the party reads, ``Congratulations Christy.''


It is a 25th birthday celebration, but the occasion also marks the end of her surgeries and crutches.


Party guests, friends and family, write messages on a plastic sign.


``In my eyes, you've always been tall,'' says one.


``You are my hero,'' her sister writes.


All eyes are on Christy, now 25, as she arrives. She steps carefully on her new legs.


Later, she would say she doesn't remember all of the pain she endured. Time has dulled her memory of it, and she prefers to look forward - to a life that she hopes will be easier.


She takes a second to place the faces before flashing a hundred-watt smile that's the picture of self-assurance.


``To me, I am tall,'' she says. ``I am a tall person now. That's all that matters.''



02/14/04 13:30

[the fugative]

Town T-shirts banned at Climax, Minn., school

Student sent home after refusing request to turn T-shirt inside out

BY PAULETTE TOBIN

Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald


About a dozen Climax-Shelly, Minn., students wore their Climax T-shirts to school this week in protest of the superintendent's ban on the shirt emblazoned with the town's centennial slogan: "Climax - More than just a feeling."

One student, who refused the superintendent's request to turn her shirt inside out Wednesday, was sent home for the afternoon.

The slogan's sexual innuendo made it inappropriate to wear to school, superintendent Shirley Moberg said Thursday. School officials had "turned a blind eye" to students wearing the T-shirt until recently, when a teacher wore it to school and a person complained, she said. From now on, the shirts will not be allowed to be worn at school.

"We were doing nothing other than what our school policy says," Moberg said.

Town slogan

The town of Climax adopted the "more than just a feeling" slogan in 1996 for its centennial. The slogan was used in advertising and promotions, and the T-shirts have been around for years.

Climax-Shelly junior Ali Tweten said some students objected to the ban in part because the shirts had been allowed in the past and because the ban seemed to come out of nowhere.

"When I wear my T-shirt, it's a sign of pride for my town," Tweten said. "I don't really wear it to be meant in that way (as a sexual innuendo)."

The superintendent said the school dress code prohibited wearing clothing or jewelry with objectionable signs, words, objects, badges, symbols or pictures communicating a message that is racist or sexist.

The administration has the discretion to judge when clothing or jewelry interferes or disturbs the educational process, and the authority to ask students to modify their clothing, Moberg said. Students who refuse can be sent home for the day, and parents or guardians will be notified.

"We don't allow any of the students to wear any T-shirts that are suggestive in any manner," she said. School policy also forbids T-shirts that advertise alcohol or tobacco, she said.

Inside out

Students who wore the shirt to school Wednesday were told to go to the bathroom and turn it inside out. All did, except 18-year-old Bethany Grove, a senior, who was suspended for the afternoon.

Grove said the T-shirt slogan could be seen as a sexual innuendo, but it could have other interpretations as well.

"The T-shirt has been a tradition," Grove said. "It's been around for almost 10 years. A lot of people have them."

The shirts weren't necessarily appropriate, she said, but they have been allowed in the past.

"I don't think they should be taken away now because one person was upset," she said. "The majority of the people like to wear them." Climax is, after all, the town's name, she said.

A town named Climax may lend itself to sexual connotations, but the name evolved from a brand of chewing tobacco, according to the town's history.

A story published in the Herald on July 3, 1996, at the time of the Climax centennial, said that in the 1800s, the Steenerson brothers sold machinery near the junction of the Sand Hill and Red rivers. They gave away Climax Plug Chewing Tobacco as a premium. Some people called the settlement Climax, and when the railroad came through in 1896, the name stuck, according to the Herald story.

When Climax was planning its centennial celebration, it had a contest to pick a slogan. Some of the other entries were "No End to Climax," "Cling to the Culmination: Climax Forever" and "Bring a Friend to Climax."

Climax is the smallest K-12 public school in Minnesota, and has about 80 students in high school.

Stories of Climax's centennial celebration and history can be found on www.grandforksherald.com.


:p

[the fugative]

Blind Wisconsin Owl Gets New Eye Lenses

Associated Press


MADISON, Wis. - A great horned owl found starving in the wild because it had gone blind could be released this spring after having new lenses implanted in its eyes.

The owl, named Minerva by medical personnel, underwent two hours of eye surgery Jan. 22, and Dr. Chris Murphy said she was in good condition during a follow-up exam Wednesday.

"Perfect," said Murphy, a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist. "Ounce for ounce, this is considered one of the toughest birds on the face of the earth."

Minerva was found in emaciated condition in early December, after someone told wildlife rehabilitators Sue and Jerry Theys an owl had been sitting on a fence for three days.

Sue Theys, who netted the owl, said she suspected the owl had cataracts. After a local veterinarian confirmed the diagnosis, the couple brought the owl to Murphy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.

Murphy had a pair of lenses on hand that had been custom-made six years ago for another great horned owl that proved to be an unfit candidate for the surgery. The lenses were designed by Murphy and Dr. Chuck Stuhr, and were made for free by Storz Ophthalmics, a company that has been bought by Bausch & Lomb.

With Murphy supervising, Dr. Renee Carter and fellow resident Katie Diehl implanted the new lenses.

"To the best of my knowledge, this has not been done anywhere," Murphy said.

The Theyses, who operate Wildlife of Wisconsin wildlife rehabilitation, paid for $300 of the $1,800 procedure, with the veterinary school donating the rest.

During her recovery, the Theys have been giving Minerva antibiotic eye drops three times daily and feeding her rats and an occasional rabbit.

In April, they will move the owl to a much larger flight cage and release live rats into the straw-filled enclosure to see if she can successfully hunt. If so, she'll be released back into the wild.

Great horned owls are the largest owls in North America, with females obtaining a wingspan of five feet and weighing up to 5 1/2 pounds. They use night vision and an acute sense of hearing to find prey in the dark.

"She's extremely feisty," Sue Theys said. "She can't understand why we're messing with her. She can see and she wants to take off and fly."

ON THE NET

UW veterinary school: http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/home

:p

[Jolie Rouge]

Man Held for Faking Wife's Death in Iraq

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040215%2F1337415796.htm&sc=1110

WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) - A man believed to have been the victim of a cruel prankster who told him his wife had been killed in Iraq has admitted concocting the story and was arrested Sunday, authorities said.

Edward Valentin, whose wife Betsy is an Army Reserve sergeant, was charged with making a false statement to police, falsely reporting an incident concerning a death and harassment, Police Chief Neil O'Leary said.

Valentin was being held in lieu of $5,000 bail, and arraignment was set for Monday.

``As far as why he did it, there's no clear answer,'' O'Leary said. ``He claimed he did it because he has been struggling with three children. And if everyone felt sorry for him, including the military, they'd send Betsy home.''


O'Leary said investigators also discovered that Valentin had been trying to date another woman, who was not interested in dating a married man.


Valentin told reporters that he received a call Wednesday from someone identifying himself as a colonel at the Department of Defense. The caller, he said, told him his wife had been killed in an explosion.


On Thursday, however, he received a call from his wife. There had been no explosion and no injuries. That led investigators to believe there had been a hoax.


Police said Saturday that Valentin admitted making up the story.


Valentin's story began to fall apart when a reporter for The Republican-American of Waterbury, who had previously interviewed Betsy Valentin, e-mailed her in Iraq. Hours later, she returned the e-mail and called her husband.


It was unclear Sunday whether Betsy Valentin knew her husband had been arrested. Maj. John Whitford of the Army National Guard said that the news would be passed through the chain of command.



02/15/04 13:36

[Jolie Rouge]

Surprising! Men Go Gaga Over WHO?

Men are getting all hot and bothered by older women. At least, that's the conclusion of a popular online dating network that asked men to name their top celebrity fantasy date. Wireless Flash reports that the women who made the top of the list were anything but 20-something hotties or vixen-like teenyboppers. They were, um, how do we say this? Mature women. Especially by the standards of youth-fixated Hollywood.


The top celebrity fantasy dates and their ages:

1. Jennifer Aniston, age 35
2. Demi Moore, age 42
3. Meg Ryan, age 42
4. Diane Lane, age 39
5. Amy Smart, age 26


But the one that may raise the most cheers among women is No. 7: 58-year-old Diane Keaton. You go, girl!

[Jolie Rouge]

Student Group Offers Whites-Only Award

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040215%2F1549419093.htm&sc=1110

BRISTOL, R.I. (AP) - A student group at Roger Williams University is offering a new scholarship for which only white students are eligible, a move they say is designed to protest affirmative action.

The application for the $50 award requires an essay on ``why you are proud of your white heritage'' and a recent picture to ``confirm whiteness.''

``Evidence of bleaching will disqualify applicants,'' says the application, issued by the university's College Republicans.

Jason Mattera, 20, who is president of the College Republicans, said the group is parodying minority scholarships.


``White kids are at a handicap,'' Mattera told The Providence Journal. ``Handing out scholarships based on someone's color is absurd.''


The stunt has angered some at the university, but the administration is staying out of the fray. The school's provost said it is a student group's initiative and is not endorsed by Roger Williams.


Mattera, who is of Puerto Rican descent, is himself a recipient of a $5,000 scholarship open only to a minority group.


``No matter what my ethnicity is, I'm making a statement that scholarships should be given out based on merit and need,'' he said.


It's not the first brush with controversy for the group. The school temporarily froze the Republicans' money in the fall during a fight over a series of articles published in its monthly newsletter. One article alleged that a gay-rights group indoctrinates students into homosexual sex.



02/15/04 15:49

[the fugative]

Man can't shake shark

Associated Press


SYDNEY, Australia - Lifeguards at a beach post north of Sydney couldn't believe their eyes when a man walked in with a small shark attached to his leg.

Luke Tresoglavic swam 1,000 feet to shore, walked to his car and drove to the local surf club with the 23-inch shark biting his leg and refusing to let go.

"I just realized I had to swim in like that, hanging on to it," Tresoglavic told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio on Wednesday.

Tresoglavic, 22, was snorkeling on a reef off Caves Beach near Newcastle on Tuesday when a wobbegong, or carpet shark, attacked his leg.

"Once I got on to shore, a couple of people tried to help me, but I could not remove it," he said. "It was stuck there, so I got up into my car and then drove to the clubhouse, and luckily the guys down there had a clue what to do."

A senior lifeguard at the clubhouse, Michael Jones, said he couldn't believe his eyes when Tresoglavic turned up - shark in tow.

"He basically asked the question: 'Can you help me get it off?' There's nothing in our procedure manual for that type of thing," Jones said.

The lifeguards flushed the shark's gills with fresh water, forcing it to loosen its grip on Tresoglavic's leg - with blood oozing from 70 needle-like punctures. The shark later died.

"He's lucky he didn't get into difficulties in the water trying to swim with that thing thrashing around," Jones said.

But he said Tresoglavic remained in good spirits throughout the ordeal. "There was a side of humor to it," he said.

Tresoglavic was taken to hospital, but it was not immediately clear what treatment he received.

Wobbegong sharks can grow to nearly 10 feet in length, possess razor-sharp teeth and are said to be moody and short-tempered.

:p

[Jolie Rouge]

Partying Bush Twin Puts On Quite a Show

Barbara Bush, the 22-year-old daughter of President and Mrs. George W. Bush, acted anything but presidential in the wee hours of Thursday morning when she put on an impromptu belly-dancing show at a star-studded New York City hot spot.

The whole thing started when Barb decided to imitate the "undulating tummy of a sword-twirling Japanese dancer named Yoko," as New York Post "Page Six" gossip columnist Richard Johnson so delectably writes. Barbara was attending an after-party celebrating Jennifer Nicholson's fashion show. (She's the 30-something daughter of actor Jack Nicholson.) Barb was a huge hit! The crowd enjoyed Yoko and Barbara's belly-dancing so much they threw flowers and hundreds of dollars in cash at their feet, reports the Post.

Looking at the plentiful margaritas and Veuve Clicquot champagne on Barbara's table, one partygoer dished to the gossip column, "I hope the Secret Service is driving her home." And that was said before the belly-dancing even started.

Click to see a photo of 22-year-old Barbara Bush with her cousin, model Lauren Bush. Check out who's sitting next to them!

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/bigpic.jsp?photoid=20040212XNYR203.jpg&this=0&searchpage=photosearch.jsp&cap=barbara+bush&w=ap+or+reuters&max=8&first=&fs=&floc=wn-ns

[Jolie Rouge]

[Men vs. Women: Caffeine's Bizarre Effect

When men drink coffee or tea at work it may sabotage their ability to do their jobs as it triggers stress, worsens anxiety, disrupts their emotions, and undermines their ability to work well on a team. Coffee or tea has the opposite effect on women, boosting their confidence and helping them to handle stress better. New Scientist reports that researchers from Bristol University in the United Kingdom concluded that caffeinated beverages make men less cooperative when working on teams and could actually hamper their ability to do certain tasks. This is the first study to look at the effect of caffeine on teamwork within groups.

"Our research findings suggest that the commonplace tea or coffee break might backfire in business situations, particularly where men are concerned," psychologist Lindsay St. Claire, who led the study with Peter Rogers, told New Scientist. "Far from reducing stress, it might actually make things worse."


The study: Caffeine's effects were tested on 32 coffee drinkers, who were divided into three groups. Each group was told it was being given one of these drinks: a caffeinated coffee that would boost their performance, a caffeinated coffee that causes stress-like side-effects, or decaffeinated coffee. But unknown to the volunteers, only half the drinks contained 200 mg of caffeine; the other half contained no caffeine. The volunteers were given two stressful tasks to complete.

The results: Men who believed their caffeinated coffee would enhance their performance had higher heart rates and used less adaptive coping strategies. In other words, they showed more stress. That had the effect of worsening the men's performance during a public speaking task, although it did not effect their ability to do a math problem. During another stressful task, taking a coffee break did seem to reduce stress, but it also reduced teamwork. The opposite seemed to be true for women in that coffee appeared to lower their stress levels. Jim Lane, a medical psychologist at Duke University in North Carolina who is researching caffeine's stress effects, told New Scientist that caffeine's effects on men may be worse because men may feel more threatened or challenged by some tasks than women, and caffeine amplifies their stress.

[Jolie Rouge]

[In a Galaxy Far, Far Away: A Rare Find

An international team of astrophysicists has detected a faint and tiny galaxy 13 billion light-years from Earth, which they insist is the farthest known object from our planet, reports The Associated Press. Most interesting of all is that this discovery offers a rare glimpse back to when the universe was just 750 million years old.

Finding this galaxy was no simple matter: It took two powerful telescopes--the Hubble Space Telescope in space and another one in Hawaii atop Mauna Kea --as well as something called "gravitational lensing." The astrophysicists were only able to see the galaxy by the natural magnification provided by a massive cluster of galaxies. The gravitational tug of the cluster, called Abell 2218, deflects the light of the distant galaxy and magnifies it many times over, explains AP. This is called gravitational lensing and produces double images of the galaxy. Without this technique, which was first proposed by Albert Einstein, the galaxy could never be identified or studied in any detail.

This tiny galaxy far, far away offers a rare look at the time when stars and galaxies first formed during a period astrophysicists call the end of the cosmological Dark Ages. "The possibility is here we really are beginning to peek into that time," Robert Kirshner, an astronomer with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., who was not connected with the discovery, told AP. "People have gone there in their imagination. They've thought about it. Now we are getting the facts." News of the discovery was announced during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Seattle. Further details will be published in the Astrophysical Journal.

[Jolie Rouge]

Guess Who Beat Up Simon Cowell?

Homer Simpson has gotten to do what plenty of "American Idol" contestants have no doubt fantasized about doing: He beat up tart-tongued judge Simon Cowell. OK, so Homer beat up the animated version of Simon. We're not advocating real violence here--just the cartoon kind.

Titled "Smart and Smarter," the episode airs on Sunday. Cowell plays himself, but instead of being a judge on "American Idol," he's an admissions officer who makes fun of baby Maggie after she auditions for nursery school. So Homer beats him up, reports The Associated Press.

Check out the newest addition to Madame Tussauds wax museum in New York: an animated Simon Cowell figure that has a funny reaction to a bad performance. Click to find out what it is!
Little known facts about Mr. Cowell, courtesy of his girlfriend, Terry Seymour, who dished the dirt to TV Guide:

--Simon has a softer side. When Terry has a bad day, Simon will actually inquire: "What's happened? What have I done?"

--When the couple watches television in the evening, she puts her feet on his lap. "He'll tickle them for hours," Terry said. "He's quite good at it."

--Simon is "ridiculous generous" and never lets her pay for dinner.

--How is this for romantic? When Simon went to the dentist, he came home with two toothbrushes instead of just one for himself. (Wow. We're speechless.)

--He doesn't like to hold hands.

[Jolie Rouge]

M&M's obsession leads to physics discovery
Monday, February 16, 2004 Posted: 2:39 PM EST (1939 GMT)

www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/02/16/science.candy.reut/index.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Princeton physicist Paul Chaikin's passion for M&M's candies was so well known that his students played a sweet practical joke on him by leaving a 55-gallon drum of the candies in his office.

Little did they know that their prank would lead to a physics breakthrough.

The barrel full of the oblate little candies made Chaikin think about how well they packed in. A series of studies have shown they pack more tightly than perfect spheres -- something that surprises many physicists and Chaikin himself.

"It is a startling and wonderful result," said Sidney Nagel, a physicist at the University of Chicago. "One doesn't normally stop to think about this. If you did, you might have guessed what would happen, but you'd have guessed wrongly."

The issue of how particles pack together has intrigued scientists for centuries and has implications for fields such as the design of high-density ceramic materials for use in aerospace or other industries.

Chaikin and his colleague, chemist Salvatore Torquato, used the candies to investigate the physical and mathematical principles involved when particles are poured randomly into a vessel.

Writing in Friday's issue of the journal Science, they said they found that oblate spheroids -- such as plain M&M's -- pack surprisingly more densely than regular spheres when poured randomly and shaken.

When poured in, they said, spheres occupy about 64 percent of the space in a container. M&M's manage to pack in at a density of about 68 percent.

"We just stretched a sphere and suddenly things changed dramatically," said Torquato. "To me, it's remarkable that you can take this simple system with common candies and probe one of the deepest problems in condensed matter physics."




Mars Inc., which makes M&M's, did not help sponsor the research although it donated 125 pounds of almond M&M's to Chaikin, Princeton said in a statement.

[Jolie Rouge]

New film challenges full-frontal taboo
Monday, February 16, 2004 Posted: 10:57 AM EST (1557 GMT)

www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/16/film.full.frontal.ap/index.html


NEW YORK (AP) -- A smitten young man in Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Dreamers" steals a photo of his inamorata and puts it next to his private parts, then is understandably embarrassed when she forcibly peels off his tighty-whiteys and discovers it.

Rather than being appalled, she appears quite complimented by this different kind of Kodak moment -- a close-up that leaves nothing to the imagination as the picture gently catapults toward her.

Such scenes got an NC-17 rating slapped on the new film by the director whose oeuvre includes the 1972 X-rated "Last Tango in Paris."

But in the three decades since then, scenes with full-frontal male nudity usually can be timed with a stopwatch while those with nude women can be measured with a sundial.

Even in "The Full Monty," filmgoers didn't get the full monty -- not even for a split second.

Pop-culture observers maintain that's because a de facto sexism still exists in Hollywood, where women can parade around in the altogether but men can't.

The instances of actors in mainstream American movies swinging in the breeze are so rare that movie buffs can catalog them off the top of their heads.

Harvey Keitel has let it all hang out at least twice ("The Piano" and "Bad Lieutenant") and Ewan McGregor at least four times, including the upcoming "Young Adam." Bruce Willis in 1994's "Color of Night," Kevin Bacon in 1998's "Wild Things" and Geoffrey Rush in 2000's "Quills" as well as the prosthetically enhanced Mark Wahlberg in 1997's "Boogie Nights" are among the few others.

Sarah Riddick, an English professor who heads the film program at William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri, attributes it simply to the industry's gender makeup: "It is still a male-dominated business, and men are more likely to show female nudity."

Only actresses with great clout such as Julia Roberts can insist on a no-nudity clause.

Elayne Rapping, a professor of women's studies and media studies at the State University of New York, Buffalo, said it's such as it ever was: You can look back to classic paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries and see fully clothed men with nude women.

"That's been a constant of Western culture for centuries in representational art -- that women have been presented as objects for what in film theory is called 'the male gaze.' The assumed viewer is male, and the woman is to be looked at for male pleasure," she said.

She said another reason there are few full-frontal male nude scenes is that it raises an issue of vulnerability for men.

"For a man to reveal his private parts is to be reduced to the position that women have always been reduced to -- which is to be examined, to be judged. And I think that's a scary thing," she said, adding: "When a man is flaccid, it's not a very virile thing."

Sexuality in movies

One theory holds that while women have several areas to satisfy scopophilia -- the term sometimes used in feminist film criticism that literally means the "love of looking" -- men really have just one, where size matters. So a woman might have a beautiful face or legs that offset, say, her breast size, but if a man has a certain shortcoming, a handsome mug or six-pack abs fail to make up for it.

Yoko Ono once joked: "I wonder why men get serious at all. They have this delicate, long thing hanging outside their bodies which goes up and down by its own will. If I were a man I would always be laughing at myself."

For a male view, there's Jim McBride, aka Mr. Skin, who runs a Web site that's a compendium of movie nudity. He was quoted recently as saying he prefers his silver-screen sex "without a guy in the scene."

Rapping suggested that men also may be afraid of the "male gaze" for homophobic reasons.

"The fear of male homosexuality is the fear of the loss of male dominance in our society -- if everybody gets equally sexualized and equally open to having sex with everybody else then the whole system of male dominance gets called into question."

Fox Searchlight's release of "The Dreamers" -- uncut and with an NC-17 rating -- has refocused attention on the issue of sexuality in movies.

When the distributor decided to go ahead with the unbowdlerized version, Bertolucci alluded to the expression "Make love, not war" from the late '60s (when his film is set) by saying: "After all, an orgasm is better than a bomb."

"Americans are much more comfortable with extreme violence in their movies than any sexuality," observed Stephen Gilula, Fox Searchlight's president of distribution.

Gilula, who attributes Bertolucci's comfort depicting sex to his European upbringing, said his company decided to release the film with an adult rating because while NC-17 has become "sort of a scarlet letter ... We felt it wouldn't be the liability everybody perceived it was."

Unrated films with comparable -- and even more explicit -- content are playing in U.S. theaters anyway, he said, and Fox Searchlight research has dispelled the long-held notion that newspapers won't carry ads for NC-17 movies and movie chains won't show them.

In the past 15 years or so, many porn theaters across the nation have closed because home video -- not to mention the Internet -- took their market away, he noted.

"There is no longer any real issue about pornographic material in movie theaters," Gilula said. "It's really an issue (of): Can filmmakers make adult subject matter and utilize the NC-17 rating without having to go unrated?"

Power of television, cinema

Bertolucci's movie may help destigmatize the rating, he averred. "I think it opens the door for the possibility for distributors to consider using the rating without assuming it's a liability."

Time was, even an X rating wasn't a drawback: John Schlesinger's "Midnight Cowboy" won the 1969 best-picture Oscar despite it.

"How is it in 2004 we are more puritanical than 30 years ago?" Bertolucci said.

And even before the exposure of Janet Jackson's right breast at the Super Bowl halftime show, Bertolucci talked about how kids at home in their rooms see what he deems an incredible amount of sex and violence. So he wonders why movies are so persecuted?

"The power of television is much, much greater than the power of cinema," he said.

After Philip Kaufman directed "Quills," his wife made a joke while they waited for the Motion Picture Association of America rating (which turned out to be R). "She said they should just put on, 'Not for children of all ages.' ... The movie was made for adults," Kaufman recalled.

Still, the director of the first film to get an NC-17 rating -- 1990's "Henry & June" -- questions whether, if you take away topless shots, women are exposed more often than men.

Even at that, he pointed out that his upcoming movie, "Twisted," shows more male nudity in the sex scenes involving Ashley Judd (none of it full-frontal).

He also raised the question that many ask: Do women really want to see more male nudity?

"Maybe, in fact, just because of the nature of our society and so forth, more male nudity is about to come," Kaufman said.

When NC-17 supplanted X -- mostly because it had been proudly commandeered by the porn industry -- it retained a smutty stigma.

But maybe that will change, Kaufman said; NC-17 will yet be matter-of-factly applied to films of "higher motive."

Gilula of Fox Searchlight certainly hopes so. And he thinks "The Dreamers" might be the watershed.

"It's a film of very serious intent. It has sex in it. But it's also about music, it's about politics, it's about relationships. It's about a lot of things. And it's about movies," he said. "Anyone who's going for any salacious intent I think will probably be disappointed."

[Jolie Rouge]

3 Charged After Man Fed to Lion
Man says former co-worker thrown to lions
From Charlayne Hunter-Gault -- CNN
Tuesday, February 17, 2004 Posted: 1:57 PM EST

www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/02/17/lion.eaten/index.html

HOEDSPRUIT, South Africa (CNN) -- A South African farm laborer said Tuesday that his white employer strangled a former black employee, then held a gun to his head and forced him to throw his dismissed co-worker's lifeless body to lions.

Workers at the Mokwalo White Lion Project on Sunday found a skull, a leg bone and some blood-soaked clothes, all that police said they think remains of Nelson Chisale, 38, a father of three.

Police are holding three men on suspicion of dumping Chisale's body into an enclosure with lions at a lion-breeding operation in the northeastern part of the country. On Tuesday, authorities released a fourth man, Robert Mnisi, 34, after he agreed to cooperate with the prosecution.

Authorities have not filed formal charges against farm owner Mark Scott-Crossley, 34, and two farm workers, whom The Associated Press identified as Simon Mathebula and Richard Mathebula. Police await the results of DNA tests on the remains, which could take several weeks.

A judge Tuesday postponed a bail hearing for the men. The next scheduled hearing is March 30.

Mnisi said Tuesday that Scott-Crossley strangled Chisale and then ordered him to throw the body to the lions at a breeding facility several miles from the farm where they were working. The farm laborer spoke to CNN from a holding cell before he was released.

"Then he say to me, 'Doctor pick it up [Chisale's body] and throw it in the lions,' " said Mnisi, who said Scott-Crossley put a gun to his head when he objected. "He say, 'Hey, if you don't want to listen to me, I'll shoot you. Get inside there.' "


The half-eaten body was found in the Project's lion pit.
Scott-Crossley recently fired Chisale, and police said they think Chisale was assaulted when he returned to the farm to collect his personal belongings. Earlier, Chisale filed charges, accusing Scott-Crossley of burning clothes the worker had left at the farm.

Also in a holding cell, Scott-Crossley said Tuesday he welcomes the media attention the case is receiving.

"So, you must follow it to the end so that once the truth is out, there's no sweeping anything under the carpet," he said.

[Jolie Rouge]

Goodbye Slaughterville,
Hello Veggieville?

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040217%2F1109469733.htm&sc=reodd

DALLAS (Reuters) - A vegetarian group wants an Oklahoma town named after a family that helped settle the state to change its name to Veggieville because they think its sounds a lot better than Slaughterville.

The city council of Slaughterville, Oklahoma, a town of about 3,000 in the center of the state, was due to discuss next week the proposal by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA is even offering $20,000 worth of veggie burgers to an area school if the name change goes through.

But town manager Marsha Blair said on Friday the chances of passage were slim to none. "We do not intend to change the name," she told Reuters.


Bruce Friedrich, PETA's campaign manager, said the organization is focusing its resources on the abuse and cruelty of animals that are killed for the food and clothing industries in slaughterhouses.


"Even if the people of Slaughterville are not looking at the cruelty to farmed animals as an issue, it is a fact that anyone, including the residents of Slaughterville, who is eating meat, is supporting the felony level of abuse of animals," he said.


Slaughterville was named after a family that helped settle the area in the 19th century. The family ran a dry goods store and blacksmith shop.



02/17/04 11:07

[the fugative]

Poi for the pooch? Hawaii lawmaker wants dogs allowed into outdoor cafes
Associated Press
Published February 17,


HONOLULU -- Cpl. Rita Levergood and her husband disagree whether four-legged members of their family should be able to join them out to dinner. The state, however, is clear: It's against the law.

A state senator's proposal going before a Department of Health committee this week would make it easier for animal lovers like Levergood to dine out with the pets they say are like family.

``I hate to leave them at the house by themselves,'' said Levergood, 21, who owns two dogs. ``I most definitely would like to bring them.''

Sen. Fred Hemmings, a Republican, wants to see state health rules eased to give restaurants the option of allowing dogs into outdoor seating areas.

His request faces a vote Thursday by the state's Advisory Council on Food Protection Practices. If it is adopted, Hawaii would join 21 other states with similar pet-friendly dining rules, according to Tara Kain of DogFriendly.com.

Current Hawaii health regulations ban pets from food establishments. Violators face fines and, for repeated offenses, closure.

It was at a small cafe in the French resort Biarritz that Hemmings came up with the idea of relaxing the regulations. He says he still can't erase the memory of an elderly woman whose tiny dog was seated beside her.

``I would have to surmise that this dog was a very important part of this woman's life,'' he said.


:p

[Jolie Rouge]

Scientists Find New Species of Whale
By ALEX DOMINGUEZ

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1501&idq=/ff/story /0001%2F20031119%2F132435449.htm&sc=1501

Japanese scientists say they have identified a new species of whale - a remarkable discovery if confirmed.

The animal is a type of baleen, the family of whales that strain tiny plankton and other food from seawater, the researchers say.

``Can you imagine? An animal of more than 10 meters was unknown to us even in the 21st century,'' said Tadasu Yamada of Tokyo's National Science Museum, the senior author of the study that appears in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

Most baleens grow to enormous proportions, like the blue whale, which at 75 feet long and more than 100 tons is believed to be the largest animal that has ever lived.


By comparison, the new species is on the small side at about 30 feet long - about the size of a motor home - and slender.


While new species of smaller creatures such as insects, birds and amphibians are discovered every year, it is very unusual for scientists to identify a new mammal, particularly one so large. Most whale species were described during the 18th and 19th centuries when commercial whaling drove many to the brink of extinction.


Scientists currently recognize 70 whale species, including as many as 12 types of baleen whales. But little is known about the subtle differences among many types of whales that are seldom seen by humans.


The Japanese researchers made their discovery through DNA analysis of nine adult whale carcasses. Eight - five females and three males - were killed in 1970 for research in the eastern Indian Ocean and the Solomon Sea. At the time, scientists assumed they were undersized fin whales.


A ninth whale - a female - was killed accidentally in the Sea of Japan in 1998. Fisherman towed it to Tsunoshima Island, where Yamada examined it. Later, he began comparing it to preserved samples of the eight whales in his nation's fisheries research collection. The anatomical and molecular comparison took several years to complete.


Nearly every whale carcass raises new possibilities. It could take additional studies over several years before other biologists accept the new whale species.


According to the Nature study, the new species shows several differences from fin whales, including external features, bone structure and DNA. The researchers named the new species Balaenoptera omurai in honor of the late Japanese whale researcher, Dr. Hideo Omura.


Besides being smaller than fin whales, the new species has fewer baleen plates in its mouth, Yamada says. Baleen is a hornlike substance that forms filaments that hang down from the roof of the mouth to strain food from seawater.


DNA analysis performed on samples from three of the whales showed they differ from fin whales by five nucleotides, or base pairs of amino acids, in sections of the whale genome used for comparison.


Some U.S. researchers are skeptical of the Nature report.


James Mead, curator of marine mammals at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, said there are at least seven other whale species that share the same traits, and a more careful comparison is needed before a new species is accepted.


``I am disappointed in the lack of thorough comparison with other species of allied whales,'' Mead said.


Harvard whale researcher Joe Roman said the evidence for classifying them as a new species was ``compelling and certainly warrants further study.''


Researchers on both sides of the Pacific said the questions surrounding the nine whales demonstrates how little is known about them. They condemned whale-hunting, even for scientific purposes.


In 1986, the International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling. Japan, however, takes hundreds of whales a year under a scientific exemption, usually selling them for food and other products after they are studied.


Norway has ignored the ban since 1993 and resumed commercial hunting, while Iceland resumed scientific whaling this year.


Yamada said the new species is a small population, which should be studied more carefully before countries decide to harvest the whales for research.


Roman agreed, saying, ``research whaling could actually endanger this exciting discovery.''

[Jolie Rouge]

Doctors Find 350 Coins in Patient's Belly
By JEFF DONN

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0001/20040218/1900518264.htm

BOSTON (AP) - French doctors were taken aback when they discovered the reason for a patient's sore, swollen belly: He had swallowed around 350 coins - $650 worth - along with assorted necklaces and needles.

The 62-year-old man came to the emergency room of Cholet General Hospital in western France in 2002. He had a history of major psychiatric illness, was suffering from stomach pain, and could not eat or move his bowels.

His family warned doctors that he sometimes swallowed coins, and a few had been removed from his stomach in past hospital visits.

Still, doctors were awed when they took an X-ray. They discovered an enormous opaque mass in his stomach that turned out to weigh 12 pounds - as much as some bowling balls. It was so heavy it had forced his stomach down between his hips.


Five days after his arrival, doctors cut him open and removed his badly damaged stomach with its contents. He died 12 days later from complications.


One of his doctors, intensive care specialist Dr. Bruno Francois, said the patient had swallowed the coins - both French currency and later euros - over about a decade. His family tried to keep coins and jewelry away from him.


``When he was invited and came in some homes, he liked to steal coins and eat them,'' Francois said.


The case history of the French patient, whose name was withheld, was reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.


The patient's rare condition is called pica, a compulsion to eat things not normally consumed as food. Its name comes from the Latin word for magpie, a bird thought to eat just about anything.


Pica can take the form of eating dirt, ashes, chalk, hair, soap, toothbrushes, burned matches and many other things. Francois once treated a patient who ate forks. Most such objects are small enough to pass on their own, but some must be removed by doctors.


The condition is perhaps best known in children and pregnant women but is also sometimes linked to psychiatric illness.


A few details of the Frenchman's case were presented Jan. 1 along with the X-ray - but no explanation of the stomach mass - as a challenge to New England Journal of Medicine readers in a fixture called ``A Medical Mystery.''


Dr. Lindsey Baden, an editor at the journal, reported that 666 readers in 73 countries - mostly doctors or doctors-in-training - contacted the journal to try to solve the mystery. Almost 90 percent settled on diagnoses consistent with pica, but only 8 percent correctly identified coins.


``This case serves as a reminder of important factors that should be considered in the care of patients who are mentally impaired,'' Baden wrote.



02/18/04 19:00

[Jolie Rouge]

Black Hole Seen Ripping Star Apart
By ANDREW BRIDGES

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1501&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040218%2F2247565737.htm&sc=1501

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Two space observatories have provided the first strong evidence of a supermassive black hole stretching, tearing apart and partially gobbling up a star flung into reach of its enormous gravity, astronomers said Wednesday.

The event had long been predicted by theory but never confirmed.

A powerful X-ray blast drew the attention of astronomers to the event, located near the center of a galaxy about 700 million light-years from Earth. The international team of astronomers believe gases from the star, heated to multimillion-degree temperatures as they fell toward the black hole near the heart of galaxy RX J1242-11, produced the blast.

Astronomers said a star about the size of our sun neared the black hole after veering off course following a close encounter with another star. The tremendous gravity of the black hole, estimated to have a mass 100 million times that of our sun, then stretched the star to the point of breaking.


``This is the ultimate David versus Goliath battle, but here David loses,'' said Gunther Hasinger, of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany.


The effect is the same that the tug of the moon has on the Earth's oceans, but with much more violent results. The black hole consumed an estimated 1 percent of the doomed star, flinging the rest out into space.


``This unlucky star just wandered into the wrong neighborhood,'' said Stefanie Komossa, also of the Max Planck Institute.


Astronomers used NASA's Chandra and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-ray observatories to capture the event. Similar events are estimated to occur just once every 10,000 years in a typical galaxy.


Astronomers have seen other similar X-ray blasts before, but never were able to pinpoint them at the center of a galaxy, where black holes lurk. The new observations also revealed the characteristic X-ray signature expected of the surroundings of a black hole.


The blast first was seen in 1992 and remains visible as it fades, said Chandra press scientist Peter Edmonds, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.


On the Net:


European Space Agency science program: http://sci.esa.int/xmm-newton/


Chandra observatory: http://chandra.harvard.edu



02/18/04 22:46

[Jolie Rouge]

Missing Woman Found in Concrete
Remains Found in N.Y. Tentatively ID'd]
By TOM HAYS

NEW YORK (AP) - Police believe the same day a Manhattan financial analyst vanished last year, a phony physician treated her for a growth on her tongue - with deadly results.

Authorities were awaiting the outcome of an autopsy Thursday to confirm that a decomposed body discovered entombed in cement at the medical impostor's Newark, N.J., mansion was that of the analyst, Maria Cruz. The fake doctor, Dean Faiello, remains a fugitive.

Detectives were ``working on the hypothesis that she may have received treatment for a condition called black tongue, from which she may not have survived,'' said police spokesman Paul Browne. He offered no information on the type of treatment.

Medical Web sites describe black tongue as a painless black growth that can be a side effect of antibiotics.


The decomposing body, found Wednesday inside a suitcase buried in a floor slab in the Newark house, matched a description of the 35-year-old Cruz, including the fact she had breast implants, police said.


Faiello, 44, was arrested in 2002 for practicing without a license and illegally possessing medical drugs but apparently continued to see patients at a Manhattan apartment, authorities said. He pleaded guilty in June 2003 but allegedly fled to Costa Rica before his scheduled December sentencing.


Cruz was last seen April 13, 2003. Using automatic teller and credit card records, investigators determined that Cruz left her own apartment that day and went shopping at a department store near Faiello's apartment, where she may have died.


The woman's family reported her missing April 18 after she failed to pick up visiting relatives at the airport.


Around the time of the disappearance, Faiello had several bags of cement delivered to his Newark mansion, authorities said. The cement was used to build a raised platform in the house before Faiello sold the building in May and fled the country in September, they said.


Armed with a search warrant on Wednesday, detectives found the remains inside a large suitcase that had been encased in the cement, prosecutors said.


Cruz, who was born in the Philippines and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in March 2002, was an analyst for the banking division of Barclays Bank.



02/19/04 19:18

[Jolie Rouge]

Family of 3 Vanishes; Blood Found
Answers Sought in Miss. Family Vanishing
By RALPH D. RUSSO

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?oldflok=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040219%2F2144599563.htm&sc=1110

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Nearly a week has passed since relatives of Michael and Rebecca Hargon last saw the young couple and their 4-year-old son, all of whom appear to have vanished amid unexplained violence.

Investigators spent three days searching the Hargons' house in the small town of Vaughan, about 40 miles north of Jackson, for clues to what might have happened the family.

What authorities found were dried blood droplets throughout the house, bullet holes in the walls and shell casings on the floor. There was no sign of robbery or forced entry. Dirty dishes were left in the sink. Rebecca's wedding and engagement rings were also left behind.

All three of the family's vehicles were accounted for.


Ten years ago, Michael Hargon's father was murdered on the same property, when it was a convenience store. Three men are serving prison sentences for that crime.


Authorities have said little about the current investigation, which is being treated as a missing persons case.


``We are getting a lot of phone calls from different places, but so far they haven't consisted of anything,'' Yazoo County Sheriff James T. Williams said.


Family members say Michael Hargon, 27, was last seen Saturday morning, when he had breakfast with a friend in nearby Canton.


Another friend, who was driving by the Hargons' home later that morning, noticed the front door of the house was open and one of the doors on Michael Hargon's pickup truck was open, but the family didn't appear to be around.


She told the Hargons' relatives what she saw, and when family members went to the home the three, including 4-year-old James Patrick, were gone.


``I just couldn't believe that somebody would do something to them,'' said Rebecca Hargon's father, Bill Hirtz, of Poplar Bluff, Mo.


Michael Hargon is a construction worker and his wife is a physical therapist's assistant.


``He's a good guy,'' Hirtz said. ``I've talked to a lot of his friends that have known him for years ... As far as they know, Mike doesn't have an enemy.''



02/19/04 21:44

[Jolie Rouge]

South American Piranha Fished from River Thames

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0002/20040219/1508589106.htm

LONDON (Reuters) - Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water; a ferocious, carnivorous South American Piranha has been fished from London's River Thames, the Environment Agency said on Thursday.

The 10cm-long Red Bellied Piranha was dropped by a passing seagull onto the deck of a boat built to oxygenate the river. The Thames was declared "dead" in the 1960s but, its water cleaned, it is now home to 119 types of fish.

"It was very fresh and had obviously only just died. You could see the marks made by the seagull's beak on its back," fisheries officer Tom Cousins said.

Experts were quick to reassure Londoners they need not fear marauding shoals of meat-eating fish. The reputation of the piranha is worse than its bite and despite global warming, the Thames remains too cold to support such warmwater fish.


"We imagine that it was probably released and then floated to the surface where it was picked up by one of the very hungry seagulls and deposited in the boat," London Aquarium curator Paul Hale said.



02/19/04 15:08

[Jolie Rouge]

Woman Fined for Registering Cows As Voters

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040219%2F1406586931.htm&sc=1120

LONDON (AP) - Brenda Gould is in trouble again for registering her cows as voters.

For the second year running, the woman from Newmarket, near Cambridge in eastern England, has listed two names on the registration form who turned out to be cows, East Cambridgeshire District Council said Thursday.

The previous year, in addition to registering two cows as ``Henry and Sophie Bull,'' she listed ``Jake Woofles,'' later found to be a dog, as eligible to vote in local government elections, the council said.

This year she indicated that her address had been split into two properties, that she resided in one part and that two other persons lived in the second, a council spokesman said. The persons she claimed lived in the second property were, in fact, her cows, the spokesman said.


Gould had been scheduled to appear at Ely Magistrates Court on Tuesday but did not arrive. She was convicted in her absence and ordered to pay a 100 pound (US$189) fine and 110 pounds (US$208) in costs.


``This was the second time that Mrs. Gould had given false information on electoral forms and so, regrettably, the council felt it was necessary to take action to prevent this abuse of the election system from continuing,'' said Maggie Camp, the council's senior legal assistant.


Gould later said she and her husband Barry had put the names down as a joke because they had been irritated when the council addressed a letter to the occupants of their barn.


``We ignored it and then someone came around to ask why we hadn't filled it in,'' she said.


``We just thought they were being stupid. So my husband said, 'if they want to know who's living in the barn we'll tell them.' So we did. We didn't tell any lies. We just put down the names of the animals.


``It was a joke that's all gone a bit haywire, really. We never thought it would come to this,'' she said. ``I don't suppose we'll be doing it again.''



02/19/04 14:05


I thought for sure this would be in LA ;)

[Jolie Rouge]

Texas Woman Gives Birth to 12-Ounce Baby

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040220%2F1245619066.htm&sc=1110

HOUSTON (AP) - A Texas couple has given birth to twin girls, including one who is one of the tiniest babies ever delivered. Dodie and Vaughn Walpole's daughters were born on Feb. 11, about two months premature. Trinity weighed 2.8 pounds at birth, and Kylie was 12 ounces.

``She will fit in the palm of your hand - my husband's wedding ring fits over her arm and her leg,'' Dodie Walpole said of Kylie. ``She's a fighter. It's amazing.''

Despite their size, Kylie and her sister are doing well.

Though most infants born at that weight and size typically need help breathing, neither baby required a respirator.


``Everything is developed,'' said Dr. Rose Hernandez, a neonatologist who is treating the girls at the Woman's Hospital of Texas in Houston. ``Her brain is fine, her lungs are fine, her kidney is fine, her heart is fine, everything is perfect.''


The couple live in Tomball, northwest of Houston. After a decade of being unable to conceive, Dodie Walpole sought help from a fertility specialist. Now that they have two healthy girls, the couple is satisfied they probably won't have more.


``Two is enough,'' Dodie Walpole told the Houston Chronicle for a Friday story.



02/20/04 12:44

[Jolie Rouge]

Creepy! You're Never Alone in the Shower

You think you're all alone in the shower.

Guess what? You're not!

You have company--on your shower curtain. New research from the University of Colorado at Boulder has shown that your innocent looking shower curtain is actually a rotting nest of bugs that contain trillions of microbes, reports The Times Online. While these microbes pose no threat to healthy people, they can cause serious infections in the sick and elderly.

After molecular biologists in Colorado examined five used shower curtains, they determined that the average domestic bathroom is a bacterial paradise. What looks like just a little soap scum to you is actually micro-organisms that grow unchecked on damp surfaces. The entire shower curtain is affected, too--not just the parts with funky-looking colors that are not part of the original design. These organisms have big names: Sphingomonas and Methylobacterium, which can cause septicaemia and peritonitis in people whose immune system is already compromised. (Again, there is no danger to healthy people.)


Study leader Norman Pace has this bold advice for the ill and elderly: Wash and dry your shower curtain every day.

For others, he recommends the shower curtains be laundered regularly, as well as replaced at regular intervals. That also applies to anyone who finds the idea of a shower curtain covered in micro-critters too creepy for words.

[Jolie Rouge]

Ew! What's in Kitchen Sponges?

If you have used your kitchen sponge longer than two or three days, listen up: It's swimming with millions of bacteria, specifically E. coli, salmonella, or campylobacter.

That's the word from Elizabeth Scott, co-director of the Simmons Center for Hygiene and Health in the Home at Simmons College in Boston, who told The New York Times, "That means that any time you use the sponge to wipe up a surface you are potentially spreading those pathogens."

Your No. 1 worry for food-borne illnesses is your own kitchen.

Although babies and the elderly are most at risk for such illnesses, anyone--no matter how healthy and strong--can easily get sick from these pathogens when they are allowed to multiply on food. There are approximately 76 million cases of food-borne illnesses annually, and most of those occur from pathogens in our own homes.

Sponges aren't the only culprits. Cooks who don't wash their hands before preparing food can also breed illness. Janet Anderson, clinical associate professor of nutrition and food sciences at Utah State University, put it this way when she told The Times, "Everybody is so acutely aware of mad cow disease, but people aren't aware of the fact that they don't even wash their hands when they enter their kitchens, which is a much greater risk." When Anderson filmed more than 100 people preparing dinner, only 34 percent of the participants washed their hands before cooking, and most of those didn't even use soap.

So what can you do?

Wash your hands in hot, soapy water for at least 20 seconds before you begin preparing food. This not only rinses off the surface bacteria, but also makes it difficult for bacteria to cling to your skin. Wash them again after you touch raw meat, fish, or vegetables.

Kill the harmful bacteria from your cellulose sponges by microwaving them on high for one minute. Do it every day.

Launder or microwave dishcloths regularly.


Although wooden cutting boards are more likely to harbor bacteria than plastic or rubber cutting boards, wood isn't all bad. Dean Cliver, a professor of food safety at the University of California, Davis, told The New York Times that cellulose in wood absorbs bacteria--but will not release it. "We've never been able to get the bacteria down in the wood back up on the knife to contaminate food later," he said.

Plastic cutting boards are not 100 percent safe. Bacteria does get into the little knife cuts made in the plastic. While 90 percent of the bacteria die in a dishwasher during the drying period, 10 percent don't die and can live for weeks.

Make sure the water in your dishwasher is hotter than 140 degrees or bacteria will survive. If the water temperature is lower than that, bacteria on a plastic cutting board will actually be spread around to other items in the dishwasher.

Kitchens that look the cleanest are often the dirtiest. People who wipe their counters a lot often spread bacteria in the process. In a University of Arizona study, the "cleanest" kitchens were those of bachelors who never wiped up and just put the dirty dishes in the sink. Go figure.

Remember this: No matter how often you nuke your sponges and wash your cutting boards, no kitchen will ever be germ-free.

[Jolie Rouge]

Job Burnout? Peculiar Way to Perk Up

Work too many hours?

Boss bitter and angry?

Feel stressed just driving to work?

If you're experiencing the symptoms of job burnout--bad mood, fatigue, anxiety, and depression--just pick up a drum stick and bang on a set of drums. That's the word from researchers at the Mind-Body Wellness Center in Meadville, Pennsylvania who determined that drumming sessions actually protect people from the stress and burnout that can cause them to quit their jobs, reports Reuters.


The study: More than any other industry, nursing homes may well have the highest level of worker stress and employee turnover. Some nursing homes experience as much as a 100 percent staff turnover in any given year. With that in mind, the researchers had 112 employees of the Wesbury United Methodist Retirement Community in Meadville participate in weekly one-hour drumming sessions for six weeks with their co-workers.


The results: While the music they made may have been deafening, the results were astounding. Reuters reports that immediately after each drumming session ended, the participants showed a 46 percent improvement in mood. Even more telling is that six weeks after the sessions ended, the same people showed a more than 62 percent improvement in mood, suggesting that the emotional boost from drumming can continue long after the music has ended. Their feelings of fatigue, anxiety, and depression were also greatly diminished. Here's the real proof the drumming wasn't a temporary boost: During the year that followed those six drumming sessions, the nursing home had 49 fewer employees resign than in the previous year. That saved the facility a staggering $400,000 in costs associated with training new hires.


Lead study author Dr. Barry Bittman told Reuters that companies should consider incorporating what he calls "drumming circles" into the lives of employees. It's a cheap way to boost workers' moods and reduce staff turnover in any industry. The study findings have been published in the journal Advances in Mind-Body Medicine.

[Jolie Rouge]

Sneaky Trick Works! How-To Win Pepsi iTunes

If you're drinking a lot of Pepsi in an attempt to be a winner of one of the 100 million iTunes songs, listen up before you pop open the next bottle cap. CNN reports that Jon Gales, a 19-year-old college student who runs a Macintosh user Web site, has figured out a low-tech "hack" to tell if the bottle in your hand is a winner--or not.

Here are the instructions: If you tilt the bottle just so you can actually see the writing under the bottle cap where the winning iTunes codes are listed. If you see the word "again," it's a loser. But if all you see are random numbers and letters, you're holding a winner. "With luck, you should be able to see under the cap," Gales explained to CNN. "It takes a few minutes to get used to the angle...and you may have to twist the bottle." He discovered the trick by accident and posted instructions on his Web site.


CNN reports that Apple Computer's iTunes service is giving away 100 million songs in this Pepsi promotion that was launched with splashy Super Bowl TV ads featuring people sued for illegally sharing music online. The rules say that one in three bottles is a winner. The 10-digit code printed on the inside of the winning Pepsi bottle caps can be used to download the free song from iTunes.com. CNN tried the trick and agreed that it works, although it takes a bit of squinting and some persistence. Winners can claim up to 10 songs a day and 200 tunes total during the giveaway, which ends March 31.

[Jolie Rouge]

Man Cusses... And Gets Sent to Jail For HOW Long?

:eek:

The soap would taste pretty good right about now to Romelus Caraway. Mom's tried-and-true method for cleaning up our language is nothing compared to the punishment the foul-mouth Caraway is enduring. He swore in front of a Tennessee judge and was promptly hauled off to jail for 100 days.

The Associated Press reports that Caraway, who is awaiting trial on a kidnapping charge, used a four-letter expletive at a hearing in Memphis before Judge Chris Craft. The judge was not amused. He told the 28-year-old Caraway to not use the word again in his courtroom or face a 10-day jail sentence for each time he uttered it.

Caraway must have thought that was a triple dog dare because he then said the four-letter cuss word 10 more times. The last one was said as he was being led from the courtroom by sheriff's deputies, reports AP. Caraway has already been in jail for about a year on the alleged kidnapping charge. Now he gets to add 100 days to that.

[Jolie Rouge]

British National Gallery's New Raphael a Fake, Expert Says

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0002/20040220/0408606485.htm

LONDON (Reuters) - A Raphael painting bought by Britain's National Gallery this month for $41.7 million is a fake, a U.S. art professor says.

The gallery secured the "Madonna of the Pinks," which it called the most significant Old Master in any British collection, after a fight to keep it in the country.

But James Beck, Professor of Art History at Columbia University in New York and the President of ArtWatch International, told Friday's edition of the Times the gallery had paid "a record price for a fake."

"They haven't done their homework," Beck said. "It's a disgrace. The National Gallery never checked any of them physically.


"When you're spending government money, or anyone's money it's an omission. Frankly, it's a kind of arrogance of the Establishment."


The picture, so called because it depicts the Virgin Mary with a sprig of pink flowers, was bought from the Duke of Northumberland.


An ancestor of the Duke bought the 1507-8 picture in 1853 but it was long considered a copy until 1991 when Nicholas Penny, the Gallery's curator, examined the picture and hailed it as the rediscovered masterpiece.


Beck told the paper his research led him to believe the painting was in fact made in 1827 by Vincenzo Camuccini, a frequent copyist of Raphael and a recognized faker.


"I think he did this not only for money, but to compete with the Great Masters and fool the public," he said.


The Gallery has listed 40 versions of the painting around the world, while Beck said he had found at least five more. Beck said he believed none of the surviving versions was by Raphael.


The Gallery has said the picture, which measures just 11.4 by nine inches, had a different finish and coloring to other Raphael's but added it followed the advice of 25 Raphael experts who all confirmed the attribution.


The gallery's $41.7 million was raised jointly by Britain's National Lottery and donations from the public.


($1-.5274 Pounds)



02/20/04 04:08

[Jolie Rouge]

Harry Potter? It's All Greek to Me
By Tim Castle

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040220%2F0840612493.htm&sc=reodd
LONDON (Reuters) - Harry Potter becomes "Warrior Cup" and his enemy Voldemort "Scaly Death" in a translation of the schoolboy wizard's adventures into Ancient Greek due for publication this summer.

Retired classics teacher Andrew Wilson told Reuters he had to stretch his linguistic ingenuity to turn J.K. Rowling's magic boarding school fantasy into a language not used for 1,500 years.

Wilson, 64, was commissioned in January 2002 by publisher Bloomsbury to translate "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" into the Greek spoken in ancient Athens.

The book, the first in Rowling's multi-million-selling series, has already been translated into 60 languages and is available in 200 countries.


Wilson delivered his manuscript last month.


"It was a lot of hard work but the most fun hard work I've ever done," he said about the year he spent reading ancient authors and searching through dictionaries to find the appropriate style and vocabulary.


Wilson says his translation is the longest text to have been produced in Ancient Greek since the romantic writings of Heliodorus in the third century AD.


"I suspect very few people will read it all the way through," he said. "You will need a degree in Ancient Greek to get a great deal out of it."


But Wilson hopes students studying the ancient language will enjoy reading extracts of the book as a "relaxation."


Wilson modeled his translations for modern words such as computer and motor car on the quaint style of 19th century Greek.


For the book's own invented terms like broomstick game Quidditch and Harry's school Hogwarts he had to be more imaginative and make up his own words.


Quidditch becomes Ikarosfairike or "Ikarus ball" -- in a reference to the mythological boy who few too high -- while Hogwarts is Huogoetou, deriving from words meaning "hog" and "wizard."


Harry Potter is Hareios Poter. Hareios means "belonging to Ares," the war god, or "warrior" and Poter, a "cup" or "goblet."


Lord Voldemort, Potter's nemesis, becomes Folidomortos, which literally means "scaly death."


"Ancient Greek has a massive vocabulary," said Wilson. "Now it's got a slightly bigger one."


Bloomsbury publishes the translation on July 10.



02/20/04 08:39

[Jolie Rouge]

Look What They Found In Mexico

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

The place: Mexico City, about 30 miles from the pyramids.

The find: An ancient Teotihuacan settlement that is about 2,000 years old. Artifacts--some with an unspeakably gruesome purpose--were found.

The importance: The Teotihuacan culture influenced the area around what is now Mexico City far earlier than historians previously thought.

The recent discovery of a Teotihuacan settlement on a hill just behind the Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City includes building structures, tools, and religious artifacts. But even with this tangible find that tells stories of everyday life, the ancient city of Teotihuacan, which lies north of modern Mexico City and flourished during the time of Christ, is still a mystery--just as it was to the Aztecs who first stumbled on it in the 1300s.

In its day, Teotihuacan was one of the world's largest cities with some 150,000 residents, whose culture had a far-reaching impact on art and architecture as far away as the Yucatan peninsula. But by the time the Aztecs arrived, Teotihuacan had long been abandoned and left crumbling. What happened? No one knows. It's a mystery that has endured for centuries.

The Teotihuacan artifacts that have just been found could rewrite the history books, pushing back the date of Mexico City's founding to the period of 300 to 600. AP reports that the relics located in the 20-square-yard excavation include six pairs of ceramic urns of Teotihuacan style that may have been used to hold the remains of children sacrificed to the god of rain. Other relics include ceramic domestic tools, a bone needle, and a figurine that was most likely used in religious rituals.

Archaeologists have also uncovered the remnants of a stone wall and floor that both date from the same period.

"This is a very important discovery, one that is just beginning," Maria de la Luz Moreno Cabrera, the archaeologist leading the investigation, told AP. "It is very exciting to find such a site...it helps to show the real historical importance of this area."

[the fugative]

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird


Published February 19, 2004

On Jan. 16, as bonfires burned across Italy to commemorate the annual festival of St. Anthony, the town of Capena continued its yearly addition to the celebration: a day of smoking cigarettes. Residents, including children as young as 6, light up throughout the day in the town's bonfire. Italy's recent antismoking drive notwithstanding, many Capena parents encouraged the kids (honoring a centuries-old tradition that originated with smoking dried rosemary), pointing out that it was just one day a year, but Italian health professionals believe many kids will develop the habit nonetheless.

• Jon Paul Divincenzo, 35, was arrested in Royersford, Pa., in November after police said he was the one who several times had elaborately set up and arranged mirrors in a restroom at Spring-Ford Intermediate school so that women and girls using it would be standing or sitting in just the proper locations as to be visible to Divincenzo as he hid behind an ajar door, away from their sightlines. A few days later, prosecutors charged him with having used a similarly intricate setup to spy on cheerleaders in a locker room at Methacton High School in Worcester, Pa.

Scenes of the surreal

• In January, Judge Peter Garcia, driving relatives to his courthouse at noon in Covington, La., noticed an odd sight directly across the street in the municipal cemetery: Two women in pink lingerie, holding S&M accessories, were posing for a professional photo shoot among the gravestones. Garcia grabbed his camera to take his own souvenir photo, which apparently angered one of the women, who pursued Garcia back to his car, lecturing the unknown-to-her judge about various "rights" she thought she had not to be photographed. When Garcia ignored her, she began to thrash the judge's car with her whip before he finally drove away.

• In November, according to the University of Chicago's daily newspaper, the Chicago Maroon, in a story about a protest by transsexual, gay and lesbian activists to designate more campus restrooms as unisex, an activist said he knew people who had contracted bladder infections from delaying their urination out of anxiety at being forced to choose between the "men's" room or the "ladies' " room. Said a lesbian activist, of the often-used ladies' room symbol of a silhouetted person wearing a dress: "Going into [that room] implies that we are willing to be associated with that image."

• About once a month, the owners of the Marina del Rey (Calif.) Sportfishing bait shop reap a windfall. According to a January Los Angeles Times story, a Tibetan Buddhist study group drops by in a caravan after meditating on the "liberation of beings" and plunks down $1,000 to $2,000 to buy as much live bait as they can, after which they go to Marina del Rey Harbor and, in their terms, free the bait (whereupon, of course, much of it is immediately eaten by fish, anyway).

Laws of irony, strictly enforced

• In January, convicted murderer Paul Charles Denyer, who told police when he was arrested that he had picked three women to kill because he "just hates [women]," began the application process at Barwon Prison (near Lara, Australia) for hormone treatment and surgery to become a woman.

• Former Detroit police officer Adela Garcia, who retired in 1997 and who now owns a bar called Adela's Place, was reported to have shot at two men in her parking lot late at night, allegedly to stop them from assaulting customers. Police said she fired one shot, which passed through both men, killing them. That was one shot more than she had ever fired on the street in 20 years as a police officer, even though she had several dangerous assignments.

• The Indiana Department of Workforce Development, whose mission is to help unemployed Indianans (including those who have lost jobs because their work was contracted overseas), awarded a $15.2 million computer services contract to Tata American International Corp., to hire 65 programmers to work on the agency's information software starting in November. Two weeks later, state officials canceled the contract after realizing that Tata is a subsidiary of a company in Bangalore, India, and that the 65 programmers were being brought in from India.

Sentencing nonsense

• In December, a federal appeals court upheld Santos Reyes' 26-year prison sentence for the crime of trying to take the written portion of a driver's test for someone else (a sentence required by California's three-strikes law). Paroled sex offender Paul Frederick Goodwin, 39, of Melbourne, Fla., will be sentenced this month for purse-snatching; at his earlier parole hearing, Goodwin was so confident about going straight that he agreed that any further conviction of any kind would send him back to prison for 999 years. In December, a Youth Court judge in Vancouver, British Columbia, went beyond guidelines to hard-sentence a now-19-year-old man for the fatal baseball-bat bludgeoning of a gay man; the hard sentence is two years in custody plus one under supervised release.

No longer weird

Adding to the list of stories that were formerly weird but now occur with such frequency that they must be retired from circulation: (69) Medical examiners (or funeral home officials or medical researchers) who accidentally misplace one or more parts when a deceased's body is returned to the family, as the Massachusetts medical examiner was accused of doing (the heart of one man, the brain of another) in October. And (70) the deadly annual Muslim Hajj stampedes, which result when tens of thousands of pilgrims try to get close enough to three pillars (representing Satan) to toss 21 stones at them, and which this year saw 244 trampled to death (January).

• After several days of hard work, a team from the Russian army was able to rescue 10 tons of beer in kegs that had sunk in a truck in the Irtysh River near the city of Omsk and then were trapped under solid ice. (The truck itself could not be pulled out, but few cared about that.) (January) A dead, 50-ton, 50-foot-long sperm whale, being transported by flatbed truck through Tainan City, Taiwan, to the National Cheng Kung University in January exploded because of a buildup of gases from decomposition, drenching bystanders and nearby cars in a deluge of blood and innards.

• Also, in the past month: A 24-year-old man was charged with several flashing incidents apparently directed only at Amish men and boys (Heuvelton, N.Y.). When mercury spilled from a Cub Scout's race car, not only was the Scout disqualified for cheating, but his father (who has a background in chemistry) may be liable for a $5,000 hazardous-materials cleanup (Lawrence, Kan.). The leading Swedish veterinary organization suggested that the increase in reports of bestiality since 1999 occurred because that was the year that Sweden first banned child pornography.

:p

[Jolie Rouge]

Amazing Find In an Ancient Tomb

The first step before needed road improvements could be made in the town of Prittlewell, located in the English Channel port of Southend some 35 miles east of London, was a survey of the area by archaeologists from the Museum of London. And the most amazing thing happened: They found a small bit of bronze sticking up out of the mud. That led to what one archaeologist described as "a once-in-a-lifetime discovery": an almost intact 1,400-year-old Anglo Saxon royal burial chamber that may help historians better understand the Dark Ages. The wood-lined chamber is packed with more than 60 objects, from gold crosses to glass jars and copper-alloy bowls to drinking vessels. The burial treasures were found still hanging on hooks just as they would have been on the burial day.

The find is significant for two reasons: One, it is extremely rare to find an Anglo Saxon burial chamber. Two, it is very well-preserved. "This will open new windows on our understanding of the Dark Ages," senior archaeologist Ian Blair explained to Reuters. "You can draw arrows all over Europe and the near East tracing the origins of the grave goods."

There is just one thing missing from the 13-square-foot burial chamber that once housed a king or a local prince, who has now been nicknamed the "Prince of Prittlewell": the body. Blair suspects that over the centuries, it was eaten away by the acidic soil that leeched into the chamber. That doesn't seem to bother him a bit even though it will make it difficult to identify whose grave it is. "This is as good as it gets for Anglo Saxon burials," he gushed to Reuters. "All the metal objects are in very good condition."

The archaeologists can tell this much in the "who is it?" guessing game: Gold foil crosses were placed on the body to indicate conversion to Christianity. This suggests it could have been either Saebert, who converted in 604 and died in 616, or Sigeberht II who converted in 653. "To find an intact chamber grave and a moment genuinely frozen in time is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery," Blair said.

[Jolie Rouge]

10 Tips to Look 10 Years Younger

We all want to look young, energetic, and healthful. Here are 10 tricks...er, tips culled from Prevention magazine, The New York Post, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, that will help you look younger than your real age--without surgery.


Conceal and moisturize

"When you hit a certain age, the things you've done before don't apply," makeup artist Robin Narvaez of Manhattan's Borja Color Studio told The New York Post. "You need to learn new tricks." And the No. 1 trick in her book is moisturize, moisturize, moisturize and then use makeup to conceal any imperfections, such as broken capillaries, age spots, and shadows.

Use sunscreen as a moisturizer

In the morning, slather sunscreen on your face just as you would a moisturizer, advises Prevention magazine. Use SPF 15. If you plan to be outside most of the day, use SPF 45.

Trim your eyebrows

Splurge and let a pro do it the first time or two until you learn the tricks. If your eyebrows are the wrong shape, they can actually make you look older and even sadder.

This will make you blush

Since older skin dries out faster, use a brush and loose powder for foundation. "Stay away from anything called matte," warns Narvaez. "A dry, flat finish will only emphasize wrinkles and cracks." And do use blush--a soft pink is best. Always avoid bronze.

The great wrinkle cover-up

Once you hit your 40s, call your dermatologist for a prescription-strength vitamin A derivative, such as Retin A, Renova, or Tazorac. These products will make your wrinkles less noticeable and will actually help fade age spots. Prevention magazine says they may even help prevent certain pre-cancerous changes in your skin.

Get an eyeful of this

Use a light-colored eye shadow to open up your eyes and make them look bigger--but avoid anything shiny because it's so artificial looking. Narvaez also recommends curling your eyelashes and using dark brown or black mascara. No other colors work for the over-40 crowd because they look so fake.

Sleep seven hours every night

Sleep refreshes your body. If you regularly get only a few hours of sleep at night, it will hinder metabolism and hormone production in a way that is similar to the effects of aging, warns Dr. Joseph Mercola, author of "The No-Grain Diet." He says seven hours a night is the absolute minimum for all of us, and some folks benefit from more.


High energy

You'll look and feel better if you eat the right kind of fat--specifically nuts. Peanuts, walnuts, and almonds are best. They slowly release their good fat, giving you more endurance for the day's demands.

Flaunt your figure

Once you hit 40, Houston-based image consultant Karen McCullough has some surprising advice for women: Show your clavicles or some cleavage. She also told the Plain Dealer this tip: Trousers that are slightly too big make you look much skinnier than trousers that are a bit too tight.

Get a good pair of sunglasses--and wear them

Wear sunglasses so you don't squint in the bright light. If you don't squint as much, you'll help prevent crow's feet and forehead lines, notes Prevention magazine.

[Jolie Rouge]

Remarkable Benefit If You Sleep 7 Hours

Three new international sleep studies have reached a similar conclusion: People who sleep seven hours a night live the longest. And while getting too little sleep on a regular basis can lead to serious health problems, it appears that getting too much sleep can do even more damage. The studies, which were published in the journal Sleep, found that adults who slept longer than seven hours--especially women--were more likely to die during the 10-year study period, reports USA Today. So much for the old adage that we all need eight hours of sleep.


The study: More than 100,000 adults in Japan were followed for 10 years. They answered questionnaires about their sleep patterns, as well as other aspects of their lives that can affect survival, including physical health, mental health, and lifestyle habits.

The results: Even after accounting for all the other factors, adults who averaged seven hours a night of sleep had the lowest death rates. Less sleep--even as little as four hours--didn't seem to be a higher risk factor for death in men, and it only affected women if they slept less than four hours. But oddly, people who slept more than seven hours were more likely to die during the 10-year study period. These conclusions were also reached by two other major studies published in the same issue of the journal Sleep, as well as 12 smaller studies.

Why does getting more sleep harm us?

Daniel Kripke, a sleep researcher at the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine, told USA Today that hormonal changes triggered by darkness or other unknown biological effects from long sleep could be the culprit. Still, not getting enough sleep poses its own short-term risks, including problems associated with memory, thinking, and the ability to pay attention.


But do note this: Kripke advises each of us to sleep as long as we think we need to be well rested. "People should get as many hours sleep as they need to feel rested," he told USA Today.

[Jolie Rouge]

Church Abuse Victim McSorley Found Dead
By DENISE LAVOIE

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040223%2F1429710658.htm&sc=1110

BOSTON (AP) - Patrick McSorley, who said he had been molested by defrocked priest John Geoghan and was one of the most outspoken Boston clergy sex abuse victims, was found dead early Monday, his lawyer said.

The cause of the death was not immediately announced. McSorley, 29, nearly drowned in a river last year but denied he had attempted suicide.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian said Boston police called him early Monday and told him McSorley had died.

Garabedian would not comment on the cause of death, saying all members of McSorley's family hadn't been notified. He said McSorley was found in a friend's apartment in Boston's North End.


Police would not immediately confirm McSorley's death, but a spokesman said officers did investigate a report of a body found in the neighborhood.


McSorley had been one of the most vocal critics of the Boston Archdiocese since the sex abuse scandal first broke two years ago.


He often appeared at news conferences held by Garabedian, criticizing the archdiocese for shuffling abusive priests, including Geoghan, between parishes rather than removing them from positions where they would have contact with children.


McSorley's lawsuit in the Geoghan case was among the first of hundreds eventually filed against the archdiocese. The church settled with 86 plaintiffs, including McSorley, for $10 million in 2002. Geoghan was slain in prison last year.


Garabedian said he last spoke to McSorley on Friday, when McSorley asked for a meeting to discuss the status of clergy sex abuse cases.


``Patrick was interested in supporting victims of clergy sexual abuse even though his case had been resolved. He wanted to make sure that no children were molested by pedophile priests in the future,'' Garabedian said.


``Patrick is to be admired for his strength, courage and determination for standing up to the powers of the church,'' he said.


McSorley had a troubled life. He was arrested on drug charges in July, less than a month after he nearly drowned in the Neponset River. He said later that he had no memory of how he ended up in the river, but maintained it was not a suicide attempt.


McSorley said he was sexually abused in 1986, at age 12, when Geoghan visited his family's home to offer condolences on the death of his father. He said Geoghan molested him while taking him out for ice cream.



02/23/04 14:29

[Jolie Rouge]

Report: Spacewalk to Leave Space Station Empty

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The two-man crew of the international space station go outside the craft at the same time this week, despite earlier concerns that the exercise was "a risk not worth taking," The Washington Post reported on Monday.

The Post cited NASA documents obtained by the newspaper.

Ground controllers are to fly the empty space station, while British-born NASA astronaut Michael Foale and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri conduct the spacewalk, leaving no one inside to monitor systems directly or assist in a crisis, the newspaper said.

According to the Post, the Russians have made about 50 such spacewalks, but this would mark the first for the U.S.-led space station.


The spacewalk planned for Thursday was scheduled to begin about 4 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) and was supposed to last five hours and 40 minutes, the report said.


The work that Foale and Kaleri will do on the spacewalk -- deploy and collect science experiments -- is not urgent but would have to be done eventually, NASA officials told the newspaper.


According to a July review of spacewalk plans, station managers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston initially opposed this week's spacewalk and recommended that it be put off until shuttle flights resumed and the station had a three-person crew, The Post said.


"Crew Safety and the vehicle while they are performing EVA (extra vehicle activity) without an crew is a risk not worth taking specially if the EVA tasks are not critical" to maintaining the space station, according to the NASA review quoted in the article.


The report said the Russians refused to sign on to the document unless the spacewalk was planned for as a requirement.


Citing NASA sources and documents, the newspaper said the Russians insisted on the need for the spacewalk to fulfill their contracts with the Japanese and European space agencies and bring in money to their cash-strapped space program.

[Jolie Rouge]

Look What Astronomers Spied in Space

It's a swarm of frozen rock and ice. It's 4.4 billion miles from Earth. It appears to be more than half the size of Pluto. Astronomers are calling it a planetoid, and if it's confirmed, it will be the largest object found in our solar system since Pluto was first spied in 1930.

"Right now it looks like it could be bigger than Quaoar, which would put it bigger than anything since Pluto," Mike Brown, a California Institute of Technology astronomer, told The Associated Press. Quaoar is 800 miles in diameter, and this frozen planetoid, dubbed 2004 DW, appears to be 10 percent larger. Located on the outer fringes of the Kuiper Belt, the planetoid was found by Brown, along with Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, and David Rabinowitz of Yale University.

Astronomers think 2004 DW follows an elliptical orbit that takes it as close as 2.7 billion miles to the sun and as far out as 4.7 billion miles, notes AP. It takes the planetoid a staggering 252 years to orbit the sun.

[Jolie Rouge]

Dead Sea Cache Proves Bible Story True

Excavating in caves near the Dead Sea, Israeli archaeologists have discovered something very precious: A rare cache of 2,500-year-old fashion accessories that seem to confirm Old Testament accounts of the Jews returning from exile in Babylon, reports The Associated Press. The jewelry, makeup kit and a small mirror likely belonged to Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon in the 6th century B.C., according to Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist for the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. "This find is very rare. Both for the richness of the find and for that period, it is almost unheard of," Tsuk told AP.

Found hidden under a stone-like accumulation of sediment thrown up by a nearby spring, the hoard includes a necklace made of 130 beads of semiprecious stones and gold, a scarab, an agate medallion of Babylonian origin, and a silver pendant with an engraved crescent moon and pomegranates. Also found with the jewelry was a makeup kit, including an alabaster bowl for powders, a stick used to apply the makeup, and a bronze mirror. AP notes the archaeologists, who have been excavating in the caves for three years, also found a pagan stamp that depicts a Babylonian priest bowing to the moon.


Most important of all is the historical impact of these artifacts. "These finds confirm the (biblical) accounts of Jews returning from exile in Babylon," Tsuk explained to AP. In 597 BC, the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Kingdom of Judah and took many Jews into exile with him. It wasn't until 538 BC, that the Persian monarch Cyrus allowed these people and their descendants to return. Tsuk explained to AP that the jewelry find shows there was a wealthy and flourishing community of returnees living in the area. "These are not the belongings of a simple person," he said.

Click to see close-up photographs of the 2,500-year-old jewelry and make-up accessories found near the Dead Sea.
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/photosearch.jsp?cap=dead+sea+jewelry&x=0&y=0&searchType=photos&floc=wn-ns

[Jolie Rouge]

The Bottomless Cup and the Topless Waitress?


BOSTON (Reuters) - Facing stiff competition from nationwide coffee shop chains, one Maine businessman wants to offer more than just a regular cup of cappuccino to perk up his customers -- so he's hiring topless waitresses.

Normand St Michel submitted an application with the town of Madison, Maine, to open a topless coffee bar named the Heavenly Angels Coffee Shop.

"He has the go-ahead as far as the town is concerned," said Robert Dunphy, the town's code enforcement officer, adding that the project does not violate Madison's obscenity ordinance.

With that hurdle cleared, St Michel now has to make the establishment accessible to disabled customers and compliant with fire safety standards.

And even though city laws do not require the Heavenly Angels to impose an age limit, St Michel has decided to only admit those 18 or over.

"Not everyone wants (the coffee shop) but the age limit makes most everyone happy," Dunphy said.

The coffee shop is set to open during the summer.

St Michel was not immediately available for comment.



02/23/04 11:23

[Jolie Rouge]

Taunting dos and don'ts
By Patrick Hruby -- Page 2 columnist

News Item: During a Nov. 9 game between the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Bucs, a fan dressed as a cat and identifying himself as the "Carolina Prowler" taunted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he was given a live microphone.

"Simeon Rice and Warren Sapp, you guaranteed a win," he said through his whiskers, addressing Rice's earlier promise of a victory. "Well, we guarantee we'll kick your butt."

Rice promptly racked up a pair of sacks, swinging momentum toward Tampa Bay in an eventual Carolina victory.

The lesson in all this? It's twofold:

A.) Never hand a microphone to a yahoo, especially one dressed like an extra in an Andrew Lloyd Webber production; and

B.) If you're going to taunt, do it right.


Indeed, the real outrage in l'affair de Carolina isn't that some wannabe Darth Raider nearly cost his team a game. It's that he did it with so little panache.

Muhammad Ali was so devastating he could floor you with his words, too.

There are more than 200,000 words in the English language. At least half can be used in a derogatory fashion. We can do better than "kick your butt." We need to do better than "kick your butt."

To put it another way: Somewhere, Muhammad Ali is weeping.

Fact is, the Greatest of All Time was also the Greatest Sports Taunter of All Time. And if the planet's most beloved athlete not named David Beckham taught us anything -- beyond the utility of quitting while you're ahead -- it's how to appreciate a well-phrased insult. Ali's barbs were clever, funny, inspired; more importantly, they got into the other guy's head and gave the Greatest an actual advantage in the ring.

At its best, taunting is poetry with a mean-spirited purpose. It's an art form that surpasses common, forgettable trash talk.

ith that in mind, Page 2 presents the Dos and Don'ts of sports taunting. Put them to use the next time you're looking for an edge -- or the next time an overeager stadium operations crew hands you a microphone.

DO be creative
A thing of beauty lasts forever. Someone famous wrote that.

Likewise, a clever taunt lasts for an entire news cycle. Sometimes, even longer. And in the 24/7 era of ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNews, that's no small feat. In a sense, taunts are like breast implants -- the whole point is to get noticed. Originality spawns headlines.

Recall former Florida coach Steve Spurrier's now-famous dig at arch rival Tennessee, a reference to the Vols playing in the second-tier Citrus Bowl? "You can't spell Citrus without U-T," he said. Did Spurrier get in Tennessee's collective head? You bet.

When Florida played in the Citrus Bowl a few years later, Vols fans welcomed Spurrier with an airplane banner that flew over the stadium. Even though the Gators were playing Michigan State.

Remember: When Richard Williams offered in "Venus Envy" to have a surgeon friend from Compton sew longer legs on diminutive Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis, he wasn't just psyching out his daughters' primary competition at the time. He was taking a (pot)shot at immortality.

Note: If you happen to be Jeremy Shockey -- or fascinate the New York City media nexus as much as Jeremy Shockey does -- disregard the above. Instead, revel in the fact that you can call someone a "homo" and still make the nightly news, even though no one past third grade still uses that word.


Exhibit A -- the Sharpie incident.
DO use props
Gallagher has his watermelons; Terrell Owens has his Sharpie. Proper prop deployment can make or break a taunt. Anyone can call David Wells fat; it takes a special brand of meanness to make like Duke basketball fans, who once dangled a box of Chicken McNuggets in front of 360-pound Florida State center Nigel Dixon ... only to reel them in with a cord.

So grab some pompons. Put on a homemade "Rozelle" headband. The other guy can always tune out your shouting. But presumably, he still has to look in your direction. Take advantage.

DON'T break the rules
Unless you can flummox your opponent so badly that he's distracted for the entire contest, taunting to the point of a flag or a penalty is self-defeating. After all, the point is still to win the game.

Besides, a master taunter can make his or her point without running afoul of the authorities. In 1984, the Cameron Crazies welcomed Maryland's Herman Veal -- who allegedly had sexually assaulted another student -- with a shower of more than 1,000 panties and a sign that read, "Hey Herm, Did You Send Her Flowers Afterward?"

Not surprisingly, university officials demanded that the students tone down their act. So in response, the Crazies turned Duke's next home game, against rival North Carolina, into a taunting master class. Some held signs that read "A Warm and Hearty Welcome to Dean Smith" and "Welcome Fellow Scholars." Others wore homemade halos. After questionable calls, fans chanted "We beg to differ" instead of "[expletive]." And during Carolina free-throw attempts, students under the basket didn't go nuts -- they just held up small signs reading, "Please Miss."

DO your homework
A first-rate taunter knows his opponent better than he knows his own children. And with good reason: If the other guy was raised by a single dad, 'yo mama' ain't gonna cut it.

"It's important to really read up on the opposing team and follow the game very closely, so that you're conversant with the psychological weaknesses of the other team," advises Robin Ficker, the Bethesda-based attorney who was once the NBA's preeminent heckler.

Ficker speaks from experience. He once irked then-Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson by reading out loud from Jackson's basketball memoir, "Maverick." During a game. While sitting behind the Chicago bench. Wonder if Robin Ficker taunted MJ in a Wizards uniform. "Jackson said he was going to have the referees come over if I kept reading," Ficker said. "What got him so upset, I don't know. If he didn't want to hear passages from the book, he shouldn't have written it."

At the request of Charles Barkley, Ficker even traveled to the 1993 NBA Finals in Phoenix, where he razzed Michael Jordan about a series of gambling allegations. "Barkley got me a seat behind the Bulls bench, so I brought these huge playing cards, dice and a bunch of dollar bills," Ficker said. "During the game, I'm dealing [Jordan] a hand and asking him what he wants to bet. And he's turning around and holding up three fingers. It was fun."

Alas, the Bulls won the series. In Phoenix. Still, at least Ficker knew his target.

When NBC basketball announcer Marv Albert returned to NBA playoff broadcasts for the first time after an indictment on a sex charge, a courtside heckler was there to greet him. Problem was, the heckler kept referring to Albert as "Brent Musburger" -- much to the chagrin of the real Musburger, who was broadcasting the game for ESPN radio.
"I wasn't indicted," Musburger protested afterward. "I can't relate ... [it's an] enormous distraction."

[Jolie Rouge]

continued


DON'T end up on a bulletin board
There's a fine line between taunting-as-distraction and taunting-as-motivation. Cross it, and you're shooting yourself in the foot, getting the other guy to play harder than he would have otherwise.

Take the Tennessee Titans. Moments before the kickoff of a 2001 playoff game between the Titans and Baltimore, the Adelphi Coliseum jumbotron flashed a video clip entitled "A Special Message from Brian Billick and the Baltimore Ravens." Prepared by Tennessee's marketing staff, the film showed the Ravens rejoicing in the aftermath of their 24-23 victory over the Titans on Nov. 12. The segment concluded with a shot of Billick mockingly waving a copy of a magazine that proclaimed Tennessee to be the league's best team.

Furious at the perceived effort to show them up, the Ravens dumped the Titans 24-10. After the game, Billick blasted Tennessee for the video, dubbing it "totally classless."

Rule of thumb: Ray Lewis doesn't need any extras reasons to hammer you into the turf.

DO make a hard sell
In taunting, as in postal services, delivery is everything. A taunter is a salesman; his words are his wares. If you don't seem sincere, why should anyone give your insults a second thought, let alone an obsessive, counterproductive third or fourth?

Boxers seem to grasp this. When Mike Tyson promises to rip out hearts, crush testicles and eat children, he sounds downright believable. (The subsequent "Praise Allah" is a nice touch, if something of a non-sequitor.)

The next time some washed-up former baddest man on the planet is trying to sell you $9.95 worth of pay-per-view swill, take notes.

We're waiting for Jim Fassel to guarantee he won't be fired.

DON'T make guarantees
Who are you? Joe Namath? (Hint: The answer is no). In theory, guarantees should strike a little fear and doubt into the other guy; in practice, they almost never work. Consider poor Tracy McGrady, who promised a Game 4 victory against the Charlotte Hornets in the 2002 playoffs -- only to sulk home a 3-1 series loser.

"We got a lot of motivation from what was said," Hornets guard Baron Davis said afterward. "We wanted to use what he said as momentum. Everybody on our team read it, and it fueled us. We took it personal."

Moreover, even a successful guarantee only ensures one thing: Everyone will want you to do it again. Just ask Jim Fassel.

DO taunt before the fact
Too many athletes wait until they have a comfortable lead before they let the smack-talk flow. Uh-uh. That's getting it backwards. Don't be a wimp. Use your best lines early. What's the point of taunting if you're already up 40-3?

Even if you're the University of Miami football team circa the late 1980s/early 1990s-Luther Campbell era, it ain't like you're going to demoralize your opponent any further.

DON'T fail to back it up
The simple, cardinal rule of taunting: When you end up with the "L," even the most memorable putdown sounds pathetic.

[Jolie Rouge]

Amazing Find Inside Egyptian Mummies

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

It's not just jewels, golden coins, and richly textured clothing that archaeologists have found buried in the tombs of Egyptian mummies. In recent years, they have found mummies that were stuffed with papyrus scrolls that contained words. Reuters reports that those words turned out to be the fragments of an original play written by Aeschylus, one of the greatest playwrights the world has ever known.

The play that has been found is a real treasure, perhaps more valuable than any mummy's jewels or gold. Called "Achilles," this trilogy about the Trojan War, was thought to have been lost forever when the Library of Alexandria burned to ashes in 48 BC. Historians knew the play existed because Aristophanes and other Greek playwrights of the time made mention of it. But there was no copy of it. Until now.

Here is the most amazing part of the story: "Achilles" will be staged for the first time in summer 2004 in Cyprus and in Greece by Cyprus' national theater company, Thoc--more than 2,050 years after it was written.

Reuters notes that historians along with theater experts from Thoc drew on references to the trilogy by other ancient playwrights and the recently discovered papyrus texts to create what they believe is the closest possible adaptation of Aeschylus's masterpiece. "This is a new production, based on a very ancient text," Thoc director Andy Bargilly told Reuters. "We do think it is a faithful adaptation to a large extent, but nobody can say 100 percent."

The story revolves around Achilles, the Trojan warrior who was supposed to be invincible until he was killed by his enemy Paris, who shot a poisoned arrow at Achilles' only vulnerable spot--his heel. The play tells of Achilles many encounters with death, as well as the slaying of Hector, the son of the King of Troy.

[Jolie Rouge]

Peru Mummy Discovery: Startling Photos

Two mummies that are at least 700 years old and came from a culture that predates the Incas, have been found in Peru--so well-preserved that one has an eyeball and internal organs intact, reports Reuters.

The mummies, one who was a young boy about 5 years old and a farmer who was about 35 upon their deaths, were discovered by construction workers who were digging a sports field on Feb. 12 at a state school in the coastal province of Islay. "What is striking is the level of conservation (of the mummies)," Lucy Linares, an archaeologist at Peru's National Culture Institute told reporters. The man has one eye open and "you can see his eyeball. It's perfectly preserved," she marveled. In fact, when the workers moved the mummy, they accidentally made a hole in his side. What they saw next was a shocker: his intestines were visible, including fat adhering to the skin.

Because of the clothing they wore and the style of burial they received, archaeologists have dated the mummies from the Chiribaya culture that dominated a large part of South America from Colombia to Chile between 1100 and 1300. The culture was widely known for its colorful ceramics. It was eventually toppled in the 1530s by Spanish conquerors, notes Reuters.

The two mummies were buried separately and were found wrapped in red and blue alpaca cloth and tied with rope. They were buried 10 feet under the ground and placed in the fetal position. The location where they were found appears to be a cemetery, although no other bodies have yet been discovered.

Click to see photographs of the mummies, including one with a perfectly preserved eyeball.

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/photosearch.jsp?cap=peru+mummies&x=0&y=0&searchType=photos&floc=wn-ns

[Jolie Rouge]

Beware This Tricky Way to Slow Speeders

The police department in Santa Maria, Calif. has come up with a cheap but very effective way to slow traffic: mannequins. The cops call it a "traffic calming device," but you can call it Officer TED.

The Associated Press reports that Officer TED, an acronym for Traffic Enforcement Decoy, has been spiffily dressed up in full police garb from head to toe and sits all day in a police cruiser. He never complains. He doesn't take lunch breaks. And he slows down a lot of traffic. After a former career as a mannequin in a May's department store in California, TED is quite effective at what he does. Almost all the drivers who pass him check their speedometers and hit the brakes.


In Great Britain, speeding motorists are getting flashed--by electronic frowns, reports Reuters. Electronic signboards use radar to determine the speed of an oncoming vehicle, flash the speed on the signboard, and then either give the motorist a smiley face if he or she is at or under the speed limit or a frown if the driver is going too fast. Interestingly, the police insist the signboards are changing driver behavior. "They are particularly effective before hazards like a bend," Susan Beck from the National Safety Camera Partnership told Reuters.

[Jolie Rouge]

Scientists Are Excited About Mars Rock
By JOHN ANTCZAK

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1501&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040224%2F0259726526.htm&sc=1501

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Microscopic photographs of a Mars rock taken by NASA's Opportunity rover have triggered excitement among scientists, even if they aren't unanimous on exactly what they're seeing.

The images, posted on Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars rovers Web site, show a highly detailed surface on a rock dubbed ``El Capitan'' that has been undergoing examination by the robot geologist.

``They are just very beautiful things and it's not at all clear that we understand what we're looking at,'' mission official Rob Manning said in a teleconference with reporters on Monday.

``There is a lot of enthusiasm, probably as much enthusiasm as we've ever had by the science team and a lot of intense discussions over these last several days.''


The $820 million mission of Opportunity and the twin rover Spirit is aimed at finding geologic evidence that dusty, frigid Mars was once a wetter place where life could have taken hold.


``El Capitan'' was designated the top target for close-up study after a general assessment of the outcropping from a distance. The layered rock generated debate about whether it was formed volcanically, by deposition of sediments, or involved mineral growth or wind-created structures.


``Once we got close, the images are much more striking, and although the science team is very reluctant to make any decisions about what they're looking at, there's a lot of information in the pictures they've been looking at,'' Manning said.


It was not certain when scientists would comment on their findings. A teleconference was set for Tuesday and the next formal press conference was scheduled for Thursday at JPL in Pasadena.


Manning predicted that Opportunity would spend ``a fair amount of time'' at the outcrop before leaving the area to search for other sites to explore in an area known as Meridiani Planum.


``There's just too much excitement, too much to see,'' he said.


On the other side of Mars in Gusev crater, Spirit had left a trench it dug last week for study of subsurface soil and was en route to a new site dubbed ``Middle Ground.''


On the Net:


Jet Propulsion Laboratory: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov


Microscopic images: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/opportunity-m029.html



02/24/04 02:59

[Jolie Rouge]

Scientists want to be ready to block asteroid from hitting Earth
Tuesday, February 24, 2004 Posted: 12:03 PM EST (1703 GMT)

www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/02/24/defending.earth.ap/index.html


GARDEN GROVE, California (AP) -- The asteroid believed to have wiped out dinosaurs 65 million years ago was rare but hardly unique, say scientists gathered to discuss ways of aggressively defending our planet from another such space rock, including by detonating nukes in space.

Asteroids capable of inflicting damage on a global scale hit the Earth roughly every million years, and we shouldn't dawdle in developing a method of deflecting them, say the scientists attending a four-day planetary defense conference in suburban Orange County.

Scientists have proposed a variety of strategies to nudge an asteroid off course. The list is the stuff of science fiction and includes using lasers, mirrors or atomic weapons launched from Earth.

Unlike any other type of natural hazard, an asteroid impact could kill billions of people. But it's also the only natural hazard that can be prevented, at least in principle, scientists said.

"It's a thing we know will happen sometime in our future so the responsible thing is for people to do something about it," said William Ailor, of The Aerospace Corp., which sponsored the conference with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Astronomers estimate there are between 900 and 1,100 near-Earth asteroids one kilometer -- about six-tenths of a mile -- or larger in diameter. Of those, nearly 700 already have been discovered and cataloged.

It's not clear what sort of damage one of those rocks could cause were it to strike Earth, although destruction on a global scale is likely.

"We don't know what they would do, and we don't want to conduct a science experiment to find out," said David Morrison of NASA's Ames Research Center.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, introduced a bill this month to bolster NASA spending on the search for near-Earth asteroids 100 yards or more across.

Even something of that size, were it to strike, say, the Pacific Ocean, could generate a tsunami capable of destroying the major cities along the West Coast, Ailor said.

Early detection of an inbound asteroid could provide years to decades of warning -- enough time to mount a mission to push it off course, Ailor said. Slowing an asteroid down by even a few inches a second could change its trajectory enough to prevent its ever crossing paths with the Earth.

The Earth moves in space the equivalent of its own diameter in just six minutes. So to move an Earth-bound asteroid off target, it would be enough to delay its arrival time by six minutes, allowing it to harmlessly sweep past, Morrison said.

[Jolie Rouge]

www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/02/24/roe.wade.ap/index.html


SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) -- Oral arguments on a motion to reconsider the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion 31 years ago have been canceled by a federal appeals court, which will now only review written pleadings in the case.

Monday's move represented an about-face by justices on giving Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade fame a chance to argue before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that her landmark abortion case should be reopened and reversed, the San Antonio Express-News reported Tuesday.

Former plaintiff Norma McCorvey of Dallas, who challenged Texas' abortion ban under the pseudonym Jane Roe, has contended that the case should be re-decided in light of evidence that the procedure may harm women.

The New Orleans-based appeals court had agreed they would hear McCorvey's arguments March 2. But the order signed Monday by Circuit Judge Edith H. Jones of Houston offered no explanation for why judges decided against the hearing a week beforehand.

Justices Edward C. Prado of San Antonio and Jacques L. Wiener Jr. of Shreveport, La., are the other judges on the panel that will now rely only on written briefs to decide whether the case can be reopened.

A federal district court in Dallas last year threw out her request days after it was filed, saying it wasn't made within a reasonable time.

Allen Parker, director of the San Antonio-based Texas Justice Foundation, the group that represents McCorvey, interpreted the cancellation favorably.

Parker said it could mean the appellate court thinks the case can easily be decided on the basis that the trial judge abused his authority. Parker said the 5th Circuit judges might simply want to move the case forward quickly.

"They may just be urging us to go to the Supreme Court," he said.

McCorvey, who publicly identified herself in 1980 and now actively opposes abortion, filed her motion in June seeking to have the 1973 decision overturned.

[Jolie Rouge]

The No. 1 Way to Hide an Illicit Affair

In a "they-got-paid-to-do-this?" type study, psychologists from Florida Atlantic University figured out there are 91 ways to hide an illicit love affair from your unsuspecting spouse.

And the No. 1 way?

A man should pretend an even greater interest in his wife and their future together as a couple.

A woman should keep to her daily routine, being careful to change nothing -- especially how she dresses or her beauty regimen.

Think about this.

The outward signs that would make a marriage look solid and secure and loving are also the exact same signs it could be on the rocks, reports London's Daily Telegraph of the Florida study into human mate-poaching. Yes, that's what the researchers call it: human mate-poaching.

The study: Led by evolutionary psychologist Todd Shackelford, the team questioned cheating partners, reviewed earlier research into relationships and lying, and asked the cheats which techniques worked best. Then they rated each technique for its effectiveness. "The goal was to identify the acts men and women perform to disguise the fact that they are trying to attract a mate-poaching relationship," Shackelford explained to the Telegraph.

The results: Men and women have 51 different strategies for "poaching" a mate and 91 different ways to cover up an adulterous affair.

And for those of you who aren't trying to cheat on your one true love, but would want a clue if he or she is unfaithful to you, here are the hints to watch for:

Women beware if your husband talks about spending "quality time" together. More than anything else, this is the hallmark of a cheat.

Men be concerned, be very concerned, if your wife suddenly demands more sex, seems unusually attentive to you, and wears her wedding ring more often than she did before.

And, men, this should really scare you: Women are far better at deception than you are.

The research findings were published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/love/package.jsp?name=fte/hideanaffair/hideanaffair

[Jolie Rouge]

Is This the Key to a Good Memory?

The key to having a good memory may be in a brain chemical called acetylcholine. When this chemical is naturally reduced during certain phases of sleep, it allows the brain to replay activities and that helps to fix and sharpen our memories, The Associated Press reports of new research from the University of Luebeck in Germany. This is an important finding as it has huge implications for the treatment of diseases that involve memory, especially Alzheimer's disease.

When we are awake, the neurotransmitter acetylcholine naturally suppresses feedback between certain parts of the brain. But during slow-wave sleep, the amount of acetylcholine the brain produces drops, which allows the feedback to occur. Study leaders Steffen Gais and Jan Born gave volunteers a drug that kept the amount of acetylcholine high during sleep. When they awoke, they performed poorly on memory-related tests, compared to others who had not received the drug.

Currently, Alzheimer's patients are routinely given medications that keep their levels of acetylcholine high during sleep, a practice that Gais and Born say needs to be re-evaluated. The study findings were reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[jabberjaws]

*Comments Removed*

[Jolie Rouge]

Supreme Court takes up WW II-era dispute
Wednesday, February 25, 2004 Posted: 1:57 PM EST (1857 GMT)

www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/02/25/scotus.nazi.art.ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court wrangled Wednesday over whether to allow a lawsuit by an elderly Los Angeles woman over $150 million worth of paintings stolen by the Nazis from her relatives more than 65 years ago.

Justices have been asked to let Maria Altmann pursue her suit seeking to recover over $150 million worth of paintings stolen by the Nazis. The government of Austria, which has the art, is trying to block the suit in a California court.

Bush administration lawyer Thomas Hungar said that America's foreign relations would be disrupted if countries like Austria and Japan are put through costly legal fights in U.S. courts.

If Altmann wins, she could resume her lawsuit to recover six Gustav Klimt paintings, including two impressionistic portraits of her aunt. They are now part of the Austrian Gallery's popular Klimt collection.

Scott P. Cooper of Los Angeles, one of Austria's lawyers, said that country has long believed that it was shielded from lawsuits in the United States over expropriated art and other things.

"I don't know that we protect expectations of the sort you're talking about," Justice Antonin Scalia told him.

A victory for the 88-year-old Altmann, critics warn, could lead to lawsuits in American courts against galleries worldwide and would revive old allegations of government misconduct.

Two other cases involving similar issues already are pending at the Supreme Court: appeals that involve a lawsuit against Japan by women who claim they were used as sex slaves during World War II and a lawsuit by Holocaust survivors and heirs against the French national railroad for transporting more than 70,000 Jews and others to Nazi concentration camps.

Justice Stephen Breyer, one of two Jewish members of the high court, said he could envision "a pretty big nightmare" if courts were thrown open to multiple old property disputes.

The question for the court is whether to allow lawsuits over disputes predating a 1952 U.S. government policy that shielded some countries from lawsuits.

Altmann's aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer, died in 1925 after asking that the art be donated to the government gallery. Her uncle died in exile in Switzerland at the end of World War II and left his possessions to Altmann and two of her siblings. Only Altmann is still alive.

Austria argues that it rightfully owns the paintings. It says a member of Altmann's family gave the Klimt paintings to the museum, as her aunt had requested in her will. Altmann's lawyers contend the will was invalid.

The Bush administration supports Austria. Solicitor General Theodore Olson told justices in a filing that "the United States has strongly condemned the Nazi atrocities, and it has sought to rectify Nazi wrongs through diplomatic and other means."

The government has not, however, authorized U.S. courts to resolve war-related claims, he said.

The case is Austria v. Altmann, 03-13.

[Jolie Rouge]

Top 10 Dumbest Band Names of All Time

Who knows the rhyme or reason band members have for choosing the name of their band? When the name is just plain stupid, the band deserves the boos! That's the theory behind Guitar One magazine's list of the top 10 most stupid band names of all time.

No. 1 is a shocker: The Beatles. How did the Fab Four come up with the name? According to Heathen World's Origins of Band Names Web site, there are several stories:

--In 1960, Stuart Sutcliffe came up with The Beetles, which was a play on Buddy Holly's Crickets.

--The group went by The Quarrymen and later The Silver Beetles, which was soon shortened to The Beetles and then mutated to The Beatles.

--It's possible that Lennon and Sutcliffe were influenced by the film "The Wild One," which featured a motorcycle gang called the Beetles.

--John Lennon is widely credited with combining Beetles and Beat to come up with The Beatles spelling. He also said he had a vision as a child of a flaming pie in the sky that said "You are Beatles with an "A."


Here is Guitar One's list of the top 10 dumbest band names of all time:

1. The Beatles
2. Limp Bizkit
3. Any band named after boy body parts
4. Any band named after girl body parts
5. Bands with scatological names
6. Bands named after places
7. Yes
8. Toto
9. The Presidents of the United States of America
10. The Band

[Jolie Rouge]

How to Recall Where You Put the Keys

It's the bane of middle-age folks everywhere: Where DID you leave the car keys?

Or your glasses?

Or your corporate badge?

Thanks to Tony Dottino, a spokesman for Memoriad, here's a foolproof way to remember. "Anchor" the item in your memory. To do this, simply remember a detail of what you were doing at the time you were last using your keys (or glasses or badge). That memory will then help you recall where you put them.


Dottino shared another useful memory tip with Wireless Flash: To remember a person's name when you are first introduced, mentally spell his or her first and last name. Do this before you even begin talking and it will anchor that name in your mind.


Memoriad is sponsoring the 7th Annual USA Memory Championship this Saturday. We're fairly confident these contestants never forget where they dropped their keys. Why? As part of this brain-challenging event, they will be required to memorize a 1,000-digit number, as well as 500 words, 99 names and faces, an unpublished and unrhymed poem, and a shuffled deck of cards. And they have to do each in five to 15 minutes.

[Jolie Rouge]

Two New Dinosaur Species Found in Antarctica

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-rontz&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040226%2F1441863787.htm&sc=rontz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two new species of dinosaur, one a quick-moving meat-eater and the other a giant plant-eater, have been discovered in Antarctica, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

The 70 million-year-old fossils of the carnivore would have rested for millenniums at the bottom of an Antarctic sea, while remains of the 100-foot-long herbivore were found on the top of a mountain.

They would have lived in a different Antarctica -- one that was warm and wet, the two teams of researchers, both funded by the National Science Foundation, said.

The little carnivore -- about 6 feet tall -- was found on James Ross Island, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula.


Not yet named, the animal probably floated out to sea after it died and settled to the bottom of what was then a shallow area of the Weddell Sea, said Judd Case of St. Mary's College of California, who helped find the fossils.


Its bones and teeth suggest it may represent a population of two-legged carnivores that survived in the Antarctic long after other predators took over elsewhere on the globe.


"For whatever reason, they were still hanging out on the Antarctic continent," Case said in a statement.


A second team led by William Hammer of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois found the 200 million-year-old plant-eater's fossils on a mountaintop 13,000 feet high near the Beardmore Glacier.


Now known as Mt. Kirkpatrick, the area was once a soft riverbed.


Hammer and colleagues were scouring the area for fossils after having found other new species there in the 1990s.


The team included Peter Braddock, a mountain safety guide.


"I jokingly said to him, 'Keep your eyes down. Look for weird things in the rock'," Hammer said in a statement.


"He had marked four or five things he thought were odd, including some fossilized roots. But I realized that one of these things was bone: part of a huge pelvis and ilium."


The animal would have been a primitive sauropod -- a long-necked, four-legged grazer similar to the better known brachiosaurs.


"This site is so far removed geographically from any site near its age, it's clearly a new dinosaur to Antarctica," Hammer said. "We have so few dinosaur specimens from the whole continent, compared to any other place, that almost anything we find down there is new to science."



02/26/04 14:41

[the fugative]

Real Michigan wolverine spotted for first time in about two centuries
David Runk, Associated Press

Published February 26, 2004

DETROIT -- A biologist has confirmed the sighting of a real Michigan wolverine, about 200 years after the species was last seen in the state that uses the small but ferocious animal as its unofficial nickname.

Coyote hunters spotted a wolverine near Ubly, about 90 miles north of Detroit. Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Arnie Karr saw the forest predator Tuesday and snapped pictures of the animal as it ran out of the woods and across a field.

The wolverine, a member of the weasel family that grows to about 25 pounds but is ferocious enough to fight off bears and wolves, once ranged across the northern and western United States. It is now limited mostly to northern Canada, Idaho and Alaska, with sightings in a few other states, but its last confirmed sightings in Michigan were by fur traders in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

The appearance is ``up there with having a caribou or a polar bear turn up,'' Department of Natural Resources spokesman Brad Wurfel said Wednesday. ``It's unprecedented.''

How the scrappy animal returned and even whether it ever really left are mysteries in the state, where the best-known Wolverines are athletes at the University of Michigan.

Raymond Rustem, supervisor of the natural heritage unit in the department's wildlife division, said the wolverine could have traveled to the state, been released or escaped from captivity.

``What it means, who knows?'' Rustem said. ``When you take a look at the wolverine, there's always been this debate about whether wolverines ever were a part of Michigan's recent past. Some evidence shows that, some says no.''

The wolverine was on Michigan's endangered species list until the late 1990s, when it was removed because it wasn't expected to return, Rustem said. Conservationists asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to put the animal on its endangered list in 2000, but the agency in October declined to study whether the species should be added.

:p

[the fugative]

Grizzlies make surprise awakening, escape refuge
Associated Press

Published February 24, 2004

NORTH VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Two orphaned grizzly bears emerged from hibernation earlier than expected and made a brief getaway from a wildlife refuge, forcing the closure of a popular ski hill.

Grouse Mountain, one of the top tourist attractions in the Vancouver area, was closed for about two hours Monday as conservation officers recaptured Grinder and Coola and moved the two groggy male bears, each about six feet tall, to another den.

``We obviously have to make our hibernation dens more secure,'' said Ken Macquisten, director of the Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife.

An electric fence to confine the bears had not been erected, so they were able to get out of their man-made den and climb a tree, refuge spokesman Chris Dagenais said.

The bears usually hibernate until March, and Dagenais said refuge officials expect them to resume their hibernation in the new den.

They have been at the wildlife refuge since September 2001.

Grinder was found disoriented and dehydrated beside a logging road outside Invermere, and authorities believe his mother was hunted or poached. Coola became orphaned when his mother was struck and killed by a car near Bella Coola.

Neither posed a significant danger, Macquisten said.

``Of course grizzly bears have a reputation of being big, tough, ferocious animals,'' he said. ``We know these grizzly bears intimately and we know they're not that.''

:p


Polar bears at Singapore Zoo turn green
Associated Press

Published February 24, 2004

SINGAPORE -- Life in the balmy tropics has made polar bears Inuka and Sheba go green with algae.

The usually white coats of Sheba and her 13-year-old son Inuka, Singapore Zoo's two polar bears, turned green a few weeks ago from algae growing in their hollow hair shafts, said Vincent Tan, a spokesman for the zoo.

``The harmless algae is the result of Singapore's warm and humid tropical conditions,'' Tan said.

Polar bears have clear hair shafts which appear white because they reflect light.

Sheba's coat was successfully bleached with hydrogen peroxide 2 1/2 weeks ago and Inuka will be given a similar treatment in 3 weeks time, Tan said.

The zoo wanted to observe Sheba's reaction to the treatment before bleaching Inuka, he said.

For now, Inuka remains mottled with bright grass-colored splotches behind his ears, on his back and legs.

Three polar bears at the San Diego Zoo developed similarly green coats in 1979 but were cured with a salt solution, according to the Web site of Polar Bears International, a nonprofit conservation group based in North America.

:p

[the fugative]

Heard this? A cow goes to a doctor ...

BY NICHOLAS SPANGLER

Miami Herald


There was a cow named Lola in the office of Dr. Perry Smith.

The doctor was a veterinarian, after all, and the cow was not fully grown. But she was a cow.

Lola grazed peaceably on some fax paper until nurse Maryann Iturralde distracted her with some Honey Nut Cheerios. Lola sniffed but did not eat.

''Is your tummy full?'' Iturralde coaxed. ``Is it full?''

Perhaps it was. Lola made a deposit, hugely and shamelessly, on the tile floor. Then she walked off in the direction of the dog pens.

''Oh Lord,'' Iturralde said and grabbed the Wet Naps.

Lola has lived at the Trail Animal Clinic in West Miami since the day after Thanksgiving. She arrived early that morning, scrawny and bewildered, in the back of Smith's big gray pickup.

''She didn't bond with her mother,'' Smith said. ``Normally, they're nursing from the mother for six months, learning to eat grass. She'd probably have starved to death if we'd left her on the ranch.''

She was a calf then, 4 days old and not more than 60 pounds. She was Smith's. He keeps a ranch outside of Palatka, land that's been in his family for years.

Smith is a severe man, tall and stooped, with American Gothic looks. He worked at a feedlot to pay for college and veterinary school, milking and slaughtering from the time he was a boy, and archives his copies of the Florida Cattleman Journal.

The man knows cows.

''A calf will put on 2, 3 pounds a day,'' he said.

Lola weighs 172 pounds.

''She's still got to learn to eat grass,'' Smith said. ``Then she goes back to the ranch.''

TIME TO SLEEP

Lola walked back through an examination room, down the hall and back into the office. She scratched her chin on the computer keyboard and billing files flashed across the screen.

''Lola!'' Iturralde said. ``Lie down! Go lie down on your bed!''

The nurses had fixed a nest of pink and blue blankets on the floor next to the computer, and Lola laid down, heavily. She closed her eyes and her eyelids began to twitch.

She is attractive, as cows go, caramel-colored with dark haunches and a white ''T'' on her forehead. She is svelte, with a glossy coat and a gentle face. Her ears are enormous and floppy.

She may not be a cow genius but if she has not progressed as Smith would like on the grazing front, the fault is surely not hers.

Nurses bottle-feed her a gallon of milk every morning. She gets treats like ''pizza, bagels, dog chow, sometimes McDonald's,'' Iturralde said. ``Sometimes the clients will bring her chicken nuggets. And for a while we tried to housebreak her with M&Ms.''

Who in their right mind, save some bovine fitness fanatic, would choose grass under the circumstances?

Smith had left the room to attend a patient, a puppy small enough to fit in a man's palm. He was displeased to see Lola napping when he returned. ''Lola!'' he said. ``You going to sleep all day? Or you going to get up and be somebody?''

A LITTLE PRODDING

Lola did not want to be somebody. She wanted to sleep. But in good time, after much tugging and prodding, she got up. It was time for her walk. Nurse Iturralde fixed a leash and led her into the alley behind the clinic.

It was hot and dusty out back and Lola walked slowly, without enthusiasm. ''Not in a roaming mood, today, huh?'' Iturralde asked. Lola did not answer. They walked down to the end of the alley and back, with a pause along the way to taste some interesting-looking leaves.

Soon -- two weeks, maybe three -- Lola will return to the pasture. She will graze and grow to half a ton. She will give birth yearly for the next decade, give milk in between bouts of pregnancy and eventually become many, many hamburgers.

Iturralde did not dwell on the future.

''You bottle-raise her, you play with her, but you realize you can't keep her,'' she said.

:p


Home Depot visited by flying shopper
Associated Press

Published February 25, 2004

NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio -- One visitor to Home Depot has been hunting for more than home improvement items.

A Cooper's hawk has been flying above the stocked shelves at a suburban Cleveland store for more than a week while feeding on pigeons that live in the rafters.

The brown bird's three-foot wing span casts a moving shadow across the concrete floor, causing customers and workers to duck and cock their heads toward the 25-foot ceiling.

The hawk entered the store through an open door while chasing a pigeon last Saturday. It caught its prey above the electrical aisle, worker Craig Warth said. Witnesses saw the hawk rip the pigeon apart and feed until nothing was left but feathers and claws.

``It wasn't a pretty sight,'' said Terry McGuire, assistant manager. ``Some of the customers were upset. Some said it was the neatest thing they had ever seen.''

Workers said about 15 pigeons were living in the store, but since the hawk arrived, few are left. Cooper's hawks are a protected species, so the bird can't be harmed or killed.

Local wildlife experts say the hawk will likely leave when the pigeons are gone.


:p

[the fugative]

News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd

Published February 26, 2004

Art comes to life: In a 1999 episode of TV's "The Simpsons," Homer became a temporary multibillionaire by accidentally inventing a "tomacco" plant that sprouted tobacco-bred tomatoes that were hopelessly addictive. Inspired (and hoping to draw attention to the show's antismoking message), Rob Baur of Lake Oswego, Ore., tried to grow such a plant and has somewhat succeeded, although a forensic researcher says that only the plant itself, and not the fruit, contains nicotine.

• Ronald Paul McAllister, 43, allegedly robbed a Bank of America branch in Tulsa, Okla., in January, during which incident he was quoted as advising a teller, "Don't do anything stupid, lady." Moments later, as McAllister fled with his loot, he forgot to take his holdup note, which was a pre-printed withdrawal slip with his name on it. He was easily tracked down, and police now say McAllister had robbed another bank in October.

• Ariel Alonso, who lives near Roanoke, Va., was wrongly accused by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of setting up a methamphetamine lab, and the charges were dropped in January. The laboratory of Alonso (and his then-partner, Jonathan Conrad) was in reality making the so-called "fluid of life," which they sold at $20 to $40 a dose by claiming that it is the component of human cells and can cleanse people internally and build new tissue, even though it was just potassium chloride and white grape juice.

• Convicted murderer Robert Ivey continued to tell a court in Montreal in December that he is not guilty of killing the 42-year-old victim and that if only he had enough money to challenge the conclusive DNA tests (which showed that his blood was all over the victim's apartment), he would be a free man. A few moments later, during his recitation to the court, Ivey asked the judge for credit toward his sentencing because of his conscientiousness in having spent seven hours cleaning up the crime scene and the victim's body.

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who is widely believed by United Nations officials and Far East experts to be tolerating the starvation deaths of perhaps millions of his countrymen, launched a nationwide campaign in January to improve national health by eradicating smoking.

The champion is . . .

• In November, Jacky Bibby, 52, of Whiskey Flats, Texas (near Fort Worth), sat in a bathtub with 81 live rattlesnakes and then extended his own Guinness Book record by stuffing the tails of nine of them into his mouth. Protocol required that he band the tails together at the rattles and hold them in his mouth for 10 seconds while leaning forward. In December, Brian Moffitt of Winnipeg extended his Guinness Book record of 702 body piercings by inserting 900 surgical needles into his leg.

• Geologist David Siveter of Leicester (England) University wrote in the journal Science in December that he and his team had found a fossil 425 million years old that is probably the oldest record of an unambiguously male animal. They named the half-inch shellfish Colymbosathon ecplecticos, which they said means "swimmer with a large penis," referring to the organ that is one-fifth of its body length.

• Eva Reyes, 71, the mother of convicted murderer David Maust of Hammond, Ind., said in December, upon being informed that Maust had been charged with three more murders: "I love David, but, yes, [the death penalty] would be the right thing to do for him [if convicted]." Also in December, Lynda Nixon, mother of convicted double murderer Ian Huntley (Soham, England), told the Sun newspaper: "I believe Ian should not live after what he's done. I truly wish we had capital punishment" (and she went on to specify an "electric chair").

Did you know . . .

• The first international camel beauty pageant was held in November in the Alxa League area of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region of China, according to an Associated Press dispatch, featuring nearly 100 dressed-up camels judged (by veteran herders) for the shine of their hair and the uprightness of their humps.

• In January, doctors at the Selian Hospital in Arusha, Tanzania, removed a toothbrush from the stomach of a 54-year-old man who had become the latest person to swallow one while brushing his teeth.

In January, a government audit revealed that the District of Columbia last year had failed to use (and therefore had lost) $5 million from federal grants for breakfast and lunch programs for low-income children because it could not figure out how to spend it.

:p

[Jolie Rouge]

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4374309


First Michigan wolverine spotted in 200 years

Last confirmed sightings were by fur traders in early 1800s


Photos by Arnie Karr / DNR via AP
Wildlife biologist Arnie Karr was able to photograph the wolverine, a member of the weasel family, as it ran out of the woods and across a field Tuesday.

Story By David Runk -- The Associated Press


A biologist has confirmed the sighting of a real Michigan wolverine, about 200 years after the species was last seen in the state that uses the small but ferocious animal as its unofficial nickname.

Coyote hunters spotted a wolverine near Ubly, about 90 miles north of Detroit. Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Arnie Karr saw the forest predator Tuesday and snapped pictures of the animal as it ran out of the woods and across a field.

The wolverine, a member of the weasel family that grows to about 25 pounds but is ferocious enough to fight off bears and wolves, once ranged across the northern and western United States. It is now limited mostly to northern Canada, Idaho and Alaska, with sightings in a few other states, but its last confirmed sightings in Michigan were by fur traders in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

The appearance is "up there with having a caribou or a polar bear turn up," Department of Natural Resources spokesman Brad Wurfel said Wednesday. "It's unprecedented."

How the scrappy animal returned and even whether it ever really left are mysteries in the state, where the best-known Wolverines are athletes at the University of Michigan.

Raymond Rustem, supervisor of the natural heritage unit in the department's wildlife division, said the wolverine could have traveled to the state, been released or escaped from captivity.

"What it means, who knows?" Rustem said. "When you take a look at the wolverine, there's always been this debate about whether wolverines ever were a part of Michigan's recent past. Some evidence shows that, some says no."

The wolverine was on Michigan's endangered species list until the late 1990s, when it was removed because it wasn't expected to return, Rustem said. Conservationists asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to put the animal on its endangered list in 2000, but the agency in October declined to study whether the species should be added.

[Jolie Rouge]

:mad:

{{ these are the types that give good cops a bad name ...}}

:mad:

Cops Caught Issuing Tickets As a Contest

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040227%2F1714907619.htm&sc=1120


PORTERDALE, Ga. (AP) - A contest between two police officers in a small Georgia town to see which one could issue the most traffic tickets was stopped by a judge who overheard the apparent winner talking about it, the mayor said.

Part-time Porterdale police officers Erin Cox and Frank Jackson wrote about 150 tickets in January, which was significantly higher than in previous months, Mayor Paul Oeland said.

Some tickets were for minor offenses including not reporting an address change to the state or having defective equipment on a vehicle, it was first reported in The Covington News.

The contest was revealed when City Court Judge C. David Strickland overheard the officers talking about it recently. Oeland said ``Jackson indicated he had won the contest.''


``I think it was sort of bragging rights,'' said Oeland, a lawyer. ``They would make a traffic stop for a legitimate reason and then try to find anything else they could possibly write a ticket for.''


The mayor added: ``It is not anything that we as a city support.''


Both officers were asked to resign by Friday by City Manager Tom Fox, Oeland said. They have been with the department less than a year, he said. Neither could be reached Friday. There was no answer at the police department.



02/27/04 17:13

[Jolie Rouge]

Uh Oh. Low Carb Backlash Gets Ugly

It started out as whispers that grew into rumors that grew into a media onslaught of hurtful accusations and angry finger pointing. Word came that Dr. Robert Atkins, the father of the low-carbohydrate diet fad that as many as 24 million Americans have now embraced, was obese upon his death. Some branded him "Dr. Fatkins." What's more, his heart was not healthy. Could the steak and eggs for breakfast be to blame?

Don't look now, but the low-carb backlash has begun.

Reuters reports there is a distinct move toward more balanced eating, which could spell doom for the strict high-protein, low-carb Atkins diet. In the long run, that might not be a bad thing. While the diet does work--folks are ecstatic when they can essentially eat all the bacon, eggs, and cream they want and still lose lots of weight--it is made up high-protein foods that are also high in fat and high in cholesterol. And over time, that's not good for a body.

Is there room for pasta and bread on that plate?

"Everything in moderation is ultimately where all these things lead to," Douglas Conant, chief executive of Campbell Soup Co., told Reuters. "These diets become fad-like and take on lives of their own...and typically they are not sustainable." Hershey CEO Richard Lenny notes that Extremes are hard to maintain forever and predicts most low-carb followers will eventually converge in the center.

While many food manufacturers, Campbell Soup and Hershey among them, are creating new products for low-carb dieters, others are fighting back. The Florida Citrus Commission, which blames the low-carb diet fad for a nearly three-year decline in orange juice sales, has proposed to bite back with a new $6 million television advertising campaign that would "poke fun at the logic of the (low-carb) diets," Mike Malone, the agency's creative director, told the Lakeland, Fla., newspaper The Ledger.

But the negative tone of some of the proposed ads has drawn ire.
One such ad, called "Grease," shows a man frying bacon, sausage, and other breakfast meats, and then pouring the fat from the skillet into an 8-ounce glass. The spokesman then squeezes an orange into another glass and remarks that some people think the glass of fat is healthy while the glass of orange juice is not, reports The Ledger. The ad's message: Orange juice has no fat or cholesterol and is naturally heart-healthy.

Maybe moderation in everything really is the best approach--even if it's not as exciting. Eat your steak and eggs. But eat small amounts so you can also enjoy bread and chocolate.

[Jolie Rouge]

Report: Scary News About Chicken

The level of arsenic found in young chickens, which are called "broilers," may be three to four times higher than the amount of arsenic in other types of poultry and meat, HealthDayNews reports of a new study from researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service.


How is arsenic getting into chickens?

Arsenic is a government-approved feed supplement that farmers use as a way to fight intestinal parasites in the birds, especially young ones. This USDA study is the first of its kind to measure the levels of arsenic in chickens, as well as how much of it is ingested by people who eat those chickens.

It's important to note that the USDA says that even with the higher levels of arsenic found in broilers, the amount of arsenic we ingest from our favorite chicken dishes is still well below what is considered a tolerable daily intake. But the researchers are equally quick to point out that the amount of arsenic we are ingesting from chicken is much higher than previously thought, which may prompt government agencies to reassess the acceptable level of total arsenic exposure. Arsenic, while poisonous in large amounts in its inorganic form, is a naturally occurring organic element that is found in food, drinking water, and the environment. Arsenic in its less toxic organic form is used as a chicken feed supplement. Our total exposure to arsenic is an important measurement. A little is okay. A lot is not. "If we're taking in more [arsenic] in chicken, then there's, in a way, less room to take in arsenic through the water," lead study author and epidemiologist Tamar Lasky explained to HealthDayNews.


How much arsenic do you get from eating chicken?

If you ate 12 ounces of chicken every day, you would ingest between 21 micrograms and 31 micrograms of inorganic arsenic per day and 33 micrograms to 47 micrograms of total arsenic per day. Your weight is important in computing how much of that you can tolerate. If you weigh 154 pounds, this amount translates to 0.30 to 0.44 micrograms per kilogram per day of inorganic arsenic, which is well below the tolerable daily intake of 2 micrograms per kilogram per day, but still a sizable portion of the total, reports HealthDayNews. Richard Lobb, spokesman for the National Chicken Council says the study "appears to be much ado about nothing." He points out that the arsenic in poultry feed is the less toxic organic form and that it "is used responsibly and safely by poultry producers." The study is meant to raise questions for further research--not scare people away from eating chicken. Says Lasky, "It's reasonable for consumers to say, 'We want to know more about this.'" The study findings were published in Environmental Health Perspectives.

[Jolie Rouge]

Man Dragged by SUV and Killed on Va. Road

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040229%2F1737966524.htm&sc=1110

SPRINGFIELD, Va. (AP) - A sport utility vehicle hit a man on an interstate highway Sunday and dragged his body - apparently lodged in the suspension - 8 1/2 miles to the driver's home, police said.

Josuel Galdino, 25, of Lorton, was charged with manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and felony hit-and-run after calling police to report a man's body was caught in the front-end suspension of his SUV.

Fairfax County Police spokeswoman Sophia Grinnan said Galdino hit Fitsum Gebreegziabher, 27, of Woodbridge, who had gotten out of his car after getting a flat tire on Interstate 95 southwest of Washington, D.C.

Grinnan said Galdino was traveling in a southbound lane near the Fairfax County Parkway when he hit Gebreegziabher.


Galdino was held without bond Sunday. Arraignment was scheduled for Monday morning, said police spokesman Terry Williams.


It was not immediately clear whether Galdino had an attorney.



02/29/04 17:37

[Jolie Rouge]

Over the hill

:eek:

Nicole Kidman was passed over for a role because the director feels she’s too old, says a source.

Oscar-nominated Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles is looking for someone to star opposite Ralph Fiennes in “The Constant Gardener,” and an insider says he decided against trying to cast Kidman in the role because the character is supposed to be in her early 20s.

But, says the source, Meirelles said he did consider Kidman’s Aussie pal Naomi Watts — who is only a year younger than Kidman -—because she’s such a great actress.

“He said he was so impressed with her in ’21 Grams’ that he felt she could overcome the age thing,” says the source, “but she’s committed to appearing in [Peter Jackson’s remake of] ‘King Kong’ so he lost her.”



Madonna has a little confession to make: She wants to rule the world.

The singer reveals this perhaps unsurprising tidbit in “Nobody Knows Me,” a 52-page collection of photos and quotes from the ambitious blonde. “Every time I reach a new peak, I see a new one I want to climb,” Madonna writes. “It’s like I can’t stop. Maybe I should rest and admire the view, but I can’t. I’ve got to keep on pushing. I want to rule the world. Why? I don’t know. I don’t know what motivates me, I just know I’ve got to do it.” . . . Pink was spotted looking quite cozy with ex-love Carey Hart, according to the London Mirror. Her current sweetie, Tommy Lee, was not around. . . . German producers are eager to bring “The Producers” to a stage in Berlin, according to reports, and they get a kick out of the Nazi spoofs, including the show-stopping number, “Springtime for Hitler.”

[Jolie Rouge]

59 animals dead in Brazil zoo murder mystery
Saturday, February 28, 2004 Posted: 4:09 PM EST

www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/02/27/brazil.zoo.reut/index.html

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) -- Nearly 60 animals have been killed at the Sao Paulo Zoo since last month and police expect to track down the suspected killers soon, a Brazilian official said on Friday.

Laboratory tests have shown the animals were killed with a rat poison banned in Brazil.

Joao Carlos Meirelles, a Sao Paulo state minister, said investigators had ruled out the deaths being an accident, mainly because the dose was so high in most of the dead animals.

The 59 victims so far include an elephant, dromedaries, monkeys and porcupines.

"We can say with almost total certainty that the suspects will be identified by next week, give or take," Meirelles said

The zoo management has put 15 workers on leave while they are under investigation. It has also ordered all staff to work in pairs.

The latest victims have been the porcupines. In all, 36 were killed, of which six were ready to be donated to another zoo.

"If it's someone from inside of the zoo, I can't understand what is going through this person's mind," said a security guard, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Ronaldo.

"If this is an outside job, I can't understand how they are managing to do it, given our strict security measures."

The public is just as frustrated.

"The poor things are defenseless. Clearly, they are paying the price for some personal vendetta," said Simone Oka Filho, visiting the zoo with her son and nephew on Friday.

The zoo killings have attracted international attention.

"There is certainly an international cause for concern, for all of us who really care about animals, so we can know how to avoid this type of situation," said Jane Ballaintine, a spokeswoman for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association.

"But deliberate incidents such as this one are very few and far between. It really shocks us that anyone would want to do this."

[Jolie Rouge]

Drink This and You'll Attract Mosquitoes

With visions of summer dancing in your head, you may be thinking of outdoor barbecues. Know this: Drink beer and you'll be swatting at the mosquitoes. That's the disheartening word from a research study in the Philippines that also cited the smell of dirty socks as an invitation to mosquitoes, reports the Savannah Morning News.

With the threat of West Nile virus now nationwide, stopping mosquitoes from breeding is actually your first defense against being bit. As spring begins, Joe Conlon, a technical advisor for the American Mosquito Control Association who says the threat of mosquitoes hasn't stopped him from drinking beer, urges homeowners instead to be proactive now. First and foremost, drain all standing water, and in areas where that is not possible, such as a backyard pond, use specially-designed chemicals to curb mosquitoes. One, which he dubs the Peter Pan chemical, is methoprene. The granules, which are dropped in the water, don't kill the mosquitoes, but rather prevent them from developing into adults.

Conlon says that chemicals aren't as effective as the age-old advice on curbing mosquitoes, which he described to the Savannah Morning News as the "the three Ds":

--Drain standing water every five days. It doesn't matter if it's as
big as the kiddie pool on the deck or as small as a bottle cap.

--Dress in light-colored clothing that covers your arms and legs loosely.

--Use DEET, the chemical repellent that is found in most commercial bug sprays. The optimal concentration is about 15 percent to 30 percent DEET.

What doesn't work? Electric bug zappers, electromagnetic devices that produce ultrasound, citronella candles, garlic, and vitamin B12.

[Jolie Rouge]

The Ultimate Solutions For a Bad Boss

If your boss is bad, that's no reason to quit your job. Instead, try any of these tips to make a bad situation better. Henry Doomus, regional president of from Bernard Haldane Associates in Oklahoma City, Okla., told WTOP News in Washington, D.C. that even if your boss is horrible, you shouldn't quit your job unless you have enough savings to live on for three to five months. Money aside, consider this: "The best time to find a job is when you have a job. If you are in a situation where you feel trapped with a bad boss, work on lines of communication, separate yourself from the situation," he told WTOP News. "Do not take it personally. There is a distinction between managing up and kissing up. Often people who are good mentors themselves do not allow the boss to be a good mentor to them."


So what can you do instead of quitting? Doomas advises:

--Work on the things you can control. Like what? Try to understand what your boss's needs are. Then be the one to help fill those needs.

--Keep communication open. Figure out if your boss prefers e-mail, face-to-face, or even telephone communication and then use that
method most.

--Your boss may not be aware of all you have accomplished. Toot your own horn. Document your achievements.

--Shower your boss with kindness.

--Set up regular meeting with the boss where you can offer solutions to problems instead of gripes and complaints.

The final and most important piece of advice: "Don't go over your boss' head. Tattletails usually get fired," Doomas warns WTOP. "Respect the title, even if you don't respect the person."


If the only way to deal with the problem of a bad boss is to quit your job, then do it. Just remember, you may need a reference. "You never gain by burning bridges behind you," he says. Still, Doomas encourages employees in this kind of situation to document the boss's bad behavior and present that information to the human resources department before you leave. And never complain about the old boss in an interview for a new job.

[Jolie Rouge]

Woman Reports Neighbor for Disturbingly Loud Sex


BERLIN (Reuters) - A German woman took her male neighbor to court for noise pollution after he repeatedly kept her awake through half the night and had at least one four-hour sex session, a court spokeswoman said Friday.

"Four hours of sex noises. What was I supposed to think? It was nothing but groaning and banging," the woman told the judge, a Bild newspaper report said.

The woman told Berlin magistrates that her 25-year old neighbor Andreas G. was disturbing the peace by keeping her awake early in the morning.

Andreas said his 26-year old neighbor had complained in the past, calling at five in the afternoon, but that he had not felt obliged to respond. "I can have as much sex as loud as I want then," he said.


The judge dropped the case on learning that the man had since moved out of the apartment.



02/27/04 11:09

[Jolie Rouge]

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040301%2F1022993086.htm&sc=reodd


LONDON (Reuters) - A British couple who discovered their home had been the scene of a grisly murder as they watched a crime documentary on television, failed in a legal claim on Friday that the previous owners should have informed them.

Alan and Susan Sykes said they would never have bought the 83,000 pound ($155,000) house in Wakefield, West Yorkshire in December 2000 if they had known that 15 years earlier a doctor had murdered his 13-year-old adopted daughter there and dismembered her body into more than 100 pieces.

The couple, who put the house on the market soon after they learned about their home's gruesome history, were attempting to claim damages from sellers James and Alison Taylor-Rose.

In dismissing the case at the Court of Appeal, Lord Justice Peter Gibson said: "I feel a great deal of sympathy for this couple. But we had to decide the case on a dry issue of law."


"I can well understand their horrified reaction at learning their recently purchased house had been the scene of such a gruesome murder, made all the more vivid by the details given in the documentary," he said.


"There was also the possibility parts of the victim's body might still lie undiscovered in this house," he added. :eek:


The Sykeses struggled to find a buyer and ultimately lost 8,000 pounds on the sale.


The couple say that when the Taylor-Roses were asked: "Is there any other information which you think the buyer may have a right to know?" on a legal form, they answered "No."


Afterwards lawyers for the Sykeses issued a statement in which they said: "We are extremely disappointed with the decision, but we felt it was right and appropriate to take the case to court."


An original claim for damages was also rejected by a county court judge.


University dental biologist Dr Samson Perera was convicted of murder in 1985. Parts of his victim's body were found hidden under the floorboards, in pot plants and a coffee jar at the house, while others were never traced.



03/01/04 10:21

[jaybird]

666 Appears on Some 'Passion' Tickets


ROME, Ga. (AP) - Tickets at one movie theater screening Mel Gibson's ``The Passion of the Christ'' are being deemed decidedly unholy.

The number 666, which many Christians recognize as the ``mark of the beast,'' is appearing on movie tickets for Gibson's film at a Georgia theater, drawing complaints from some moviegoers.

The machine that prints tickets assigned the number 666 as a prefix on all the tickets for the film, said Gary Smith, owner of the Movies at Berry Square in northwest Georgia. The 666 begins a series of numbers that are listed below the name of the movie, the date, time and price.

``It's from our computer and it's absolutely a coincidence,'' Smith said. ``It has nothing to do with the film company or any vendor. It's completely in our computer.''

In the Bible, the book of Revelation says 666 is the ``number of the beast,'' usually interpreted as Satan or the Antichrist.

Several patrons have made comments about the numbers, and one person who was uncomfortable having 666 on her ticket asked for a pass to be substituted for a ticket.

``A lot of people have asked what the numbers mean, some said it seemed odd, some said it was inappropriate,'' said theater employee Erica Diaz.

[Jolie Rouge]

hhhhhmmmmmm....... that sounds sooofamilar ; almost as if I had read it somewhere before

[Jolie Rouge]

UNEMPLOYED HOBBITS ROB 7-ELEVEN

End of Trilogy May Spark Crime Wave, Experts Fear

Only moments after “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” completed its clean sweep of the Academy Awards in Los Angeles Sunday night, two unemployed hobbits robbed a 7-Eleven in nearby Studio City, making off with over $300 and an assortment of bite-sized snacks.

“So much for the hobbits being gentle folk,” said Sgt. Ron McCloud of the LAPD’s Studio City division. “When those bastards are out of a job they’re a freaking menace to society.”

A spokesman for New Line Cinema, anxious to keep the hobbit robbery from casting a pall over the studio’s eleven-statuette sweep, denied that the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy’s coming to an end was solely responsible for the hobbits’ current high unemployment rate, reportedly hovering around 100%.

But Dr. Kevin Peterson, a professor of economics at the University of Minnesota, said that with tens of thousands of unemployed and embittered hobbits suddenly out on the street, “the situation is potentially an explosive one.”

“These hobbits have essentially been on the gravy train for the past five years,” Dr. Peterson said. “But the only skills they’ve developed are running through forests and popping out from behind trees, neither of which is terribly marketable in this economy.”

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) picked up the theme today, telling a New York audience, “We are living in two Americas – one for the rich and privileged, and one for unemployed hobbits.”

In other Oscar news, experts said today that actress Diane Keaton’s style had now officially crossed over from Annie Hall to Hassidic rabbi. For more go to: www.borowitzreport.com

[Jolie Rouge]

Medical mysteries, bizarre cases

New book chronicles rare and odd ailments of human body, mind

By Amy Cox -- CNN
Friday, February 20, 2004 Posted: 12:54 PM EST

www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/02/20/strange.cases/index.html

(CNN) -- Jumping Frenchmen of Maine, Alice-in-Wonderland syndrome, wandering spleen.

They might sound like the names of the latest rock bands, but they're actually extremely rare and bizarre diseases and disorders that few people even know exist.

Author Nancy Butcher explores these and other odd ailments in "The Strange Case of the Walking Corpse," a new book chronicling some of the most strange and disturbing cases of what can go wrong with the human body and mind.

"I think like a lot of people, I've always been interested in really, really strange diseases." Butcher said. "I thought about becoming a doctor myself but decided it was too real and gruesome for me. But I've always been fascinated by weird symptoms and peculiar things people do to cure themselves or others."

Butcher said she had been collecting tales of strange medical mysteries for years, but the disorder the book is named after is what really spurred her to organize her research.

Dr. Jules Cotard is credited with first describing, in the late 1800s, the "walking corpse" psychiatric disorder. In this, deluded patients think they have lost body parts or their souls, and often believe they have died. Also called Cotard's syndrome, the mental disease has been found in people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Another bizarre mental disorder Butcher describes is the Alice-in-Wonderland syndrome, in which a patient's sense of time, space and body image are distorted. People may appear tiny or patients may feel that part of their body shape or size has been altered.

Being extremely startled by an unexpected noise or sight is the main characteristic of the disorder with the peculiar name of Jumping Frenchmen of Maine.

It's not just bolting when someone sneaks up behind you, explains Butcher. Patients with the disorder flail their arms, cry out and repeat words. First identified in some of Maine's lumberjacks of French-Canadian origin, the odd reflex has been identified in other parts of the world, too.

Butcher said strange and gruesome elements have always fascinated people. Reading or watching TV shows on these topics can satisfy curiosity at a safe distance from the actual horrors of disease.

"I think a little bit of smugness is involved. There's this feeling of 'These people have these horrible conditions and I don't,'" she said. "It's like watching a car wreck. It's gross and disgusting but it's not happening to you.

"And the extremes -- the really gross diseases, the really disgusting sores ... it's the same as the fascination with crazy freak shows on TV: they're grossly compelling."

Although the book is full of strange medical minutiae and odd cases, Butcher said she didn't want to trivialize the people who have these disorders.

"I never want anyone who has any of these diseases to look at this and think they're being made fun of," she said. "There is a certain freakish, fascinating, and even funny aspect to the diseases, but for the most part, they're not. They are just fascinating because they're so rare, they're so extreme and the symptoms are nothing like anybody's ever heard before."

But sometimes the rare and unusual make headlines. The deadly Ebola virus was a relatively unknown disease until an outbreak in parts of Africa in the 1990s. And the uncommon mad cow disease in humans -- formally known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease -- is practically a household word.

Advances in medicine and biotechnology are sure to keep bringing intriguing advances and strange conditions to the fore, Butcher said.

Teeth grown in a petri dish from stem cells may someday replace dentures and implants, Butcher writes. And scientists are studying natural limb regeneration for humans, trying to copy the salamander's ability. Even the blood moving through our bodies may one day be generated artificially.

"So I think the future looks as equally fascinating and disgusting as the past," she said.

[Jolie Rouge]

CDC's 'X-Files' probes mysterious deaths

Project takes on cases that stumped others

Tuesday, March 2, 2004 Posted: 10:38 AM EST
www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/03/02/mysterious.deaths.ap/index.html


ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- In a project resembling something out of television's "The X-Files," federal health officials say the causes of a quarter of the deaths that have stumped coroners in recent years appear to be from ordinary, treatable conditions.

The "Unexplained Deaths Project" is a collection of data on the mysterious deaths of 227 children and adults from 1995 to 2003.

Despite advances in medical technology, a specific cause of death was found for just 53 of the cases, slightly more than a quarter. The findings were presented this week at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

More than half of the 53 deaths were caused by bacteria that could have been treated with medicines, said Sarah Reagan, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologist with the project. Vaccines would have prevented other cases.

Nineteen children's deaths were blamed on flu.

Thirty-seven percent of the determined causes of death involved a respiratory illness and 36 percent were from sepsis, a common bloodstream infection from toxin-producing bacteria. The causes of the remaining deaths included pneumonia and heart problems.

The project was launched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to serve as an early warning system for emerging diseases. About a dozen health departments around the country participate.

AIDS, Legionnaires' disease and hantavirus sickened people for years before the diseases were first identified by health officials, said Reagan.

[Jolie Rouge]

Surprise! The Most Common Dream of All

The most common dream of all isn't the one where you're naked in the middle of a crowd. And it's not the one about missing the final exam after you forgot to attend class the entire semester. The most common dream of all is about being chased, according to Veronica Tonay, a clinical psychologist and lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz who has spent years studying other people's dreams.

"Sometimes people will have lots of dreams about being chased, and they will think that means something terrible about them," Tonay told ABC News columnist Lee Dye. "Typically, people have a dream where someone or something is coming after them, and they don't know what it is," she says. "Later, they will have a dream in which they see who it is, and still later they recognize it as someone they know."

The meaning of the dream: Very often in "the chase" dream, there is a scene that has nothing to do with reliving the past or the approach of some dreadful encounter. The dream might be repeated during the night, changing slightly each time. And as the dream evolves, Tonay says it can lead us to dream about ourselves acting in a way we don't ordinarily act. That is, it's not a dream about someone trying to get us. It's a dream about ourselves. "There's some part of themselves that they are not in touch with, or they are trying to deny, and it's coming after them," she told ABC News. It's a message from within.

[Jolie Rouge]

Top 3 Songs That Get Stuck In Your Head

1. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight",
2. "Baby Back Ribs" jingle from Chili's Restaurant,
3. "Who Let the Dogs Out?"

Call it the playlist from hell.

But the real No. 1 song that gets stuck in our heads is different for each of us, according to University of Cincinnati marketing professor James Kellaris. He's done so much research on this odd and annoying phenomenon that he has coined a term for it: earworm.

He told The Associated Press that earworm is unexpected and insidious. It might be the first song you hear on the clock radio that wakes you up. It could come from an elevator or the CD playing in the cubicle next to yours. "There are certain tunes that we would describe as catchy that are more likely to become one, but just about anything can become an earworm, " he told AP. His personal earworm is Byzantine chants, which he suspects has something to do with his wife's job as a church choir director.

[Jolie Rouge]

Ohio Salad Arrives With Piece of a Thumb

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/enhancedstory.jsp?maxstories=5&storyterm=salad&photoid=chicken200.jpg&pollnum=26918&floc=NW_4-L2&oldflok=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040305%2F0812177900.htm&sc=1110


CANTON, Ohio (AP) - The severed tip of a restaurant worker's thumb was found in a customer's salad.

Stark County Health Commissioner Bill Franks said an employee at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers in the Canton suburb Jackson Township was chopping lettuce at about 7 p.m. Monday when he cut off a part of his left thumb, including part of the fingernail.





Employees at the restaurant about 70 miles south of Cleveland searched for the tip of his finger, but could not find it. The area was cleaned and sanitized, but the lettuce was placed in the cooler. The lettuce was then used for salads the next day.

``It wound up being served at lunch time Tuesday to a 22-year-old woman,'' Franks said.


She had eaten most of her salad when she put the human tissue in her mouth, Franks said.


She thought it was a piece of gristle, a health department report said. She then alerted a manager.


Red Robin spokesman Dwayne Chambers said that employees, in their haste to get the injured man to a doctor, failed to follow the chain's procedures and throw out all food in the area.


``We clearly had a breakdown,'' he said. ``We are incredibly sorry about what happened.''


Chambers said he spoke with the woman.


``She obviously was pretty upset,'' he said.


The well-being of customers is the Greenwood, Colo. restaurant's top priority, Chambers said.


Franks said the restaurant has been cited for ``serving adulterated food'' and having improper supervision.


The restaurant should have reported the incident Monday, he said.


Red Robin has been ordered to train the staff on safe food procedures.


Both the customer and the employee will be tested for blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis and HIV. Franks did not identify either person.


``We don't think there was a lot of blood that was passed, but we just don't want to take any chances,'' he said.


The Red Robin Web site says the chain has 222 restaurants, with 202 in the U.S., 20 in Canada and 17 currently under construction.


On the Net:

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers: http://html.redrobin.com/AboutUs.html



03/05/04 08:11

[Jolie Rouge]

Your Hair Reveals If You're Right-Handed

If you want to know whether your newborn baby will be right-handed or left-handed, here's a way to tell that is almost fool-proof: Look at the baby's hair. If the hair swirls clockwise, there is a 95 percent chance that the person is right-handed. The curls of lefties and the ambidextrous are equally likely to coil either way. What does your handedness have to do with your hair? This isn't some goofy New Age idea or parlor game, although it would be fun to try at parties since it also works on adults.

Nature News and London's Evening Standard report that researchers from the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland have determined that one gene might control both hair swirl direction and handedness and in the process explain the divided brain. That has geneticists hunting for a single gene with either "right" or "random" forms. Those who have one or two copies of the "right" version of the gene would be right-handed and have hair that swirls clockwise. Those who have two "random" versions of the gene could be either right- or left-handed and have hair that swirls in either direction. To arrive at this fascinating conclusion that your hairstyle determines your handedness, researcher Amar Klar of the National Cancer Institute had to be a little underhanded. He surreptitiously checked out the heads and hands of 500 people in airports and shopping malls. Anyone with long hair and those who were bald were not included in his survey.

What do other scientists think of this research? "It's one of the most exciting things [I've seen] in a while," geneticist Ralph Greenspan of the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, Calif., exclaimed to Nature News. He suggests that a gene causing asymmetric cell division in the young embryo might set up asymmetry throughout the body. Others aren't so sure. Clyde Francks of the University of Oxford in Great Britain thinks there are many genes--not just one--that determine if we're right-handed or left-handed. This gene hunt could be hard. Some think there may not even be a gene for handedness since two left-handed parents can have a right-handed kid. Or, in a set of identical twins, one could be right-handed and the other left-handed. Aha! Klar thinks he has this one solved. If the children of lefties inherit a "random" gene, they could be either right-handed or left-handed--so it's still genetically governed. "It is certainly possible to make a very accurate guess at which hand somebody writes with by looking at their head," Klar told London's Evening Standard.

[Jolie Rouge]

New York Times: Russian Engineers Gave Missile Aid to Iraq

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=NW_2-T&oldflok=FF-RTO-rontz&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040305%2F0456173499.htm&sc=rontz

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Russian engineers secretly aided Saddam Hussein's long-range ballistic missile program, the New York Times reported on Friday citing American government officials.

U.S. investigators said that Russian engineers worked on the Iraqi program both in Moscow and in Baghdad, and that some were in the Iraqi capital as recently as 2001, the newspaper reported, citing sources familiar with the situation.


The engineers who provided technical help for prohibited weapons projects before the war worked for a private company rather than the Russian government, the Times reported.

Their work raised questions about whether Russian government officials knew of this involvement in forbidden missile programs, according to a person familiar with the U.S. intelligence reports, the paper said.


After the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq was barred from building missiles with a range of more than about 95 miles.


Moscow denied any knowledge of Russian support for the prohibited missile program.


"The (United States) has not presented any evidence of Russian involvement," said Yevgeny Khorishko, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy, told the Times.



03/05/04 04:55

[Jolie Rouge]

Most Disliked Day of the Week Is...

...Monday.

Scientists have confirmed what you already knew. We just don't like Mondays--no way, no how. Britain's Independent Online reports that researchers at the University of Essex, who conducted the annual British Household Panel Survey, learned that the closer we get to Monday morning and the return of the work week, the darker our moods become. That means Sunday afternoon is almost as bad as Monday morning. The day on which we're the happiest with our jobs? Friday. The most productive day of the week is Wednesday.

"Mondays are a bit of a drag," concluded lead researcher Dr. Mark Taylor. "Fridays are associated with higher job satisfaction scores among both men and women, while Sundays are associated with lower job satisfaction, especially among women working part time."

According to the British research, overall levels of job satisfaction--any day of the week--have fallen dramatically during the past decade. In 1991, 25 percent of men and 38 percent of women were completely satisfied. By 2000, this had fallen to eight percent of men and 11 percent of women, reports the Independent Online. Taylor blames this decline on the fact that we're working harder and wrestling with fears of losing our jobs. In addition, the balance between work and life may not be right. 'The main determinant in being unhappy is working more hours than you want to," said Taylor.

[Jolie Rouge]

Do This. Never Gain Another Pound

If you do this one thing, you will never ever gain another pound:

Walk an additional 2,000 steps a day.

That's about one mile.

It should take about 15 minutes.

That's not a bad payoff for your time.

Researchers at the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center are the ones who figured this out. Mind you, if you do this, you won't lose weight. You'll have to walk and exercise more than that to shed pounds. But you won't gain any more.

"It would be a tremendous victory if we could stop the weight gain," James Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition, told USA Today. He's right. Fully 65 percent of the U.S. adult population is either overweight or obese. The average adult gains 1 to 3 pounds a year so to stop weight gain altogether would have huge health benefits. And it doesn't have to be formal exercise. Pacing while talking on the phone counts! "It sounds easy and simple, and it is," Hill emphasized to USA Today. "The goal of this program is to meet people where they are and provide the first step toward increased physical activity."


But consider this: If you can walk an extra 2,000 steps a day, why not walk an extra 4,000 steps or 6,000 steps? THINK what will happen then! "Just about every time we do this program at a work site, a whole bunch of people lose weight, because they are doing more than what's asked of them," Hill told USA Today. "Something about achieving this modest goal of 2,000 steps empowers people to make other changes in their lives."

[Jolie Rouge]

Man Charged With Flashing at McDonald's

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040305%2F1948199058.htm&sc=1110

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP)- The takeout window is for food, not flashing. Police have charged a 28-year-old man with exposing himself while picking up food at a McDonald's takeout window.

James Rondini was arrested Wednesday after the second time he allegedly drove through the fast food pickup lane with his pants unzipped, exposing himself to a 19-year-old woman who was working at the window.

Police said the fast food flashing occurred two mornings in a row this week. In both cases, police said Rondini had placed an order and exposed himself when he drove up to the window to pay for the food and pick it up.

Rondini was charged with public indecency and breach of peace. He was released on bond and is due back in court on March 17.



03/05/04 19:47

[Jolie Rouge]

Guess Who Doesn't Believe In God?

Ten percent of Protestants, 21 percent of Roman Catholics, and 52 percent of Jews do NOT believe in God.

That's the surprising word from a survey by Harris Interactive of 2,306 adults that shows belief in God varies quite widely among different segments of the American public. How often do we go to a place of worship? Not much. Most people attend a religious service less than once a month. Still, Americans are far more likely to believe in God and to attend religious services than people in most other developed countries, particularly in Europe.

Who believes in God?

While 79 percent of Americans believe there is a God, only 66 percent are absolutely certain of it. Nine percent do not believe in God and 12 percent aren't sure. And weirdly, not everyone who calls himself or herself a Christian or a Jew actually believes in God.
Who worships at a religious service?
Just over half (55 percent) attend a religious service a few times a year or more. Thirty-six percent attend once a month or more often, and just 26 percent say they attend every week. Forty-one percent of women and 31 percent of men attend once a month or more. Protestants (47 percent) are more likely to go to church once a month or more often than are Roman Catholics (35 percent). Jews are least likely to go with 16 percent saying they go to synagogue once a month or more. Church attendance is highest in the Midwest and lowest in the West.


Belief in God by geography and age

Eighty-two percent of Midwesterners and Southerners believe in God, compared with 75 percent in the East and West. Our beliefs get stronger as we age. Of those 25 to 29 years old, 71 percent believe in God. That number jumps to 80 percent for people over 40, and hits 83 percent for those 65 and over.


Other fascinating facts about who believes in God:

--84 percent of women believe in God, compared with 73 percent of men.

--91 percent of African Americans believe in God, compared with 81 percent of Hispanics and 78 percent of whites.

--87 percent of Republicans believe in God, compared with 78 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of Independents.

--82 percent of those with no college education believe in God, compared with 73 percent who went to college.

[Jolie Rouge]

School Board Member Defends Dousing Exec

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040305%2F1947199050.htm&sc=1110

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A school board member arrested after dousing an assistant superintendent with ice water called the move justified, likened herself to Rosa Parks and threatened to attack anyone who questioned her mental fitness.

``From this day forward, anyone who brings that issue up, I am getting violent,'' Rochell Moore told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in Friday's edition, accusing Charlene Jones - the recipient of the previous day's dousing - of plotting to derail her political career.





``So yesterday was my day of feeling like Rosa Parks - I was sick and tired of being sick and tired,'' Moore said. ``I faced my giant. I faced the person who has been doing all these things to me.

She added: ``I like old movies, and I recall how Dorothy in the 'Wizard of Oz' dealt with the Wicked Witch of the West.''


Jones pledged to seek a restraining order against Moore and to help authorities pursue charges in the Wednesday dousing that Jones said ``came out of nowhere.''


``I think Ms. Moore really, really needs some help,'' Jones said.


The St. Louis city prosecutor is deciding whether to charge Moore with assault in a matter Jones called unprovoked. City Counselor Patricia Hageman said the matter could be referred to her office, which typically handles lesser offenses such as disturbing the peace.


St. Louis County police are pursuing a separate investigation over Moore's behavior at a suburban St. Louis insurance office where she worked.


Glynn Young, a spokesman for the school district, said the school board was consulting lawyers about what can be done, with options including barring Moore from school district property or asking a judge to declare her unfit for office.


State law allows a circuit court judge to remove a school board member after receiving a petition from 10 city residents or any one school board member.


Seeking Moore's ouster could reignite tension, board vice president Ron Jackson said, noting that many who opposed the board's actions of closing schools and hiring a management firm championed Moore.


``Some people would like it if we did something, some people would castigate us,'' Jackson said.


On Thursday, Moore, who is black, insisted that an array of people were plotting against her, from co-workers at AFLAC insurance to Donald Suggs, publisher of the St. Louis American, the state's largest weekly black newspaper.


After dousing Jones, Moore was arrested Wednesday at the school district's downtown headquarters and booked on suspicion of third-degree assault. After six hours in custody, she was released without bond.


Moore was in the news last summer when she allegedly threatened to kill the city's former comptroller over comments he made about her mental fitness. Police abandoned their inquiry in the matter after Virvus Jones said he never considered his life at risk and chose not to seek an investigation.


Last August, Moore wrote a letter apparently placing a curse on the mayor. The letter, filled with Biblical references, said the Lord would smite Mayor Francis Slay and anyone who helps him because of the position he has taken concerning the city's financially troubled school district.


A Slay spokesman called the letter ``a very sad situation for Ms. Moore and the children she's supposed to represent. It's evident that she needs professional help.''


Moore, elected in 2001, was involuntarily committed in October 2002 after lying on the street in front of district headquarters. Moore said she was dosed with cocaine in a political conspiracy orchestrated by Slay, the hospital and her school board opponents.


AFLAC regional coordinator Tye Elliott said Thursday that Moore's contract with the company was terminated recently after she exhibited increasingly erratic behavior. Des Peres Police Chief William Bridges confirmed his department was investigating a harassment claim against Moore.



03/05/04 19:47

[Jolie Rouge]

Lawmaker Arrested for DUI After Ceremony

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?flok=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040304%2F1803160558.htm&sc=1110

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A lawmaker was charged with drunken driving, hours after attending a bill-signing ceremony to highlight the state's newest effort to crack down on DWI offenders.

Republican Joe Thompson, 37, the House minority whip, apologized after his arrest early Wednesday.


``While I am terribly embarrassed by this situation, I am thankful that no one else was involved,'' he said. ``I will follow the advice of my family and physician to obtain whatever treatment is necessary.

Police said they pulled over Thompson after his vehicle rolled too far into an intersection at a red light. Sgt. Todd Armendariz said there was a ``strong smell of alcohol'' around Thompson.


Police said he registered a 0.12 and 0.11 on breath-alcohol tests, above the legal limit of 0.08.


He told the officer he had a little alcohol at dinner but ``did not think the alcohol he drank counted due to it being consumed several hours prior to the stop,'' the police report said.


During their recent legislative session, lawmakers passed several bills cracking down on repeat drunken drivers. But none would affect Thompson if he is convicted.


Thompson, first elected to the House in 1998, said he will drop his recently announced campaign for a seat on the state Public Regulation Commission.



03/04/04 18:03

[Jolie Rouge]

Amazing Find On a Colorado Golf Course

Rare fossilized tracks of a small mammal dating to the age of dinosaurs have been found on a golf course in Golden, Colorado--named, oddly enough, the Fossil Trace Golf Course. Similar prints were also found in Rifle about 10 years ago, which is in western Colorado. The tracks were made about 68 million years ago by a mammal the size of a rat. This is first time mammal tracks from the dinosaur age have been found in the Western United States.


When we think of the age of the dinosaurs, we think Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus rex, and Velociraptor. We don't think about all the tiny mammals--not a one of them larger than a house cat--who scampered at (and even beneath!) the feet of the behemoth dinos. There's a reason for that. Geologist and internationally-known dinosaur expert Martin Lockley of the University of Colorado at Denver says the delicate bones of the small mammals are rarely found in fossils, and the tracks they made in the mud are even harder to find.


How rare are these small mammal tracks?

The Golden and Rifle sites are among just four places in the world where unambiguous mammal tracks from the dinosaur age are preserved, Lockley told AP. The other two are in Maryland and Argentina. Lockley found the tracks on the golf course while he was there studying sandstone walls. They consist of five regularly spaced tracks that were likely made by a hopping animal, he explained to AP. Each four-toed foot track is about three-quarters of an inch in length. The Fossil Trace Golf Course is also home to tracks left by horned dinosaurs and crocodile-like champsosaurs. The tracks found in Rifle a decade ago consist of 40 prints on a sandstone slab that is only 2 feet long and 18 inches wide. They were originally made in mud about 75 million years ago, when that part of Colorado was a vast river delta on the edge of a shallow sea. The mammal tracks found in Colorado are described in the paleontology journal Ichnos.

[Jolie Rouge]

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040307%2F0418239216.htm&sc=1110


LOS ANGELES (AP) - The man who oversees the cadaver program at the University of California, Los Angeles, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of grand theft, but authorities would not say what he is accused of stealing.

Henry Reid, director of the willed body program, was taken into custody at his Anaheim home by the UC Police Department, following an investigation that has reportedly focused on whether employees stole and sold body parts from cadavers donated to the university's medical school.


UCLA said in a statement that the investigation is continuing and ``more arrests are likely,'' but provided no further details.

Reid, who was put on leave in the past two weeks, was being held on $20,000 bail, said Deputy David Cervantes of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.


UCLA said one other employee had also been placed on leave, but did not identify that person.


Reid's home and a nearby shed were searched by UC police investigators, said spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein.


Reid, 54, was hired by UCLA in 1997 to revamp the willed body program after a 1996 lawsuit in which relatives of people whose bodies had been donated sued the medical school and the University of California Board of Regents. The suit, still pending, charged that thousands of cadavers had been illegally disposed of.


UCLA attorneys said in court papers last month that they believed Reid had instituted needed reforms at the program, and a court commissioner ruled Feb. 10 that there appear to have been improvements.


The Los Angeles Times, citing people familiar with the case, reported that dozens of cadavers donated to the willed body program were believed to have been sold.


``We are cooperating fully with the Police Department, and will share more information as soon as police assure us it will not jeopardize their investigation,'' Dr. J. Thomas Rosenthal, associate vice chancellor of UCLA's medical school, said in a prepared statement.


Former Gov. George Deukmejian agreed Friday to oversee a reform of the program, which was one of the first in the nation when it was established in 1950.


The program, which receives about 175 bodies each year for medical research and education, first came under scrutiny in 1993 when hazardous medical waste was discovered inside boxes of cremated human remains, something school officials said should not have happened.



03/07/04 04:17

[Jolie Rouge]

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040306%2F1538222276.htm&sc=1110

By JASON STRAZIUSO

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) - The TV news report is hard to ignore: An unsuspecting man goes to a house where he allegedly thinks a teenage girl is waiting to have sex with him, but instead he is met by a TV reporter with a camera and microphone.

TV news directors say the ratings week reports, which have been done in several cities around the nation, raise awareness about the growing problem of Internet-based exploitation of children. They say viewer response is overwhelming and almost entirely positive.



But federal and local law enforcement officials say the reports and the groups that help facilitate them do more harm than good because the ``stings'' don't lead to convictions and may put people in danger.

``Even well-intended grass-roots undercover investigators can create more harm than good, and we firmly believe that law enforcement investigations should be left to trained law enforcement officials,'' said Michelle Collins, director of the exploited child unit for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.


This past week, NBC affiliate WCAU-TV of Philadelphia lured three men allegedly seeking sex with teenagers to a rented house less than a half-mile from an elementary school in the small Philadelphia suburb of Newtown Square. Police were not notified of the station's plans.


The local district attorney is investigating whether the station broke any laws.


WCAU defended its report.


``Child predators on the Internet are a huge problem, and NBC 10 helped raise public awareness of this issue,'' WCAU vice president of news, Chris Blackman, said in a statement. ``In covering this story, NBC 10 believes that no one was put in danger and the station conducted itself responsibly.''


About a half-dozen other stations around the country have teamed with the vigilante group Perverted Justice to run similar ``stings.'' Volunteers go into Internet chat rooms and pose as young teens. When men contact the ``teens,'' the group's Web site posts their sexually explicit conversation and often the men's pictures and phone numbers.


FBI spokeswoman Linda Vizi said the stings don't help law enforcement because evidence isn't collected in a legal way. Other law enforcement officials have said the ``stings'' can compromise real investigations.


``To lure them to some place and post their picture somewhere doesn't stop what they're doing. You're not going to embarrass these guys into stopping,'' Vizi said.


Several people have been arrested after tips from Perverted Justice or from the TV news reports but Vizi said arrests don't necessarily translate into convictions.


Vizi also said the TV crews may not be prepared if the lured men turn violent.


And Tom Bivins, a media ethics professor at the University of Oregon, said the stations' tactics are questionable.


``Is it necessary to entrap these people to get the story or could you simply report the story?'' Bivins said. ``Once you get involved, you become part of the story instead of reporting the story.''


Regent Ducas, news director of KCTV in Kansas City, which did a series in February, said his station held lengthy discussions about the value and risks of such a story. Two former police officers were hired for security at the house rented for the sting, he said.


Sixteen men showed up, Ducas said. He said the report drew the station's highest ratings in a decade and showed that police are overwhelmed by the problem.


``We were hoping that our story would start the conversation, should police officers start reallocating resources? Is it time to start treating this problem much more seriously than in the past?'' Ducas said.


At least one arrest was made because of a series last month by WDIV in Detroit.


``The idea behind it was protecting kids and the awareness of parents,'' said WDIV assistant news director Bob Ellis. ``The story is so outrageous, it's one of those things that's hard to believe until you see it happen. It's scary when you see it as a parent.''


On the Net:


National Center for Missing Children: www.missingkids.com


Perverted Justice: www.perverted-justice.com


FBI tip line: http://cybertipline.com



03/06/04 15:37

[Jolie Rouge]

Antarctica 'Lost World' Found

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

Two teams of researchers, working separately thousands of miles from each other but both defeating incredible odds, have made stunning finds in frozen Antarctica -- so stunning that the National Science Foundation calls their discoveries evidence of a lost world.

The researchers found what they believe to be the fossilized remains of two species of dinosaurs previously unknown to science. One is a 70-million-year old quick-moving meat-eater found on the bottom of an Antarctic sea, while and the other is a 200-million-year-old giant plant-eater that was found on the top of a mountain, reports Reuters.

The lost world in which these two dinosaurs lived was very different from the Antarctica we know now. Their Antarctica was not frigid and frozen. Their Antarctica was warm and wet.

The 70-million-year-old carnivore was small for a dinosaur at just 6 to 8 feet tall. Scientists believe it is an entirely new species of carnivorous dinosaur that is related to the enormous meat-eating tyrannosaurs and the equally voracious, but smaller and swifter, velociraptors. Think "Jurassic Park." Now scream in terror! Found on James Ross Island off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula by a team led by Judd Case from St. Mary's College of California, it likely floated out to sea after it died and then sank to the bottom of the Weddell Sea. Reuters explains that its bones and teeth show that it was a two-legged animal that survived in the Antarctic long after other predators took over elsewhere on the globe. "One of the surprising things is that animals with these more primitive characteristics generally haven't survived as long elsewhere as they have in Antarctica," Case told Reuters.

The 200-million-year-old herbivore, a primitive sauropod that had a long neck and four legs, was found by a team led by William Hummer from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois on the 13,000-foot high Mt. Kirkpatrick near the Beardmore Glacier. When this dino lived, the area was a soft riverbed. The team found dinosaur bones, specifically part of a huge pelvis and ilium. "This site is so far removed geographically from any site near its age, it's clearly a new dinosaur to Antarctica," Hammer told Reuters. This dinosaur was probably about 30 feet long, but was part of a lineage that went on to produce animals as large as 100 feet long.

Both excavations were supported by the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.

[Jolie Rouge]

Woman to Hang Dead Child's Photo in Cell

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040306%2F1607223131.htm&sc=1110

WICKLIFFE, Ky. (AP) - A woman whose dog mauled a 5-year-old boy to death was ordered to serve six months in jail with a picture of the child on her cell wall.

The 8-by-11-inch photograph of T.J. Adams was taken when he was hospitalized after the attack in June 2002.

Latasha Laster, 23, will serve the sentence around her work and college schedule and must perform 300 hours of community service, Judge Will Shadoan ruled Friday.

``She's done a very stupid thing,'' Shadoan said. ``It cost a little boy his life.''

Laster pleaded guilty to reckless homicide. T.J. was visiting his grandmother next door to Laster's home in Wickliffe, in western Kentucky, when he was attacked. He died two days later.

Investigators said the 70-pound wolf hybrid was on a 20-foot chain, which allowed the dog to cross into the grandmother's property and attack the child.

Authorities shot the animal after the attack.



03/06/04 16:06

[Jolie Rouge]

Boy Scouts in Snow Caves Buried, Rescued

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040307%2F1418249770.htm&sc=1110

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A huge wall of snow collapsed and buried the entrances to a series of manmade caves where more than three dozen Boy Scouts and their leaders were sleeping during a winter survival camping trip, but everyone was rescued unharmed.

The scouts had carved the caves deep into the snow on a ridge in northern Utah's Logan Canyon, at an elevation of 7,400 feet. ``You're pretty cozy inside of them,'' said Randy Maurer, the father of one of the scouts. ``You're completely oblivious to what's going on outside.''

After the 39 scouts and scout leaders went to sleep Friday night, wind gusting to 64 mph piled snow into a huge cornice hanging over the slope where the scouts dug their caves. The 500-foot cornice collapsed just before 4 a.m. Saturday, burying the entrances to the caves under 6 to 8 feet of snow.

Insulated by the thick snow around them, the scouts were unaware of the problem. ``It was a little bit more than what we expected to wake up to,'' Maurer said.

The avalanche was heard by a group of scout leaders who were sleeping in a nearby trailer, and they used an emergency roadside telephone to call 911. ``That probably made quite a bit of noise, I'm imagining,'' Cache County sheriff's Lt. Von Williamson said of the avalanche. ``But if they would have all been in the caves, I shudder to think how long it would be before we would have heard about this.''

Williamson said the Scout leaders who called for help knew approximately where the caves were, and emergency crews used shovels and snow probes to locate the scouts. Some of the boys, ages 12 to 16, were awakened when they were jabbed by the avalanche probes the rescuers were pushing into the snow.

Maurer told The Salt Lake Tribune he was awakened by the sounds of the rescue effort. ``That was a big shock,'' said his son, Brock. ``It was a wake-up call for sure.''

By 7:05 a.m., everyone had been pulled from the caves uninjured.

``Some were pretty scared, some were only somewhat upset,'' Williamson said. ``It seemed to depend upon the age of the kids. The older kids took it a little more in stride.''

The scouts were on an annual excursion from the nearby Smithfield and Nibley areas of northern Utah.

03/07/04 14:17

[the fugative]

News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd

March 4, 2004

The sacred institution of marriage: In February, Hindus in a village near Pondicherry, India, in a traditional ceremony believed to bring relief to a drought-stricken region, tried to appease the god of rain by "marrying" a neem tree (the bride) to a peepul tree (groom). (In 2002, News of the Weird reported a similar ceremony with two donkeys, and last year, in a wedding to vanquish bad luck from a 9-year-old girl, villagers in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, India, married her off to a dog.)

• Donald Johnson sued a Shoney's restaurant in West Palm Beach, Fla., for $55,000 because he thought its clam chowder was potato soup, and the chowder left him with nightmares; in January, he won $407 in damages. In January, Tanisha Torres of Wyandanch, N.J., sued Radio Shack because she was offended that a clerk had listed her hometown in the store's records by a local joke name, "Crimedanch," which she said makes her feel like a criminal. William Tremmel in September sued a company repairing the boardwalk at Virginia Beach, Va., after he used its portable toilet without permission; some of the workers, fed up with strangers using their facility, blocked Tremmel inside for 25 minutes before letting him out, for which "mental suffering" he now wants $100,000.

News that sounds like a joke

• The sheriff's office in Galveston, Texas, admitted that Louis Radzielski, 20, had escaped from lockup in December by merely walking out the front door. According to Sheriff Gean Leonard, Radzielski crouched behind a woman who was being legitimately released and remained in step with her as she walked past the two officers working the booking counter. In January in a Miami courtroom, while the lawyer for defendant Raymond Jessi Snyder vociferously protested a prosecutor's demand that Snyder be locked up pending trial because he was a "flight risk," Snyder slowly eased from his seat and bolted out the door. (He didn't get far.)

• Among the modest amount of information revealed at the CIA's new Science and Technology museum, according to a December Associated Press story, is that early versions of a tiny spy camera mounted to the back of a pigeon failed because they were too heavy, forcing the pigeon in one test "to walk home."

Great art!

• Ukraine-born, Sweden-based artist Nathalia Edenmont defended her work against animal-rights protesters in December by claiming a higher virtue in killing animals if she does it to make an artistic point. Her latest artistic points (according to the owner of the Stockholm gallery exhibiting Edenmont's work): Her photo of a hand with dead mice stuck on each finger represents the five stars of the former Soviet Union, which Edenmont believes was responsible for her mother's murder, and a photo of several dead mice all pointing in the same direction represents the "cowardice" of Swedish society. (Sydney Morning Herald).

• "The Empty Museum" installation by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov consists only of four walls, representing the walls of a 19th-century art gallery with nothing on them. According to a New York Times reviewer, "The blank walls and the spotlights suggest the cruel Minimalist reduction and dematerialization of art, and most specifically, perhaps, the death of painting." It is enjoying an apparently successful run through April in New York City.

• Budget necessities: The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported in January that the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego was hard at work producing a musical theater production based on the life of serial killer Andrew Cunanan, the 1997 murderer of designer Gianni Versace, for which the playhouse had received a $35,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. In October, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District revealed, in a request for more funding, that it was paying a man about $460 a day to scoop used condoms from the chlorine tanks at its Jones Island plant.

More bright ideas

• Police in Chartiers Township, Pa., arrested David Winniewicz, 36, in January after he allegedly used amateur subliminal sleep messaging to encourage his 10-year-old stepson to kill the boy's 4-year-old brother. Winniewicz's wife said she found an audiotape of the episode with her husband's voice instructing the sleeping boy on techniques (pillow over face, strangle with hands).

• Teachers working on contract in California prisons sued the state in December over security restrictions that they say require them to deliver the curriculum standing outside inmates' cells (and in some cases, hollering the lessons through the meal tray slots, which are the only openings in solid steel doors). Said a prison official, downplaying the teachers' complaints, "It's kind of like modified distance learning."

Ewwww! Gross!

• In the midst of national anxiety over mad-cow disease in December, the Chicago Tribune reported that things were basically normal at restaurants in Evansville, Ind., that served traditional (from German ancestors) brain sandwiches, especially fried cow brains on a bun. Officials in Hardisty, Alberta, tried to calm protests over the municipal water supply in September by adding chlorine and assuring residents that the water is safe to drink, even though iron and manganese residue in the pipes turns its color yellow (and even black) from time to time.

Also, in the past month: A great horned owl that was having trouble surviving in the wild because of cataracts was fitted with contact lenses by a University of Wisconsin-Madison veterinary ophthalmologist. Relatives of a kidnapper's victim, trying to follow ransom instructions, tossed the U.S. equivalent of about $600,000 in a sack off of a highway overpass but accidentally hit a 57-year-old man on a motorcycle, knocking him to the ground and sending him to the hospital (Taipei, Taiwan). A 28-year-old motorist escaped serious injury when, on River Road in Beaufort County, S.C., her car was hit by a hippopotamus (which had escaped from a nearby plantation).

:p

[Jolie Rouge]

Originally posted by the fugative

News that sounds like a joke

Great art!

• Ukraine-born, Sweden-based artist Nathalia Edenmont defended her work against animal-rights protesters in December by claiming a higher virtue in killing animals if she does it to make an artistic point. Her latest artistic points (according to the owner of the Stockholm gallery exhibiting Edenmont's work): Her photo of a hand with dead mice stuck on each finger represents the five stars of the former Soviet Union, which Edenmont believes was responsible for her mother's murder, and a photo of several dead mice all pointing in the same direction represents the "cowardice" of Swedish society. (Sydney Morning Herald).

:eek:


• "The Empty Museum" installation by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov consists only of four walls, representing the walls of a 19th-century art gallery with nothing on them. According to a New York Times reviewer, "The blank walls and the spotlights suggest the cruel Minimalist reduction and dematerialization of art, and most specifically, perhaps, the death of painting." It is enjoying an apparently successful run through April in New York City.

:confused:


In October, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District revealed, in a request for more funding, that it was paying a man about $460 a day to scoop used condoms from the chlorine tanks at its Jones Island plant.

I'd do it for $460.00 A DAY !


[B][I]More bright ideas

• Police in Chartiers Township, Pa., arrested David Winniewicz, 36, in January after he allegedly used amateur subliminal sleep messaging to encourage his 10-year-old stepson to kill the boy's 4-year-old brother. Winniewicz's wife said she found an audiotape of the episode with her husband's voice instructing the sleeping boy on techniques (pillow over face, strangle with hands).

THAT IS TWISTED ....



Also, in the past month: A great horned owl that was having trouble surviving in the wild because of cataracts was fitted with contact lenses by a University of Wisconsin-Madison veterinary ophthalmologist.

What a waste of money. Put the animal in the zoo to be cared for and donate the cash to a Children's Hospital to help some kid have surgery ....



A 28-year-old motorist escaped serious injury when, on River Road in Beaufort County, S.C., her car was hit by a hippopotamus (which had escaped from a nearby plantation).
:p

Hate to have to call my agent or the cops with this story ... ;)

[Jolie Rouge]

Athlete Kept Pregnancy Secret 8 Months

For eight months University of Louisville basketball player Connie Neal kept quite a secret from her coach and teammates: She was pregnant. Amazingly, no one suspected a thing. She kept playing Division I basketball, afraid to tell anyone her secret for fear she would lose her scholarship and reputation, reports the Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky. One month before Neal's daughter was born on Jan. 31, the coach Tom Collen told her he wasn't happy with the way she was running steps at practice. Collen said she looked like she was "carrying a 10-pound weight." Well, yeah, she almost was.


At 5-foot-9, Neal only gained 13 pounds with the pregnancy. She used baggy sweats and big T-shirts to hide even that small weight gain. "Everyone went back and looked at pictures from Christmas and said, 'She couldn't be,'" Neal's mother, Debbie Guidice, told the Courier-Journal. "You just couldn't tell." But workouts were difficult for her. She became withdrawn from her teammates until finally she broke on Dec. 26 and confessed to her best friend and her mother when contractions started after practice. "It was just a lot to keep to myself," she explained to Courier-Journal reporter Pat Forde. "I didn't have anybody to share the experience with me. It was my fault, because I chose not to tell people out of fear of what they would think about me. But I had to tell somebody, or I was just going to pop."


Her coach is still stunned that he missed it and was very concerned he had unknowingly jeopardized her health. It wasn't until she was eight months pregnant, though, that Neal received medical care. Amazingly, all was well. Seven-pound, 12-ounce Carsynn Diana Neal arrived on Jan. 31 after a labor that lasted only five hours and 44 minutes. Just 26 days after giving birth, Neal returned to the basketball court for practice. And nine days after that she was in uniform when the Cardinals opened tournament play in Fort Worth, Texas, reports the Courier-Journal. And the baby? "She's our mascot," guard Sara Nord said.

[Jolie Rouge]

DirecTV accuses O.J. Simpson of pirating its satellite signals

By John Pain, Associated Press

MIAMI — Satellite television network DirecTV has accused former football star O.J. Simpson of using illegal electronic devices to pirate its broadcast signals.

The El Segundo, Calif.-based company wants Simpson to pay at least $20,000 for the alleged use of the equipment and attorneys' fees, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday at federal court in Miami.

Federal agents removed satellite television equipment from Simpson's house in the Miami neighborhood of Kendall during a search Dec. 4, 2001. DirecTV alleges in the lawsuit that the agents removed two pirate access devices known as "bootloaders."

The raid occurred as the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Miami-Dade County police were investigating Simpson and others in an alleged Ecstasy and satellite-theft ring. Simpson was never charged.

The devices were being used for the unauthorized decryption of DirecTV signals, the lawsuit said. The company claims Simpson bought, made or distributed the devices and other equipment to steal the broadcasts.

Simpson attorney Yale Galanter denied the lawsuit's allegations. "O.J. Simpson has never owned any pirating equipment, pirating cards, illegal cards," Galanter said. "He's been a loyal, paying customer of DirecTV for years."

DirecTV spokesman Bob Mercer had no further immediate comment on Simpson's case but said the company has filed more than 22,000 signal piracy lawsuits since 2002.

"Signal piracy is a problem for the entire pay-TV industry," he said.

Simpson moved to Florida after he was acquitted of murder charges in the 1994 stabbing deaths of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. A civil jury in 1997 held Simpson liable for the killings and ordered him to pay the victims' survivors $33.5 million.

He has not worked since then because any money he makes could be seized to satisfy that judgment, which remains largely unpaid.

[Jolie Rouge]

Gator Goes for Ride on Fla. School Bus

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040309%2F1305347711.htm&sc=1110

LACOOCHEE, Fla. (AP) - Middle and high school students were riding home from school when they spotted a 4-foot alligator crossing the road, were allowed off the school bus to catch it and took it home.

None of the 11 students on the bus were injured, and the alligator was fine when it was released into a nearby river by the father of two of the boys.

State wildlife officials and the Pasco County State Attorney's Office are investigating the bus driver. Sherry Hattaway, 41, has been on paid leave since the Thursday incident. ``If the facts I'm hearing are true, then at the least she used some of the worst judgment someone could use in endangering kids,'' Pasco school superintendent John Long said.

Hattaway did not immediately return a telephone call for comment Tuesday.


The alligator was spotted as it crossed the road in front of the bus, said passenger Wilfredo Santiago, 14, who asked the driver to stop.


At first she refused, but a group of boys talked her into letting them off about 40 miles northeast of Tampa. Four boys ran off the bus, found the alligator hiding in a hole and used sticks to prod the animal out. A fifth student gave them a roll of electrical tape from the bus to bind the alligator's jaws. The gator was hauled onto the bus and off again at the home of two boys. Their father Jimmy Scroggins came home to find a crowd of kids around the calm alligator.

Scroggins took the animal to the nearby Withlacoochee River and released it. The next day, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were at his house.

Hattaway has an unmarred driving history, according to district personnel files and state driving records. Job references said she was ``good'' and ``excellent'' with children. Six evaluations gave her consistent satisfactory ratings, including for bus discipline and reliability.

Scroggins said that while he didn't condone his children's actions, he was more befuddled by the driver's. ``Kids are going to do what kids are going to do,'' he said. ``But there was a consenting adult involved.''



03/09/04 13:04

[Jolie Rouge]

Dear Abby Punk'd By 'Simpsons' Spoof

"Dear Abby" has been punk'd. Someone--and we know not whom--sent a letter to the advice columnist describing a lovelorn situation that mirrored an episode of "The Simpsons." "Dear Abby's" Jeanne Phillips didn't catch the similarity and sent the fake letter off to the syndicated column's newspapers with a real response.

The column was titled "Wife meets perfect match after husband strikes out." The Associated Press describes the letter: The letter writer describes herself as a 34-year-old mother of three who has been married for 10 years to a man who is "greedy, selfish, inconsiderate, and rude." Her husband, Gene, gave her a bowling ball for her birthday with the holes drilled to fit his fingers and embossed with his name. Undeterred, the woman decides to learn to bowl and heads to the local lanes, where she meets another man, Franco, who is "kind, considerate and loving." They fall in love and Franco proposes.

Her husband becomes suspicious when he discovers a new pair of bowling gloves that was obviously a gift from another man. Signing herself "Stuck in a Love Triangle," the woman writes to Abby: "I no longer love Gene. I want to divorce him and marry Franco. At the same time, I'm worried that Gene won't be able to move on with his life. I also think our kids would be devastated. What should I do?"


A few wary newspaper editors caught it and pegged it as a hoax. That prompted Universal Press Syndicate to do some research, whereupon it figured out that "Gene" seemed a lot like Homer Simpson. And that bowling ball story was just like the plot line from "The Simpsons" episode that was titled "Life on the Fast Lane." So what did "Dear Abby" advise? She told "Stuck" to explain to Gene why she fell for Franco. "To save the marriage," she wrote, "he might be willing to change back to the man who bowled you over in the first place."


Abby, you've been punk'd. :eek:

[Jolie Rouge]

Grisly, Historic Find Near Inca Cemetery

Dozens of mummies that date to the Incan period more than 500 years ago have been found in the ground that will become a highway on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. Discovered near the largest Inca graveyard in the country, the 26 burial bundles each contain one or more adult and child mummies that archaeologists say date from 1472 to 1532, reports Reuters. It was just after this period that the Incas were defeated by the Spanish conquistadors.

As is common before major construction, the area was searched by archaeologists for ancient artifacts. The burial bundles have not yet been fully opened and remain half-buried in the ground. Some were already broken with exposed skulls. Clearly visible are several hunched mummies with cloth bags tied to their bodies and offerings in their hands.

Guillermo Cock, the lead archeologist on the scene, said the mummies were once farmers and craftsmen. "These are local inhabitants, what we could now call middle class," he told Reuters. He has concluded that many of them were textile makers, since 99 percent of the tools in the tombs, including needles and looms, were used for dressmaking, cloth dying, and the like. "The important thing about this discovery is that it is intact," he told Reuters. "The area around the mummies shows evidence of rituals prior to the burials. There are the remains of corn, beans, coca leaves, and pots."

See photographs of the remains of the Incan mummies.
Warning: These are gruesome images.
http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/photosearch.jsp?cap=inca+mummies&x=0&y=0&searchType=photos&floc=wn-ns

[Jolie Rouge]

Surprising New Trend For Spring Break

Want to know where the boys are going on spring break? They're following the girls--and it's not to the beach. The hottest spring break destinations for college students are locales where charity work is being done, such as building houses and distributing medical supplies to disadvantaged folks in the United States and other countries.

That's the word from Purdue University professor Xinran Lehto, who specializes in tourism marketing. Spring break bookings by college students for the traditional warm weather havens are down by as much as 50 percent, reports Wireless Flash. That doesn't surprise Lehto, who says "volunteer tourism" trips are all the rage among the college crowd.

Professor Lehto conducted a survey at Purdue to find out what students planned to do over spring break. The results:

--15 percent will go on a volunteer service vacation.

--15 percent will go on a traditional spring break.

--40 percent will go home to visit Mom and Dad.

--10 percent will stay at school and work.

Apparently 20 percent don't have a clue.

[Jolie Rouge]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/03/10/crime.pigfarm.reut/index.html

[b]Meat from accused killer's farm may have contained human remains
Wednesday, March 10, 2004 Posted: 9:24 PM EST (0224 GMT)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) -- Pork products processed and distributed from the farm of accused Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton may have contained human remains, police and health officials said Wednesday.



Pickton raised and slaughtered pigs at the Port Coquitlam farm as a part-time occupation until his arrest at the property in February 2002, and police believe he gave or sold processed meat products to friends and acquaintances.

Pickton, 53, is awaiting trial in the killings of at least 22 of more than 60 missing Vancouver prostitutes who disappeared over the past decade and are feared to have been murdered at the dilapidated farm 20 miles east of Vancouver.

"Given the state of the farm, and what we know about the investigation, we cannot rule out the possibility that cross-contamination may have occurred," B.C. provincial Health Officer Perry Kendall told reporters in Victoria.

"Cross-contamination could mean that human remains did get into or contaminate some of the pork meat," Kendall said.

Officials stressed that the farm's pig slaughtering operation was not officially licensed and he did not sell processed meat to retail outlets.

"There is no evidence we are dealing with anything other than a very specific localized issue, with a specific number of local people," said Cpl. Catherine Galliford of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Kendall said he was not contacted by the police until last month when they asked a "hypothetical question' about the potential health risk. He issued the alert when they later said it probably happened.

Details of evidence from the farm were presented in court last year at Pickton's preliminary hearing, but a court order prohibits reporters who covered the hearing from publishing details of what they heard until it is used in his trial, which will likely not start until next year.

Police defended the timing of their contacting health officials, saying it was needed to protect the investigation, although they also acknowledged more people may have received meat from Pickton than they had orginally thought.

"We have carefully considered all the issues," said Vancouver Police Detective Shelia Sullivan.

Pickton is officially charged with 15 murders but prosecutors have said seven more counts are waiting to be filed. Tests have identified the DNA of nine more women, but not yet resulted in charges.

The victims were among more than 60 drug-addicted prostitutes who disappeared from Vancouver's poor Downtown Eastside neighborhood. Families of the missing women expressed horror at the news, with one telling a Vancouver radio station bluntly. "I'm not eating dinner tonight."

Pickton, in custody since his arrest, is the only person charged in the case. He has not entered a plea to the criminal charges but denied wrongdoing in a related civil lawsuit.

[Jolie Rouge]

Woman Gets $1M in Suit Over Priestly Punch

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040310%2F2324443298.htm&sc=1110

COMPTON, Calif. (AP) - A jury awarded more than $950,000 to an instructor of Roman Catholic principles who accused a now-deceased priest of punching her during an argument over how to teach.

An attorney for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said Wednesday it would seek a new trial.

The jury voted 9-3 Monday to award $952,819 to Maria Vega, 57, for emotional distress, defamation and battery, said her attorney, Victor George.

Vega said she was teaching catechism at St. Emydius Church in November 1999 when the Rev. Dennis O'Neil disagreed with the way she was teaching and punched her above the ear.


George said his client sued after the archdiocese refused to acknowledge or investigate her claim. Archdiocese spokeswoman Carolina Guevara countered: ``We followed the appropriate procedures to address the situation.''


The case went to trial in October but was stopped after 20 days when the 60-year-old O'Neil died. A new trial began Nov. 10.


When he died, O'Neil was an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of San Bernardino.

[Jolie Rouge]

Kerry: "GOP 'Crooked, Lying' Bunch"
Kerry Comment Riles Bush Campaign
By MIKE GLOVER

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/enhancedstory.jsp?maxstories=6&maxphotos=8&storyterm=Kerry&phototerm=John+Kerry&pollnum=28054&floc=FF-APO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0001/20040311/0037444667.htm

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry called Wednesday for deeper tax cuts for the middle class than proposed by President Bush and described his Republican critics as ``the most crooked ... lying group I've ever seen.'' The chairman of Bush's re-election campaign called on Kerry to apologize ``for this negative attack.''

After urging labor leaders to support his campaign, Kerry met with one-time rival Howard Dean to discuss an endorsement and what role the former Vermont governor might play in his campaign. Hoping to win over Dean, the presumptive nominee's staff greeted the fallen rival with a round of applause as he walked into Kerry headquarters. The two men shook hands, embraced briefly and raised joined hands for the cameras.

After the 45-minute meeting, officials close to the talks said Dean will endorse Kerry, with only the timing in question. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the best time might be March 25 when the presidential candidates join former Presidents Clinton and Carter for a Democratic Party fund-raiser.


``I will work closely with John Kerry to make sure we beat George Bush in November and turn our country around,'' Dean said in a statement that did not specifically mention an endorsement. ``There is a lot we can do together to rebuild an America that belongs to all of us, and we'll be saying more about what our amazing grass-roots network can do to help with his goal.'' Dean has set March 18 to announce details of his grass-roots advocacy organization.


Kerry was scheduled to meet with another key rival, John Edwards, on Thursday.


Anticipating their meeting, the Bush campaign issued ``Howard Dean's Greatest Hits on John Kerry,'' a 10-item recounting of Dean's criticisms. The quotes from news stories include Dean's statement in January that ``you're not going to change America by nominating somebody who's a Washington insider whose biggest long suit is talk.''


Kerry had 2,037 delegates after sweeping four Southern primaries Tuesday, an Associated Press analysis showed. He wasn't expected to reach 2,162, the number needed to secure the nomination, until next week.


Earlier Wednesday in Chicago, Kerry toughened his comments about his GOP critics after a supporter urged him to take on Bush. ``Let me tell you, we've just begun to fight,'' Kerry said. ``We're going to keep pounding. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen. It's scary.''


Bush-Cheney campaign chairman Marc Racicot called on Kerry to apologize.


``Senator Kerry's statement today in Illinois was unbecoming of a candidate for the presidency of the United States of America, and tonight we call on Senator Kerry to apologize to the American people for this negative attack,'' Racicot said in a statement. ``On the day that Senator Kerry emerged as his party's presumptive nominee, the president called to congratulate him. That goodwill gesture has been met by attacks and false statements.''


Kerry spokesman David Wade said earlier that Kerry was referring to Republican critics in general and that the comment was intended to convey the message that ``he's a Democrat who fights back.''


The Bush-Cheney campaign didn't see it that way. ``John Kerry has run a relentlessly negative campaign from the very beginning and this comment is completely consistent with that,'' the campaign said.


In a satellite address to top AFL-CIO leaders meeting in Florida, Kerry said a ``Bush Tax'' stemming from the president's economic policies has driven up costs for working families. He vowed to reverse that trend while asking those making more than $200,000 a year to pay the same taxes they paid under President Clinton, effectively repealing portions of a tax cut Bush pushed through Congress.


Kerry also proposed creating a $50 billion fund to help states provide relief from state and local taxes for working families that he said have been struggling.


``Under George Bush's policies, middle-class families are paying more,'' he said. ``America's middle class can't afford a tax increase. That's why we're going to give the middle class a tax cut.''


In response, the Bush campaign accused Kerry of favoring broad tax increases that would affect all taxpayers.


``John Kerry has voted for higher taxes 350 times and his numbers for new spending don't add up,'' said Steve Schmidt, a Bush campaign spokesman. ``His campaign-trail promises mean he is going to raise taxes by at least $900 billion.'' It is the first time the Bush campaign has put a number on tax hikes it says Kerry favors.


Kerry said a middle-class tax cut would do far more to spark the economy than what Bush has pushed, by helping people afford college costs, pay for health care and make ends meet.


``If this president wants to make this election about taxes after he's cut billions for billionaires and given middle-class families a larger share to pay, we're ready for that fight,'' he said.


Kerry also addressed Democratic National Committee staff, seeking to end speculation that chairman Terry McAuliffe's role will be diminished. ``No one can do what this man has done,'' Kerry said, according to Kerry and DNC aides in the private meeting.


AP Political Writer Ron Fournier contributed to this report.



03/11/04 00:36

[Jolie Rouge]

Mother Charged With Killing Two Newborns
By BEN DOBBIN

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/enhancedstory.jsp?photoid=debeers.jpg&floc=FF-APO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0001/20040311/1015458135.htm

CANADICE, N.Y. (AP) - Stacy DeBeer told relatives she was pregnant. But when a baby failed to materialize months later, a suspicious relative snooping around DeBeer's basement found a newborn's body - entombed in concrete.

DeBeer, 30, was arraigned Tuesday on charges of killing two of her infants - in June 1998 and May 2003 - and hiding them in pails filled with concrete that investigators had to break apart with hammers.

Her 32-year-old husband, Brian DeBeer, was charged with hindering prosecution by helping hide the first infant, a girl, in a garden shed.

The couple, who have children ages 8 and 6, were arrested in January after their unidentified relative discovered the body of the baby born in 2003 at their home in Farmington in rural northwestern New York, said an investigator who spoke on condition of anonymity.

``It's creepy. I guess you just don't know people nowadays,'' said Wayne Ciluffo, 50, an unemployed truck driver who lived next door to the DeBeers in Canadice in the late 1990s.

Grand jury indictments accused DeBeer of delivering a girl without medical help in June 1998 and killing her by stuffing paper in her mouth, wrapping her in cloth and placing her in a plastic bag.

Police suspect she kept the dead infant for nearly five years before disposing of it at her house in Canadice, where the couple lived until a fire burned down their house in June and they moved to Farmington.

Last May 11, a few weeks before the fire, she gave birth again, killed the child and took the body with her when she moved to Farmington, police say. The sex of that child was not revealed.


DeBeer gave birth to a fifth child in 2001 and gave her up for adoption, police said. Asked if she might have disposed of any other newborns, prosecutor R. Michael Tantillo said, ``We can't be blind to that possibility.''


The couple pleaded innocent at separate arraignments. DeBeer was ordered held without bail. Bail for her husband, a home builder, was set at $75,000 cash.


If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to 25 years to life in prison.


``Whether we can contest (the charges) at all, I'm not going to comment at this point,'' said her attorney, Robert Zimmerman.


Debbie Manrique, 41, who used to live next to the DeBeers in Canadice, said some of her neighbors wondered whether DeBeer suffered from postpartum depression.


``To be carting the dead infants around does not show someone is emotionally balanced. You can almost try to reason that there was insanity involved,'' she said.


``But you give a burial place to your gerbil or your goldfish when they die,'' she added. ``It's disgusting to me they would bury their babies in cement and leave them.''



03/11/04 10:14

[Jolie Rouge]

Playboy Pleaded.

Guess Who Said "No !" ?

Four lovely "Apprentice" rejects--Ereka, Amy, Krista, and Katrina--were each asked by Playboy magazine to pose nude for the hefty sum of $250,000. That is the exact amount each would have made had she won the job working as an apprentice for Donald Trump.

All four told Playboy "no way." Instead, the four agreed to pose--scantily clad, but still clad--for FHM, and they did it for free, reports The New York Post's "Page Six" gossip column.

Ereka Vetrini told Post reporter Farrah Weinstein that posing for Playboy is "unprofessional." She added, "It wasn't something I ever wanted to do beforehand, so with the money, I just thought I was selling myself out."

The man who has popularized the phrase "You're fired!" is also expanding his repertoire outside the boardroom. NBC has announced that The Donald will host "Saturday Night Live" on April 3, reports The Associated Press.

[Jolie Rouge]

Wife-Poisoner Hired as Ethics Lecturer

:eek:

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040312%2F1044499906.htm&sc=reodd

LONDON (Reuters) - A scientist dubbed the "Safeway poisoner" and jailed for trying to poison his wife has been employed by a British university to lecture students on ethics, the institution said on Thursday.

Paul Agutter served seven years of a 12-year sentence for attempted murder after he laced his wife's gin and tonic with deadly nightshade in 1994 and then tried to cover his tracks by spiking drinks in a Safeway supermarket.

The University of Manchester said it followed "due process" in hiring Agutter to teach adult education classes, including a one-day course on "Therapeutic Cloning: Ethics and Science."

Medical ethics lecturer Piers Benn told Reuters criminal convictions and teaching ethics were not necessarily mutually exclusive. "Normally people who get into moral philosophy do so because they care about making the world a better place or putting things right," said Benn, of Imperial College London. "But I can't see any logical contradiction between being able to think about ethical questions and being able to do rather criminal acts."

Manchester University said it had not decided whether an April course on evolution taught by Agutter would go ahead.

03/12/04 10:44


{{ isn't that the definition of a Sociopath ?}}


:eek:

[Jolie Rouge]

Cronkite Reveals He Was Double-Crossed

Former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, who was once renowned as being the most trusted man in America, confessed to Avenue magazine that he was doubled-crossed 23 years ago when he voluntarily stepped down and gave his anchor chair on "The CBS Evening News" to Dan Rather, reports The New York Post's "Page Six" gossip column.

Cronkite thought he was only ending his job as a daily journalist. He had every intention of continuing on the air by doing news specials, and the promises made by CBS News in his contract at the time is proof positive of that. But he tells Avenue that then incoming CBS News president Van Gordon Sauter reneged on the deal and treated him "like a leper."

"Sauter...in cahoots with Dan's manager, felt that any presence of mine on the air would diminish the possibilities of Dan getting his own following, which may have been true," Cronkite tells Avenue magazine. "The result was that instead of fulfilling the contract, which provided for my doing specials and that sort of thing, which I expected to do--all I was trying to do was get out of daily journalism; I'd been in it since I was 20 years old--they never called me again. But they keep renewing my contract." Cronkite was just 64 when he retired. Rather is now 72 and is consistently last in the evening news ratings. All of which has prompted Cronkite to acknowledge in the Avenue interview, "I think I made a mistake. If I'd known that my health would have stayed as good as it has, I might have stayed with the daily news."

And that's the way it is.

[Jolie Rouge]

Student article sparks ethics debate
A story that included a student's grades has prompted debate about freedom of the student press and privacy.

Friday, March 12, 2004 Posted: 1:41 PM EST (1841 GMT)

www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/03/11/campus.controversy.ap/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) -- A story in a campus paper has alarmed administrators of one of journalism's highest awards, prompted a crackdown by the university and sparked a debate over journalism ethics, privacy and freedom of the student press.

It began when the weekly paper at the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University, which administers the annual George Polk Awards in Journalism, reported in January that the student body president was resigning. It blamed the student's "academic struggles" and listed what it said were his failing grades.

The school decreed that the student's rights had been violated and responded swiftly. It suspended the editor for three weeks, changed the lock of the newspaper's office and removed a faculty adviser.

That in turn prompted a terse response from the Society of Professional Journalists, which plans to send a task force to the campus to investigate.

"We do change locks like that in Third World countries, but this is the United States of America," said Jim Highland, the Society's national vice president of campus chapter affairs and a professor of journalism at Western Kentucky University.

Meanwhile, some members of the school's journalism faculty worry the brouhaha could tarnish the campus' image as a supporter of journalistic achievement. The university founded the George Polk Awards in 1949 to honor a CBS correspondent who died covering the Greek civil war.

"It is a slap in the face to the Polk," said Professor Robert Spector, the award's administrator. "I think it's very embarrassing."

Justin Grant, editor of the Seawanhaka, reported in a front-page story January 21 that student body president Abdel Alileala was resigning for what Alileala called personal reasons.

"There has been speculation," Grant wrote, "that Alilea's academic struggles last year are the reason for his decision to resign." He reported that Alilea had received an incomplete, two Fs and a D.

Administrators were furious, particularly when they learned that the paper's faculty adviser had helped obtain and publish the grades, which they called a breach of university policy and, potentially, of federal confidentiality rules.


Justin Grant was suspended for reporting the grades of another student in the campus newspaper.
Alilea declined to comment to The Associated Press when contacted through a university spokeswoman.

Campus administrators said Grant had the right to publish Alilea's grades, but they objected to how it was done. The article did not cite a source for the grades or give Alilea a chance to respond.

Most disturbing, campus administrators said, was the faculty adviser's role in publicizing the grades.

The former adviser, journalism professor Mike Bush, said he learned of the grades from a student reporter, whom he declined to identify, e-mailed them to Grant and encouraged him to publish them.

Provost Gale Stevens Haynes said that may have violated federal regulations barring the school from releasing students' personal information.

"The institution has to take a stand in ensuring respect for students' privacy," Haynes said. "This is truly not about the student newspaper and trying to control it and shape it in a way that's comfortable for us."

Grant this week was putting together what he promised would be a thorough and even-handed edition on the controversy.

"It's an issue of press freedom. What rights do student journalists have?" he said.

[Jolie Rouge]

Woman Offers to Pay $1M of Stewart's Bills

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/pf/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1404&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040312%2F1457506222.htm&sc=1404

NEW YORK (AP) - To the ranks of Martha Stewart wannabes add Rhona Silver, a Long Island caterer who has offered to contribute $1 million toward Stewart's legal bills in exchange for the opportunity to run her company for $1 a year.

``I don't have to be Martha,'' said Silver, proprietor of Rhona Silver's Huntington Townhouse. ``I could be Rhona and help run that company.''





Stewart, the longtime guru of gracious living, was convicted last week of lying to investigators about why she sold 3,928 shares of ImClone Systems stock.

A spokeswoman for Stewart, who faces sentencing on June 17, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.


Silver, whose clients have included Hillary Rodham Clinton and Billy Joel, said she has the expertise to preside over each component of Stewart's empire including TV shows, magazines and KMart housewares.


``I have been in the industry since I'm 10 years old. I run thousands of events a year,'' said Silver, flashing a $1 million check at a news conference Thursday. ``I also hold a law degree from Hofstra Law School, so on the business side I have the wherewithal, the intelligence and the smarts to run a company.''


Silver called Stewart her mentor but has so far admired her idol mainly from afar.


``I've met her on several occasions at parties,'' she said. ``I don't know her personally but I would love to have the opportunity to know her better.''


On the Net: www.newhuntingtontownhouse.com/index2.html



03/12/04 14:57

[the fugative]

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd

March 11, 2004 WEIR11

Albuquerque emergency room physician Sam Slishman is working to launch his Endorphin Power Co., which is a homeless shelter providing drug rehabilitation based on vigorous exercise at on-premises workout stations. Slishman also wants his center to help pay for itself by selling the electric power that could be harnessed by his down-and-out population's daily workouts (pedaling, lifting, working the treadmills). Endorphin Power, Slishman says, will be the city's inspirational flagship for "social rehabilitation and renewable energy."

Dental follies

• Dentist Leon Gombis (Oak Lawn, Ill.) had battery charges filed against him after he, wielding pliers, ripped a cap out of the mouth of a 58-year-old patient, believing (mistakenly) that she was behind on her payments (January).

• At press time, U.S. Air Force Capt. Jacqueline Chester was scheduled for court martial in Dover, Del., for having tested positive for cocaine; in her defense, her now ex-husband said that during their marriage, he had occasionally rubbed cocaine on his genitals for pleasure-enhancement and that the otherwise-drug-free Jacqueline might have absorbed it during sex.

• From a Jan. 1 police report in the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun: A motorist who was clocked at 15 miles per hour over the speed limit in Waldo, Fla., claimed that since state troopers' policy is to give a 5 mph leeway before ticketing, and since Waldo police often claim to give a 10 mph leeway, he thought the two leeway speeds could be combined to allow him to drive 15 mph over the limit.

• Lame excuses: According to a police report in January on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Web site, a driver in the Newfoundland district of Bonavista-Clarenville denied that he had an illegal radar detector, claiming that the black box on his dashboard was a "moose detector" that indeed had so far kept him safe from moose.

• Author Irwin Schiff, at war with the IRS for years over his aggressive claims that paying federal income tax is voluntary, may finally have turned defensive. In a back-tax-collection case in Las Vegas in January, Schiff told the court in a filing that he suffers from delusions, including a fantasy that he is the only person qualified to interpret federal income tax law. Schiff's psychiatrist said Schiff has been paranoid for years, stemming from his having lost heavily in a tax shelter that turned out to be a type of investment scam called a Ponzi scheme.

• In Tarpon Springs, Fla., William Ray Hunter, 41, was arrested and charged with defrauding a series of at least 19 northerners who had paid him a total of $33,000 in advance to rent his mobile home for the winter starting Jan. 1. Hunter apparently had made no effort to move out by the time the tenants started arriving. Said Sheriff's Sgt. Bob Hart, "I don't think he thought too much about what would happen when everybody showed up. Most people have a plan. [Hunter] had the first part, but he didn't have the second part."

Update on racist dogs

• The owner of the German shepherd crossbreed who made the news last year for having trained "Adolf" to raise his right paw on hearing the command "Sieg Heil," was found guilty in Berlin of displaying Nazi symbols, and he told the court that Adolf had since injured his paw and could no longer salute (February). And Dolpho, a police dog in McKees Rock, Pa., who had been sent for re-education in 2002 after having attacked a black child and was making progress in his rehab effort, backslid, attacking a black teenager (February) for no apparent reason.

• A 46-year-old motorcyclist, speeding, yelling obscenities and shaking his fist alongside an 18-wheeler that had made a left turn of questionable etiquette in Corpus Christi, Texas, lost control of the cycle, fell off and was fatally dragged underneath the truck (October).

More things to worry about

• The owners of FM 106.7 in York, Pa., having ended the station's country-music format but not yet having introduced a new one, played "Pop Goes the Weasel" 24 hours a day during the interim (February). A recently active methamphetamine lab (fuel, tubing, foil, coffee filters and a liquid compound) was discovered in a search of cells in the Pikeville, Tenn., county jail (December). A man in Pacifica, Calif., filed a $15,000 claim against his school district, saying officials have not stopped students from taunting his 12-year-old son, who is an internationally acclaimed ballroom dancer (September).

:p

[Jolie Rouge]

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/crime/default.jsp
Woman Charged in Death of Disabled Son


CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (AP) - A woman was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of her disabled teenage son, who weighed just 23 pounds, authorities said.

Emergency workers responding to a call for assistance Thursday morning found 15-year-old Seamus M. Leonard, who suffered from cerebral palsy, lying amid piles of trash.

An autopsy revealed the boy died of pneumonia and malnutrition was listed as a contributing cause, prosecutor Gary Pack said. ``The condition of this victim was worse than any victim I have ever seen,'' he said. ``It would bring anyone to tears.''

The mother, 44-year-old Kathy Leonard, was in custody Friday in lieu of $1 million bond. Another hearing was scheduled for March 17. Leonard's public defender, Richard Behof, did not immediately return a call Friday.

Six other children, ages 3 to 17, were placed in protective custody. The home was deemed uninhabitable by the city's building department and county health department, police said. ``The house was in absolute squalor,'' Police Chief Howard Parth said.

Social workers visited the home in January 2003 after complaints of a fight between the children's father and one of the older sons. Stephen Leonard, 48, no longer lives in the home, officials said. ``There was no indication the home was in the condition it is now,'' DCFS spokeswoman Jill Manuel said.

Five of the six children - two boys and four girls - occasionally fed the victim, but they did not tell teachers or neighbors of the conditions in the home, according to Pack.



03/12/04 14:19

[Jolie Rouge]

EBay Halts Alleged Sale of Three Girls

By RACHEL KONRAD

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/enhancedstory.jsp?oldflok=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040312%2F2020513162.htm&sc=1110&photoid=ebay.jpg

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - EBay halted an auction this week and suspended a Taiwanese user who allegedly tried to sell three Vietnamese girls on the Internet site for a starting bid of $5,400.

The auction, which began March 2 on eBay's Taiwan site, did not include a detailed description of the goods for sale but said the ``items'' were from Vietnam and would be ``shipped to Taiwan only.''





The site included five photos of three people. One dark-haired woman in a white shirt wore makeup and blue nail polish, and the other two appeared to be girls no older than their early teens. The 10-day auction had a starting price of 180,000 Taiwanese dollars, or $5,411.

Vietnamese activists groups in Australia and the United States noticed the listing as early as March 5 and began sending e-mails to women's rights and immigrant advocates around the world. Many of them contacted eBay, and earlier this week customer service representatives pulled the auction.


``There couldn't be a clearer case of what's not allowed on eBay,'' spokesman Hani Durzy said Friday.


San Jose-based eBay strictly forbids the sale or purchase of humans, alive or dead.


The auction company turned over information on the seller to Taiwanese authorities, Durzy said. He would not release any more information on the user, identified on the site as ``mmm0052g'' and an eBay member since March 1.


On the Net: eBay: www.ebay.com

03/12/04 20:20

[Jolie Rouge]

Researchers: Stem Cells May Cure Baldness
By PAUL ELIAS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Research showing that bald mice can grow hair after being implanted with a type of stem cell could lead to a cure for baldness, a group of scientists says.

The project marks the first time that ``blank slate'' stem cells were able to induce hair growth, said Dr. George Cotsarelis, a University of Pennsylvania dermatologist and co-author of the study. The study was released Sunday on the Web site of the journal Nature Technology in advance of its April publication date.

``We've shown for the first time these cells have the ability to generate hair when taken from one animal and put into another,'' Cotsarelis said in a telephone interview. ``You can envision a process of isolating existing stem cells and re-implanting them in the areas where guys are bald.''


The study confirms what scientists suspected for years: hair follicles contain ``blank slate'' stem cells that give most humans a full head of hair for life.


Although they are called stem cells, they differ from embryonic stem cells, the research on which has sparked a political debate because embryos are destroyed in the process. Embryonic stem cells are created in the first days after conception and give rise to the human body and its more than 200 different types of cells.


Biologists who study hair because of its regenerative qualities said the new study is an important breakthrough. But they cautioned that a baldness cure is still some years away.


``Like with any stem cells, the amount of information needed to get us from a stem to a fully developed organ is a lot,'' said Stanford University biologist Anthony Oro. ``It will require a lot of things to go right and we are still along way off.''


Two drugs now on the market, known commercially as Rogaine and Propecia, were first designed to treat hypertension and enlarged prostates but later were discovered to have hair growth as a side effect. Each drug has about $100 million in sales annually.


It's estimated that more than $1 billion is spent each year in the United States combatting baldness, mostly through hair transplants.


On the Web: www.nature.com



03/14/04 15:39

[Jolie Rouge]

Some Frozen Lobsters Return to Life
By JAY LINDSAY

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1501&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040314%2F1241553635.htm&sc=1501

BOSTON (AP) - Call it cryonics for crustaceans. A Connecticut company says its frozen lobsters sometimes come back to life when thawed.

Trufresh began freezing lobsters with a technique it used for years on salmon after an offhand suggestion by some workers. It found that some lobsters revived after their subzero sojourns.

Now, Trufresh is looking for partners to begin selling the lobsters commercially. The company was scheduled to attend the International Boston Seafood Show, which began Sunday, armed with video showing two undead lobsters squirming around after being frozen stiff in a minus-40 degree chemical brine for several minutes.

Company chairman Barnet L. Liberman acknowledged that its lobster testing is limited and only about 12 of roughly 200 healthy, hard shell lobsters survived the freezing. In addition, the company hasn't researched how long a frozen lobster can survive - overnight is the longest period so far.


Liberman emphasized the company's goal isn't to provide customers with lobsters that always come back to life. He just wants to supply tasty lobsters.


But frozen lobster can't be much fresher than ``still alive'' and Trufresh hasn't hesitated to tout their lobsters' restorative qualities. For instance, the company plans to ship the lobsters with rubber bands on the claws, as a consumer protection measure.


``I wouldn't remove the rubber bands,'' Liberman said. ``It's not worth the risk.''


Bonnie Spinazzola of the Offshore Lobstermen's Association in Candia, N.H, had her doubts about Lazarus-like lobsters entering the existing frozen lobster market.


``I've never heard of it and I don't know if I believe it,'' she said. ``It might be a robo-lobster.''


Trufresh is based in Suffield, Conn., but has salmon operations in Lubec, Maine, a community on the Bay of Fundy that's the easternmost town in the United States. A few years ago, some workers with lobstering experience suggested freezing lobsters the same way they froze their salmon, which are far too dead (and filleted) to ever be revived.


First, the lobster's metabolism is slowed in below-freezing sea water and then it's immersed in the minus-40 degree brine. Liberman said the lobster freezes so quickly that damage to muscle tissue cells from the formation of ice crystals is minimized.


The lobsters are then thawed in 28-degree sea water. A marketing video from the company shows the lobsters freely wriggling around after about two and a half hours.


The first time they tried it, Trufresh froze about 30 lobsters and two came back to life, Liberman said. But the company wasn't in the lobster business and never pursued it.


Now, Trufresh is trying to expand its product line as it launches a retail business on the Internet. If it can find partners to catch the lobster and process it, Liberman said Trufresh can be selling them within months.


Robert Bayer of the University of Maine's Lobster Institute said he was intrigued about the Trufresh process, but dubious. Seafood freezing methods similar to Trufresh's have existed for years, but there have been no reports of undead lobsters, he said.


``I'm guess I am skeptical about a lobster being brought back to life,'' Bayer said. ``But I'm willing to be shown.''



03/14/04 12:40

[Jolie Rouge]

Top 10 U.S. Cities That Rock 'n' Roll

Cleveland may think of itself as the rock 'n' roll capital of the world, but according to the April issue of Esquire magazine, it's not. Instead, Pittsburgh, Pa., has been crowned No. 1 among the top 10 cities that rock.

Why Pittsburgh of all places?

"The overarching idea about this is we didn't want to pick the same old cities," Esquire associate editor Chris Berend told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He noted that New York City, Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas, which are well known for their rock scenes, weren't even considered. Author Bryan Mealer along with other Esquire staff members canvassed several dozen music writers, journalists, and personal friends to come up with the sure-to-be-debated list. Mealer admits to some bias: Three years ago he visited Pittsburgh and fell in love with the place.

The top 10 cities that rock 'n roll are:

1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

2. Denver, Colorado

3. Minneapolis, Minnesota

4. Raleigh, North Carolina

5. Gainesville, Florida

6. Fresno, California

7. Cincinnati, Ohio

8. New Orleans, Louisiana :)

9. Phoenix/Tempe, Arizona

10. San Francisco, California

[Jolie Rouge]

Scientists: Most distant object in solar system found
Monday, March 15, 2004 Posted: 7:57 PM EST (0057 GMT)

www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/15/distant.object/index.html


In an artist's visualization, the planet-like object dubbed "Sedna" is so far away that the sun appears as only a bright star.


(CNN) -- Scientists may have discovered the solar system's most distant object, more than three times farther away from Earth than Pluto.

"The sun appears so small from that distance that you could completely block it out with the head of a pin," said Dr. Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology, who helped in the discovery.

The object -- about 8 billion miles (12.8 billion kilometers) from Earth -- has been given the provisional name of Sedna, after the Inuit goddess who created sea creatures of the Arctic.

Brown and his team of astronomers, using Caltech's Palomar Observatory, found Sedna in November as part of an ongoing three-year outer solar system project. Days later, the high power Spitzer Space Telescope focused on the object.

Initial details indicated Sedna to be made of ice and rock, with temperatures never rising above -400 degrees Fahrenheit (-240 degrees Celsius), according to researchers.

Sedna is likely the largest object to be found circling the sun since the discovery of Pluto in 1930. It is still smaller than the ninth planet, though, with a diameter of more than 1,000 miles (1,700 kilometers).

The finding has sparked debate over what constitutes a planet.

Many astronomers say Pluto, with a diameter of just under 1,500 miles (2,300 kilometers), is too small to be a termed a planet and is just one of many minor objects in the outer reaches of the solar system.

But those who argue Pluto is a planet are likely to push the assertion for Sedna to become the 10th planet in the solar system.

[Jolie Rouge]

Monday, March 15, 2004 Posted: 1:22 PM EST (1822 GMT)

www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/14/space.armstrong.ap/index.html

Astronauts Neil Armstrong, left, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, raise the U.S. flag on the surface of the moon. Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon.

HOUSTON , Texas (AP) -- Former astronaut Neil Armstrong says Americans should support President Bush's plan for renewed missions to the moon and beyond.

Armstrong said the plan was economically sustainable and that the country must accept the risks associated with space exploration in order to reap technological rewards.

"Our president has introduced a new initiative with renewed emphasis on the exploration of our solar system and expansion of human frontiers," Armstrong told a crowd of nearly 600 people Thursday.

"This proposal has substantial merit and promise."

He was in Houston to receive the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement.

Armstrong, 73, commanded NASA's Apollo 11 mission in 1969, becoming the first person to walk on the moon.

In 1971, he left the space program to pursue a teaching career in aeronautical engineering in his native Ohio.

Armstrong said the success of the Bush's space plan depends on whether the government, aerospace industry, researchers and others can unite behind it.

The Bush White House wants to return to the moon and eventually send astronauts there by 2020, and to Mars -- an effort that would cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Some lawmakers have questioned proposed costs and risks.

"Our economy can certainly afford an effort of this magnitude, but the public must believe the benefits to society deserve the investment," Armstrong said in Friday's edition of the Houston Chronicle. "To limit the program in the name of eliminating the risk is no virtue."

President Bush has proposed that the space shuttle stop flying in 2010 and that the remaining shuttle flights concentrate on completion of the International Space Station and research.

[Jolie Rouge]

Fla. Man Arrested for Running Over Two Women

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0001/20040315/1032575806.htm

MILTON, Fla. (AP) - A 69-year-old man rammed a pickup truck into his ex-wife's home and then ran her and her 85-year-old mother down as they tried to flee, killing them both, authorities said.

Carl Junices Bryan, who was arrested Sunday, was being held without bail on two counts of murder.


Sheriff's officials said Bryan drove his truck into Becky Ann Langford's home early Sunday, leaving a gaping hole in the corner of the house near her bedroom. Langford, 59, and her mother, Queen Victoria Franklin, tried to get away but Bryan chased them down in the truck - running one down, then the next, in the front yard, authorities said.


``He planned it out,'' said Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office spokesman Jerry Henderson. He said the center of Bryan's steering wheel was wrapped in rope, apparently to prevent the air bag from deploying.
Tire marks crisscrossed the front yard, a lamppost was flattened and two cars that had been parked in the driveway were smashed.


``I thought somebody just ran off the road and hit the (house),'' said a neighbor, Keith Hines. ``Then I came outside and saw the bodies. It doesn't make any sense.'' Hines said he tried to help the victims, but Bryan threatened to shoot him and chased him away in his truck.

Deputies said he also tried to run down arriving paramedics. Authorities said Bryan was arrested after his truck came to a stop nearby. According to court records, Langford and Bryan divorced last March.



03/15/04 10:32

[Jolie Rouge]

Bush Admin. Says Kerry Should Prove Claim
By MIKE GLOVER

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1131&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040315%2F2227594443.htm&sc=1131

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration cast doubts on John Kerry's credibility Monday, strongly suggesting that the presumptive Democratic nominee lied when he said some foreign leaders privately backed his presidential bid. Kerry denied the White House's assertion, saying ``I stand by my statement.''

``I'm not making anything up at all,'' Kerry told The Associated Press. ``They're just trying to change the subject.



In a telephone interview, Kerry said ``it's no secret'' that people in some countries are ``deeply divided about our foreign policy. We have lost respect and influence in the world,'' he said. ``I stand by my statement. The point is not the leaders,'' Kerry added. ``What's important is that this administration's foreign policy is not making us as safe as we can be in the world.''

One day after Secretary of State Colin Powell called on Kerry to identify his foreign backers but made no accusations, the administration ratcheted up the challenge, saying Kerry should identify the leaders who purportedly hope he defeats President Bush in November.

``Either he is straightforward and states who they are, or the only conclusion one can draw is that he is making it up to attack the president,'' said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.


Vice President Dick Cheney said Americans deserve to know what Kerry has been telling foreign leaders. Cheney noted that at a campaign event Sunday in which a heckler challenged Kerry to produce names, the Democrat declined, saying, ``That's none of your business.''


``But it is our business when a candidate for president claims the political endorsement of foreign leaders,'' Cheney said at a congressional fund-raiser in Phoenix. ``At the very least, we have a right to know what he is saying to them that makes them so supportive of his candidacy.''


Said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., in a conference call arranged by the Bush-Cheney campaign: ``He clearly has an obligation to, you know, you put up or you shut up. You don't make up reckless charges and then say, 'Well, it's really secret, I can't tell you.'''


Kerry said at a fund-raiser last week in Florida that he's heard from some world leaders who quietly back his candidacy and hope he defeats Bush. He has declined to identify them, arguing that to do so would betray confidences.


Three times on Monday, McClellan repeated the charge that Kerry was ``making it up.'' He also took issue with Kerry's suggestions that the administration held up for political purposes announcement of an agreement with Libya to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction; and that the administration had rebuffed offers from Russia and France to avert the Iraq war.


``This is not the first time he has refused to back up his assertions,'' McClellan said.


In response, Kerry's campaign issued a list of statements by Bush administration officials that proved false, including the claim about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and the prediction that tax cuts would create jobs. The campaign also questioned why the White House press secretary would be doing the work of the re-election campaign.


``The White House would be better off spending its time repairing our alliances around the world so we can collectively fight the war on terrorism and better protect the United States, rather than using the White House press room as a place to carry out political attacks,'' the campaign said. Kerry also dismissed McClellan's challenge, arguing that the administration was trying to change the subject from jobs, health care and other issues. ``They don't have a campaign so they're trying to divert it,'' he told reporters.


The issue of support from foreign leaders comes as the administration deals with the surprising election results in Spain on Sunday in which voters ousted the conservative party that had strongly backed Bush on the Iraq war.


Earlier Monday, Kerry assailed Bush's leadership on protecting the nation. He also met with Democrat Al Sharpton, who endorsed the senator but did not abandon his own long-shot presidential bid, and Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.


Speaking to a meeting of the 263,000-member International Association of Firefighters, which has endorsed Kerry, the Democrat faulted Bush for using the threat of terrorism as ``a political prop'' to advance his re-election campaign without ensuring a safer nation.


``America doesn't need leaders who play politics with 9-11 or see the war on terror as just another campaign issue,'' Kerry said. ``Our nation's safety is too important.''


The senator complained that Bush resisted creation of the Department of Homeland Security and has failed to provide firefighters and other first responders with enough financial resources. ``When it comes to protecting America from terrorism, this administration is big on bluster and short on action,'' said Kerry. ``As we saw again last week in Spain - real action is what is needed.''


Within hours of Kerry's speech, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said a task force of governors and municipal officials would to study how best to get federal funds into local hands.




Associated Press Writers Scott Lindlaw and Frederic J. Frommer in Washington, Deb Riechmann in Ardmore, Pa., and Lawrence Messina in Charleston, W. Va., contributed to this report.



03/15/04 22:27

[Jolie Rouge]

Age-Old Beer Mystery Finally Solved

So even if you drink a wee bit too much on St. Patrick's Day, and you see the bubbles in your beer sinking in the glass, your eyes are not deceiving you provided you're drinking Guinness. Reuters reports that scientists from the University of Edinburgh's School of Chemistry tested it and have proven that Guinness bubbles really do flow downward and not upwards.

(Yes, they were paid to figure this out.
No, we don't know how you can get a job like that.)

"Our group carried out preliminary experiments at a local pub a few years ago, but the results proved inconclusive," study leader Dr. Andrew Alexander told Reuters. He said he initially thought it was just an illusion that the dark bubbles were sinking, but due to his diligent efforts that even required the assistance of researchers from Stanford University, it has been officially and finally proven this is real.


Here's how it works: As the pint settles, the bubbles touch the walls of the glass and essentially experience drag, which prevents them from floating upward. However, the bubbles in the middle do rise. That creates a circular flow within the glass that pushes down the bubbles along the edge of the glass, reports Reuters.

To make sure you believe it, these partying chemists even produced a high-speed video of the sinking bubbles. The wonders of science will never cease to amaze us.

[Jolie Rouge]

Jessica Simpson's White House Howler

Jessica Simpson showed off her education and intelligence--or lack thereof--once again. The sexy singer who made a name for herself expressing her surprise that buffalo had wings and puzzling over the contents of a Chicken of the Sea can (Is it tuna or poultry?) has done it again. Only this time it was in the White House.

According to Washington Post "Reliable Source" gossip columnist Richard Leiby, Simpson was visiting the White House last weekend where she was introduced to Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton to whom she cooed, "You've done a nice job decorating the White House." Bada boom. Fox News entertainment reporter Roger Friedman calls Jessica Simpson America's third dumbest blonde, noting that Paris Hilton and Anna Nicole Smith beat her in that category.

But against all odds, Jessica seems to have a real hit CD on her hands. "In This Skin" is No. 1 on the charts, right behind Norah Jones. Her single "With You," which Fox's Friedman describes as "undistinguished a pop song as there ever was" was the most played tune last week according to Radio & Records. Go figure.

[Jolie Rouge]

KERRY NAMES FOREIGN LEADER WHO SUPPORTS HIM: HIS WIFE

Doesn’t Count, Says Powell

www.borowitzreport.com

Under pressure to identify the “foreign leaders” he claims support him in his bid to oust President Bush, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) today named his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.

“Teresa was born in Mozambique and is fluent in five languages,” Mr. Kerry told reporters onboard his campaign jet. “You don’t get more foreign than that.”

Saying that he had the “unqualified support” of his wife in his quest to replace Mr. Bush, Mr. Kerry said, “In all five of those languages, she is saying the same three words: Bring it on.”

Secretary of State Colin Powell, who had challenged Mr. Kerry over the weekend to identify the unnamed foreign leaders who supported his candidacy, reacted sharply to the Senator’s statement, calling it “bogus.”

“Mrs. Kerry may be as foreign as all get-out, but no way is she a leader,” Mr. Powell said on CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer.”

But Mr. Kerry fired back, arguing, “Colin Powell doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. I live with Teresa. Not only is she a leader, she’s a freaking dictator.”



The fall campaign, still in its early months, got even uglier today as the Kerry campaign unleashed its latest attack ad, in which entertainer Janet Jackson’s right breast “morphs” into the smiling face of President Bush.

Over a freeze-frame image of the President, a narrator intones, “Isn’t it time to expose THIS boob?”

After facing heavy criticism for the undignified tone of the commercial, Mr. Kerry defended the ad, saying that it had been approved “by a foreign leader.”

[Jolie Rouge]

Offers to Help Look for the Real Liars

Embattled domestic diva Martha Stewart received support from an unlikely ally today in the person of former football great O.J. Simpson.

Mr. Simpson took time out from a round of golf in Sarasota, Florida to tell members of the press that he believed Ms. Stewart had been “framed” in her recent trial on charges stemming from her sale of ImClone stock.

The Heisman Trophy winner said that he would drop everything to help Ms. Stewart, telling reporters, “From this day forward, I will dedicate all of my time and energy to finding the real liars.”

According to Mr. Simpson, the domestic doyenne was not responsible for the lies about her stock sale, but instead was “set up” by “the real liars,” whose identities remain unknown.

“I’ve got a few leads as to who the real liars might be,” Mr. Simpson said. “I don’t want to give away anything that might hinder my investigation, but let’s just say that all of the clues point to Colombian drug lords.”

Mr. Simpson also slammed Ms. Stewart’s defense team, criticizing their closing argument for what he called “a total absence of catchy rhymes.”

Arguing that Ms. Stewart should have hired attorney Johnnie Cochran to defend her, Mr. Simpson said, “If Johnnie had been doing that closing argument, he would have said something like, ‘If she decided to sell, what the hell?’ and she’d be out on the links today.”






Elsewhere, North Korean dictator Kim Jung-Il became the latest Disney shareholder to denounce CEO Michael Eisner, calling Mr. Eisner’s management style “too autocratic.”

For more go to www.borowitzreport.com

[Jolie Rouge]

Surprise! The Most Common Dream of All

The most common dream of all isn't the one where you're naked in the middle of a crowd. And it's not the one about missing the final exam after you forgot to attend class the entire semester. The most common dream of all is about being chased, according to Veronica Tonay, a clinical psychologist and lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz who has spent years studying other people's dreams.


"Sometimes people will have lots of dreams about being chased, and they will think that means something terrible about them," Tonay told ABC News columnist Lee Dye. "Typically, people have a dream where someone or something is coming after them, and they don't know what it is," she says. "Later, they will have a dream in which they see who it is, and still later they recognize it as someone they know."



The meaning of the dream:

Very often in "the chase" dream, there is a scene that has nothing to do with reliving the past or the approach of some dreadful encounter. The dream might be repeated during the night, changing slightly each time. And as the dream evolves, Tonay says it can lead to us to dream about ourselves acting in a way we don't ordinarily act. That is, it's not a dream about someone trying to get us. It's a dream about ourselves. "There's some part of themselves that they are not in touch with, or they are trying to deny, and it's coming after them," she told ABC News. It's a message from within.

[Jolie Rouge]

Look what they found in this Missouri cave!
It's billed as the find of a lifetime: a time capsule from the Ice Age.

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/package.jsp?name=fte/missouricave/mi ssouricave&floc=wn-ns

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."

Unlike the other 5,700 registered caves in Missouri, this one--called the Riverbluff Cave--is different in that it might provide enough evidence of Ice Age animals to give it national prominence. "There's no question this cave is a picture to the past," Kenneth C. Thomson, Southwest Missouri State geology professor and cave expert, told AP.

Unfortunately, word of the cave's existence spread quickly and vandals invaded it. They carved into a centuries-old calcite column, flattened the fragile skeletal remains of a snake, and stole ancient mineral formations. Security has since been tightened, and the cave has been sealed while various researchers create a plan for exploring its treasures.

[Jolie Rouge]

Former Kennedy Relative Found Dead

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=NW_3-T&oldflok=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040317%2F0454635341.htm&sc=1110

VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) - The body of a local socialite once related by marriage to the Kennedy family was found in a sunken car, authorities said.

Police do not suspect foul play in the death of 65-year-old Hope Sheridan, who was last seen March 8. Family members in Windham, N.Y., reported her missing on March 11.

Sheridan is the ex-mother-in-law of Michael Skakel, a cousin of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Skakel, 42, is serving 20 years to life in prison for the beating death of his Greenwich, Conn., neighbor, Martha Moxley, in 1975.


Divers found Sheridan's car Monday afternoon after a sheriff's helicopter noted two faint parallel marks at the end of a retention pond.


The car was submerged in about 15 feet of water 75 feet from shore. Sheridan's body was found on the passenger side, Detective Keith Harmon said. He said there were no skid marks on the grassy area going into the water.


``It appears from the preliminary findings that this was an accidental death,'' said Indian River County sheriff's spokesman Joe Flescher said.


Investigators were awaiting the results of a medical examiner's toxicology tests.





The car was submerged in about 15 feet of water 75 feet from shore. Sheridan's body was found on the passenger side, Detective Keith Harmon said. He said there were no skid marks on the grassy area going into the water.


``It appears from the preliminary findings that this was an accidental death,'' said Indian River County sheriff's spokesman Joe Flescher said.


If it was 75 feet out into the water it had to be going at a fairly high rate of speed when it hit the water... and they found the body in the passenger seat ? This sounds very suspicious to me


03/17/04 04:54

[Jolie Rouge]

Great Beatles Story You've Never Heard

Call him the other Paul.

His name is Paul Cole.

He's 92.

He lives in Florida.

And even though he's never listened to a Beatles record in his entire life, Cole has been identified as the mystery man on the "Abbey Road" album cover. He's the one standing in the background watching as Paul, George and Ringo cross the street, reports The New York Post.

This is how he ended up being in the photograph that made the album cover: "I was on a holiday in London with my wife and I said to her, 'I've seen enough museums. You just go ahead, take your time, and I'll see you later,'" Cole explained to Post reporter Bill Hoffman. "I noticed this police car and went over to talk with the officer about the area and then these four guys walked across the street like a line of ducks. I thought they were a bunch of kooks the way they were dressed. They had long hair and one of them was even barefoot. And I had no idea anybody was taking their picture."

Months later, his wife, who is a classical organist, was asked to perform a Beatles song for a friend's wedding. That's when Cole spotted "Abbey Road" laying near the record player. He told the Post, "I saw it and recognized myself right away. I had on a new sports jacket and I'd just bought new glasses. I said to my children, 'Get a magnifying glass out and you'll see me in this picture.' This was just an instance of being in the right place at the right time. But all these years later, it's still kind of fun."

He says he still finds the situation rather humorous. "I still get a laugh out of it. Once in a while, I'll tell somebody, 'You don't realize you're talking to a famous person. My picture is in homes all over the world!'" he joked to the Post.

[Jolie Rouge]

Pa. Woman Charged With Starving Brother

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0001/20040317/0639637072.htm

GLENSHAW, Pa. (AP) - A woman kept her quadriplegic younger brother in a filthy room and deprived him of food and water until he starved to death, police said.

Kimberly Loebig, 36, was arrested Tuesday on criminal homicide charges stemming from the death of her brother, 29-year-old Scott Thomas Olsen, who was found by paramedics Dec. 7 in his sister's suburban Pittsburgh home. Olsen, who was more than six feet tall, weighed 63 pounds, police said. ``He looked like a Holocaust victim,'' said Lt. Tom Haser.

Loebig, of Shaler, told authorities she had fed her brother a food supplement through a tube and given him water the day before he died, police said. An autopsy, however, found only digested blood in his stomach. Police found a cardboard box filled with unopened, rusting cans of a food supplement next to Olsen's bed, they said. According to a criminal complaint, Olsen also had sores on his body and insects crawling on him.


Loebig was being held in the Allegheny County Jail on $25,000 bond. Her husband, Timothy Loebig, did not return a phone call Tuesday evening. It was unclear if she had an attorney.


Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala suggested money may have been the motive.

Loebig, her brother's sole caretaker, stands to inherit $250,000 from her brother as part of a 1996 settlement with a drugstore. Olsen was left in a semi-vegetative state after inhaling butane another man bought from the store in 1990. His injuries left him blind, quadriplegic and unable to speak more than a handful of words, authorities said.



03/17/04 06:38

[Jolie Rouge]

The Most Useful Word of the Year Is...
..."flexitarian."

It has nothing to do with being double-jointed. Instead, "flexitarian" means part-time vegetarian, as in vegetarians who experiment with meat and carnivores who seek out vegetarian meals. If doing everything in moderation is the key to good health, becoming a flexitarian ranks right up there.

The Associated Press reports that "flexitarian" was voted as the most useful new word of 2003 by the American Dialect Society. It describes people who are usually vegetarian, but occasionally eat meat. Their motivation for skipping the steak and sausage isn't animal rights so much as the personal health benefits. Just 3 percent of the U.S. population can be classified as true vegetarians; that is, people who do not eat mean, poultry, or fish--ever. "There are so many reasons that people are vegetarians. I find that nobody ever gives me a hard time when I say I usually eat vegetarian. But I really like sausage," flexitarian Christy Pugh from Concord, N.H., confessed to AP. There must be a lot of people doing the same thing as the demand for vegetarian foods has exploded in recent years. Exhibit A: Burger King's veggie burger.

If occasionally seeking out a vegetarian meal is a flexitarian characteristic, then Charles Stahler, co-director of the Baltimore-based Vegetarian Resource Group, estimates that roughly 30 percent to 40 percent of the population could be classified as such.

[Jolie Rouge]

Man Thought He Was Running Over Bin Laden

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040317%2F1016643994.htm&sc=1120&photoid=20011126SIN99

MONTPELLIER, France (AP) - A French artist allegedly traumatized by last week's Spain bombings was convicted of trying to run over a pedestrian he mistook for Osama bin Laden and ordered to pay the man $615.

The 35-year-old defendant, identified as Pierre, was sentenced Tuesday by a court in this southern France city to a three-month suspended prison term. The man he tried to run over was unharmed.

Pierre's lawyer, David Mendel, said his client was the ``victim of a hallucination'' while driving Monday through Montpellier's historic center. The victim, a man in his 30s, was able to run from the oncoming car, which crashed along the side of a street.


``If it was (bin Laden), we would have won $5 million,'' Mendel said, referring to a reward.


The Madrid train bombings, which killed 201 people, increasingly appear to have been orchestrated by Islamic extremists with links to bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network.



03/17/04 10:16

[Jolie Rouge]

Nation's Highest Speed Limit Is WHAT?

Arizona could soon boast the nation's highest speed limit of 80 mph on rural interstates. The measure has been approved by the Arizona Legislature, which clears the way for the Arizona Department of Transportation to raise the speed limit from the current 75 mph to 80 mph, reports The Arizona Republic. In 1987, Arizona was the first state in the nation to raise the speed limit on rural interstates from 55 mph to 65 mph.

The state senators were busy. They also rejected a bill that would allow police to pull over drivers who are not wearing their seatbelts. "I'm perplexed at the Legislature. They are essentially saying 'no' to stronger seat belt laws and saying 'yes' to driving faster," Michael Frias, deputy director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, told the Republic. Currently, 21 states have primary seat belt laws. Arizona senators rejected such a law, citing too much government interference in people's lives.

Why raise the speed limit to 80 mph?

The main sponsor of the bill, Republican state Sen. Thayer Verschoor, said it made sense to do it since most people are already driving on average 80 mph. The Arizona Republic notes that if the state highway department does raise the speed limit, then traffic engineers will conduct studies to review current speeds, traffic volume, and crash history. "We actually set speed limits with the goal of finding the speed that most drivers consider to be comfortable," Doug Nintzel, a highway department spokesman, explained to the newspaper.

There is a serious downside to driving 80 mph.

"It would make the accidents that we investigate much more serious. It would make the injuries greater, and it would probably increase our fatalities," warned Steve Volden, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

[Jolie Rouge]

3 Boys Arrested in Plot to Shoot Classmate

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040318%2F1508729389.htm&sc=1110

FORSYTH, Mont. (AP) - Two 8-year-old boys and a 11-year-old schoolmate were arrested after they buried a loaded handgun in a playground sandbox and plotted to shoot and stab a third-grade girl during recess, authorities said Thursday. Sheriff Tim Fulton said the boys intended to harm the young girl because she had teased two of them. The plot included a .22-caliber revolver, a knife and a box of bullets that were all hidden on the playground, authorities said.

The boys, whose names were not immediately released, apparently brought the weapons to school Wednesday morning, prosecutor Michael Hayworth said. The intent was to assault the girl over the recess hour that day, he said.


``From the interviews I don't believe that they fully comprehended the full significance of their actions,'' Hayworth said. ``But they understood that this was going to bring harm to her.''


Fulton said an 8-year-old classmate of the two younger boys was the one who alerted the school of the plot.


The elementary school in Forsyth, a small town in eastern Montana, has about 200 students in kindergarten through the sixth grade.


``Needless to say, it is a frightening experience for a community and our schools,'' Superintendent Dave Shreeve said. ``We believe it's an isolated incident but it does bring into reality that this can happen in any place at any time.''



03/18/04 15:08

[Jolie Rouge]

Forgotten City Beneath Edinburgh

The city that is deep beneath the cobbled streets of Edinburgh, Scotland is dank and dark. If there are ghosts--and many insist there are--they are the spirits of prostitutes and body snatchers. This is the Edinburgh Vaults, a subterranean realm that was once the unspeakable home to thousands of people in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Constructed beneath the ground as a way to expand the cramped city, it quickly became a place of temptation, sin, debauchery, and death. Today, it's a tourist trap.

"There are no written records of who lived in these vaults, although there is ample anecdotal evidence that thousands of people lived and died here, some probably never even seeing the outside world," tour guide Jim Lennie told Reuters. "The chances are that few of the people who lived in the Georgian part of the city above knew they were there. The existence of the vaults was wiped from the city's records until they were rediscovered in 1985."

Reuters reports that the vaults were formed from the 19 arches of Edinburgh's South Bridge, which was built between 1785 and 1788 across the Cowgate ravine. Once they were bricked in, the vaults' nooks and tunnels formed the city's underworld. Literally. "There was almost a whole city down here but no sign at all of it on the surface," Lennie explained to Reuters. "People lived, worked, and died down here."

Researchers have even found evidence of small businesses, a brothel, an illegal whiskey distillery, a makeshift morgue, and living quarters that were home to Edinburgh's most poor and unwanted citizens. There was no running water or sanitation.

[Jolie Rouge]

Courtney Love Arrested at NYC Nightspot After 'Letterman" Appearance

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/celebrity/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040318%2F0637713456.htm&sc=1403&photoid=20040317NYR114

NEW YORK (AP) - Rocker Courtney Love was arrested early Thursday after allegedly throwing a microphone stand at an East Village nightspot, striking a man in the head, police said.

The 24-year-old man was taken to a hospital in stable condition, police said. Police said they were charging Love with reckless endangerment and third-degree assualt after the 2:30 a.m. incident.

Messages left for representatives for Love early Thursday were not immediately returned.

On Wednesday, Love, who is facing felony drug charges in California, repeatedly lifted her shirt during an appearance on the ``Late Show with David Letterman.''


Love's back was facing the camera when she lifted her shirt several times while making an entrance on the show, which aired Wednesday night. After taking a seat next to Letterman, Love said ``FCC,'' referencing the Federal Communications Commission.


At one point - while singing ``Danny Boy'' - Love apparently bared her breasts away from the camera while standing atop Letterman's desk. Love's exposed skin was blocked out for viewers.


Love, the former lead singer of the group Hole, was arrested in October after allegedly trying to break into the Los Angeles home of a former boyfriend.


Police called to her home after her release allegedly found the painkillers Hydrocodone and Oxycodone when Love was taken to a treatment center for a drug overdose.


Love has been charged with two felony counts of possession of controlled substances. She also faces misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and being under a controlled substance which stem from the same arrest but are being heard separately from the felony case.


A preliminary hearing in the felony case has been postponed to April 15.


During his show, Letterman asked Love whether she could talk about the court case. ``Yeah, I'm not supposed to,'' she said.


When Letterman later asked if drugs were involved, Love said, ``One expired Percocet and one Ambien.''


At the end of the interview, Love asked Letterman, ``Do you think I'm like, wacky and stuff?''


``Are you wacky?'' Letterman responded.


``Okay, but is that against the law?'' Love said.


03/18/04 06:37

[Jolie Rouge]

Bush Uses Kerry's Words in Campaign Ad
By RON FOURNIER

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1131&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040318%2F1633732378.htm&sc=1131

WASHINGTON (AP) - John Kerry's words are being used against him in President Bush's new television ad, which accuses the presumptive Democratic nominee of waffling on military issues.

Airing nationally on cable TV, the commercial borrows heavily from an ad Bush is airing in West Virginia this week criticizing Kerry for voting against an $87 billion aid package for Iraq and Afghanistan last year.

Campaigning in West Virginia Tuesday, Kerry responded to the ad, saying he voted against the $87 billion bill because he did not support the president's military and reconstruction plans. The Democrat explained that he supported a failed amendment that would have paid for the Iraq and Afghanistan programs by repealing Bush's tax cuts.

``I actually did vote for his $87 billion, before I voted against it,'' Kerry said.


Bush's campaign tacked that quote to the end of the West Virginia ad, which was edited slightly to make room for Kerry's have-it-both-ways response. The new ad was released Thursday.


Kerry's campaign criticized Bush and ``his attack-dog vice president'' for assailing Kerry as ``America continues to falter.'' Privately, Kerry's advisers acknowledged that the response was a mistake that played into Bush's efforts to cast his rival as a politician who takes both sides of every issue. The development also underscored how difficult it will be for Kerry to defend the thousands of votes he has cast as a four-term Massachusetts senator.


``Slash-and-burn politics aren't going to fix the problems in Iraq, employ a single American or bring health care to a single family,'' said Stephanie Cutter, Kerry's spokeswoman. ``Mission still not accomplished.''


Both versions of the ad open with Bush saying he approved the message, a requirement under the law. They accuse Kerry of voting against body armor and higher pay for U.S. troops as well as improved health care for reservists, all provisions in the $87 billion bill.


The new ad includes the announcer saying, ``What does Kerry say now?'' and then fades to Kerry's quote. It ends, like the West Virginia ad, with the announcer accusing Kerry of being ``wrong on defense.''


It is the latest example of what the Bush campaign promises will be a nimble advertising campaign that targets issues and voters better than the Republican did in the 2000 race against Al Gore.


Bush is spending about $4.5 million through May on cable TV and about $6 million a week on broadcast TV in 18 states to try to cast Kerry as a flip-flopping, soft-on-terrorism politician. After a brief hiatus, Bush also is running his 60-second positive ad that depicts him as a leader on the economy and terrorism.


Kerry and his allies are competing ad for ad against Bush in many key markets, accusing Bush of ruining the economy and distorting Kerry's record.


The White House believes the next two months may be more important than the last 60 days of the campaign because they have a chance to define Kerry before Americans get to know him.


Associated Press Writer Liz Sidoti contributed to this report.



03/18/04 16:33

[Jolie Rouge]

U.S. Government Seizes Herd of Elephants
By IRA DREYFUSS

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040318%2F1825735992.htm&sc=1110&photoid=20040302COL03D

WASHINGTON (AP) - For the first time in its history, the Agriculture Department is seizing a herd of elephants from a circus trainer in a mistreatment case. An agreement between the department and John F. Cuneo Jr. and his Hawthorn Corp., which took effect this week, requires the animals to be removed by August from the company's farm in Richmond, Ill., northwest of Chicago. Cuneo also must pay a $200,000 fine.

The department's Animal Care Program will have the elephants moved to other facilities such as sanctuaries, which are yet to be determined, said Darby Holladay, an Animal Care spokesman. ``We get to place the animals,'' Holladay said. ``That's the win for us.''


In 1994, he said, Cuneo paid a $12,000 fine after one of his elephants killed its trainer, rampaged through the streets of Honolulu and had to be killed by police.

The Agriculture Department has seized individual elephants before, including one last year from Cuneo, after inspectors found it was not getting proper care. But this is the first time that the department has taken control of an entire herd, Holladay said.

Two of the elephants had tuberculosis, which put the other 14 at risk of contracting the disease, Holladay said. Under terms of the agreement, Cuneo must have the animals treated and the department will watch to make sure they get the care they need. Cuneo admitted in the 19-point consent decree to violations of the Animal Welfare Act in addition to inadequate veterinary care. Among the violations: He and his company failed to keep the animals at proper distances from people during exhibitions.

The company trains animals and provides animals and trainers to circuses, said David Weintraub, a company spokesman. Cuneo has no plans to buy more elephants, he said. Cuneo will retain his license to exhibit animals, Holladay said. The company still has one lion as well as 60 white tigers and 27 other tigers on its property, Weintraub said. Holladay said no problems had been reported in the treatment of the lion and the tigers.

03/18/04 18:25

[Jolie Rouge]

'American Idol' Viewer Scam Uncovered

When Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken were in a heated battle for the "American Idol" crown, some fans thought the contest was rigged when Studdard won by a scant 134,000 votes. It wasn't rigged, but there may have been voting interference--from unscrupulous telemarketers.

According to Washington Post television reporter Lisa de Moraes, the Federal Trade Commission has announced that three Utah-based telemarketing firms have agreed to pay $40,000 to settle charges that they scammed "American Idol" fans into paying for what they thought were free calls to vote for their favorite performers during the first two editions of the Fox-TV hit show. The telemarketing companies "took advantage of callers who inadvertently misdialed the 'American Idol' phone numbers by buying numbers that were very close to--but not the same as--the correct numbers," said the FTC in a statement on Thursday.

This is what happened: When "American Idol" fans dialed the wrong number that was actually one of those fake numbers set up by the bad-boy telemarketers, they were connected to a recording telling them to dial a 900 number that would connect them to a "voting line." If the fans followed those instructions and did that, they were charged $1.99 per call during the first edition of "American Idol" and $2.97 per call during the second edition of "Idol" to hear yet another recording that gave out the real toll-free number.

[Jolie Rouge]

Spirit Rover Spots a Martian UFO

:eek:

It could be a meteor.
It could be an old spacecraft sent to Mars 30 years ago.
The Spirit rover sent back a very puzzling photo to NASA astronomers depicting, for lack of a better description, an unidentified flying object. Yep, it's the first Martian UFO.

The BBC News Online and United Press International report that puzzled astronomers say it is likely the first meteor seen from the surface of another world. But it could also be one of seven out-of-commission orbiting spacecraft sent to Mars as long as 30 years ago. "We may never know, but we are still looking for clues," Dr. Mark Lemmon, from Texas A&M University, admitted to the BBC.

The UFO photo was taken quite by chance.

Spirit typically points downward sending photos to Earth of Martian rocks and soil. Only occasionally does it point upwards to study the atmosphere of the Red Planet. But by chance when it pointed upward this one time, it caught the UFO with the green filter of its panoramic camera showing it as a streak across the peach-colored Martian heavens, reports the very descriptive BBC News Online.

If it is an orbiting spacecraft sent to Mars decades ago, which one is it?

Based on the object's motion, NASA has ruled out the Russian probes Mars 2, Mars 3, Mars 5, or Phobos 2, as well as the American probes Mariner 9 or Viking 1. That leaves just the Viking 2, which has a polar orbit that would fit with the north-south orientation of the streak, notes the BBC. Or, it could have been a meteor that entered the very thin Martian atmosphere at a high speed, creating the streak-like effect.


The Spirit rover on Mars took the first picture of Earth ever made from the surface of another planet.
Click to see the photo--and NASA's sense of humor about it all.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/12/mars.earth/index.html

[Jolie Rouge]

Arrested! 'Passion' Fight Turns Violent


In retrospect, Sean and Melissa Davidson agree that the dumbest thing they have ever done in their marriage is to fight over "The Passion of the Christ." After the couple from Statesboro, Georgia saw the controversial movie, it sparked a theological discussion over this question: Is God the Father in the Holy Trinity human or symbolic? The debate quickly became a heated argument that turned violent.

The Associated Press reports that they were charged with simple battery after they both called police on each other. They were released on $1,000 bail. The police report indicates that Melissa Davidson, 34, suffered injuries on her arm and face, while Sean Davidson, 33, had a scissors stab wound on his hand and his shirt was ripped off. He also allegedly punched a hole in a wall.

"Really, it was kind of a pitiful thing, to go to a movie like that and fight about it. I think they missed the point," Gene McDaniel, chief sheriff's deputy, told AP. Melissa acknowledged, "It was the dumbest thing we've ever done."

[Jolie Rouge]

Fired 'Apprentice' Omarosa Spews a Hateful Claim

Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, one of the more contentious participants on "The Apprentice," has reaffirmed an ugly assertion she recently made. Omarosa claims that former contestant Ereka Vetrini called her the "n" word. Vetrini vehemently denies it, as do executive producers Mark Burnett and Donald Trump, reports The Associated Press.

Omarosa, who is 30 years old, reasserted the charge on Thursday at a luncheon in New York City hosted by Ebony magazine that honored outstanding women in marketing and communications. It was after Trump pointedly told her "You're fired!" on March 4 that she first made the allegation. "The Apprentice," for anyone who doesn't own a television set, pits 16 ambitious contestants in a battle to win "the dream job of a lifetime"--a one year stint working for The Donald with a $250,000 paycheck.

Omarosa told AP in an exclusive interview that her experience showed the problems of racism in corporate America. Referring to Barnett and Trump's dismissal of her allegation, she told AP, "Both of those gentlemen weren't there, so I find it ironic that they would be so emphatic that something did not happen." Vetrini noted that the video cameras are constantly pointed at the contestants, so if any such incident did occur, it would have been caught on tape. But Omarosa fires back to AP, "Believe me, I know what I experienced. Those women called me every name in the book on-camera. Imagine what they did off-camera. Imagine what they would say in the corridors."


Omarosa did admit she still watches the show. "I may be the black sheep of that family, but I'm certainly a part of that family," she said. AP reports that the former political consultant from Washington, D.C. is currently in negotiations for a book deal and a talk show and is interested in doing political commentary for the upcoming presidential election.

[Jolie Rouge]

Feds investigate zoo after gorilla rampage
Friday, March 19, 2004 Posted: 7:00 PM

www.cnn.com/2004/US/Southwest/03/19/gorilla.rampage.ap/index.html

DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- The scene at the Wilds of Africa exhibit was wilder than anything most zookeepers have witnessed in the jungle: A 300-pound gorilla breaks out of its enclosure and goes on a 40-minute rampage through a forest, snatching up a toddler with his teeth and attacking three other people before being shot by officers.

Federal regulators are investigating the Dallas Zoo over Thursday's escape, zoo officials are trying to figure out how the gorilla managed to break out, and animal welfare advocates are questioning whether officers had to kill the beast.

"Clearly, this is a zoo's worst nightmare," said Dan Wharton, director of the Central Park Zoo and chairman of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's Gorilla Species Survival Plan.

The 13-year-old Jabari broke out of the enclosure as several families and children took in the jungle exhibit Thursday afternoon. After escaping, the gorilla darted in and out of the exhibit's thick bamboo and trees and attacked four people, including two women and two children.

Police were forced to evacuate an estimated 300 people from the zoo compound, while some guests hid inside a restaurant and the monorail surrounding the Wilds of Africa exhibit.

How the 13-year-old gorilla exactly broke out was unclear. Some youths had reportedly teased Jabari shortly before he escaped, but it was not known if that was a factor in the breakout.

Zoo director Rich Buickerood said the gorilla "had to have scaled" the enclosure's 15-foot concave wall. But some experts doubt that could have happened.

"Virtually anybody who's worked with great apes has not been able to compute anyway that a gorilla could get up a 15-foot wall," Wharton said. "When you boil it all down, at some level, one has to assume human error. There really is no explanation."

Only two gorillas, including one in Boston last year, have escaped in the last five years in North America, said Wharton, who coordinates the records for the 380 gorillas on the continent.

The injured included a mother and her toddler son. Rivers Noah, 3, was in fair condition at Children's Medical Center with multiple bites to his head and chest. His mother, Keisha Heard, 26, was bitten on the legs.

"I was like, 'This is not happening, this is so unreal,' because he just came out of nowhere," Heard said Friday on NBC's Today show. "He has my son in his mouth, he's attacking him, and I tried to help him and there wasn't really anything that I could do. ... He slings me back across the concrete area where we are."

Heard was treated and released along with a woman who suffered arm injuries. A child was treated at the scene.

Federal regulators said their investigation will look at whether the zoo was in full compliance with the Animal Welfare Act, but they would not provide specifics on possible violations.

Darby Holladay, a spokesman for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the zoo could face fines or have its license suspended or revoked if it is found out of compliance.

Police also are investigating, but they said officers were forced to shoot the charging gorilla after it came within 15 feet of them.

"We did not go out there looking to kill an animal," said Senior Cpl. Chris Gilliam, a Dallas police spokesman. "We went out there in response to a situation where three people had already been injured."

Dieter Steklis, chief scientist and vice president for the Atlanta-based Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, said police could have tried to contain the gorilla with nonfatal techniques, including using rubber bullets or cornering it with a wall of 15-20 people, preferably keepers the animal recognized.

"It sounds like, somehow, there was a bit too much panic on hand and too little judgment of the gorilla's behavior," said Steklis, who has confronted charging gorillas in the wild.

Workers armed with tranquilizer guns had pursued the gorilla, but could not gain a clear shot, officials said. Gilliam said he did not know why zoo employees who were armed with pepper spray did not use it on the gorilla.

He said the officers used the best method available considering the size of the animal. "Plastic bullets wouldn't help," Gilliam said.

The 114-year-old zoo has been in financial straits in recent years. Buickerood said last month that the zoo staff had been cut and maintenance postponed because of the fund shortage.

In 1998, a 25-year-old zookeeper was mauled by a 340-pound silverback gorilla at the zoo after the door to the animal's cage was left open. The attack lasted more than 30 minutes, leaving the zookeeper with more than 30 puncture wounds. That animal was captured with a tranquilizer dart.

[Jolie Rouge]

'Pee-wee Herman' actor pleads guilty to obscenity
Friday, March 19, 2004 Posted: 8:48 PM

www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/19/reubens.ap/index.html

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- "Pee-wee Herman" actor Paul Reubens was sentenced to three years probation Friday after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor obscenity charge involving photographs seized from his erotica collection.

The former star of the "Pee-wee's Playhouse" children's TV show and two "Pee-wee" movies won't be allowed unsupervised contact with minors during the probation period.

Under terms of a plea agreement that Superior Court Judge Carol H. Rehm approved, Reubens also agreed to pay a $100 fine and enter a counseling program for one year.

Prosecutors dismissed a misdemeanor charge of child pornography that had carried a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

However, the 51-year-old Reubens agreed to register as a sex offender for the duration of his probation.

"We view both of these counts equally in terms of serious nature of child pornography," said Eric Moses, a spokesman for the city attorney's office.

The charge resulted from a search of Reubens' home in November 2001. Police seized about 30,000 images from his photography collection and personal computers.

Reubens, who didn't appear in court Friday, pleaded guilty through his attorney to possession of obscene materials with the intent to exhibit, and in a Thursday court hearing he acknowledged possessing at least one image of minors engaged in sexual conduct, Moses said.

Evidence seized included images of minors with their genitals exposed, Moses contended.

"That mischaracterizes the art collection seized," Reubens' lawyer, Blair Berk said Friday. "If that means a black-and-white tintype from 1901 with a young man of indeterminate, 17- to 19-year-old age, laying on the beach after having gone skinny-dipping ... then they got it."

"It was clear from the start that we, along with the many distinguished art experts supporting Paul's art photography collection, vehemently disagreed with the city prosecutor's view of what constitutes art," Berk said.

In a statement, Reubens said he was glad that the child pornography charge had been dismissed without "a costly circus-like trial."

"Taking responsibility by calling a few images in this collection 'obscene' and paying a $100 fine seemed like the sanest way to make it end," he said.

Once Reubens completes probation, the conviction can be expunged from his record, Berk said.

In 1991, Reubens pleaded no contest to an indecent exposure charge after his arrest in Sarasota, Florida, for allegedly exposing himself in a movie theater.

[Jolie Rouge]

Teenager Found With 20 Homemade Bombs
By MARGERY BECK

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=NW_1-L1&oldflok=FF-APO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0001/20040319/0715753207.htm

MALCOLM, Neb. (AP) - School officials say they ``got lucky'' when authorities arrested a teenager with 20 homemade bombs and a rifle in the parking lot of his high school.

Josh Magee, 17, was also found with a note saying he wanted to injure everyone at the school except for three friends.





Magee was arrested Tuesday in the parking lot of Malcolm High School after a staff member saw him swigging liquor from a flask and putting on a black overcoat. He was charged Wednesday with attempted murder.

Police who searched Magee's car found a bolt-action rifle, several rounds of ammunition, small bottles of propane and rigged containers of a petroleum-based propellent.


``It had the potential of going badly,'' said Superintendent Gene Neddenriep. ``With this student, at this school, on this particular day, we were successful. We got lucky.''


Parents and school officials in this tiny town north of Lincoln said Magee often spoke about the 1999 Columbine shootings, in which Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves.


``He asked them in class last week if they knew who Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were,'' said Julia Lostrah, whose daughter is Magee's classmate. ``Then he said, `I know them.'''


The arrest came in the same week that authorities in another rural town in the heartland averted a potentially violent school encounter.


Two second-grade boys and an 11-year-old schoolmate were arrested Wednesday in Forsyth, Mont., on charges that they buried a loaded handgun in a playground sandbox and plotted to shoot and stab a third-grade girl during recess. Authorities said the boys intended to harm the young girl because she had teased two of them.


No one answered the door Thursday at Magee's red-brick home just down the road from the school in Malcom, a town so small that its downtown streets are unpaved.


School and law enforcement officials said his mother works as a chef in Lincoln, and his father is serving in Afghanistan in the military.


Magee, who has attended Malcolm schools since kindergarten, has always been on the district's radar, Neddenriep said.


``All the way through, he was just a little different,'' he said. ``He liked to be alone, he didn't take part in many things. His enjoyment was weapons.''


The superintendent said he wasn't aware of reports that Magee was a target of bullies. ``There were never any incidents reported,'' he said.


When students began reporting to faculty that Magee bragged of making and testing explosives at home, Neddenriep said, the school paid close attention to the teen.


Magee then began showing some interest in school activities, he said.


Lostrah, who is also the school district's administrative assistant, said Magee joined the cross-country team and was an impressive musician.


``He was very talented,'' she said.


Magee was being held in a juvenile jail, but he was charged as an adult with attempted first-degree murder.


Neddenriep said the school of about 450 students will refine its safety policies in the wake of Magee's arrest.


``There's one thing I did learn,'' Neddenriep said. ``It can happen anywhere.''



03/19/04 07:15

[Jolie Rouge]

USA Today says reporter falsified major stories

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4562064/

Paper apologizes for failing to catch correspondent's ‘problems’The Associated Press
Updated: 10:25 a.m. ET March 19, 2004ARLINGTON, Va. - USA Today said Friday that an examination of the work of journalist Jack Kelley found strong evidence that the newspaper’s former star foreign correspondent had fabricated substantial portions of at least eight major stories.

“As an institution, we failed our readers by not recognizing Jack Kelley’s problems. For that I apologize,” publisher Craig Moon said.

After spending seven weeks closely examining Kelley’s work, a team of journalists also found that Kelley had lifted quotes or other material from competing publications, lied in speeches he delivered for USA Today and conspired to mislead the investigation into his work. An examination of his computer unearthed scripts Kelley had written to help at least three people mislead reporters attempting to verify his work, the newspaper said.

‘Dead’ Cuban woman found alive

For a story in 2000, the newspaper said, Kelley used a snapshot he took of a Cuban hotel worker to authenticate a tale he made up about a woman who died fleeing Cuba by boat. The woman in the published photo never fled by boat, and a USA Today reporter located her alive this month, the newspaper said.

Kelley, 43, quit the newspaper in January after admitting he conspired with a translator to mislead editors looking into the veracity of his reporting. Kelly said he’d never fabricated or plagiarized. “I feel like I’m being set up,” he told editors at the newspaper on Thursday.

Kelley spent his entire 21-year career at USA Today and was five times nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, the most prestigious award in journalism. For one of the stories that helped make him a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2001, Kelley wrote that he was an eyewitness to a suicide bombing in Jerusalem and described the carnage in graphic detail. But the investigation showed that the man Kelley described as the bomber could not have been the culprit, and his description of three decapitated victims was contradicted by police.

‘A sad and shameful betrayal of public trust’

The newspaper also said “the evidence strongly contradicted” other published accounts by Kelley: that he spent the night with Egyptian terrorists in 1997; met a vigilante Jewish settler named Avi Shapiro in 2001; watched a Pakistani student unfold a picture of the Sears Tower and say, “This one is mine,” in 2001; interviewed the daughter of an Iraqi general in 2003; or went on a high-speed hunt for Osama bin Laden in 2003.

Hotel, phone or other records contradicted Kelley’s explanations of how he reported stories from Egypt, Russia, Chechnya, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Cuba and Pakistan, the newspaper said.

The three former newspaper editors brought in to conduct the investigation — Bill Hilliard, Bill Kovach and John Seigenthaler — called Kelley’s conduct “a sad and shameful betrayal of public trust.”

[Jolie Rouge]

"Hogwarts Express" Hit by Vandals

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/stor y/0002%2F20030904%2F103914852.htm&sc=reodd

LONDON (Reuters) - The steam train used in the Harry Potter films has been forced off the rails after vandals caused thousands of dollars worth of damage, the Sun newspaper reported on Thursday.

The Hogwarts Express, which was hired by Warner Bros for the blockbuster films, has been covered in graffiti which is estimated to cost up to $5,000 to remove. "It's just a shame Harry is not around at the moment to turn them into frogs," one worker from the station yard told the Sun newspaper.

In the best-selling books by J.K. Rowling, the Hogwarts Express takes Harry and his friends from platform 9 and 3/4 to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In its more mundane existence, it carries tourists between the seaside resort of Scarborough and York.

James Shuttleworth, from the West Coast Railway Company which operates the train, said the graffiti was "heartbreaking." "The people who did this are mindless toerags," he said. "This will horrify the millions of Harry Potter fans."

[Jolie Rouge]

Man Convicted in Girlfriend's Death

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040319%2F2254779145.htm&sc=1110

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A man was convicted of murder Friday in the highway death of his pregnant girlfriend after a drunken fight in which prosecutors said the defendant choked and attacked the sobbing victim before leaving her on the side of the road.

Police said the woman was lying on the highway when she was run over by another vehicle.



A jury deliberated two days before convicting Aaron Luster, 36, in the deaths of Christine Karcher, 33, and their unborn son on January 28, 2003. He faces 20 to 40 years at sentencing in May.

During a four-day trial, prosecutors played tapes of cell phone calls Karcher made to emergency dispatchers while she apparently fought with Luster as they drove near Pittsburgh International Airport.


She was heard sobbing and pleading with dispatchers to save her, while Luster was overheard encouraging her to jump from the car. On one portion of the tapes, Karcher yelled ``Shut the door, shut the door'' over the noise of rushing wind.


Shortly after the calls, another man reported he thought he'd hit a deer. It had been Karcher.


In a coroner's hearing last year, a pathologist testified that Karcher died from being run over, although she had bruises on her neck that suggested she had been strangled. He said an autopsy couldn't determine whether she was conscious before the accident.


Luster's attorney, Robert Foreman, argued his client should not be held responsible for Karcher's death because the woman was intoxicated after a night of drinking and drugs, and that she wanted to get out of the car to get more drugs.


``Karcher died of injuries that Aaron Luster did not cause,'' Foreman said during closing arguments Thursday.


Foreman also played a tape of a police interview during which Luster acknowledged the two had fought but said Karcher left the car on her own. Luster told police an agitated Karcher forced the car into park, causing the vehicle to skid to a stop.


``She wanted to go back to the bar,'' Luster told police. ``She wanted to get more drugs.''


According to the tape, Luster told police he last saw Karcher running down the highway and didn't go back to pick her up because he thought he saw a police car.



03/19/04 22:53

[Vertigo]

Acckkk! I noticed the views was 6666, so had to do something about that!

[Jolie Rouge]

Has Dr. Phil Crossed the Line?

If you're on Dr. Phil McGraw's diet, how is that working for you?

You find out all about it if you buy Dr. Phil's book, "The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom," which retails for $26. Then help yourself to Dr. Phil's licensed meal replacements, shakes, pills, and supplements that can cost as much as $200 a month. The man is making a fortune from America's girth--albeit he's giving away some of it to a nonprofit foundation he created--and some are questioning the good doctor's ethics, reports The Chicago Tribune.


What he is doing goes way beyond a personal endorsement.

Who says so?

--Oprah Winfrey, who introduced Dr. Phil to the world, has acknowledged that endorsing supplements was not a decision she would have made.

--The Mayo Clinic goes as far as to warn people to be wary of his recommendations for supplements, saying they do not ensure successful weight loss.

--The Licensing Letter, a newsletter published for the licensing industry: "It gives new meaning to the words 'working it,'" wrote Mary Sullivan. "If he was a medical doctor (who) specialized in nutrition, I could see it as a natural crossover. But a shrink? It smells of ethical and moral concerns."

Them's fightin' words.

Pop psychologist Dr. Phil says that if we're fat, it's our own fault, and he'll help us change that with his diet book and weight-loss supplements. As the Chicago Tribune points out, critics say Dr. Phil is capitalizing on his trusted television persona and venturing into an area where he lacks credentials. He claims we can lose weight by changing our emotional eating behavior through "right thinking" and building "healing feelings" that will prevent overeating. Since Dr. Phil is not a medical doctor--he's a psychologist--his use of meal replacements and high-fat supplements that are pretty much unregulated by the government has raised a few eyebrows.

The Mayo Clinic goes so far as to warn people to be wary of the supplements, saying the claims Dr. Phil makes about "scientifically researched levels of ingredients that can help you take better control of your weight" are exaggerated. "The types and amounts of supplements he recommends do not ensure successful weight loss," cautions the Mayo Clinic on its Web site. Dieter beware.

[Jolie Rouge]

Man Fleeing Police Kills 3 on Motorcycles
By MARGERY BECK

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040320%2F1422794290.htm&sc=1110

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - A suspected child molester who fled police in a stolen sport utility vehicle barreled through a stop sign Saturday and slammed into motorcyclists, killing three people.

Steven Halbert, 19, stole the SUV after police cruisers pulled up to his house in Carter Lake, Iowa, to question him about accusations he sexually abused a child.

Police pursued Halbert at high speeds for about five miles into Omaha, where Halbert collided with two motorcycles, said Omaha Police spokeswoman Cathy Martinec.

Michael Rock, 50, of Omaha; Terry Partain, 51, of Omaha and Yvonne Campbell, 41, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, were killed instantly, said Martinec. Campbell was a passenger on Partain's motorcycle.


Halbert was thrown from the vehicle, which went airborne and slammed into a parked semitrailer. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition with brain and other internal injuries.


``Body parts were everywhere,'' Martinec said. ``In order to do that kind of trauma, he was going awfully fast.''


Halbert was also wanted on a felony warrant in Nebraska for failing to show up for his sentencing last month on a drug conviction, she said.


The Douglas County Attorney will determine what charges Halbert will face from the fatal crash if he survives, Martinec said.



03/20/04 14:22

[Vertigo]

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/forumfun/misc1.jpg

[Jolie Rouge]

lol - cute pic !

[Jolie Rouge]

Biologist Stopped for Carrying Seal Head

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0001/20040320/1008788940.htm

BOSTON (AP) - Airport security agents stopped a biologist after discovering the severed head of a harbor seal in his luggage.

The man, whose name was not released, told investigators he is a biology professor and that he found a dead seal on Revere Beach and cut off its head so he could use it for educational purposes. He was catching a flight to Denver from Logan International Airport on Friday, Massachusetts Port Authority spokesman Phil Orlandella told The Boston Globe.

Federal wildlife laws make it illegal to disrupt or remove body parts from a dead mammal, or to transport any illegal fish or wildlife product.

``He indicated that he was aware that he needed a permit and that he didn't have a permit,'' said Andy Cohen, a deputy special agent in charge for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement.


Authorities allowed the man to board his plane, but they kept the seal's head.


The man could face charges that carry criminal fines of up to $20,000 and imprisonment of up to a year, said Mark Oswell, spokesman for NOAA's Office for Law Enforcement.



03/20/04 10:08

[Jolie Rouge]

Nutritionists Give Thumbs Up to Big Mac?

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040319%2F1247761928.htm&sc=reodd&photoid=20040213TOK116

PARIS (Reuters) - Want to stay fit and healthy? Two top French nutritionists are telling people to go for a Big Mac and keep their fingers off the traditional French quiche.

In an unexpected message to a country priding itself on the superiority of its food, a new food guide praises the McDonald's burger for having a higher and healthier protein-to-fat ratio than France's Quiche Lorraine.

"Strangely enough, the products which are the most demonized are not necessarily the worst," Jean-Michel Cohen and Patrick Serog write in their book "Savoir Manger," in which they analyze 5,000 dishes available in shops and restaurants.

The verdict published this month comes as McDonald's launches a new campaign to add healthier food choices to its menus. It has also said it is eliminating Supersize fries and soft drinks.



03/19/04 12:46

[the fugative]

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd

March 11, 2004

Albuquerque emergency room physician Sam Slishman is working to launch his Endorphin Power Co., which is a homeless shelter providing drug rehabilitation based on vigorous exercise at on-premises workout stations. Slishman also wants his center to help pay for itself by selling the electric power that could be harnessed by his down-and-out population's daily workouts (pedaling, lifting, working the treadmills). Endorphin Power, Slishman says, will be the city's inspirational flagship for "social rehabilitation and renewable energy."

Dental follies

• Dentist Leon Gombis (Oak Lawn, Ill.) had battery charges filed against him after he, wielding pliers, ripped a cap out of the mouth of a 58-year-old patient, believing (mistakenly) that she was behind on her payments (January).

• At press time, U.S. Air Force Capt. Jacqueline Chester was scheduled for court martial in Dover, Del., for having tested positive for cocaine; in her defense, her now ex-husband said that during their marriage, he had occasionally rubbed cocaine on his genitals for pleasure-enhancement and that the otherwise-drug-free Jacqueline might have absorbed it during sex.

• From a Jan. 1 police report in the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun: A motorist who was clocked at 15 miles per hour over the speed limit in Waldo, Fla., claimed that since state troopers' policy is to give a 5 mph leeway before ticketing, and since Waldo police often claim to give a 10 mph leeway, he thought the two leeway speeds could be combined to allow him to drive 15 mph over the limit.

• Lame excuses: According to a police report in January on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Web site, a driver in the Newfoundland district of Bonavista-Clarenville denied that he had an illegal radar detector, claiming that the black box on his dashboard was a "moose detector" that indeed had so far kept him safe from moose.

• Author Irwin Schiff, at war with the IRS for years over his aggressive claims that paying federal income tax is voluntary, may finally have turned defensive. In a back-tax-collection case in Las Vegas in January, Schiff told the court in a filing that he suffers from delusions, including a fantasy that he is the only person qualified to interpret federal income tax law. Schiff's psychiatrist said Schiff has been paranoid for years, stemming from his having lost heavily in a tax shelter that turned out to be a type of investment scam called a Ponzi scheme.

• In Tarpon Springs, Fla., William Ray Hunter, 41, was arrested and charged with defrauding a series of at least 19 northerners who had paid him a total of $33,000 in advance to rent his mobile home for the winter starting Jan. 1. Hunter apparently had made no effort to move out by the time the tenants started arriving. Said Sheriff's Sgt. Bob Hart, "I don't think he thought too much about what would happen when everybody showed up. Most people have a plan. [Hunter] had the first part, but he didn't have the second part."

Update on racist dogs

• The owner of the German shepherd crossbreed who made the news last year for having trained "Adolf" to raise his right paw on hearing the command "Sieg Heil," was found guilty in Berlin of displaying Nazi symbols, and he told the court that Adolf had since injured his paw and could no longer salute (February). And Dolpho, a police dog in McKees Rock, Pa., who had been sent for re-education in 2002 after having attacked a black child and was making progress in his rehab effort, backslid, attacking a black teenager (February) for no apparent reason.

• A 46-year-old motorcyclist, speeding, yelling obscenities and shaking his fist alongside an 18-wheeler that had made a left turn of questionable etiquette in Corpus Christi, Texas, lost control of the cycle, fell off and was fatally dragged underneath the truck (October).

More things to worry about

• The owners of FM 106.7 in York, Pa., having ended the station's country-music format but not yet having introduced a new one, played "Pop Goes the Weasel" 24 hours a day during the interim (February). A recently active methamphetamine lab (fuel, tubing, foil, coffee filters and a liquid compound) was discovered in a search of cells in the Pikeville, Tenn., county jail (December). A man in Pacifica, Calif., filed a $15,000 claim against his school district, saying officials have not stopped students from taunting his 12-year-old son, who is an internationally acclaimed ballroom dancer (September).

:p

[Jolie Rouge]

PARAMOUNT OPTIONS BOOK OF JOB

Bible Pic to Star Adam Sandler

www.borowitzreport.com

In the wake of Mel Gibson’s smash hit “The Passion of the Christ,” Paramount Pictures today announced that it had optioned the exclusive motion picture rights to The Book of Job as a vehicle for comedy superstar Adam Sandler.

Paramount grabbed The Book of Job after passing on The Book of Revelations, which one studio spokesman said “was way too expensive, special effects-wise.”

In announcing the “Job” pic, Paramount exec Colin Mish said that the storyline was perfect for a summer blockbuster and was “not a downer at all.”

“It’s about a nice guy who has all this bogus stuff happen to him,” he said. “As I read it I was like, whoever wrote this must have been thinking of Adam Sandler.”

To acquire the “Job” rights, Paramount reportedly ponied up $8 million to its author, God, who is represented by The William Morris Agency.

William Morris beat out several other top Hollywood talent agencies two weeks ago in the competition to represent God, whose literary properties have never been in greater demand. “Signing God as a client was huge,” said one Morris rep. “It really made up for losing Chloe Sevigny.”

While in the past God has had a reputation in Hollywood for being difficult, Mr. Mish of Paramount had only positive things to say about working with Him thus far. “I’d heard He was vengeful, but I haven’t seen a vengeful side of Him,” Mr. Mish said. “He did turn my assistant into a pillar of salt, but she was late with that cappuccino.”

[Jolie Rouge]

Chuck Shepherd's News of the Weird
WEEK OF MARCH 14, 2004

LEAD STORY

New York City high school chemistry teacher Elihu McMahon, 69, reports daily to a do-nothing job, at $77,000 a year, as the result of being ordered out of the classroom based on various complaints and administrative findings. In fact, according to a February New York Post story, he has spent about three-fourths of his time in the last 15 years in such jobs (since New York teachers have generous job protections), costing the schools an estimated $600,000 in salary. Among the complaints against him: racist remarks to students (McMahon is black), insubordination, incompetent teaching, improper grading and sexual harassment (although McMahon blames the problems on bad administrators). [New York Post, 2-4-04]


Finer Points of the Law

An 18-year-old man was transferred to Youth Court, with its more lenient procedures, after he was arrested and charged with stabbing a man to death at a New Year's Eve party in Edmonton, Alberta. He will not be tried as an adult because the victim was stabbed just before midnight, and the alleged killer did not actually turn 18 until Jan. 1. [Edmonton Journal, 1-10-04]

In December, Australia's TV Channel 7 reported that many schools across the country, at the behest of the Australasian Performing Rights Association, were discouraging parents from making keepsake movies of their kids' appearances in Christmas musicals, because recording the holiday songs might violate copyright law. [Seven Network Ltd. (Australia), 12-22-03]


Magnificent Obsessions

The New York Times reported in February on a Washington, D.C., man whose love of music led him, in the 1960s, to meticulously hand-make and hand-paint facsimile record album covers of his fantasized music, complete with imagined lyric sheets and liner notes (with some "albums" even shrink-wrapped), and, even more incredibly, to hand-make cardboard facsimiles of actual grooved discs to put inside them. "Mingering Mike," whom a reporter and two hobbyists tracked down (but who declined to be identified in print), also made real music, on tapes, using his and friends' voices to simulate instruments. His 38 imagined "albums" were discovered at a flea market after Mike defaulted on storage-locker fees, and the hobbyists who found them said they were so exactingly done that a major museum would soon feature them. [New York Times, 2-2-04]

Tom Musser, 81, and brother Jack, 84, are ex-cowboys who for the last 12 years have made and sold their own one-of-a-kind, crooked furniture through independent dealers from their home base in Delta, Colo. Their awkward-looking pieces are best sellers (1,600 sales so far) even though each one is almost unavoidably primitive, owing to the fact that the proud Mussers aren't (in the words of a satisfied customer) "burdened with any knowledge of woodworking." Said Tom, "We just do what the sticks (the wood) want." [Denver Post, 1-4-04]


Latest Important Animal Research

Case Western Reserve University researchers revealed in a December journal article that cockroaches do not age gracefully, that after about 60 weeks of adulthood, they get stiff joints (which inhibits climbing) and hardened foot pads (which prevents sticking to vertical surfaces). One of the researchers, noticing that aged roaches seem to have lost their ability to escape from predators, hypothesized that the loss was brain-based; he tested the hypothesis by removing the roach's head (and, thus, brain), and sure enough, the roach once again was able to flee like a youngster. [Case Western Reserve University News, reporting on a Journal of Experimental Biology article, 1-15-04]


A team of researchers that included Ben Wilson of the University of British Columbia (Vancouver) reported in November that herring communicate with each other via a high-pitched, "raspberry"-like sound emitted from their anuses. (Since the sounds were frequent, whether the herring had eaten or not, the researchers concluded that the noise was not produced by digestive gases.) [New Scientist, 11-5-03]


Least Competent Criminals

A 16-year-old boy was arrested in January in Dania Beach, Fla., after a 7-Eleven clerk subdued him mid-robbery. The boy had pointed a .22-caliber rifle at the clerk but then suddenly remembered that he hadn't loaded it. He had shells in his pocket, but they were .40-caliber, too large for the rifle (but that didn't stop the boy from trying to cram them in). The clerk took advantage of the boy's confusion and disarmed him. [Associated Press, 1-22-04]



Recurring Themes

News of the Weird has remarked several times on the late composer John Cage's "4'33," a 273-second "musical" number containing nothing but utter silence. In February 2004, according to a New York Times report, cuts from "White Album" by the band Sonic Youth were being listed for downloading on Apple's iTunes online store, and included was "Silence," a 63-second cut consisting of no sound at all, for which fans were nonetheless expected to pay the regular iTunes price of 99 cents. (In a subsequent clarification, a Sonic Youth spokesman said "Silence" would only be sold to purchasers who bought all of the album's cuts.) [New York Times, 2-9-04, 2-16-04]



Undignified Deaths

A 41-year-old model airplane hobbyist was killed when his radio-controlled helicopter went haywire and crashed into his neck (Houston, November). [KTRK-TV (Houston)-AP, 11-3-03]

A 27-year-old woman was killed when, during calm weather on a suburban street, a 40-foot magnolia tree fell on top of her while she was jogging (Titusville, Fla., December). [Fort Myers News-Press-AP, 12-9-03]

A 38-year-old man was killed when his pickup truck hit a ditch at 60 mph, with the cause of death later determined to be that the truck's radio had been jarred loose during the crash sequence and hit him on the head (Timberlake, N.C., January). [Courier-Times (Roxboro, N.C.), 1-7-04]


Also, in the Last Month

National Hockey League goalie Byron Dafoe (Atlanta Thrashers) went on the injured list after he slipped on the icy sidewalk outside his team's hotel in Ottawa, Ontario, and hurt his back. [Associated Press, 2-24-04]

And insurance companies in Thailand complained that politicians were using their generous health-care policies to stay overnight in hospitals while traveling on business, thus pocketing their per diem money. [Reuters, 2-20-04]

And several dozen (maybe many more) automobile keyless-entry systems failed in the Las Vegas area on Feb. 20, allowing conspiracists to remind everyone that the city is only 150 miles from "Area 51," supposedly the government's extraterrestrial research center. [Las Vegas Review-Journal, 2-21-04]

(Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa FL 33679 or [email protected] or go to www.NewsoftheWeird.com.)

[Jolie Rouge]

New DVD Burners Double Capacity
By PETER SVENSSON

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1700&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040322%2F1421857747.htm&sc=1700&photoid=20040319NYET252

NEW YORK (AP) - If you just bought a DVD-burning drive for your computer and think that for once you're current with the latest and greatest, it's disappointment time. Manufacturers are soon launching drives that can store double the amount of data on a disc.

Sony Electronics says it will be shipping drives in about two months that accept blank DVDs with two data layers. Philips Electronics will start selling a similar drive in Europe in April, but is not saying when it will be available in the United States.

The write-once discs can store up to 8.5 gigabytes of data, or about 4 hours of DVD-quality movies, twice the capacity of regular blank DVDs. This means capacities for computer-burned DVDs are catching up with prerecorded movie DVDs, many of which are already dual-layer.

The new technology is sure to appeal to those who back up or copy movie DVDs, since they often have to reduce image quality or remove special features to fit a copied movie onto a single-layer disc. With a dual-layer drive, an exact copy on a single disc should be possible. (The software used to copy encrypted movie DVDs is illegal in the United States, according to recent court rulings.)

The two layers of the new discs are accessed from the same side - there is no need to flip the disc over to record to the second layer. Instead, a laser beam shines through the first layer to record on the second.

Sony will sell an internal drive for $230 and an external one for $330. They will be marketed only for Windows PCs, but the external one should work on Macintosh computers with the proper third-party software. Philips will sell two internal drives with somewhat different features, both for PCs. U.S. prices have not been set.

The drives will be able to burn regular write-once and rewritable DVDs and CDs as well. The Sony and Philips drives will use somewhat different discs. Sony calls its variant DVD-R DL. The Philips equivalent is DVD+R DL. Both disc types should be readable in standard DVD drives and players.

Sony estimates the blank discs will cost $5 to $6. Philips does not have an estimate yet. The dual-layer discs will be slower to burn than single-layer discs - the drives will be rated as burning at 2.4 times faster than playback speed, versus eight times for single-layer discs.

A full 8.5 gigabytes will take about 45 minutes to burn.


On the Net:


http://www.press.ce.philips.com/press/documents596.html


http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/4532



03/22/04 14:20

[Jolie Rouge]

66% of Americans Are Upset By WHAT?

Fully two-thirds of Americans are unhappy with the country's moral and ethical climate, Religion News Service reports of a new Gallup Poll conducted every year to determine the mood of the nation. In a word, our mood is disheartened, although young people tend to be less so than their parents and grandparents. Why have our Puritanical beliefs suddenly reared up? You can thank all the corporate and pop culture scandals, especially Martha Stewart, Enron, Janet Jackson, and gay marriage.

But there's hope! The oldsters may be alarmed about the nation's moral decline, but those 18 to 29 seem more optimistic with fully 53 percent saying to the grown-ups: Chill. It's okay. Among those who are 30 to 49, 38 percent are satisfied, while only 29 percent of those 65 and older are satisfied with the country's morality.

Gallup contributing editor Heather Mason said the generational divide is a pattern that has existed for several years. "Adults under the age of 30 grew up in the era of the Internet, music videos, and cable television shows that continued to push the moral envelope and may not remember a time when profanity and sexual content were more taboo," she said in Gallup's Briefing report.

[Jolie Rouge]

Surprising List Recognizes 'Total Women'

Sandra Day O'Connor must be cool under pressure. The nation's first female Supreme Court justice, as well as a best-selling author, accomplished horsewoman, and hole-in-one golfer, has made a unique top 10 list. Arrid (as in the deodorant) has named 10 women--some dead, some alive--to its top 10 list of "Arrid Total Women."

Chosen with the help of the Women's Museum in Dallas, the 5 Total Women of Today are in alphabetical order:

Southwest Airlines President Colleen Barrett
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C.
Fire chief Joanne Hayes-White
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Golf pro Suzy Whaley

And the 5 Total Women of Yesterday are:

Peace activist and social reformer Jane Addams
American Red Cross founder Clara Barton
Girl Scount Founder Juliette Gordon Low
Suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Abolitionist Harriet Tubman

"Their strength of character inspires all women to continue to strive for greater independence and success in traditional and non-traditional roles," said the news release announcing the list. "This past year, their words and actions have led to barrier-breaking achievements which will help to improve the lives of women through equality and the elimination of social barriers."

And that's not all!

You can even get your very own set of "Arrid Total Women of Today" trading cards, each of which depicts a large photo of one of the Total Women. The Associated Press notes that the card also features a large logo that includes the brand name "Arrid Total," which was described on a fact sheet sent to reporters as an "all-in-one anti-perspirant and deodorant." It's available in "powder" or "passion flowers" scents. In case you wondered.

[Jolie Rouge]

N.Y. Man Indicted in Millionaire's Death
By FRANK ELTMAN

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/enhancedstory.jsp?oldflok=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040322%2F1522859253.htm&sc=1110&photoid=ammon.jpg&floc=NW_1-T

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) - An electrician who married the multimillionaire widow of a slain investment banker two years ago has been indicted in the man's death, a prosecutor said Monday.

Daniel Pelosi became the focus of tabloid headlines - and a grand jury probe - after he married widow Generosa Ammon in January 2002. The couple later split and she has since died.

``An indictment has been filed by a special grand jury,'' Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota told The Associated Press.

Spota said Pelosi's attorneys were instructed to have their client appear Tuesday morning at the district attorney's office. The precise charges against him would be unsealed until arraignment later in the day, Spota said.

``We'll be there and we're planning to plead an emphatic not guilty,'' said Gerald Shargell, one of Pelosi's defense lawyers.

Generosa Ammon and her millionaire husband, Theodore Ammon, were just days away from finalizing a nasty divorce when he was killed in October 2001 in his sprawling Long Island mansion.

An autopsy showed Ammon, a former general partner at the investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., was smashed in the head with a blunt object. His estate was worth a reported $100 million.

Shortly after she married Pelosi, Generosa Ammon was diagnosed with cancer. When she died in August 2003 at age 46, she had already split with Pelosi after just over a year of marriage.

Both Pelosi, who has a record of drunken driving arrests and other skirmishes with law enforcement, and his lawyers have repeatedly proclaimed his innocence.

Pelosi received a reported $2 million post-nuptial payment, but nothing in her will. Pelosi's attorneys are challenging the validity of the will in court, and Ammon's sister is fighting for custody of her two children.

In court papers released last August, state Supreme Court Justice Robert Doyle said that a suspect in the killing owned a laptop computer that was used to access a security system in Ammon's mansion on the weekend of the death.


While Doyle did not name Pelosi, he wrote, ``the individual who is a target of this investigation married the widow of the murder victim.''


03/22/04 15:22



Wife of slain investment banker leaves hefty estate to nanny, charity
Updated Aug. 28, 2003, 10:10 a.m. ET

www.courttv.com/people/2003/0828/liestate_ap.html

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — The late widow of a slain investment banker designated her children's nanny to be their guardian, giving her $1 million and the right to live in the family's East Hampton mansion.

Most of Generosa Ammon's estate -- reportedly worth at least $100 million -- will be divided between her teen-age children and the Ammon Foundation, which was formed after the October 2001 beating death of Theodore Ammon, said her attorney, Michael Dowd. She left nothing in her will to Daniel Pelosi, the Long Island electrician suspected in the investment banker's death.

Generosa Ammon, who had cancer, died Friday at a hospital at age 46. Her will was filed Wednesday in Suffolk County Surrogate Court. At the time of her death, she was separated from Pelosi, whom she married three months after Ammon's death.

A legal source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Pelosi was given $2 million several months ago as part of a postnuptial agreement.

Theodore Ammon, a former general partner at the investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., was found beaten to death in his multimillion-dollar home on Oct. 22, 2001. He ran the private equity firm Chancery Lane Capital and served as chairman of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Although no one has been charged, a judge overseeing a grand jury investigation released a document earlier this month that identified Pelosi as a suspect.

Ammon's 37-page will, dated July 2, and a four-page codicil signed July 22, omit Pelosi from receiving any of the estate.

The Ammons' two adopted children, Alexa Svetlana and Gregory Ruslan, are to be cared for by Kathryn Ann Mayne, their British nanny, according to the codicil. Mayne also was given $1 million and the right to live in the Ammons' mansion for the rest of her life.

Pelosi's lawyer, Gerald Shargel, who has repeatedly said his client did not kill Ammon, said "the fact that Danny Pelosi was not mentioned in the will did not escape our notice. The will and its codicil raises more questions than it answers."

He said he has legal experts on wills examining the document, declining further comment.

Pelosi served four months in jail earlier this year on an unrelated drunken-driving conviction and was arrested on the day he was released from jail on charges of stealing more than $40,000 in electricity from the Long Island Power Authority. He is currently free on bail.

Dowd noted that Generosa Ammon's will called for no funeral or memorial and that her ashes be given to Mayne. On Monday, however, Pelosi retrieved the ashes from a Manhattan funeral home and posed for a picture with them while having "drink" in a hotel bar. Published reports have indicated he plans to hold a memorial. Dowd said he will not mount a court fight over the ashes.

"Unfortunately, Danny Pelosi has created a circus," Dowd said. "That (legal action) is not something I wish to pursue because it only serves his interests."

Stephen Gassman, an attorney for Theodore Ammon's sister, Sandi Williams of Huntsville, Ala., said Wednesday his client intends to challenge the designation of Mayne as the children's guardian.
"She is the closest blood relative," Gassman said.

[Jolie Rouge]

Defendant Punches His Lawyer During Trial

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001/20040322/1859865208.htm

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A man on trial for raping and murdering a 6-year-old girl punched his defense lawyer in the face during court Monday. The judge immediately sent jurors home for the day after Malik El-Shabazz hit attorney Fred Goodman.

It was unclear what effect the attack would have on the trial.

Cathie Abookire, a spokeswoman for the district attorney, said prosecutors believe El-Shabazz was trying to get a mistrial declared. The prosecution planned to argue Tuesday that the trial should continue as planned.

El-Shabazz, 20, was returned to jail following the attack. Officials said his lawyer, Fred Goodman, was not seriously hurt. Goodman and his co-counsel, Andrea Konow, did not immediately return phone messages Monday.

During the trial, jurors have been shown a police videotape in which El-Shabazz detailed how he smothered the girl, then carried her body more than a mile to a vacant lot.

Monday's incident was El-Shabazz's second outburst in the trial. During opening arguments, he began yelling when Goodman told jurors that his client had, in fact, committed the assault.

``There is no question who did this,'' Goodman said. ``The only thing that is at issue is the difference between first-degree murder and second-degree murder.'' If convicted of first-degree murder, El-Shabazz would face the death penalty or life in prison.

03/22/04 18:58

[Jolie Rouge]

Top 10 Cities With Best Quality of Life

The best place to live in the world is Zurich, Switzerland, according to a quality-of-life survey conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Zurich was crowned No. 1 for the second year running based on 39 criteria that included a variety of political, social, and economic factors such as the quality of health, education, and transportation services. Of the world's top 30 cities, 17 are in Europe. All 215 cities worldwide were judged against New York City as the baseline, which came in at No. 44. The only U.S. city to make the top 20 was San Francisco at No. 18. Other high-scoring U.S. cities were Honolulu, Seattle, Portland, and Boston.


Top 10 Cities With the Best Quality of Life

1. Zurich, Switzerland
2. Vancouver, Canada
3. Vienna, Austria
4. Geneva, Switzerland
5. Sydney, Australia
6. Auckland, New Zealand
7. Copenhagen, Denmark
8. Frankfurt, Germany
9. Bern, Switzerland
10. Munich, Germany

Cities With the Worst Quality of Life
(in descending order):

Pointe Noire, Congo
Baghdad, Iraq
Bangui, Central African Republic
Brazzaville, Congo

Top 10 Safest Cities
(based on crime levels, law enforcement, and internal stability)

1. Luxembourg
2. Bern, Switzerland
3. Geneva, Switzerland
4. Helsinki, Finland
5. Singapore
6. Zurich, Switzerland
7. Nagoya, Japan
8. Omuta, Japan
9. Osaka, Japan
10. Tokyo, Japan

--Canadian cities are the safest in North America, due largely to strict law enforcement and low crime rates.

--The safest U.S. cities are Honolulu, Hawaii; Houston, Texas; and San Francisco, California.

The Least Safe Cities:

--Bangui in the Central African Republic scored the lowest for personal safety of all cities worldwide.

--Other low-scoring cities are Abidjan in the Ivory Coast, Pointe Noire and Brazzaville in Congo, and Luanda in Angola. All have experienced prolonged periods of civil unrest, as well as high crime rates and poor law enforcement.

--Milan, Athens, and Rome are the least safe cities in Western Europe due largely to high crime levels.

--Washington, D.C. ranks lowest for personal safety in the United States.

[Jolie Rouge]

Thailand Record-Setting 'Snake Man' Dies

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1104&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040322%2F1047851642.htm&sc=1104

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A man who set a world record by spending 7 days locked up with poisonous snakes has died after a bite from a deadly mamba, a hospital reported on Monday.

Boonreung Bauchan, known as the ``Snake Man,'' died on Friday, a day after he was bitten, said Dr. Wipha Praituen of Praibung hospital in the northeastern province of Si Sa Ket.

Wipha said Boonreung's relatives told her that Boonreung was showing villagers a new cobra when he was bitten. He took herbal medicine and a shot of whiskey, and continued with the show until he collapsed, the doctor said. Wipah said Boonreung was bitten on the right elbow, and ``the poison had spread throughout his body when he arrived at the hospital.''


Boonreung, 34, won a mention in the Guinness book after spending seven days in an enclosure with snakes in 1998 to set a new world record.


Boonreung's family said he was the sole bread winner, supporting them with income from the snake shows, according to The Nation newspaper.'' It quoted his father, Pon, as saying that boxes of Boonreung's pet snakes were still at the house.


``They look fiercer now. So no one dares get closer to the boxes,'' he was quoted as saying. Pon said he would give the snakes to a zoo after his son's cremation on Wednesday.

03/22/04 10:46

[Jolie Rouge]

Cookbook thief placed on probation

DAVENPORT, Iowa — A library looter with a love of cooking has been sentenced to probation.

Kristin Grace, 37, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree theft for stealing more than 100 cookbooks from two public libraries.

She could have faced five years in prison and a fine of up to $7,500 if convicted of the felony theft charges.

Instead, she was sentenced to three years probation and was required to provide restitution to the Bettendorf and Davenport public libraries.

Bettendorf police had been investigating the disappearance of the books from the local library for about two years prior to charging Grace with the theft in November 2003.

The whodunit began in early 2001 when a librarian recommended a cookbook to a patron and then could not find the title. The librarian, who was in charge of purchasing cookbooks, did an inventory and found that 117 cooking titles had vanished.

Library employees began examining the dates of when the books were last checked out and when they disappeared, and turned the information over to police.

Authorities believe Grace legitimately checked out the books and, when she had them at home, removed the barcode or other theft protection device, according to Assistant County Attorney Jerald Feuerbach, who prosecuted the case.

Grace would then return the book, sans theft protection, and then sneak it back out of the library with another batch of checked-out books, Feuerbach said.

Police visited Grace's home, where they found numerous stolen books in plain sight. Grace freely admitted the library lifting spree and eventually cooperated with investigators.

As for a motive, Feuerbach described taking and keeping the cookbooks as Grace's "major form of recreation. She didn't have very many other outlets," he said. "This was something that became her total outlet."


Grace is also being prosecuted on felony theft charges in nearby Rock Island County, Ill., for lifting 192 books from two public libraries there.


She is due in circuit court on April 26 for a pretrial hearing.



Man arrested after seeking justice from drug scam

CHALMETTE, La. — It's probably best not to tell police that you were ripped off in a drug deal.

Investigators were not sympathetic to the plight of Joseph Bulot, 32, who called the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's office to complain that he had been cheated trying to swap a microwave oven for crack cocaine.

Bulot reportedly told a sheriff's deputy late last month that he traded a microwave oven to two men for crack, according to a police report. But when he took the drug home and tried to smoke it, he determined it was bogus, Bulot allegedly told police.

The unsatisfied customer then reportedly asked Deputy Chris Garic if the officer would like to see the crack pipe and the fake drugs. The deputy drove with Bulot to his apartment, where Bulot allegedly showed Garic a gold-colored metal pipe with a mesh filter and a rock of what looked like cocaine, according to police. Tests of the off-white rock showed no traces of the drug.

Bulot was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia and released on bond.




Loot dispute imputes robbers

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Some noisy negotiations helped police collar six robbery suspects.

Less than an hour after a pizza delivery driver was robbed, police arrested three men and three 16-year-olds after several of the suspects were heard loudly arguing about how to split the loot from the robbery.

Theodore J. Davis, 18, Lee C. Morris, 17, Leander C. Owens, 17, along with three 16-year-olds, whose names have not been released, called in an order to Pizza Works and asked to have it delivered to 50 Revere St., according to police.

When the driver arrived, the group allegedly met him at the front door and robbed him of an undisclosed amount of cash and about $45 in food and sodas.

One of the suspects dropped a scarf in the driveway of the robbery scene, according to Springfield Police Capt. William J. Noonan. A police K-9 unit was able to track the scent from the scarf to the vicinity of 34 Revere St., where several officers began searching for the suspects.

From outside the building, police said they heard several men arguing loudly in a second-floor apartment. The men were reportedly arguing over their differing roles in the robbery and about how to split the take. Two men left the home to continue fighting outside when they walked into the waiting arms of the law, according to Noonan.

"We're just happy that these guys are dumber and greedier than we are," Noonan said.

Inside the apartment, investigators reportedly found cash, a gun, and partially eaten pizza and Buffalo wings matching the order placed with Pizza Works.

Davis, Morris, Owens and the three 16-year-olds were each charged with armed robbery and possession of a firearm without a license. They are due back in Springfield District Court on March 25 for a pretrial hearing.


Stupid Crimes & Misdemeanors, a weekly feature of Courttv.com, is reported by Steve Irsay www.courttv.com/people/scm/030404_ctv.html

[Jolie Rouge]

Bavaria lets lederhosen support drop

German state will no longer subsidize traditional leather shorts

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4586863

Updated: 2:06 p.m. ET March 23, 2004


BERLIN - Germany can no longer afford state aid to help its yodelers buy lederhosen, the Bavarian government said Tuesday in a sign of how drastically public finances have deteriorated in Europe’s largest economy.

“We no longer want to sponsor the lederhosen with subsidies,” Bavarian Premier Edmund Stoiber said, ignoring outcries from traditional folk groups, some of whom have threatened to boycott the opening parade of the Munich Oktoberfest, the world’s biggest beer festival.

The Alpine state had previously provided the 300,000 members of its folklore groups with half a million euros in state funds to help buy traditional Bavarian attire such as the leather shorts — amounting, one newspaper said, to a subsidy of 13 percent per garment.

But even Bavaria, one of Germany’s richest states, is under pressure to curb government spending after years of slow economic growth.

A good pair of goat suede leather lederhosen will set you back $185.

[Kelsey1224]

Awww shucks...there is nothing like a man in a pair of lederhosen...

[Jolie Rouge]

Move to This State and Get Free Land

There may not be a free lunch, but if you move to Kansas, you can get free land. Really. At least 10 Kansas communities are offering free land to attract residents to boost school enrollment and fatten the tax base, reports The Associated Press. Many Great Plains towns are desperate to survive. Young people don't stay. The old people die. And before you know it, the storefronts are boarded up, and it's nothing more than a ghost town.

Giving away land to Great Plains settlers harkens back to the homesteading days of the 1800s. Steve Piper, the mayor of Marquette, Kansas, population 600, thinks the key to survival is the school system. "In a small community, you have to keep the school system. Every child you bring in is more money for the schools. The schools are the backbone of the community," Piper told AP. The mayor may get help from Uncle Sam, too. Congress is considering a homesteading law that would reward those who relocate to rural areas with tax breaks and other economic incentives.

Not everyone thinks the homesteading plan will succeed. Free land is great, but a town needs an infrastructure to support the people. "If the town doesn't have much to offer in the first place, pretty much the definition of a declining town, this approach is unlikely to make any difference. It sounds like a desperation move: 'Please, pretty please come live in our town,'" Frank Popper, an urban studies professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey who spent years studying Plains population decline, told AP. He said similar programs were tried in North Dakota, Minnesota, and South Dakota without noticeable results.


Move to Marquette, Kansas, and the town will give you a parcel of land valued at $8,000 provided you build a home on it within one year and live in it for a year. The town has built streets into the new neighborhood and provided hookups for water, electricity, sewers, and gas. After all, it's hard to put a monetary value on a town where people still sit on their front porches in the evening.

[Jolie Rouge]

Don't Wear This T-Shirt in West Virginia :D
Abercrombie & Fitch is not beloved by the governor of the great state of West Virginia. Why? The company, based in New Albany, Ohio, is selling a T-shirt with a simple outline of the state's shape emblazoned with these words: "It's All Relative In West Virginia."

And that has West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise in a tizzy. The Associated Press reports that he sent a letter to Abercrombie & Fitch on Monday demanding that the clothing retailer immediately stop selling the T-shirt. He claimed it depicts "an unfounded, negative stereotype" of the state. "I write to you today to demand that you immediately remove this item from your stores and your print and online catalogues," Wise wrote. "In addition, these shirts must be destroyed at once to avoid any possibility of resale and proof be given thereof."

No word yet on whether Abercrombie & Fitch will cave to the governor's request. So far, sales are brisk even though it's priced at $22.50. Hey, West Virginia isn't the only state the upscale clothier is lampooning. Another shirt is available that says: "New Hampshire. 40 million squirrels can't be wrong."

[Jolie Rouge]

Did Bad Boy Simon Cowell Go Too Far?

You had to be paying attention to see it, but "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell displayed a certain finger during Tuesday evening's broadcast of the highly-rated Fox TV show. The Drudge Report says the obscene gesture came during a heated exchange with fellow judge Paula Abdul. While Paula got herself all in a tizzy about comments Simon had just made about a contestant, he placed his middle finger on his cheek.

A Fox television executive told Matt Drudge of The Drudge Report that the image was almost cut, but the suits weren't quite sure what Simon was doing. (The show airs live with a slight broadcast delay, so a decision to cut would have had to be made quickly.) "We were not sure he was doing what he was doing, quite frankly," the Fox suit explained to Drudge. "It appeared he was simply resting his head on his middle finger, but I now think we made a mistake, the gesture should not have aired." The Fox source admitted to Drudge that flipping the middle finger does not conform to the network's decency standards. Simon has been appropriately chastised by network officials and told to never do it again.

Are Simon and Paula falling for each other?

That's what Washington Post TV columnist Lisa de Moraes is wondering. "Last week he was playing with her hair during the show. This week he's hurling insults, like calling her an old woman," writes de Moraes in a column she titles "We Watch So You Don't Have To." She notes that Paula spent a good deal of time on Tuesday night's show all cuddled up to Simon with her head on his big, broad shoulder. "The rest of the time she was punching him in the arm and squealing in protest about some dead-on comment he'd just made about the singer up on stage," writes de Moraes. "Really, it's like watching puppy love in third grade. Revolting." And the audience loves it.

[Jolie Rouge]

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040324%2F0920915979.htm&sc=1110

[Woman, 75, Charged With Passing Bad Checks

CHICAGO (AP) - A 75-year-old woman is suspected of using her age and apparent frailty to fleece about a dozen auto dealers, police and prosecutors said.

Over the past four years, Betty A. Gooch has walked into several Chicago-area dealerships with a cane and an oxygen cart, then paid for cars with bad checks, police said.

``She'll say she's sick and going to be hospitalized, or that her stockbroker is sending the money, or promises they'll have the money next Friday,'' said Tony Kotlarz, an investigator for the McHenry County state's attorney's office.

In the latest case, Gooch wrote a check for $36,534 for a new Toyota Sienna and another check for $20,041 for a new Toyota Matrix during a November visit to one dealership, said Cook County state's attorney's spokeswoman Marcy Jensen.

Gooch is to be arraigned April 8 on charges of theft by deception and passing bad checks. She is out on bail and declined to comment Tuesday.

Gooch was sentenced to a year of court supervision in October after admitting she wrote a bad check to buy a motorcycle in 2001. She is scheduled to appear in court later this month on charges she wrote a bad $22,000 check last year for a Mazda SUV.

She is being investigated for other possible crimes, police said. ``From the information we've gotten, she has done this in Cook, McHenry and Lake Counties - about a dozen dealerships,'' said Elgin police Lt. Cecil Smith.

03/24/04 09:20

[Jolie Rouge]

Good News: Live Longer.
Bad News: How

If you cut calories in old age, you may live a lot longer. At least, that's true if you're a mouse. And scientists from the University of California at Riverside think it may apply to human beings as well, reports Reuters. If this sounds familiar--eat a lot less and live a lot longer--that's because previous research has shown that reduced-calorie diets started early in life help mice to live longer than mice who eat normal diets. This latest study is the first one to show that you can start a reduced-calorie diet in old age and still reap the longevity benefits.

"Reducing your caloric intake, even in old age, provided you are not already lean may be effective at improving health and increasing your lifespan--if you are a mouse," lead study author Dr. Stephen R. Spindler told Reuters. "This may be true for humans as well." Unfortunately, we're not talking about just skipping dessert. For it to work, you must drastically cutting back on calories, an idea that isn't too appealing to most people. But there is hope! Spindler says the findings could help scientists create an entirely new class of drugs that could delay aging by producing the same genetic effects as calorie restriction.

Reducing calories has also been shown to delay and prevent age-related diseases, including cancer. It works by changing the normal express of a variety of genes, reports Reuters. But until now, it was thought that a low-calorie diet had to be started at a young age to produce the longevity benefits. That may not be the case. There is one gotcha: When the mice were switched back to a normal diet after being on a restricted calorie diet, the gene expression also returned to normal. The fountain of youth is fleeting.

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

[Jolie Rouge]

Out of the Office? Funny Away Messages

You know the drill. You send a co-worker an e-mail and get a quick reply that he or she is out of the office and can't reply. That's so ho-hum. You can do better! And thanks to Nancy Franklin, a marketing director in Santa Ana, Calif., you can choose from dozens of funny OOTO (out of the office) messages that will amuse your colleagues.

Franklin is so good at writing offbeat OOTO messages, she even created her own Web site, reports Wireless Flash.
Here are just a few:

--"I'm in a meeting. And you're not. Worry about it. That will give you something to do until I return."

--"Some very nice men in white coats came and said they wanted to show me my new padded office."

--"I'm out of the office having my medications adjusted."


If you're not afraid of your Human Resources department, use one of these:

--I'm offsite attending a meeting. Apparently this meeting is so secret that they didn't want to hold it at the office where people might overhear us or want to attend. This is how rumors get started. I'll try to fan the flames when I return.

--Hi! I'm the mail room guy. The person who normally sits at this desk is out. They told me not to answer any questions, but how hard can this be? Gee, give a monkey a typewriter and eventually he'll type out one of our corporate press releases. So, how am I doing?

[Jolie Rouge]

6755 Views and Going Strong !

[Jolie Rouge]

Man Catches Girl As She Falls 3 Floors

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0001/20040325/0429983621.htm

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) - A 2-year-old girl fell three stories from a resort walkway and safely into the arms of a man who had been reading a book by the pool and raced to save her.

The momentum sent both crashing into a bush, but the girl only suffered a bump and some scratches Saturday. ``I just happened to be at the right place at the right time,'' Alan Burns, 43, said Wednesday.

Burns said he was enjoying his weekend getaway at the Dorsan Suites when he heard a woman screaming. He looked up to see the toddler hanging from a railing on an outdoor walkway. Burns and the woman ran underneath the child when the girl let go and fell into Burns' arms.


The baby's mother showed up several minutes later and was arrested on a charge of child neglect, police said. The woman was released on $1,000 bail.



03/25/04 04:29

[Jolie Rouge]

Trucker Drives Off Bridge in Pennsylvania

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040325%2F1229996706.htm&sc=1110

CLARKS FERRY, Pa. (AP) - A trucker reaching to answer his cell phone drove his rig off a bridge and plunged 60 feet into the Susquehanna River, state police said. The driver crawled out his submerged cab to safety.

A witness who had been driving behind the trucker Wednesday afternoon said he was stunned to find the man alive when he reached the river. ``I thought we'd be doing a body recovery,'' said Marty Hoffman, a volunteer firefighter.

Driver Darren Marceau, 25, of Cambridge, Ontario, was making his way up the river bank as witnesses climbed down to reach him.

Hoffman said the driver was bleeding, wet and somewhat dazed after the crash on U.S. Route 22, in south-central Pennsylvania. Marceau was in good condition at a hospital Wednesday night. According to state police, Marceau drifted off the road as he tried to answer a cell phone call.

Investigators have not decided whether Marceau will be charged, Trooper Kristal Turner-Childs, a state police spokeswoman, said Thursday.



03/25/04 12:28

[Jolie Rouge]

{{{How to use a lot of words to say not much of anything ...}}}



FBI warns Texas oil industry of possible attack

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0002/20040325/1530002027.htm

WASHINGTON, March 25 (Reuters) - The FBI warned the Texas oil industry of possible terror attacks around elections this November, but it has no specific, corroborated details of any potential threats, FBI and industry sources said on Thursday.

An FBI official said the advisory, based on intelligence the FBI has received, went to the industry and law enforcement officials in Texas "out of an abundance of caution." The official said the FBI in the past year processed 7,000 threats, and added, "These communications go out on a daily basis."

The official declined to give details of the advisory.

But a petroleum industry source in Texas who has seen the notification said, "The alert mentioned threats to pipelines and facilities in Texas to coincide with the election in November."


The source said there have been at least a half dozen of these types of warnings from the FBI in Texas since last summer.


U.S. retail gasoline prices soared to a record-high this week on tight supplies. Any damage to a major refinery or pipeline would constrict supplies even more.


But news of the FBI alert had little impact on U.S. crude oil prices on Thursday, which fell sharply on reports that OPEC was having trouble carrying out a planned cut in production. Traders said such security alerts appeared to be relatively common.


Since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in Washington and New York, U.S. oil refineries have adopted tougher security measures that include more scrutiny of visitors.


The Houston Chronicle first disclosed the advisory, which it said went out on Wednesday.


The National Petrochemical and Refiners Association said it asked its Texas members to be more vigilant about security after the warning.


Maurice McBride, director for security with the trade group, said the FBI and other federal agencies were still analyzing the intelligence information they received about a possible attack.


"We've talked with the FBI and there's not much more that is going to be said," McBride said.


The oil refiners trade group is asking members to "be more watchful and vigilant, as circumstances permit," McBride said. "I'm very confident that they are doing virtually everything that should be done. Protecting themselves is in their own self-interest."


The FBI was meeting with oil industry officials to discuss the threat, but it is the latest of a series of meetings about security, McBride said.


"The FBI in Houston meets regularly with the oil industry. It's not like there is a special briefing that has been called," he said.


"The oil industry generally is something that Middle Eastern terrorists know about," McBride said. "We (U.S. refineries and pipelines) are something that is on their minds," McBride said.


An FBI official said, "We continue to receive information of potential threats and terrorist activities." The official emphasized the intelligence about Texas was "unconfirmed and uncorroborated."



03/25/04 15:30

[Jolie Rouge]

Originally posted by Jolie Rouge
Top 10 Cities With Best Quality of Life

The best place to live in the world is Zurich, Switzerland, according to a quality-of-life survey conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Zurich was crowned No. 1 for the second year running based on 39 criteria that included a variety of political, social, and economic factors such as the quality of health, education, and transportation services. Of the world's top 30 cities, 17 are in Europe. All 215 cities worldwide were judged against New York City as the baseline, which came in at No. 44. The only U.S. city to make the top 20 was San Francisco at No. 18. Other high-scoring U.S. cities were Honolulu, Seattle, Portland, and Boston.


Top 10 Cities With the Best Quality of Life

1. Zurich, Switzerland
2. Vancouver, Canada
3. Vienna, Austria
4. Geneva, Switzerland
5. Sydney, Australia
6. Auckland, New Zealand
7. Copenhagen, Denmark
8. Frankfurt, Germany
9. Bern, Switzerland
10. Munich, Germany

Cities With the Worst Quality of Life
(in descending order):

Pointe Noire, Congo
Baghdad, Iraq
Bangui, Central African Republic
Brazzaville, Congo

Top 10 Safest Cities
(based on crime levels, law enforcement, and internal stability)

1. Luxembourg
2. Bern, Switzerland
3. Geneva, Switzerland
4. Helsinki, Finland
5. Singapore
6. Zurich, Switzerland
7. Nagoya, Japan
8. Omuta, Japan
9. Osaka, Japan
10. Tokyo, Japan

--Canadian cities are the safest in North America, due largely to strict law enforcement and low crime rates.

--The safest U.S. cities are Honolulu, Hawaii; Houston, Texas; and San Francisco, California.

The Least Safe Cities:

--Bangui in the Central African Republic scored the lowest for personal safety of all cities worldwide.

--Other low-scoring cities are Abidjan in the Ivory Coast, Pointe Noire and Brazzaville in Congo, and Luanda in Angola. All have experienced prolonged periods of civil unrest, as well as high crime rates and poor law enforcement.

--Milan, Athens, and Rome are the least safe cities in Western Europe due largely to high crime levels.

--Washington, D.C. ranks lowest for personal safety in the United States.



Eight Not-So-Great Places To Live In The U.S.
Forbes staff, 03.23.04, 2:00 PM ET

With April Fools' Day just around the corner, we thought we'd get a jump on the jokes. You've seen the lists of best places to live, but what about the other places, the ones that don't make the list? Here's our tongue-in-cheek list of where you really don't want to live, work or play.

www.forbes.com/2004/03/23/cx_jw_0323worstplaces.html?partner=netscape

[Jolie Rouge]

Hooters: Secret Videotapes Uncovered

A West Covina, Calif., Hooters restaurant allegedly secretly videotaped at least 82 women while they were naked or partly undressed while changing into the distinctive uniform as part of the employment application process, police announced on Thursday. Reuters reports that the women ranged in age from 17 to 25 and had no idea they were being videotaped.

Police detectives found 180 tapes on the personal computer of Juan Aponte, a former Hooters manager. "The videos were of the women changing into and out of the Hooters uniform," said police spokesman Rudy Lopez. Some 1,200 women applied for the job at the new restaurant, which is set to open in April. The interviews and secret videotaping took place in a trailer on the construction site.

Police are attempting to identify the victims and inform them of what happened. "They are appalled," Lopez told Reuters of the victims' reactions when they find out what happened. "They are angry, upset, emotional, and had absolutely no knowledge this had taken place." Prosecutors are considering possible charges against Aponte, who is said to be cooperating with police. Mike McNeil, a spokesman for Hooters, told Reuters the Atlanta-based restaurant chain was disturbed by the case. "The restaurant chain is in no way implicated in this," McNeil told the news service. "In our 21-year history we've never seen anything like this before, and we're very concerned about it. We're doing everything we can to cooperate." Modeling the uniform is not part of the typical application process.


Is someone watching you ?

It IS possible.

Surveillance equipment is smaller and cheaper than ever before. These five signs will help you determine if you should be looking over your shoulder.
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/crime/package.jsp?name=crime/features/bugfeature&floc=wn-ns

1) Strange Sounds on the Phone

This is commonly caused by an amateur eavesdropper when they attach a wiretap or activate a listening device. Surveillance devices often cause slight anomalies on the telephone line such a volume shift or drop-out. Professional eavesdroppers and their equipment usually do not make such noises; so this could indicate that an amateur eavesdropper is listening.

2) Phone Static

This is caused by the capacitive discharge which occurs when two conductors are connected together (such as a bug or wiretap on a phone line). This is also a sign that an amateur eavesdropper is playing with your phone lines.

[3) Others Know Your Confidential Business

This is the most obvious indicator of covert eavesdropping activities. Theft of confidential information is a multi-billion dollar underground industry in the United States. Often the loss of your secrets will show up in very subtle ways so you should always trust your instincts in this matter. When your competitors know things that are obviously private, or the media finds out about things they should not know, then it is reasonable to suspect technical eavesdropping or bugging.

4) Your TV or Radio has Developed Strange Interference

Many amateur and spy shop eavesdropping devices use frequencies within or just outside the FM radio band, these signals tend to drift and will "quiet" an FM radio in the vicinity of the bug. Look for the transmissions at far ends of the FM radio band, and at any quiet area within the FM band. If the radio begins to squeal then slowly move it around the room until the sound become very high pitched. This is referred to as feedback detection or loop detection and will often locate the bug. The "stereo" function should be turned off so the radio is operating in "mono" as this will provide a serious increase in sensitivity. Carefully watch for interference around channel numbers 2, 7, 13, 14, 50-60, and 66-68 as these frequencies are very popular with eavesdroppers.

5) Burglary -- but Nothing Taken

Professional eavesdroppers often break into a targets home or office, and very rarely leave direct evidence of the break-in; however, occupants of the premises will often "pickup on something not being right" such as the furniture being moved slightly.

[Jolie Rouge]

School in Okla. City Suspends Almost Entire Class of 6th-Graders

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040326%2F1207031407.htm&sc=1110

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A public school suspended nearly all of its sixth-graders for class disruptions and a cafeteria ruckus this week, though many of the students were allowed to return after their parents met with school officials.

Sixteen of the 147 sixth-graders at F.D. Moon Academy were suspended Monday for class disruptions, and 120 students were suspended Wednesday after they picked up cafeteria tables, slammed them to the floor and talked back to faculty, school officials said.

Principal Elaine Ford estimated teachers spend 85 percent of their time reprimanding students and said test scores won't improve until disciplinary problems are resolved. The school, a magnet program for mass media communications and technology, is listed by the state as needing improvement because of low test scores.

``I wish you could be a fly on the wall because some of the time you'd be shocked at what your child is doing,'' Ford told parents at a meeting Wednesday.


About 125 of the suspended students returned to class Thursday, city schools spokeswoman Sherry Fair said. The suspended students will be required to do work at the school Saturday.


Jarona Knight, whose daughter was suspended, said after the meeting that she wasn't surprised by the students' behavior because some parents in the audience were yelling while school officials talked. ``If we don't get involved, I don't know who will,'' Knight said.


On the Net:

www.okcps.k12.ok.us/moon

03/26/04 12:07

[Jolie Rouge]

TV News Anchor Is Hero on Delta Flight

He's not a doctor and he doesn't even play one on TV, but NBC News anchor Brian Williams does have emergency medical training, having once served as an EMT and volunteer firefighter. So when a flight attendant on a Delta shuttle from New York City to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday afternoon asked the passengers if there was a doctor on board, Williams immediately jumped up to help, reports The Washington Post.

Williams came to the assistance of a 64-year-old man who was having difficulty breathing. While the pilot turned the plane around to return to New York so the man could be taken to a hospital, Williams monitored his blood pressure, gave him water and aspirin, and stayed with him until they landed at La Guardia Airport where a crew of EMTs was waiting, reports The Post.

Upon landing, the sick passenger acknowledged to Williams he recognized him. The rising NBC News star told TV Guide reporter Stephen Battaglio, "When I said goodbye, he said, 'This is a hell of a way to get viewers.'" Williams, 44, is set to take over as lead NBC News anchor later this year, replacing Tom Brokaw.

[jaybird]

Santa Fe ponders pet seat belts

Pet owners in the US city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, may soon be required to provide seat belts for pets if the city council approves new rules. Under the proposed regulations, animals travelling in the open beds of cars and trucks would have to be tethered.

"Just like people need to be safe, so do animals," Kate Rindy of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter told Reuters.

Ms Rindy said dogs and cats could be fitted with seat belts or travel in portable pet carriers.

Pet shops already stock such devices, Associated Press found - though they say they don't sell many.

A "pet safety sitter" (up to $21) has a strap that goes across a dog's chest.

A "pick-up tie-out" attaches to a collar so dogs cannot jump out of the back of a truck.

Also on sale are small booster seats - which allow a dog to see out of the window, while preventing it from jumping around.

The proposals also include rules on pet neutering and leashing dogs and cats when on public property.

The city council will vote on them within the month, Ms Rindy said.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/3570111.stm

Published: 2004/03/26 01:11:42 GMT

© BBC MMIV

[Jolie Rouge]

I can just see tryiing to strap my MIL 15 year old 20 pound cat into a car seat :eek: I don't think so ....

[Jolie Rouge]

Americans Want THIS More Than Sex

We are a greedy nation. When faced with that classic question--"Which would you rather have: More sex or more money?"--we choose the money hands down. Fully two-thirds of those polled picked treasure over pleasure, reports The New York Post of a survey commissioned by Robert Kiyosaki, author of the "Rich Dad Poor Dad" series of financial guides.

Why do we need so much cash?

The answers are revealed in other areas of this fascinating poll:

--40 percent admitted they would run out of cash if they were unemployed for three months.

--66 percent say they do not have enough cash to cover a year of unemployment.

"People are just eat, drink and be merry and pretend we don't have a problem in the future," Kiyosaki told The Post. "Americans need to wake up. Safe, secure jobs are about as common as Indian-head nickels."

[Jolie Rouge]

The Three Best Types of Marriages

Why does one marriage last 50 years, while another dissolves in just five years? It's not about happiness. It's about conflict resolution. John M. Gottman of the Relationship Research Institute and the University of Washington conducted a 20-year study with more than 600 married couples and carefully plotted how husbands and wives interacted with each other, reports The Associated Press. Based on these observations, he has identified the three most stable types of marriages--the kind that are likely to see their golden anniversaries. Gottman actually created a mathematical formula that can predict how well a marriage will endure.


The three types of stable and enduring marriages:

Type No. 1: The Avoiders

A husband and wife in this type of marriage routinely avoid conflict. Gottman told AP that when a difference of opinion arises, "they will never argue. They will listen to the other, but will not try to persuade." He calls them the avoiders. While this couple may be unemotional and distant, their union endures through the years.


Type No. 2: The Bickersons

The husband and wife have a volatile relationship, much like two lawyers arguing in a courtroom. "They can argue at the drop of a hat," Gottman told AP. But even with frequent and passionate arguments, such marriages do tend to last through the years.


Type No. 3: The Validating Couple

A husband and wife listen to each other, respect the other's opinion, and only occasionally argue. "They pick the issues they fight about," he explained to AP.


As long as both people in a marriage have the same type of personality, that is, they are both Avoiders or both Bickersons or both Validating, the marriage will last. Trouble occurs when there is a mix, such as one partner is an Avoider and one a Bickerson. "Couples like that are usually heading for a divorce," Gottman told AP.

[Jolie Rouge]

No. 1 Reason Men Become Good Husbands

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/love/package.jsp?name=fte/goodhusbands/go odhusbands&floc=wn-ns

If you have a wonderful husband or boyfriend, thank his mother.

A new study from Ferrum College in Virginia says men who become wonderful partners are often the product of wonderful moms, reports Reuters. The researchers interviewed 33 young couples--some of whom were married and some of whom were dating--and found what they called "significant" correlations between a man's tie to his mother and his partner's satisfaction with the relationship.

"If he's very close to his mother he may feel very close to his partner, probably very affectionate," lead researcher Sarah Roberts explained to Reuters. She and her co-author, psychologist Sharon Stein, say that while much research has been done about the parent-child relationship in general, very little is known about the impact the mother-son relationship has on the son's relationship with his girlfriend or wife.

The "Mama's Boy or Lady's Man" study:

Each male and female member of the 33 couples completed different questionnaires. The men were asked about their perceived closeness to their moms. The women were asked about their own satisfaction with their romantic relationship.

The results:

In general, the men who said they had moms who "understood their needs" also had mates who described them as "affectionate." Men who had a strong love for their mothers tended to date women who described them as not only their lover, but also "their best friend," Reuters reports. And the men who tried hard to "make their mother proud" ranked high in terms of their ability to communicate with their female partner.

Why does this happen?

"In traditional homes, the mother is the very first person that the children have (as their) introduction to femininity," Roberts said in an interview with Reuters. "Their mother is, for the male child, their first study of what a woman is. So of course they watch her behaviors, they watch certain things coming from her, and of course are influenced by everything she may teach them." She speculates that in addition to influencing her son to be more open and gentle with other people, she may influence his choice in a mate. "If the mother is very loving, very caring, and displays this to her son, he may be in a position where he's thinking, 'Well, I want a woman like my mother,' or 'I don't want a woman like my mother,'" Roberts explained.

There's just one problem:

If the mother is too close--as in, the son perceives her as his best friend--her son was usually labeled "less-than-considerate" by his significant other. "I think it's clear it can go either way," Roberts told Reuters. "There's the question of 'how much is too much?' If he's too close to his mother, might not that be an obstacle for his spouse?"

The study findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society.

[Jolie Rouge]

Billionaire's Child Gets McD Job

Daughter of Thailand PM Gets Burger Job

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040329%2F1240119311.htm&sc=1120&photoid=20040328BAN01D

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - If Paetongtarn Shinawatra thought she could keep a low profile Monday on her first day working at McDonald's, her hopes were dashed when her father, Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, dropped by for a takeaway.

Thaksin, who became one of Thailand's richest men by investing in telecommunications, let the phalanx of reporters trailing him know that even in the family of a billionaire, the younger generation must learn the value of money and hard work.

``Thai kids, when they finish school, they don't know how to work,'' said Thaksin, as his giggly daughter stood by. Paetongtarn, 17, will be earning $0.60 per hour in her part-time job.

``I just want her to have the experience and to know about life, because she is the youngest child and when she was born her parents already had status,'' he said. ``Money isn't the main issue. We want her to find experience.''


Thaksin didn't say how long he expected his daughter to work at the fast-food restaurant.


Paetongtarn's older sister and brother are among the country's richest shareholders, thanks to a law forcing Cabinet ministers and their wives to give up their shares in most public companies. Thaksin transferred his holdings to his two oldest children in exchange for token payments.


But Paetongtarn will have the satisfaction of knowing she is following in her parents' footsteps.


When Thaksin studied for his undergraduate degree in criminal justice at Eastern Kentucky University in the United States, he worked at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. And when he pursued a doctorate at Sam Houston State University in Texas in the late 1970s, his wife Potjaman helped pay the bills with a job at Burger King.



03/29/04 12:40

[Jolie Rouge]

Slave Reparations TWO BILLION Dollar Suit

Slave descendants sue British, U.S. firms

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0002/20040329/1905129748.htm

NEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - Descendants of black American slaves accused the Lloyds of London insurance firm and two U.S. companies of genocide in a lawsuit on Monday that sought billions of dollars in damages.

The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, seeks $2 billion in punitive damages from London's Society of Lloyd's, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., and FleetBoston Financial Corp. The suit also seeks unspecified actual damages.

Filed on behalf of six adults and two minors, the suit alleges the companies intentionally sought to destroy the plaintiffs' "people, culture, religion and heritage."

The plaintiffs say their ancestors were transported from African nations as part of the slave trade from 1619 to 1865. They allege that Lloyds insured slave ships, while FleetBoston, then called Rhode Island's Providence Bank, financed the ships in the slave trade. R.J. Reynolds, the suit states, profited from plantations.


The companies profited from ethnic cleansing, rape, forced breeding, kidnapping and murder that violate U.N. declarations and international law and are defined as genocide, according to the court papers.


R.J. Reynolds spokeswoman Ellen Matthews said the firm had not yet seen the complaint but added "currently we are not aware of any legal precedent or even a legal theory that would allow these cases to proceed to trial."


A Lloyds spokeswoman in London said that it had not seen the claim and was not in a position to comment. But she added that previous claims regarding slavery had been dismissed.


Officials at FleetBoston did not returns calls.

03/29/04 19:05

[Jolie Rouge]

Injured Driver Lies in Road For 36 Hours

:eek:

The car crash happened on a highway in Friendswood, Texas, a suburb of Houston. After Ed Theisen's automobile was rear-ended, he got out of his vehicle and exchanged insurance information with the other driver. As he was returning to his car, he suddenly felt weak. Thinking he may be having a stroke or heart attack and not wanting to walk into heavy oncoming traffic, Theisen stepped between concrete barriers, grabbing onto one of them as he fell. The Associated Press reports that Theisen had broken his neck in the crash and actually lay paralyzed in the middle of the freeway for 36 hours before anyone rescued him.

Unable to summon help or even move since he was paralyzed from his injuries, Theisen lay on the concrete with traffic buzzing around him on the Gulf Freeway until someone riding in the back of a pickup truck saw him and called police. "The officer poked him with a nightstick thinking he was a dead body, but he was there and he was very much alive," his wife, Debora Rodeffer-Theisen, told AP. When he didn't come home, she thought he had been carjacked and went out looking for him. She drove by him twice. But he was on his side, staring at a concrete wall. His shouts for help could not be heard over the passing traffic.

Even the tow truck driver who removed his banged-up car from the crash scene didn't notice him. Police figured he had just walked away from the accident. His wife told AP what happened when the hospital called her to tell her that her husband was alive: "They said, 'We have him here and he is alive and he is saying he loves you.' He was covered in Houston pollution--it was coming out of every pore--but he was alive." Doctors determined that Theisen, 46, had broken his neck and suffered a spinal cord injury.


Now the family is searching for the person in the pickup truck who saved Ed Theisen's life. "That person, whoever it was, saved his life," Rodeffer-Theisen told AP. "And I just want to find them and say 'Thank you. Thank you for giving me my husband back.'"

[Jolie Rouge]

Bizarre Hazard of a Cluttered Work Desk

Those piles of paper, stacks of folders, and last week's half-filled coffee cup on your office desk mean one thing: You're likely to get sick. British researchers from a company called Analysts with Open Ergonomics conducted a study for Japan's NEC-Mitsubishi and concluded that cluttered desks contribute to worker sickness, reports the BBC News Online. It even has a name: Irritable Desk Syndrome. The opposite is also true. A tidy desk leads to healthy bodies.


The study's purpose was to analyze the desks of 2,000 NEC-Mitsubishi employees and determine specific ways employees can improve their work areas. Fully 40 percent of those surveyed said they were infuriated by the clutter on their desk, but couldn't be bothered to do anything about it. Another 35 percent admitted they suffer from back or neck pain because they knowingly sit at their desk in an awkward position. Lead study author Nigel Robertson, who calls himself a "deskologist," said that cluttered desks should be treated as a serious problem. "What most individuals fail to realize is that desk symptoms typically escalate very quickly, from persistent discomfort to chronic pain which can end a person's career and reduce their quality of life in a wide range of ways."


The BBC says that if the survey results are to be believed, then millions of office workers must be suffering from Irritable Desk Syndrome that is compounded by working long hours and sitting with poor posture. What can you do before it's too late? "The two essentials for less stressful, more productive desk management are: Don't endure, act today; and do it yourself--don't wait for someone else to fix it for you," says Robertson.


Analysts with Open Ergonomics advises you do the following to improve your work area, reports the BBC:

Setting Up: Pay more attention to the way you set up your desk to reduce stress and health risks.

Sitting Pretty: Adjust the way you sit to improve back posture.

Take Five: Take a few minutes to stretch at your desk to reduce injury from routine activity.

Change of Scene: Take regular breaks away from your desk to improve your concentration, overall health, and colleague interaction.

Express Yourself: Give your desk individuality to remind you of life outside work.

Keep Cool: Prevent dehydration and overheating at work to promote higher energy levels.


De-clutter: Organize your desk to reduce stress levels and increase productivity.

[Jolie Rouge]

Casino pulls ad aimed at those in debt

Isleta Casino Resort had run commercial suggesting answer to unpaid bills was the casino

Updated: 3:09 p.m. ET March 30, 2004

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4632329/

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - One of New Mexico’s biggest American Indian-run casinos has pulled a controversial TV ad that promoted gambling as a financial solution to people who are short on cash or deeply in debt.

The Isleta Casino Resort commercial ran earlier this month featuring a young woman who suggested that the answer to unpaid bills piling up from holiday-season shopping sprees could be found at the casino, which operates just south of Albuquerque.

The casino declined to comment on why it pulled the ad, but the spot drew condemnations from numerous critics who said the commercial was morally reprehensible.

“It’s outrageous. This is the first time I’ve heard quite this outlandish an appeal,” said Guy Clark, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition Against Gambling. “This ad aims, like a rifle shot, at New Mexico’s clientele that is uneducated, desperate and poor.”

One image in the ad showed a smiling woman with an outstretched hand receiving dollar bills.

“So, the holidays have passed, and those credit card bills just keep piling up?” an announcer intones in the ad, according to a transcript published in local media. “Well, Isleta Casino Resort comes to your rescue.”

The ad was shown for several weeks before being pulled off the air last week.

“Casinos are set up to make money. The longer you stay, the more you lose. It’s called chasing your losses, and people can end up losing their homes or even taking their lives,” Clark said.

[Jolie Rouge]

Woman Finds Small Tree Frog in Spinach

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story /0001%2F20040330%2F1907166831.htm&sc=1120

KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) - A busy mom was making a green salad when she unexpectedly came across some protein - live protein.

Laurie Kollman was tearing up triple-washed spinach Sunday night when her 11-year-old daughter Ashley saw something moving. It was a small tree frog.

``All last week I'd been pulling out handfuls of spinach,'' said Kollman, who said she'd used the spinach in three earlier salads. ``Then last night I was making salad for today's lunch and found it.''

Kollman uncovered the tiny, lethargic frog and made it a home in a plastic tub, with spinach to eat.


``Mom, it's 'Fear Factor,''' Ashley said in reference to the TV show where people earn prize money by eating all manner of things.


Kollman said the frog perked up after it was freed from the fridge and she took it to school Monday to show to her 20 third-grade students at St. Matthew's School.


The students quickly named it Popeye.



03/30/04 19:07

[the fugative]

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd
March 25, 2004
Adding to the Disney-fanatic adults who have appeared in News of the Weird is George Reiger of Bethlehem, Pa., who has now been tattooed with Disney-related images 1,600 times, adding about one per week. Reiger said he spends $50,000 a year on his Disney habit, owns 19,000 items of memorabilia, and has fitted his house with Disney touches. In February, Reuters news service asked his opinion of chairman Michael Eisner and of potential Disney owner Comcast Corp., both of which Reiger denounced as indifferent to the original Disney magic. "A lot of people ask me," Reiger said, "if I got [a tattoo of Eisner], where would I put it?"

• In December, on their second try, six men managed to set fire to a cross in the yard of a Dade County, Ga., white woman whose daughter was dating a biracial man, but then they couldn't control the flames, which threatened an "innocent" white neighbor, provoking one of the men to call 911, leading eventually to their arrests. The county, in Georgia's northwest corner, is known as the "state of Dade" for its isolation and insularity. It is 99.4 percent white. Sheriff Philip Street did denounce the cross-burning as "old school."

Life imitates 'Christine'

• On Jan. 30, as Angel Eck, 20, drove her Pontiac Sunfire on Interstate Hwy. 70 toward Denver, she suddenly could not slow down. The car was locked in overdrive and climbed to 100 miles per hour; the ignition would not disengage; and the clutch and accelerator were stuck. A half-hour later, two enterprising Denver police officers, having been alerted by cell phone and reprising a tactic from the old "CHiPs" TV show, slowed the car by allowing it to repeatedly bump the rear of their squad car until it came to a stop. A few days later, idling in the shop at Green Mountain Auto Service, the car jumped gears and pinned a mechanic against an inside wall until a colleague set the emergency brake.

• Separation of church and clinic: At a November hearing on Thomas DeVol's business practices, Missouri's Committee of Psychologists also heard evidence that the marriage counselor had described himself as a "Christian psychologist" who estimated that, during his 20-year practice, about 150 of his clients were possessed by demons and other "evil spirits." The committee was still deliberating DeVol's fate at press time. In February in Genoa, Italy, Catholic Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone announced formation of a committee of three priests and three health professionals to decide, in possible cases of satanic possession, whether the parishioner should be referred to counseling or to an exorcist.

• Update: Indian sadhu Lotan (aka Ludkan) Baba was reported in News of the Weird in 1995 for his 2,500-mile holy journey through the Indian countryside traveling by lying on the ground and rolling over and over and over, the entire distance, doing from 6 to 13 miles a day. In September 2003, he set out on a 1,500-mile trip, rolling from Ratlam, India, to Lahore, Pakistan, where he said he hopes to thank President Pervez Musharraf for his India-Pakistan peace initiatives.

• From an underreported profile of Mel Gibson in the New Yorker (Sept. 15, 2003), discussing his then-upcoming film, "The Passion of the Christ": "There is no salvation for those outside the Church. Put it this way. My wife is a saint. She's a much better person than I am. [But] she's Episcopalian. She believes in God, she knows Jesus. Ad it's just not fair if she doesn't make it [to heaven]; she's better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair [that she will not be saved]. I go with it."

• Mile High Outfitters, a back-country expedition organizer in Challis, Idaho, has petitioned the U.S. Forest Service for permission to install three commercial, recreational hot tubs smack in the middle of an unspoiled wilderness area, and the service is now considering the proposal. The public comment period ended early this month. Each tub would require 1,250 gallons of water, heated by wood-burning stove, replenished every three days in-season, even though motorized vehicles to bring the water in are not now permitted.

Least competent criminals

• At his trial in November for stealing $150,000 worth of jewelry from a house, Daniel Dady, 20, offered the defense of lack of motive, in that he had just inherited $30,000 and did not need more. The jury found him guilty anyway, and at his sentencing in January, Judge Peter Jacobs not only sentenced him to 4 1/2 years in detention but also ordered him to hand over the inheritance to his victim as partial restitutio. The judge would not have known about the inheritance had Dady not mentioned it in November.

• A suspected prostitute became the latest police detainee to commandeer a patrol car and drive it away after twisting her body to move her cuffed hands from behind her to the front of her, all in less time than it took officers to walk around the outside of the car (Kensington, Pa., February). A Harrods Estates broker announced that he had sold a private, one-car parking space in the tony Knightsbridge section of London for the equivalent of $187,500.

Precocious kids

• A 7-year-old boy was arrested and charged with sexually molesting a 5-year-old girl (Morristown, N.J., November). An 8-year-old boy, accused of fondling four 7-year-old girls, agreed to enter sex-offender rehabilitation (Mount Clemens, Mich., December). A 12-year-old girl, who was improperly touched by a 40-year-old man, resulting in his conviction for lewd conduct, was revealed by court investigators to have voluntarily performed oral sex on, or had intercourse with, at least 40 men (Monterey, Calif., February).

Also, in the past month: Farrah Daly, 27, who told officers, upon her arrest for allegedly stealing $1 million in jewels from her employer, that she was "too cute" to go to prison," was sentenced to three years in prison (Akron, Ohio). A 30-year-old man challenged as unconstitutional the police search of his 18-month-old son's diaper that produced a stash of cocaine. Police defended the search as legal, in that they had noticed a "large load" in the diaper (Evansville, Ind.), and they prevailed in court. A restaurant selling only dishes made with Hormel's Spam opened in an upscale shopping mall in Manila, Philippines.

:p

[Jolie Rouge]

Is Oprah Obscene?

FCC Is On the Case

After shock jock Howard Stern was burned by a Federal Communications Commission action against his obscenity-laced radio show, he struck back with an Internet and radio assault against Oprah Winfrey, accusing her of the same behavior.

Stern loudly charged the FCC with hypocrisy by going after him and assessing multiple obscenity fines on the radio stations that carried his show, while it did nothing about sexually explicit words and topics aired on the popular "Oprah" talk show. Now The New York Post and PEOPLE magazine report that the federal agency has taken the first step toward investigating Winfrey after it received "more than a few complaints" about her show, a spokeswoman for the FCC said.

The spokeswoman would not reveal to The Post the exact nature of the complaints that have been filed against Winfrey. The FCC must determine from this initial review whether the "Oprah" show can be considered obscene or indecent. If the judgment is yes, then a formal investigation will be launched. Stern points especially to the March 18 "Oprah" show in which the sex practices of teenagers were graphically detailed. To assist his fans, Stern has helpfully placed on his Web site detailed instructions on how to file a complaint with the FCC.

"If they fine me, they gotta fine Oprah, the darling of the world," he told his audience on March 19, after his general manager told him he couldn't play an excerpt from her program, reports The Post. Winfrey has not commented on the investigation.


In February, Stern's radio show was yanked from six stations owned by Clear Channel, although a New York station owned by Infinity is still broadcasting it.

[Jolie Rouge]

Disney `Tigger' Worker Accused of Groping

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/enhancedstory.jsp?floc=FF-APO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0001/20040402/1859319003.htm&photoid=disney.jpg

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A Walt Disney World employee in a Tigger costume was arrested Friday on charges of groping a 13-year-old girl and her mother while posing with them for pictures.

Michael Chartrand, 36, was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a child and simple battery and was jailed on $2,500 bail.


A Disney spokeswoman said he was suspended without pay.

Chartrand was accused of fondling the breasts of the girl and her mother at the Magic Kingdom on Feb. 21. The girl and her father reported the incident Feb. 29.



04/02/04 18:59

[Jolie Rouge]

Scary Warning About Too Much Coffee

Caffeine--even for those hard-core coffee drinkers who consume five or six cups a day--could be a factor in raising blood pressure. It's long been thought that people build up a tolerance to caffeine's blood pressure-raising effects, but new research from the VA Medical Center and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City shows that may not be true, reports Reuters. Those who are at risk of hypertension may want to reconsider that second cup of morning coffee.

The study: While caffeine does cause a short-term rise in blood pressure, it has never been proven that caffeine is a risk factor for hypertension. So this study tested whether building up caffeine tolerance created smaller blood pressure responses. Ninety-seven adults who regularly drink caffeinated beverages were given what study leader William R. Lavallo calls a "caffeine challenge" of two separate doses of caffeine taken four hours apart. During each of three weeks, they were given pills containing: nothing (a placebo); 300 milligrams of caffeine, the equivalent of three cups of coffee; or 600 milligrams of caffeine, which is about six cups of coffee.


The results: Half of the participants were totally tolerant to caffeine's effects and showed no blood pressure changes; however, the other half did experience small spikes in blood pressure shortly after taking caffeine capsules, even after spending the previous five days downing the equivalent of six cups of coffee per day.


The takeaway: The blood pressure responses in those who were not tolerant to caffeine's effects were small--a few points only. And for most people, this is likely to be harmless. But for those who already have hypertension or have risk factors for it, it may be wise to consume less caffeine. The study findings were reported in the journal Hypertension.

[Jolie Rouge]

Vampire Bats Kill 13 People in Brazil


RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Rabies-carrying vampire bats killed at least 13 people in a remote Amazon town in Brazil's northern state of Para last month, authorities said on Friday.

The state health care department said the thumb-sized creatures had attacked about 300 people -- an unusually high number -- since March 2 in the riverside Portel area, next to the world's biggest estuarine archipelago of Marajo.

"All the deceased had a history of recent bat attacks and six of them had confirmed human rabies from bat bites," a department spokeswoman said.

Other bite victims received vaccines and other anti-rabies treatment after March 19, when authorities became aware of the problem.

The spokeswoman said government scientists suspect the attacks are linked to a change in the bats' migration pattern caused by deforestation.


"There is no guarantee that we won't have more cases," she added.


The most recent death occurred last weekend.


Vampire bats normally feed on the blood of large birds and sleeping cattle, lapping it from cuts they make with their teeth. They often transmit rabies to cattle.



04/02/04 18:02

[Jolie Rouge]

The Newest (and Surprising!) Hair Trend

You may not believe this, but the latest trend in hair is to toss away the dye and just go gray. That's the word from beauty author Diana Lewis Jewell, who is so convinced she's right about this that she wrote a book called "Going Gray, Looking Great! The Modern Woman's Guide to Unfading Glory" that features dozens of interviews with glamorous gray-haired gals.

Wireless Flash reports that Jewell insists attitudes are changing, so more and more people view gray as hip, modern, and sexy. This is especially true in big cities like New York. She points to the baby boomers' silver-haired role models: Emmylou Harris, Dame Judy Dench, and Judy Collins. They're gray and they are seen as sex symbols.

Here's the most amazing part for any woman who has sprouted a few (or more) gray hairs: Jewell says she spoke with many younger men who told her they love gray-haired women. Why? It shows a woman is mature and knows who she is. Jewell gamely predicts that this is the beginning of a gray-haired revolution. After years of being a bottle blonde, she herself has gone au natural. Just remember this: It's not gray. It's silver. And you know how valuable silver is!

[Jolie Rouge]

Metallic sound heard again by space station crew
Friday, April 2, 2004 Posted: 3:13 PM EST

www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/04/02/space.station.ap/index.html

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- The two men aboard the international space station heard a strange metallic sound again Friday, four months after being startled by it the first time.

Cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri was talking to flight controllers in Moscow when he heard a loud drumlike noise coming from the instrument panel of the station's Russian-built living quarters.

Kaleri and astronaut Michael Foale first heard the mystery noise -- described as a flapping sheet of metal -- back in late November. Neither the crewmen nor flight controllers were ever able to identify the sound, although engineers suspected space junk may have damaged something on the exterior.

Kaleri said Friday morning's noise came from about the same place as before and sounded the same.

"I had the headset on, so I didn't hear it very clearly. But it sounded sort of like a drum. It sounds sort of like a sheet of something being bent," the cosmonaut reported.

Russian flight controllers told Kaleri that they would try to figure out where the noise was coming from, and speculated that perhaps one of the systems inside the station was the source of the problem, rather than something on the outside.

NASA officials, however, said all systems appeared to be operating properly.

"It's very strange," Russian Mission Control said. "I doubt that it would be a coincidence that you're hearing the same thing coming from the same place."

During a spacewalk in February, Kaleri and Foale were supposed to check the exterior of the space station where the noise originated last November. But Kaleri's spacesuit overheated and became damp, and the spacewalk had to be cut short, so the men did not have time to inspect the area.

Kaleri and Foale's six-month space station mission is almost over. Their replacements are due to arrive in another 21/2 weeks.

[Jolie Rouge]

Principal Washes Dye Out of Kid's Hair

Parents Threaten to Sue :rolleyes:

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040405%2F1054390303.htm&sc=1120

AUBURN, Calif. (AP) - It used to be that schoolchildren might get their mouths washed out for using blue language. These days at Pleasant Ridge Elementary School, they're more likely to have their hair washed out - for sporting a blue mohawk.

Parents of a 6-year-old boy say they plan to consult an attorney after a school principal washed bright blue dye out of their son's punk-style haircut.

Levey Padocs Jr.'s father said he allowed his son to get the distinctive 'do more than a month ago for behaving better in class.

But parents of the boy's kindergarten classmates complained the haircut would spoil an upcoming class photo, so Principal Derek Cooper said he washed the boy's hair in the nurse's office after getting permission from the boy's mother.

The boy's father said neither he nor the mother approved the washing. They plan to discuss the situation with an attorney. ``Leave him alone. He's not a problem child. He's not hurting anyone,'' Levey Padocs Sr. said. ``He's an individual, and that's how he's expressing his individuality.''


04/05/04 10:54

[Jolie Rouge]

Activists Scream Over Booze-Flavored Ice Cream

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040405%2F0856386959.htm&sc=reodd

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A new vodka-flavored ice cream launched in Australia provoked an outcry Saturday from groups worried it would give children a taste for alcohol.

The booze-flavored Illicit Vodka Cranberry Magnum ice creams hit the shelves just months after biscuit-maker Arnott's new Tia Maria Tim Tams and Kahlua Slices prompted fears that the liquor-laced biscuits would encourage children to drink.

"These products normalize alcohol and suggest to people that they ought to be thinking about alcohol just about every hour of the day," said Geoff Munro, Community Alcohol Action Network director. "It introduces children to the taste of alcohol at potentially a very early age and I think that should be avoided," he told Australian Associated Press.

Streets, which makes the Magnums now on sale in Victoria state as part of its "vice-cream" range, said the ice creams contained only vodka flavoring and no alcohol.

The firm's marketing general manager David McNeil told the Herald Sun newspaper the ice creams were promoted only to adults. He added that rum and raisin has been a popular ice cream flavor for 30 years.

04/05/04 08:56

[Jolie Rouge]

Barge Rams Bridge, Deliberately

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040405%2F1312395157.htm&sc=reodd

MIAMI April 5 (Reuters) - A 1,000-tonbarge rammed into a pier supporting an aging bridge over Florida's Apalachicola Bay last week, delighting civil engineers, who plan to ram it a dozen more times.

The old St. George Island Causeway Bridge was scheduled for demolition anyway, so the Florida Department of Transportation and engineers at the University of Florida set up a $1 million experiment to collect crash-impact data that will help them design safer bridges.

"It's something that we don't get to do very often," Henry Bollman, senior bridge designer with the department, said on Monday. "We rammed the channel pier once last week. ... Today we'll have hopefully two collisions."

The bridge and the barge are fitted with more than 150 sensors to provide a microsecond-by-microsecond record of the impact load as the barge hits the bridge at increasingly faster speeds. Most bridge design standards are based on tests using scale models, so the data collected from the crash tests could affect national design codes, the engineers said.

They rented the 150-foot (45-meter) barge from a contractor who built the newly opened replacement bridge connecting the small town of East Point to St. George's Island. When the tests are done, the experimenters will pay to have the vessel repaired. The bridge will be demolished and the pieces sunk to create an artificial reef for fish.


04/05/04 13:11

[Jolie Rouge]

Missing N.Y. Woman Found in Storage Unit

By WILLIAM KATES

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040406%2F1335434763.htm&sc=1110

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - The body of a woman missing since 1990 was found stuffed inside a container at a rental storage unit, and authorities charged her then-boyfriend with murder.

George W. Geddes Jr. was ordered held without bail Monday in the death of Margaret Reome, 31.





Her badly decomposed body was found inside a container last week at a U-Haul Self Storage facility in Cicero, about 10 miles north of Syracuse.

Reome's dental records were used to identify her. Officials said she died from severe trauma to the head.


The victim's three children attended Geddes' arraignment Monday.


``I want to tell him how much I hate him,'' Jerilyn Reome said, ``because he took my mother.''


Geddes had a criminal history dating back to 1978, and he was convicted in 1993 of raping a 13-year-old girl.


``That girl was me,'' Jerilyn Reome told The Post-Standard of Syracuse. ``I think (my mother) found out he sexually abused me and she confronted him.''


``Talk about dying for your kids,'' she said. Her mother disappeared just two weeks after Geddes was arrested in the rape.


Last summer, local authorities learned that Geddes was renting the 5-foot-by-5-foot storage unit. But it wasn't until last month that they realized he had not reported it to federal officials as required by the terms of his probation, Sheriff Kevin Walsh said.


The FBI obtained a search warrant.


``I don't think there's anybody in law enforcement who would think a defendant would be that stupid to keep a dead body in a storage shed rented under his own name,'' District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said. ``Luckily, people like this keep us in business.''


Reome apparently was killed sometime in February 1990 at the apartment she shared with Geddes in Mattydale, a Syracuse suburb. Investigators searched the apartment at the time, but did not find any evidence, Walsh said.


Walsh said the family waited a month to report Reome missing, which gave Geddes a chance to conceal his crime. Police believe Geddes may have stored the body shortly after the murder. He was paying $38 a month for the unit.


``Contrary to what you see on television shows, dead bodies are difficult to get rid of,'' Fitzpatrick said.


Fitzpatrick said Geddes gave investigators a statement incriminating himself but declined to offer any specifics. FBI agents took Geddes into custody Thursday.


Police said the unit smelled when they opened it, though no one had apparently noticed the odor before.



04/06/04 13:34

[Jolie Rouge]

Flushed with pride: Vicki Wigger says "our Toilet Fund-raiser for Northwestern Middle School in Zachary was a huge success. We made about $3,400 for the school. Thanks for your help in getting the toilets to paint. The community had a lot of fun with this fund-raiser. We plan to make it an annual event."

In case you missed it, the Zachary folks painted up old toilets and put them out in front of selected houses, then charged the homeowners for their removal.

Unless the homeowner thought they looked attractive and kept them …


What, me paranoid?
Lydia Pourciau tells of seeing disturbing messages on bumper stickers:

"Buckle up. It makes it harder for the aliens to snatch you from your car."

"Dangerously under-medicated."

Christy Thomas and husband Gene saw this bumper sticker on the back of a pickup "that must have been driven by a rice farmer:"

"Eat rice. Potatoes make your butt big."

[Jolie Rouge]

Eeeyew!!!!

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040407%2F1324474776.htm&sc=reodd

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Body piercing and tattoos make way. The latest fashion trend to hit the Netherlands is eyeball jewelry.

Dutch eye surgeons have implanted tiny pieces of jewelry called "JewelEye" in the mucous membrane of the eyes of six women and one man in cosmetic surgery pioneered by an ophthalmic surgery research and development institute in Rotterdam.

The procedure involves inserting a 3.5 mm (0.13 inch) wide 1 piece of specially developed jewelry -- the range includes a glittering half-moon or heart -- into the eye's mucous membrane under local anaesthetic at a cost of 500 to 1,000 euros ($1,232).

"In my view it is a little more subtle than (body) piercing. It is a bit of a fun thing and a very personal thing for people," said Gerrit Melles, director of the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery (www.NIIOC.nl).


The piece of jewelry is inserted in the conjunctiva -- the mucous membrane lining the inner surface of the eyelids and front of the eyeball -- in sterile conditions using an operating microscope in a procedure taking about 15 minutes.


"Without doing any harm to the eye we can implant a jewel in the conjunctiva," Melles said. "So far we have not seen any side effects or complications and we don't expect any in the future."


The Rotterdam-based institute, which develops new ocular surgical techniques in corneal, cataract and retinal surgery, developed and patented the jewelry made with special materials and the surgical procedure.


The institute, which carries out the procedure in cooperation with an eye clinic near the city of Utrecht, said it has a waiting list for people who wanted the implant.



04/07/04 13:23

[Jolie Rouge]

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040407%2F1346475527.htm&sc=reodd


LONDON (Reuters) - A woman in Mexico gave birth to a healthy baby boy after performing a Caesarian section on herself with a kitchen knife, doctors said Tuesday.

The unidentified 40-year-old woman, who lived in a rural area without electricity, running water or sanitation and was an eight-hour drive from the nearest hospital, performed the operation when she could not deliver the baby naturally. She had lost a previous baby due to labor complications.

"She took three small glasses of hard liquor and, using a kitchen knife, sliced her abdomen in three attempts ... and delivered a male infant that breathed immediately and cried," said Dr R.F. Valle, of the Dr. Manuel Velasco Suarez Hospital in San Pablo, Mexico.


Valle recounted the event in a report in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.


Before losing consciousness, the woman told one of her children to call a local nurse for help. After the nurse stitched the wound with a sewing needle and cotton thread, the mother and baby were transferred and treated by Valle and his colleagues at the nearest hospital.


"This case represents an unusual and extraordinary decision by a women in labor who, unable to deliver herself spontaneously, and with no medical help or resources, decided to perform a Caesarian section upon herself," Valle said.



04/07/04 13:45

[Jolie Rouge]

Man to bet all on Vegas roulette spin
Now the subject of TV show
Thursday, April 8, 2004 Posted: 11:19 AM

www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/08/people.bet.reut/index.html

Will it be red -- or black? Or zero or double zero? Ashley Revell's life savings is riding on one spin.

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- A British man who has sold all his possessions, including his clothes, will stand in a rented tuxedo on Sunday and bet everything on a single spin of the roulette wheel.

If he wins, he doubles his money. If he loses, he will be left with only the television crew documenting his every move.

Ashley Revell, a 32-year-old Londoner, said he was worth about 75,000 pounds ($138,000) after he sold everything in March.

"I thought I was worth at least 100,000 pounds," he said in a telephone interview from Las Vegas, where he is putting in a week gambling about $3,000 in a bid to raise his pot.

By Wednesday, he was down $1,000.

Revell said he had planned to have a friend videotape his bet-it-all spin, but Britain's Sky One television decided it was worth a short reality series, called "Double or Nothing."

Sky will not pay him, he says, but a crew has followed his preparation and will cover the spin live on Sunday at the Hard Rock casino in Las Vegas. It also plans to follow him for a month afterward, win or lose.

Revell, recently a professional gambler, said he decided to take a big plunge while he was still young and raised the stakes as high as possible, including selling his clothes.

"I like to do things properly," he said.

He had not decided yet whether to place his money or red or black on Sunday afternoon.

"I don't know, man," he said. "One of them is going to be the right thing to say and one is going to be the wrong thing."

He added that if he won he would probably take his winnings rather than spin again.

[Jolie Rouge]

Cross-Dressing Heats Up Republican Race

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/stor y/0002%2F20040407%2F0916466353.htm&sc=reodd

DALLAS (Reuters) - What started as a dull runoff race to field a Republican candidate for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives has heated up due to a controversy over cross-dressing.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported on Tuesday photographs of candidate Sam Walls dressed in women's clothes have circulated among political leaders in Johnson County, south of Fort Worth. Local Republican leaders confirmed separately that they had seen the photographs of Walls in a wig, dress and high heels.

Walls, who has the endorsement of several leading Republicans in the state and was expected to win the run-off, was not available for comment. He said in comments printed in the Star-Telegram that he will not drop out of the race due to a campaign of blackmail. "Through intermediaries, my opponent told me to drop out of the campaign or the private information would be released," Walls told the paper. "Now my opponent is using the information in an attempt to intimate that I am a homosexual, which I am not."


Walls, 64, who describes himself as a fervent Baptist, told the paper his family had "dealt with" the issue of his cross-dressing and that he asked for forgiveness.


The opponent in question is Rob Orr and his campaign officials said they have not distributed the photos.


Jeff Judd, the county chairman of the Republican party, said it was too late for Walls to drop out of the April 13 runoff. "It would have been much better judgment for him not to have run," he said.



04/07/04 09:16

[the fugative]

:D


Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd
April 8, 2004
Louis Kadlecek, 21, who had never even been in an airplane before, broke into a hangar at an airport near Lake Jackson, Texas, on Feb. 29, and, using trial and error, got a Cessna 172 airborne for about a mile, intending to fly to Mexico, before slamming into power lines. Although the crash left the plane a total loss, Kadlecek climbed out and walked home, but sheriff's deputies, based on witnesses' descriptions, arrested him the next day. One Brazoria County aviation official estimated that stunt pilots might survive an incident like that one time in 1,000. Said another, "This guy used up all the luck he's ever going to have."

• From a March Boston Globe interview with Morgan Lee, newly crowned Miss Gothic Massachusetts (asked how she would describe Goth): "It's really a style and a way of thinking. Basically, you're miserable all the time. We just see the darker side that other people tend to ignore. The most interesting people are always the saddest." Asked what her boyfriend thinks of her: "He's very proud of me. He's not a very descript person, kind of like an amoeba, but very cultured."

Our litigious society

• In February, free-lance photographer Robert Levin sued the Waste Management company for $50 million for injuries (including brain damage) he received while trying to take photographs at New York City's Ground Zero in December 2001. Levin had surreptitiously climbed atop one of the company's garbage trucks to get a better vantage point when the driver pulled away, causing Levin to fall, which Levin now says showed Waste Management's "failure to respect my rights as a pedestrian."

• British postal worker Alan Pugh sued a Wolverhampton University religious studies teacher in Birmingham County Court (England) who he said had put too much outgoing mail in a letter box, causing Pugh to injure himself trying to haul it away. The lecturer had mailed 270 oversized envelopes, totaling around 50 pounds.

• According to the New York State Police, Stephen Pappadake, 17, was speeding (80 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone) and passing multiple cars illegally on the morning of April 29, 2003, when he lost control of his car, crashed and died. In January 2004, Pappadake's parents sued the last driver that Stephen was illegally passing, who they said had veered to the left, causing Stephen to leave the road and crash. The lawsuit made no reference to police conclusions.

• On the morning of July 7, 2001, a vandal tossed detergent into the fountain in Canal Park in Duluth, Minn., producing a massive, continuing mountain of bubbles. About four hours later, Kathy J. Kelly, walking by the still-foamy mound, failed to steer clear enough, fell on the soap-slippery sidewalk, and suffered several injuries including, eventually, gangrene. She sued the city for not having cleaned the fountain or roped off the area. In March, a jury ruled in her favor, finding that 30 percent of the fault was hers for getting too close but that 70 percent was the city's. (Jurors were not allowed to assess the fault of the original vandal.)

Least competent criminals

• Sandy L. Warren, 43, was arrested in March and charged with stealing an 8-ton cherry-picker from a construction equipment dealership in Redmond, Wash. A dealership employee had spotted the cherry-picker parked in Warren's front yard in Redmond with a for-sale sign on it ($28,990 OBO). Ronald Plaster, 21, and Amber Plaster, 20, were arrested in Meadville, Pa., in February after an investigation of sexual assault against two teenagers; the investigation was started when Amber walked into a police station and asked, out of curiosity, whether it was legal for a 21-year-old man to have sex with a 15-year-old girl.

• "Repressed memory" was a popular psychiatric diagnosis in the 1980s, with well-credentialed doctors convincing patients that the cause of their unhappiness was a history of sordid sexual episodes that they had buried deep in their subconscious. Three doctors persuaded Chicago-area resident Elizabeth Gale that she had been the victim of a satanic cult that had used her to breed children just for sex and pornography, and she acceded to now-widely discredited treatment including druggings, tie-downs, hypnosis, a tubal ligation and 18 hospitalizations covering 2,016 days during her 12-year ordeal. In February, Gale settled a lawsuit against the doctors and two hospitals for $7.5 million. One of the doctors, Bennett Braun, lost a similar case in 1997 for $10.6 million.

Undignified deaths

• An 18-year-old man drowned near Eudora, Ark., in December, when he accidentally fell into a pit of water while attempting to drown his pit bull, which he thought was too old and docile, and the man's father also drowned when he jumped in to save his son. The dog survived. When a construction trench collapsed in New York City in December, a worker was buried up to his neck, and emergency crews were summoned, but before they could arrive, a co-worker manning a backhoe tried to dig him out, but accidentally decapitated him.

• In the past month: A woman with a near-record short name, Li Uv, 80, died in Providence, R.I., survived by her daughter, Ep Te. Scientists from all over the world headed for the village of Mohammad Pur Umri, India, following news that one of every 10 births there in recent years resulted in twins vs. the worldwide probability of 1 in 300. A 35-year-old motorist stunned by the Madrid bombings pleaded guilty to trying to run down a pedestrian who resembled Osama bin Laden, who dodged the car, which crashed into a tree (Montpellier, France).

:p

[Jolie Rouge]

8th-Grade Boy Stabbed 40 Times

An 8th-grader found slain in a middle school bathroom was stabbed at least 40 times, and wounds on his hand indicate he may have tried to fend off the attack, officials said.
Friday, April 9, 2004 Posted: 1:19 PM EDT (1719 GMT)

www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/04/09/student.death.ap/index.html


MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- An eighth-grader found slain in a middle school bathroom was stabbed at least 40 times, and wounds on his hand indicate he may have tried to fend off the attack, the medical examiner's office said.

In findings released Thursday, Miami-Dade County officials said most of the wounds 14-year-old Jaime Gough suffered were to his face and neck. Seven were on his right hand.

"The medical examiner's report is just devastating for Jaime's family," said their attorney, Lee Marks. "The stab wounds to his hands make it apparent that Jaime fought, and that makes it even more difficult."

The victim, described as a good student who liked baseball and played the violin and flute, was found bleeding to death February 3 in a boys' restroom at Southwood Middle School in affluent, suburban Palmetto Bay.

Police say Michael Hernandez, also 14, gave a detailed confession on the day of the killing. As a juvenile charged as an adult, he could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

Hernandez's attorney, Richard Rosenbaum, did not return a phone message seeking comment Friday. John Spencer, a psychologist on the boy's defense team, said the number of wounds indicates "the severe disturbance of the person who inflicted them."

Miami-Dade County school officials declined to comment.

[Jolie Rouge]

Choosing a Car Color? This One Is Safest

If you're in the market for a new car, choose one that is silver. Why? Silver cars are involved in far fewer crashes than cars of other colors. According to a study by researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand that assessed the effect of car colors on the risk of serious injury in over 1,000 Auckland drivers between 1998-99, silver cars were 50 percent less likely to be involved in a crash resulting in a serious injury when compared with white cars.


Reuters reports that the least safe car colors are brown, black, and green. The risk factor for white, yellow, gray, red, and blue cars is in the middle range and about the same for each. Globally, about 3,000 people die every day in a car crash. About half the drivers in this study had been involved in a crash in which one or more of the occupants had been admitted to the hospital or died, while 571 were not involved in crashes and served as a control group, reports Reuters. Even after taking into account the vehicle and road conditions, driver's age, gender, and educational level, as well as whether the driver had been using drugs or alcohol and had worn a seatbelt, the color of the car still had an impact on the likelihood of a crash.


Why?

The researchers have no idea, but they speculate that silver, a light color that is highly reflective, may make cars more visible on the highway. "Increasing the proportion of silver cars could be an effective passive strategy to reduce the burden of injury from car crashes," lead study author Sue Furness told Reuters. Silver was also the most popular car color in the United States, Europe, and Asia last year, according to the most recent DuPont Global Color Popularity. The study findings were published in the British Medical Journal.

[Jolie Rouge]

For the first time in more than a decade, the year's most popular baby name for boys is not Biblical. Move over Michael and Matthew and make room for Aidan, Jaden, and Caden--the top three boys' names for 2003, according to BabyNames.com. Meanwhile, Madison has hung on for another year as the top name for girls, which as near as anyone can figure comes from the 1984 movie "Splash," starring Daryl Hannah in the role of a mermaid named Madison.



Top 10 boys' names:

1. Aidan/Aiden/Aden
2. Jaden/Jayden
3. Caden/Kaden
4. Ethan
5. Caleb
6. Dylan
7. Jacob
8. Jordan
9. Logan
10. Hayden


Top 10 girls' names:

1. Madison
2. Emma
3. Abigail
4. Riley
5. Chloe
6. Hannah
7. Alexis
8. Isabella
9. Mackenzie
10. Taylor


The shift in the choice of boys' names is really quite notable.

"Traditionally, you see more of a fluctuation and creativity in girls' names, but this is the first year we have seen such a big change in the boys' name list," admitted Jennifer Moss, a senior partner with BabyNames.com. "In the past 20 years, Celtic and English names--such as Ashley, Caitlyn, and Brianna--have been extremely popular for girls," adds Moss. "And now that trend is entering the boys' list with Aidan, Dylan, Logan, and Connor--a huge break from the usual trend of Biblical names like Michael and Jacob. We think as names become uni-gender for girls, parents are taking more risks and being more creative and unique with naming their boys."

[Jolie Rouge]

The Best Reason Ever Not to Vacuum

If you're looking for the best excuse ever to avoid household chores, we've got it for you: Vacuuming, dusting, and even making up the bed kicks up so much dust into the air that such chores will actually increase your exposure to particulate pollution, according to a new study from Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y.

What is in household dust?

It's a scary roundup: Certain toxic chemicals, such as lead, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are routinely found in the dust in typical homes. And doing just about anything, including walking around your house, is enough to kick up these toxic dust particles. They are created by the way we live--cooking, smoking, and heating appliances. And these particles are wicked. They're lurking in our carpets, rugs, and beds, and we breathe them in. They're implicated in asthma and diseases of the heart and lungs. While the whole point of vacuuming is to gather up the dust, this actually creates a flurry of particles in the air--only some of which ends up in the vacuum cleaner filter. The rest hangs in the air for you to breathe in. "The more vigorous the activity, the more dust you get," lead study author Andrea Ferro, who is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Clarkson, explained in the news release announcing her research findings.


What can you do to minimize your exposure to particle pollution?

First, realize it's basically unavoidable. While this dust will always be hanging in the air, it doesn't mean your home is toxic. But if you are particularly sensitive, do this:

--Rip up the carpet and install wood or vinyl floors. Carpets have 10 times the particle-emission rates of wood.

--Make sure your home is well ventilated. Get plenty of fresh air from the outside as often as the weather permits.

--Open the windows when vacuuming, dusting, frying, or painting.

--Clean the house on a day when you can open the windows.

--Leave your shoes at the door. This will stop a lot of harmful chemicals from getting tracked into your home.

[Jolie Rouge]

BRAIN SIZE

;)

{{ Now, what were *you* thinking ?? }}


When it comes to sex, size does matter--the size of a specific part of the brain, that is. Australian researchers from the University of Melbourne have determined that a man or woman's sex drive may be proportional to the size of his or her amygdala, a miniature "emotion" center that is nestled at the base of the brain, reports Nature News Service.


As small as an almond, the amygdala has long been known to process our reactions to fear. But now researchers think it may do something else as well: focus our attention on provocative emotional cues. Previous studies have shown, for example, that the amygdala is stimulated by erotic movies, and it's considered vital for mating behavior in many animals. But until now, the size of the amygdala was never considered important.

The Australian team, led by David Reutens, scanned the brains of 45 patients who had chronic epilepsy, which is known to short-circuit sex drive. Nature News notes that as part of the treatment for epilepsy, each had undergone surgery to remove part of his or her brain, which freed up the remaining areas to run more normally.

Here's the interesting finding: Those patients who had the greatest amount of amygdala left intact after the surgery also had the greatest sex drives. Reutens suggests this means the amygdala boosts the likelihood of a sexual trigger that leads to arousal.


Does it hold true for the rest of us?

That's the next step in the research, which will entail comparing the relationship of amygdala size and sex drive in a large group. And if there is a definite relationship? "They discovered something quite extraordinary," Jim Pfaus, who studies sexual behavior at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, told Nature News. The research was published in the Annals of Neurology.

[Jolie Rouge]

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040410%2F1545661278.htm&sc=1110

PHOENIX (AP) - A woman who prostituted her 13-year-old daughter in exchange for crack has been sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to spend the rest of her life on probation.

JoAndrea Peeler, 37, was sentenced Friday under a plea agreement that forbids her to have any contact with her daughter, unless the girl initiates the contact on her own and her therapist approves.

Peeler avoided a potential 200-year sentence when she pleaded guilty in February to one count of child prostitution and two counts of attempted child prostitution.

Peeler was arrested in August when she arranged a meeting to buy crack but was met by police. She admitted using drugs with her daughter and arranging for the girl to have sex with men in exchange for drugs, police said.


Before Peeler's arrest, Child Protective Services had received complaints that the girl had been left home alone. The girl was released to a relative but no one discovered the teenager's drug addiction, and she was returned to her mother, authorities said.



04/10/04 15:45

[Jolie Rouge]

FLINT, Mich. (AP) - A group of children hunting for Easter eggs Saturday during a church event found two loaded handguns outside an elementary school.

Flint police said officers were called to the scene and also recovered a BB gun and a broken toy gun on the grounds of Gundry Elementary School. No one was injured, Sgt. Michael Coote said. One of the guns discharged when it was dropped, according to a police report, but it was unclear who dropped it.

The pastor of Ruth Street Baptist Church told WJRT-TV that one of the handguns had a bullet in the chamber, and the other handgun's clip had bullets in it. ``It's terrible that something like this has happened,'' Pastor Namon Marshall told the station.


Coote said he did not know how long the guns had been in the park.


Police opened an investigation after confiscating the weapons.



04/10/04 23:24

[Jolie Rouge]

[b]Man to bet all on Vegas roulette spin
Now the subject of TV show[b]

Thursday, April 8, 2004 Posted: 11:19 AM

www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/...reut/index.html

Will it be red -- or black? Or zero or double zero? Ashley Revell's life savings is riding on one spin.

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- A British man who has sold all his possessions, including his clothes, will stand in a rented tuxedo on Sunday and bet everything on a single spin of the roulette wheel.

If he wins, he doubles his money. If he loses, he will be left with only the television crew documenting his every move.

Ashley Revell, a 32-year-old Londoner, said he was worth about 75,000 pounds ($138,000) after he sold everything in March.

"I thought I was worth at least 100,000 pounds," he said in a telephone interview from Las Vegas, where he is putting in a week gambling about $3,000 in a bid to raise his pot.

By Wednesday, he was down $1,000.

Revell said he had planned to have a friend videotape his bet-it-all spin, but Britain's Sky One television decided it was worth a short reality series, called "Double or Nothing."

Sky will not pay him, he says, but a crew has followed his preparation and will cover the spin live on Sunday at the Hard Rock casino in Las Vegas. It also plans to follow him for a month afterward, win or lose.

Revell, recently a professional gambler, said he decided to take a big plunge while he was still young and raised the stakes as high as possible, including selling his clothes.

"I like to do things properly," he said.

He had not decided yet whether to place his money or red or black on Sunday afternoon.

"I don't know, man," he said. "One of them is going to be the right thing to say and one is going to be the wrong thing."

He added that if he won he would probably take his winnings rather than spin again.


Man bets all on roulette and wins
Now the subject of TV show

Sunday, April 11, 2004 Posted: 9:17 PM EDT (0117 GMT)

www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/11/roulette.win.reut/index.html

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (Reuters) -- A British man who sold all his possessions, including his clothes, stood in a rented tuxedo on Sunday surrounded by family and friends and bet everything on a single spin of the roulette wheel.

He won't go home empty handed.

Ashley Revell, a 32-year-old Londoner, sold all his possessions in March, took $135,300 to the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, did some low stakes gambling and then placed everything he had left on "Red."

The wheel was spun, a crowd of supporters including his Mum and Dad from London went wild, the ball bobbled over the slots and landed on Red '7' -- and Revell walked away with $270,600.

"It all happened so quickly, it was spinning before I knew it," Revell said, adding he did not intend to try to double it again. He gave a $600 tip to the croupier and plans to party -- and buy some clothes.

"It's really down to my friends and family and Mum and Dad," he told Reuters Television. "I knew even if I lost I'd always have a home to go to."

"I'm still against it," said his Dad. "He shouldn't have done it. He's a naughty boy. I tell my kids they shouldn't gamble. I've got four others and they're all going to want to go the same way."

"It's just brilliant," said Ashley Hames, a friend from London in Las Vegas for the occasion. "He's put his neck on the line and got away with it. It's absolutely great."

"It bobbled for a second and I just thought, 'Oh no, it's not going to do it,'" said another friend, James Frederick. "But it did and I'm made up for him. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy."

Asked if he wanted to try his luck again, Revell said: "No that's it for me. I think he'd like me to do it again, but no that's it," gesturing to a casino host. "I don't want to ride my luck," he said as the champagne began to flow.

This week, the gambling spirits had seemed against him. He put in a week gambling about $3,000 in a bid to raise his pot.

Revell, recently a professional gambler, said he decided to take a big plunge while he was still young and had raised the stakes as high as possible, including selling his clothes.

"I like to do things properly," he said.

Revell said he had planned to have a friend videotape his bet-it-all spin, but Britain's Sky One television decided it was worth a short reality series, called "Double or Nothing."

Sky will not pay him, he says, but a crew from Dai4 Films has followed his preparations and covered the spin at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. It also plans to follow him for a month afterward.

[Jolie Rouge]

San Francisco Selling Its List of Married Gays

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040413%2F1208759877.htm&sc=reodd&photoid=20040218NY808

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco, which ignited a passionate nationwide debate by allowing thousands of gays to marry earlier this year, is selling its list of the newlyweds, the mayor says.

"They're public documents already and I think they're selling for cost," Mayor Gavin Newsom told Reuters in a short interview Monday at the opening home game of the San Francisco Giants. "What we had is the first few weeks is people going down by hand and writing them out. We said we'll put them together for you." The list will sell for $65.

Newsom gave the green light for homosexuals to marry starting in February. More than 4,000 gay couples wed over the following month before the practice was halted by the California Supreme Court pending further legal review. The list could interest those who market products to gay couples, although it could also bring some gays unwanted attention.

Newsom said only a few people had bought the list, adding that the service was not aimed at adding to the city's coffers. "We're not marketing the thing; we've made it available for those who otherwise were going to spend hundreds of dollars for someone to go down and do it," he said, before throwing out the first pitch in the ball game.



04/13/04 12:08

[Jolie Rouge]

A Mobile Phone That Goes Off with a Bang

HONG KONG (Reuters) - When Chan Tin-hon's mobile phone went off, it went off with a bang. "I was lining up in a bank," the 22-year-old from Hong Kong told local Cable TV. "When I hung up the phone, it exploded. It was very loud."

The station showed Chan's phone, a Nokia 3310, in tatters and a spokeswoman for the manufacturer said they would investigate. "We've been in contact with the police. It's confirmed that it was a Nokia phone," the spokeswoman said. "We're trying to get hold of the product for technical testing. But as we haven't got hold of the product yet, we can't provide further information at the moment," she added.


Last year there were several incidents of Nokia phones exploding or bursting into flames in Europe. Nokia said other manufacturers' batteries, and not its own, were to blame for the incidents.


Consumer groups in Italy and Belgium said an independent laboratory test they commissioned showed two types of Nokia batteries lacked safety valves to prevent overheating and fire in case of a short-circuit, but the company disputed the results. It was unclear if the phone in Tuesday's incident had been bought from a licensed dealer.


04/13/04 12:06

[Jolie Rouge]

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-rontz&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040414%2F1649813251.htm&sc=rontz

By Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Strange planetoid Sedna, the most distant object in the solar system, was supposed to have a companion moon, but even the Hubble Space Telescope could not find it, scientists said on Wednesday.

Astronomers who first detected Sedna had expected to find a moon orbiting their discovery, mostly because Sedna was spinning so slowly that they figured a satellite must be slowing its rotation to just one turn every 20 to 50 days.

"We were so convinced that there had to be a satellite, because there is no other good scientific explanation for why something will rotate as slowly as 20 days," Mike Brown, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology, said at a telephone news conference. "Much to our surprise, there's no satellite," Brown said.


Sedna, named for the Inuit goddess who created Arctic sea creatures, is the coldest, most distant object ever found in our solar system, three times further away from the sun than Pluto -- at 8 billion miles, the sun would appear so small on Sedna's surface that it could be blocked from view by the head of a pin.

Sedna is part of the solar system, but it is not considered a planet. Instead, astronomers consider it a minor planet or planetoid.

A HIDDEN MOON?

Brown and his colleagues announced the find on March 15, and immediately began searching the area with the orbiting Hubble telescope, expecting to see Sedna's moon. Hubble didn't find one, but it could still be there, Brown said.

Sedna's moon might be hiding directly behind it, or the satellite might be fainter than astronomers expected, making it hard for even Hubble to detect. Other possibilities include the notion that Sedna once had a moon, which slowed the planetoid's rotation, but the moon was destroyed by an impact with another cosmic body or was pulled away by a close encounter with another planetoid.

Moon or no moon, though, Sedna's status as a planetoid remains unchanged, Brown said. "Whether or not an object has a moon in no way influences what we think of as a planet," he said. "Mercury and Venus have no moons and there's no doubt that they're planets. There are many asteroids that have moons and other objects out beyond Neptune ... which are clearly not planets. so unfortunately this doesn't help to answer the situation."

Brown and other researchers believe Sedna is just one of many such planetoids at the solar system fringe. For now, though, Sedna is a cosmic oddball: one of the reddest objects in our planetary system after Mars, it takes a highly elliptical path around the sun, reaching 84 billion miles at its farthest point. The complete orbit takes 10,500 years to complete. Even at its closest to the sun, the temperature on Sedna never gets above minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit.



04/14/04 16:49