The hungry German man's start to the day was completely ruined when he discovered the dead bat in his bowl of cereal at his home in Stuttgart.
He was left feeling more horrified than hungry when he realised the mummified mammal was not a Halloween themed toy.
The incident was reported to health officials who are attempting to establish how the errant bat managed to fly into the box of corn flakes.
They believe the bat may have flown into the plastic packaging by mistake and suffocated to death.
Scientists are investigating whether the bat had flown into the box of Mini-Zimties cereal at the factory or after they had been opened.
Food safety official Jorg Sturmer said: 'I have never seen anything like it. This really is an unusual case.'
Last month, a live frog was found jumping around a Waitrose salad bag bought by a family in Hampshire.
Hopping mad mum-of-three Christina Carrington said she was left feeling 'repulsed' after tucking into the mixed leaf selection for lunch.
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/917782-man-finds-mummified-bat-in-his-morning-bowl-of-cereal#ixzz2C8Ua0awL (http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/917782-man-finds-mummified-bat-in-his-morning-bowl-of-cereal#ixzz2C8Ua0awL)
A Utah man claims to see the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus in a piece of wood.
Dean Hansen made the discovery about six weeks ago when he and his uncle were chopping pinyon pine wood in central Utah for tent posts and firewood, Salt Lake City TV station KSTU reported.
"When we first saw it, we were like 'Wow,'" Hansen told the station.
He said he's keeping the piece of wood in a safe place as he decides whether to put it on display.
Read more: http://www.wmur.com/news/national/Virgin-Mary-spotted-in-piece-of-wood/-/9857926/17327056/-/u5riwmz/-/index.html#ixzz2C8WLtoWM (http://www.wmur.com/news/national/Virgin-Mary-spotted-in-piece-of-wood/-/9857926/17327056/-/u5riwmz/-/index.html#ixzz2C8WLtoWM)
The after party for the premiere of "Breaking Dawn Part 2," the last film in the massively successful "Twilight" franchise was by all accounts a standard Hollywood affair — except for the live caged wolves.
Organizers for the bash, which was attended by the cast of the film, decided that it would be clever to include three wolves as a reference to the werewolves in the film. Naturally, PETA was less-than-thrilled that the animals were brought in for entertainment.
"Didn't it dawn on the Twilight event organizers that real wolves do not belong at a party with blaring music and flashing lights?" PETA said in a statement to E! News.
"The wolves were provided by Hollywood Animals, a notorious exhibitor that has been cited for numerous violations of the Animal Welfare Act for repeatedly failing to provide the animals it exploits with basic veterinary care and proper shelter, space, food and water.
"We hope the rest of the promotional events surrounding 'Breaking Dawn' celebrates the brilliant work of the cast and crew and shows enough respect for wildlife to leave animals out of it."
While PETA may be less-than-pleased with this event, they've certainly had nothing but praise for the actors involved with the film franchise. Just last week, actress Christian Serratos, who starred in three of the "Twilight" films, revealed her second PETA ad in support of the vegetarian lifestyle.
“Dia de Los Muertos is a holiday that pays tribute to the dead and also celebrates life," she says. "So I thought what better of an idea than to bring it in with PETA and let people know how we can respect the living and the dead.”
Check out the ad below.
A man narrowly avoided an abduction arrest after he picked up the wrong little girl at school and drove away with her.
Art Deaner was supposed to pick up six-year-old Courtney Fetters yesterday at her Gloucester City, New Jersey school as a favor to her mother.
Instead, he drove away with nine-year-old Courtney Durr -- and almost wound up in jail.
Durr vaguely resembled the little girl he was supposed to bring home, Deaner said, and since she answered to the name Courtney, he assumed it was her.
Courtney Durr, 9, (left) was supposed to go home with her mother's friend while Courtney Fetters, 6 (right) was supposed to go home with Art Deaner after school. Deaner took the wrong girl home and nearly got arrested.
'I told her I was looking for Courtney,' Deaner told NBCNews. 'And the young girl said her name was Courtney.'
Courtney Durr, who was also expecting one of her mother's friends to bring her home that day, climbed into Deaner's car.
'I got off the bus and he pulled up and he asked if there was a Courtney,' she told NBC News 10. 'I said, 'Yeah.' My crossing guard let me go and I went with him.'
The two of them drove away, with Deaner unaware that Courtney Fetters, who he was supposed to pick up, was still patiently waiting for him.
Deaner hadn't seen her in several weeks and she'd recently gotten a haircut, so he didn't recognize her.
Deaner didn't realize he had the wrong Courtney until they'd driven several blocks.
Art Deaner got the scare of his life when he picked up the wrong girl after school.
But he knew he'd made a terrible mistake when he asked her about a recent family vacation.
Courtney said she had no idea what he was talking about.
'He was like, "You weren't with Aunt Mary in Maine?" No, I would never have been in Maine,' Courtney said.
Deaner stopped the car and told Courtney they were going back straight away.
'I know Courtney was in Maine for two weeks,' said Deaner. 'I had to turn around and take her back. I got the wrong Courtney.'
But police, alerted by the sharp-eyed crossing guard who saw Courtney climb into an unfamiliar car, were already on the prowl for him.
The crossing guard had even jotted down his license plate number to give to police.
Police pulled Deaner over in his car and nearly arrested him for abduction.
But after asking him and Courtney several questions, it became clear it was a simple mix-up. No charges were filed.
Meanwhile, the friend who was supposed to pick up Courtney Durr was waiting at the bust stop and unable to find the little girl.
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Miscarrying mother dies after Irish doctors refuse abortion, saying: This is a Catholic country
She called Courtney's mother, who had a few moments of panic before learning her daughter was alright.
'My girlfriend called me and said, "Where's Courtney?'' said Courtney Durr's mother, Pam Durr. 'I said, "Well she's supposed to be at the bus stop waiting for you." She said, "She's not here.'''
Both Courtney Fetters and Courtney Durr were reunited with their mothers after police untangled the comedy of errors.
Although the situation ended happily, there was also a lesson learned for the girls.
'Don't go in someone's car when you don't know 'em,' said Courtney Durr.
As for Deaner, he says he'll have no problem recognizing the right Courtney in future.
'I won't forget,' he said. 'I'll take a picture.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2233156/Case-mistaken-identity-nearly-lands-man-jail-picks-wrong-little-girl-school-drives-away-her.html#ixzz2CIvnPG78 (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2233156/Case-mistaken-identity-nearly-lands-man-jail-picks-wrong-little-girl-school-drives-away-her.html#ixzz2CIvnPG78)
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SOUTH SALT LAKE — A man who was invited to spend the night at an acquaintance's house was arrested after police say the homeowner awoke to find the man attacking his daughter's pet rabbit with a sword.
Jason Shawn Price, 49, was arrested for investigation of aggravated assault and cruelty to animals.
Price was invited to spend the night with a friend of the family, said South Salt Lake police detective Gary Keller. The homeowner was awoken about 5 a.m. Tuesday to the sound of his daughter screaming.
When the homeowner went to investigate, he found Price trying to hold a pet rabbit down with one hand and a 2 ½ foot sword in the other, Keller said. Price was trying to kill the rabbit, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.
"The victim confronted Jason, who then sliced the victim's hand with the sword and then fled the home," the report states.
Investigators found Price several blocks away and arrested him.
"Jason had blood on his hands and made comments about killing rabbits and cutting peoples' fingers without police questioning him," the report states.
The homeowner suffered a 1-inch cut on his index finger, Keller said.
"The rabbit did have a gimpy hop after the attack," the report states.
According to Utah court records, Price has a history of being referred for mental health treatment over the years following convictions on charges including felony robbery, misdemeanor assault, and lewdness involving a child.
Should have used the holy hand grenade.;lol
A connector route linking Highway 191 east of Roy with Highway 87 at Grass Range, was closed for nearly 20 hours Wednesday and Thursday while Air Force personnel responded to a mysterious leak at a nearby missile launch facility. The closure of U.S. Highway 19 forced traffic traveling between the central Hi-Line and the Yellowstone Valley to divert through Lewistown, adding 50 miles to the trip between Havre and Billings.
The exact reason for the closure remains unclear. Late Wednesday afternoon, Malmstrom Air Force Base’s Public Affairs Office released the following statement:
“While performing routine maintenance in a Launch Facility northwest of Lewistown at approximately 1 p.m., Malmstrom personnel detected abnormal instrument readings. We are working to ensure the safety and security of the people in the area is maintained during this response. At this time we only know that we have picked up abnormal readings and actions being currently taken are only a precaution.
“Safety of the community and base personnel is our number one concern. If there is a suspected/actual leak, we will inform the community and base populace of what measures need to be taken to ensure their safety.”
Initial reports suggested the closure could be related to a gas leak at a missile launch facility six miles north of Grass Range. One resident of Grass Range reported several Air Force vehicles in the area Wednesday.
“There were military vehicles galore,” Jeannie Walter said. “There was a helicopter that came out here, came down but didn’t land, and then took off again.”
The Public Affairs Office for Malmstrom Air Force Base did not respond to repeated requests for additional information regarding the highway closure, nor has it elaborated on the meaning of “abnormal instrument readings.”
According to the Fergus County Sheriff’s Office, Highway 19 was reopened to traffic at 10:15 a.m. Thursday.
Britain's first infestation of a the deadly Black Widow spider has been discovered in a machinery plant in East Norfolk.
Engineers at the plant discovered the notoriously viscous spider and after a Google search to identify it called in pest control. Factory workers and office assistants were evacuated by pest control officers as the spider was sealed in an air tight container.
A nest of eggs was later discovered in the same crate where the spider was originally found after more than 100 baby Black Widows hatched from a small sack the size of a pea.
Scroll down for video
Aggressive: The spider, seen here through a magnified lid, was identified on site and quickly sealed in a special air-tight container
The nest of spiders was discovered once 100 babies hatched from the small sack
'You could tell it was a Black Widow because of the hourglass pattern on the thorax and the aggressive stance the spider was taken once trapped in our containers,' said Ian Parkinson, a service manager at Abate Pest Control, who dealt with the request.
''We cordoned off the area in the yard where the spider was discovered and created a ring of insecticide around it. We then used ele4ctric and petrol based foggers on the rest of the site.
'After the factory was closed last night we then sprayed the office areas with a water-based insecticide as well.
'We are now satisfied that the premises is safe.'
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Forget the celebs in the jungle, Newcastle start their very own bush tucker trials... before bringing out the snakes and spiders
VIDEO: Not for arachnophobics. Up close and personal with the black widows It is believed that the spiders had come into the country from a delivery of imported machinery goods from Texas.
All products are fumigated before being exported but it remains a mystery as to how the spiders survived.
Mr Parkinson believes that Black Widows can survive up to some weeks after only one large meal so it is not unlikely that they would survive during transit.
Black Widow spiders are considered the most venomous spiders in North America.
The southern Black Widow has the shiny, black, globular abdomen with the distinctive red hourglass on the underside.
'As far as we know this is the first time Black Widows have been found in the UK though there have been some cases of hoaxes,' Mr Parkinson added.
A plan was implemented that included tracking down where antivenom is located in the UK, which turned out to be just two hospitals, in Liverpool and London. However, no bites had been reported.
The local James Paget hospital was notified and medical advice was given should anyone receive a bite.
Jon Blake (left) and Ian Parkinson (right), the pest control officers who trapped the Black Widow in an airtight container
Jon Blake Director of Abate said: 'It was down to the fast reaction of the company who called us to deal with the problem that brought this issue safely under control.
'Black Widows are very notorious spiders identified by the coloured, hourglass-shaped mark on their abdomens.
'This spider's bite is much feared because its venom is reported to be 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake's.
'In humans bites produce muscle aches, nausea, and a paralysis of the diaphragm that can make breathing difficult.
'However, contrary to popular belief, most people who are bitten suffer no serious damage.
'We have been called out for snakes, scorpions and spiders before but never in the past 24 years for one of these deadly creatures.'
The Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge has been notified about the case, however Abate have now frozen the spiders to eliminate any danger.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2233582/Deadly-black-widow-spider-produces-hundreds-babies-NORFOLK-hitching-lift-crate-Texas.html#ixzz2CP9DFm7L (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2233582/Deadly-black-widow-spider-produces-hundreds-babies-NORFOLK-hitching-lift-crate-Texas.html#ixzz2CP9DFm7L)
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UFOs over Denver (maybe)http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/ufos-over-denver-maybe-175541305.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/ufos-over-denver-maybe-175541305.html)
By Mike Krumboltz | The Sideshow – 22 hrs agoEmailShare0Share27Print
Straight out of the X Files comes this clip from Denver's Fox 31. Last week, a viewer sent the station a video of something ... something spooky. A flying object was buzzing in the sky, and it looked like maybe it was carrying little green men.
Was it really a UFO? Suspecting the clip was a prank, the TV station sent out its own photojournalist to see if he could document the same weirdness on his own. Guess what? He did.
Fox 31 aired the footage and interviewed several experts in the field. None could identify the flying object. Aviation expert Steve Cowell told Fox 31's investigative reporter Heidi Hemmat, "That is not an airplane, that is not a helicopter, those are not birds, I can't identify it." Cowell, while mystified, did come up with a less mysterious possibility. "Perhaps there is some sort of debris that is being raised by atmospheric winds."
[Related: UFO or elaborate hoax? Flying-saucer like object filmed from plane]
The New York Daily News quotes UFO expert Robert Sheaffer, author of "UFO Sightings." On his blog, Sheaffer writes, "The 'UFOs' appear at least several times a week [for months], we are told, usually around noon to 1 PM. Most flying insects become more active during the warmest part of the day."
Discovery News writer Benjamin Radford thinks bugs are likely the answer. "There are many obvious holes in the spacecraft explanation, not the least of which is that it's amazing that no one in Denver apparently noticed the extraterrestrial spacecraft launching and landing in the skies over the downtown area in the middle of the day. The most likely explanation? A bug or insect, probably a fly or bee."
Check out the clip and judge for yourself. Sure, it's probably a bug, but we much prefer the idea of aliens dropping by (the "E.T." kind, not the "Alien" kind).
Teen builds a wooden bike from one sheet of plywoodhttp://news.yahoo.com/video/teen-builds-wooden-bike-one-193000550.html (http://news.yahoo.com/video/teen-builds-wooden-bike-one-193000550.html)
19 hrs ago, Odd News Videos
15-year-old Collin Graver was bored with his physics homework and ended up building a 65-pound bike out of a single sheet of plywood. With a material cost of just $20, the Avondale Estates, Georgia teen used his talents to construct the working wooden bike in his father's basement workshop. While the bike is rigid and has no brakes, Graver says, "The point is, it's cool.".
(Reuters) - A dozen kung fu nuns from an Asian Buddhist order displayed their martial arts prowess to bemused scientists at CERN this week as their spiritual leader explained how their energy was like that of the cosmos.
The nuns, all from the Himalayan region, struck poses of hand-chops, high-kicks and punches on Thursday while touring the research centre where physicists at the frontiers of science are probing the origins of the universe.
"Men and women carry different energy," said His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa, a monk who ranks only slightly below the Dalai Lama in the global Buddhist hierarchy. "Both male and female energies are needed to better the world."
This, he said, was a scientific principle "as fundamental as the relationship between the sun and the moon" and its importance was similar to that of the particle collisions in CERN's vast "Big Bang" machine, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
The nuns, mostly slim and fit-looking teenagers with shaven heads and clad in flowing burgundy robes, nodded sagely.
But the 49-year-old Gyalwang Drukpa, head since the age of four of one of the new independent schools of Tibetan Buddhism centered in India and Nepal, stressed that their visit to CERN was not just scientific in purpose.
GENDER EQUALITY
By taking the nuns around the world and letting people of other countries enjoy their martial displays, he told physicists and reporters: "I hope to raise awareness about gender equality and the need for the empowerment of women."
The nuns themselves -- who star on Youtube videos -- have benefited from this outlook, he said.
For centuries in Tibet -- incorporated into communist China since 1951 -- and its surrounds, women were strictly barred from practicing any form of martial art.
In his homeland Himalayan region of Ladakh, the Gyalwang Drukpa said, women were mainly servants, cooks and cleaners to monks.
About three years ago he decided to break out of this pattern and improve the health and spiritual well-being of women by training them in kung fu and even allowing them to perform sacred rites once also restricted to men.
"And a very good thing too," declared CERN physicist Pauline Gagnon, who recently wrote a blog study pointing to the low, although growing, proportion of women in scientific research around the world.
The visit to CERN, whose director general Rolf Heuer recently sponsored a conference of scientists, theologians and philosophers to discuss the tense relationship between science and religion, was not the first by a top religious leader.
In 1983 the sprawling campus on the border of France and Switzerland hosted the Dalai Lama, Buddhism's most revered figure, who argues that most scientific discoveries prove the truth of the view of the cosmos expounded by his faith -- sometimes dubbed by outsiders an "atheistic religion."
Pope John-Paul II preceded him in 1982 and the present Pope Benedict has a standing invitation from Heuer.
Swedish woman accused of having sex in flat with SKELETONS after police find 100 body parts WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT
Gothenburg woman, 37, suspected of using 100 parts in 'sexual situations'
Charged with violating peace of deceased after police investigated her flat
Denies allegations and claims she collected bones for historical interest
CDs found by detectives entitled 'My Necrophilia' and 'My first experience'
Photos in which a woman is seen kissing and hugging skulls also found
She allegedly wrote on a forum: 'I want my man like he is, dead or alive'
By Mark Duell
PUBLISHED: 14:06 EST, 20 November 2012 | UPDATED: 06:15 EST, 21 November 2012
Comments (357) Share
..
A 37-year-old woman allegedly kept skeleton parts in her flat so she could have sex with them.
The Swedish woman is suspected of using 100 parts, which included six skulls and one backbone, in ‘sexual situations’ and was charged with violating the peace of the deceased, prosecutors said.
Police also allegedly found CDs titled ‘My Necrophilia’ and ‘My first experience’ as well as photos in which a woman is seen kissing and hugging the skulls, reported Swedish news agency TT.
Tucked up: A Swedish police handout showing a human skull in a bed in the apartment of a 37-year-old woman
On the floor: The Swedish woman was charged with possession of human skulls and bones, which the prosecution claimed she used for sexual purposes
In her flat: Police also allegedly found CDs titled 'My Necrophilia' and 'My first experience' as well as photos in which a woman is seen kissing and hugging the skulls
The woman, who comes from south-western Sweden, was charged at Gothenburg District Court today, but has denied the allegations - claiming she collected the bones out of historical interest.
The Goeteborgsposten newspaper alleged that she wrote on an internet forum a few years ago: ‘My morals set my limits and I'm prepared to take the punishment if something should happen.
More...Inside the 'body farm' where corpses are left outside to decompose for forensic researchers to study
'It's worth it. I want my man like he is, whether he is dead or alive. He allows me to find sexual happiness on the side.’
Photos from a morgue were found hidden in the woman's home, as well as a drill and body bags, reported French news agency AFP. But police have found no proof that she was a grave-digger.
Extraordinary: The 37 year-old woman kept at least six skulls, one spine and 'a large number of other bones' in her Gothenburg apartment, according to the prosecution's charge sheet
In storage: The Swedish news agency TT cited a prosecutor as saying that the 37-year-old woman is suspected of using the remains, which included six skulls and one backbone, in 'sexual situations'
Collection: The woman, from south-western Sweden, was charged at Gothenburg District Court today
'Previous comments': The woman allegedly wrote on an internet forum a few years ago: 'My morals set my limits and I'm prepared to take the punishment if something should happen. It's worth it'
The woman, who has admitted that the items were kept in her apartment but denies doing anything wrong, was arrested in September and faces up to two years in jail if found guilty.
'I want my man like he is, whether he is dead or alive. He allows me to find sexual happiness on the side'
What woman 'wrote on an internet forum'
'Some of the photos show a woman licking a skull,' prosecutor Kristina Ehrenborg-Staffas told The Local newspaper in Sweden. 'We claim it’s her, but she claims it's someone else and she found the pictures on the internet.'
She sold three skulls and a spine to a person in Uppsala earlier this year, prosecutors said.
An access code to a morgue was also said to have been found in her apartment by detectives.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2235933/Swedish-woman-used-SKELETONS-sex-acts--police-100-body-parts-flat.html#ixzz2CrhzatOz (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2235933/Swedish-woman-used-SKELETONS-sex-acts--police-100-body-parts-flat.html#ixzz2CrhzatOz)
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Bizarre muppet-like beast discovered From: The Daily Telegraph November 19, 2012 12:47PM
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Add to DiggAdd to del.icio.usAdd to FacebookAdd to KwoffAdd to MyspaceAdd to NewsvineWhat are these? 83 Source: The Daily Telegraph
NAMIBIAN media report a strange muppet-like beast has been shot dead after a group stumbled across several of the creatures in dense jungle.
Locals came across the bizarre being while they were escorting a shooting party in Namibia, local media reported.
Witnesses state that the creature was spotted apparently foraging for food, one of the shooting party wounded it with his rifle and it escaped into the thick brush.
The locals tracked it to a nearby lair or nest where they found three more creatures of similar size.
The wounded creature attacked one of the shooting party and it was shot dead, the others escaped into the brush
The body of the creature was taken back to the local camp, police later removed its corpse and a full forensics investigation is under way.
Russian woman keeps hold of dead husband's bodyhttp://news.yahoo.com/russian-woman-keeps-hold-dead-husbands-body-082749029.html (http://news.yahoo.com/russian-woman-keeps-hold-dead-husbands-body-082749029.html)
Associated Press – Tue, Nov 20, 2012.. .
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities say a woman with five children kept her husband's body in their apartment for almost three years after his death.
Prosecutors in the central Yaroslavl region said the unidentified woman, described as a devout Pentecostal Christian with a psychiatric record, was so distraught when her husband died of natural causes in 2009 that she believed he "was bound to resurrect."
An investigation was opened after the body was found in a dumpster in a plastic bag in July.
The prosecutors' office said Monday that the woman kept the cadaver in a bed in a room of her apartment and asked her children to talk to it and feed it.
The office says two children decided to dispose of the body when the family moved to another apartment.
What's curious about binaural beats is that they're "digital drugs." There is no substance involved. You put on a pair of headphones, dim the lights, and focus on the sound. Seems like something out of a sci-fi, eh? Or well, sounds kind of like [nonsense], too.
Binaural beats were discovered over 100 years ago by Heinrich Wilhelm Dove when he noticed that two tones played at different frequencies in each ear produced a new sound. The interesting thing about this is that the beat can influence brainwaves, with some arguing that it could have all sorts of effects—from reducing anxiety, to yes, simulating drugs.
ZAROZJE, Serbia (AP) - Get your garlic, crosses and stakes ready: a bloodsucking vampire is on the loose.
Or so say villagers in the tiny western Serbian hamlet of Zarozje, nestled between lush green mountain slopes and spooky thick forests. They say rumors that a legendary vampire ghost has awakened are spreading fear – and a potential tourist opportunity – through the remote village.
A local council warned villagers to put garlic in their pockets and place wooden crosses in their rooms to ward off vampires, although it appeared designed more to attract visitors to the impoverished region bordering Bosnia.
Many of the villagers are aware that Sava Savanovic, Serbia's most famous vampire, is a fairy tale. Still, they say, better to take it seriously than risk succumbing to the vampire's fangs.
"The story of Sava Savanovic is a legend, but strange things did occur in these parts back in the old days," said 55-year-old housewife Milka Prokic, holding a string of garlic in one hand and a large wooden stake in another, as an appropriately moody mist rose above the surrounding hills. "We have inherited this legend from our ancestors, and we keep it alive for the younger generations."
Vampire legends have played a prominent part in the Balkans for centuries – most prominently Dracula from Romania's Transylvania region. In the 18th century, the legends sometimes triggered mass hysteria and even public executions of those accused of being vampires.
Sava Savanovic, described by the Zarozje villagers as Serbia's first vampire, reputedly drank the blood of those who came to the small shack in the dense oak tree forest to mill their grain on the clear mountain Rogatica river.
The wooden mill collapsed a few months ago – allegedly angering the vampire, who is now looking for a new place to hang his cape.
Some locals claim they can hear steps cracking dry forest leaves and strange sounds coming from the rocky mountain peaks where the vampire was purportedly killed with a sharp stake that pierced his heart – but managed to survive in spirit as a butterfly.
"One should always remain calm, it's important not to frighten him, you shouldn't make fun of him," said villager Mico Matic, 56, whose house is not far from the collapsed mill.
"He is just one of the neighbors, you do your best to be on friendly terms with him," he said with a wry smile, displaying garlic from both of his trouser pockets.
Some locals say it's easy for strangers to laugh at them, but they truly believe.
"Five people have recently died one after another in our small community, one hanging himself," said Miodrag Vujetic, a local municipal council member. "This is not by accident."
Vujetic, however, said that "whatever is true about Sava," locals should use the legend to promote tourism.
"If Romanians could profit on the Dracula legend with the tourists visiting Transylvania, why can't we do the same with Sava?"
Richard Sugg, a lecturer in Renaissance Studies at the U.K.'s University of Durham and an expert on the vampire legends, said the fear could be very real. Stress can bring on nightmares, which makes people's feelings of dread even worse.
"The tourists think it is fun – and the Serbian locals think it's terrifying," he said.
A deadly disease that has decimated hibernating bats could cost billions of dollars to farmers and the economy in Canada and the U.S.
The severity of the disease — called “white-nose syndrome” for the fluffy fungal growth often found on the faces of infected bats — is only now being grasped. The fungus, which lurks in the caves of many parts of North America, is estimated to have killed 5.5 million bats, says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Bats provide free pest control service to agriculture by eating tonnes of insects that can damage crops and produce. For example, bats eat adult June beetles, whose larva consume the roots of soybean and corn, two of the main crops in Ontario.
A study published last year in the journal Science estimates the economic impact of bats to U.S. agriculture ranged from $3.7 billion to $53 billion per year, depending on different projections of insect survival and pesticide use. This estimate represents 2 to 29 per cent of the total crop value in the U.S.
Applying these calculations to Canada — taken from the most recent Statistics Canada census of croplands in 2006 — yields an economic impact ranging from $1.1 billion to $15.3 billion. In Ontario, the value to farming from pest control performed by bats is estimated to range from $100 million to $1.6 billion.
There are no studies that have evaluated the services of bats to agriculture in Canada, however, but “it will be a goal of future research,” said Eric Santerre, communications director of the federal Ministry of Natural Resources in Quebec City.
White-nose syndrome is spreading across Ontario. It is now found as far west as Wawa and as far north as Timmins. Chris Heydon, policy adviser for wildlife health at the Ministry of Natural Resources in Peterborough, said it’s “not looking good” if the disease spreads into the Prairie provinces.
The disease was identified in Quebec and Ontario in 2010 and in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in 2011.
Ground zero for white-nose syndrome is believed to be a cave west of Albany, N.Y. In 2006, a photograph taken of 18 dead bats showed the tell-tale fuzzy-looking growth. It has since spread further every year and now occurs in 21 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces.
The disease causes bats to be unusually active during hibernation, prematurely depleting precious fat reserves. This leads to starvation before their food sources awaken in spring.
The fungus was unknown prior to its scientific discovery and description as a new species in 2009. It lives in the soil in cooler climates and thrives in caves where bats hibernate. In Ontario, there are eight species of bats — three are migratory and not affected by the disease.
The lead author of the Science paper admits the reaction of the research community “has been and should be cautious.”
This was the first attempt at measuring the economic impact of the bat disease upon farming the calculations were based on certain assumptions, said Justin Boyles, assistant professor at South Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill.
“It is imperative that we test some of those assumptions, which we’ll be doing,” Boyles said — for instance, “locations with different crops and more complex bat communities” could affect values across North America.
Heydon called it “a depressing situation” — researchers in Ontario simply don’t know where all bats hibernate, which hampers attempt to stop the spread of infection. The Ministry of Natural Resources does monitor caves with hibernating bats but must also rely on reports from the public about new caves with bats.
In the U.S., Ann Froschauer, national communications leader on the white-nose syndrome issue for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said scientists don’t yet know “the cascading effects” of the disease so it’s “tough to predict” the consequences for farming.
The fungus has not been found in the U.S. Midwest, so there is a “real concern” if it spreads to the breadbasket of America, she said.
The independent Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada has recommended to Environment Minister Peter Kent that “an emergency order be issued” to protect three species of endangered bats under the Species at Risk Act.
If it is approved, Ottawa would act to help the species recover from their endangered status by developing a recovery strategy and take steps to protect its natural habitat.
Amsterdam is to create "Scum villages" where nuisance neighbours and anti-social tenants will be exiled from the city and rehoused in caravans or containers with "minimal services" under constant police supervision.
The plan echoes a proposal from Geert Wilders, the leader of a populist Dutch Right-wing party Photo: AFP/GETTY By Bruno Waterfield
4:05PM GMT 03 Dec 2012
Holland's capital already has a special hit squad of municipal officials to identify the worst offenders for a compulsory six month course in how to behave.
Social housing problem families or tenants who do not show an improvement or refuse to go to the special units face eviction and homelessness.
Eberhard van der Laan, Amsterdam's Labour mayor, has tabled the £810,000 plan to tackle 13,000 complaints of anti-social behaviour every year. He complained that long-term harassment often leads to law abiding tenants, rather than their nuisance neighbours, being driven out.
"This is the world turned upside down," the mayor said at the weekend.
The project also involves setting up a special hotline and system for victims to report their problems to the authorities.
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The new punishment housing camps have been dubbed "scum villages" because the plan echoes a proposal from Geert Wilders, the leader of a populist Dutch Right-wing party, for special units to deal with persistent troublemakers.
"Repeat offenders should be forcibly removed from their neighbourhood and sent to a village for scum," he suggested last year. "Put all the trash together."
Whilst denying that the new projects would be punishment camps for "scum", a spokesman for the city mayor stressed that the special residential units would aim to enforce good behaviour.
"The aim is not to reward people who behave badly with a new five-room home with a south-facing garden. This is supposed to be a deterrent," he said.
The tough approach taken by Mr van der Laan appears to jar with Amsterdam's famous tolerance for prostitution and soft drugs but reflects hardening attitudes to routine anti-social behaviour that falls short of criminality.
There are already several small-scale trial projects in the Netherlands, including in Amsterdam, where 10 shipping container homes have been set aside for persistent offenders, living under 24-hour supervision from social workers and police.
Under the new policy, from January next year, victims will no longer have to move to escape their tormentors, who will be moved to the new units.
A team of district "harassment directors" have already been appointed to spot signals of problems and to gather reports of nuisance tenants.
The Dutch Parool newspaper observed that the policy was not a new one. In the 19th century, troublemakers were moved to special villages in Drenthe and Overijssel outside Amsterdam. The villages were rarely successful, becoming sink estates for the lawless.
"We have learned from the past," said the mayor's spokesman. "A neighbourhood can deal with one problem family but if there are more the situation escalates."
Guards at the Sampson Correctional Institution, North Carolina, have been accused of forcing inmates to rub Habanero Hot Sauce on their testicles.
Prisoners at the facility also say guards made them throw captured bunnies into oncoming traffic, kiss wild snakes, strip naked and pretend to have sex.
In a letter written by six inmates to the US District Court in Greensboro, they ask for assistance in finding lawyers to help them bring charges against the state.
They said the guards made them gulp 'Exotic Hot Sauce' and slather it on their genitals, which resulted in painful blisters.
If they performed for the guards, they would be rewarded with food, cigarettes, beer and preferential work assignments, the inmates said.
Sampson is a medium/minimum security prison and has the capacity for 464 inmates. It employs around 190 members of staff.
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Pamela Walker, a spokeswoman for North Carolina's Department of Public Safety, said officials have asked the State Bureau of Investigation to review guards' conduct at the prison.
Walker said that since the letter, one prison staff member has been reassigned and another has gone on leave. The findings of the report are being kept confidential.
"Upon review of an internal investigation, (the Division of Adult Correction) has referred the inmate allegations to the SBI for their review and any subsequent actions they deem appropriate," she said.
"DAC considers the allegations to be serious and the alleged actions in violation of policy, which warrants further review by management."
Walker said the prison learned of the allegations through internal grievances filed by the inmates, not by the letter sent to the court.
US Magistrate Judge Joi Elizabeth Peake agreed to accept the letter as a formal federal civil rights action on 19 November.
However, she said she could not accept the handwritten letter of complaint in its current condition because of legal issues with its format and because it was not filed in the correct judicial district.
Teacher disciplined for receiving foot massages from students, violating professional standards
Education » Third-grade teacher was also accused of using a hammer on a student’s desk to scare the child.
By ray parker
| The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published Dec 03 2012 05:20 pm • Updated 8 hours ago
A Taylorsville Elementary School teacher has returned to his third-grade classroom after being disciplined for violating professional standards after students reported they scratched his back, rubbed his feet and had other inappropriate contact while at school.
Granite School District officials found no criminal conduct by elementary teacher Bryan Watts, 53, who has worked at the school since 2004, but the district claims to have taken "appropriate disciplinary action" following complaints about Watts.
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"The district has put measures in place so no inappropriate actions can be taken [by Watts]," Doug Larson, district director of policy and legal services, said Monday.
Larson said he could not go into detail about the disciplinary action because of state laws dealing with public employees. Utah teacher records are exempt from the state’s public records law, he said.
Granite District police Detective Randall Porter started an investigation into Watts’ conduct Oct. 9 after a mother expressed concern to the district after her daughter reported odd classroom behavior by Watts.
"She complained that her daughter [name redacted] told her that Watts asks students to rub his feet and back during ‘movie time,’ that Watts told the class that they should not tell their parents about activities that happen in the classroom, and that Watts scared a student by hitting a hammer on the student’s desk," Porter wrote in his 19-page report.
Porter interviewed a school psychologist, a school employee, the parent and eight current and former students about Watts’ classroom conduct. Taylorsville Elementary, built in 1962, is located at 2010 W. 4230 South.
In the end, officials found there was no evidence of criminal conduct by Watts.
But officials said there were student statements about odd activities, including playing dodgeball in Watts’ classroom.
"[The student] said Watts did not throw the ball hard," Porter wrote.
A.) Dodgeball has no proper place in school in the first place, seeing as how it's inevitably a contest to hurt the more vunerable students.
B.) Indoors?
North Korea may be the last Stalinist state on the planet. The government's obsession with military hardware has left the economy in shambles and the country is suffering chronic shortages of fuel, electricity and raw materials. But when push comes to shove, none of that really matters, because North Korea has a hidden unicorn lair. Who else can make that claim?
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reveals that archeologists from the History Institute of the DPRK Academy of Social Sciences have discovered a secret hideaway that was the burial site of the unicorn ridden by King Tongmyeong, the founding father of the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo (37 B.C.-668 A.D.).
According to legend, Tongmyeong was born from an egg impregnated by sunlight — so of course he commuted by unicorn.
The news agency seems partial to magical news. Past reports have noted that deceased leader Kim Jong Il was born under a double rainbow, he once stopped a blizzard with his bare hands, and — even more miraculously — he once shot 11 holes-in-one in a single golf outing, even though he was apparently born from human parents, rather than an egg and sunbeams like the legendary founding father.
Can a fantastical movie be too historically accurate? Dr. Jaime Awe, director of the Institute of Archeology of Belize, has filed suit against Lucasfilm and Paramount Pictures claiming that the prop skull from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull bears a striking resemblance to one of the "real" Crystal Skulls originally discovered in Belize. So why is that a problem? Well, according to Awe, the skull was stolen, and the filmmakers are profitting off of ill-gotten goods.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of Awe's suit and its history. In the complaint he filed with the US District Court in Illinois (embedded below), Awe explains the history of the so-called "Mitchell-Hedges Skull." The Mitchell-Hedges Skull was allegedly discovered in 1924 by Anna Le Guillon Mitchell-Hedges, adopted daughter of the adventurer F.A. Mitchell-Hedges. The Mitchell-Hedges removed the skull from Belize in 1930, in violation of laws that were already in place forbidding the removal of artifacts and antiquities from Belize. (Edit: Commenters MissRaye and ryanwkirkmanryanwkirkman note that many archaeologists believe the Mitchell-Hedges Skull to be a hoax; you can read our piece about Crystal Skulls, including the Mitchell-Hedges Skull and other skulls found to be of modern origin.)
Awe claims that the Crystal Skull from the film bears a striking resemblance to the Mitchell-Hedges Skull (though as some folks are noting in the comments, those resemblances seem to be that they are both transparent are somewhat skull-shaped; the movie skull is less human) and thus must have been based on its likeness. Awe goes on to allege that Lucasfilm never approached Belize for permission to use the skull's likeness, although Awe claims that "Belize has a right, title and interest in and to the Mitchell-Hedges Skull." Awe is suing the Mitchell-Hedges estates as well as Bill Homann, the late Anna's husband and current custodian of the skull, for the return of the skull, and is suing Lucasfilm (and Disney as the parent company) and Paramount for tortious interference with prospective economic benefit and civil conspiracy.
I've only glanced through the complaint, and I'm not familiar with international laws regarding relics. But I don't see anything in the complaint that explains under what statute or common law provision Lucasfilm et al. are violating by using the skull's likeness, even on the off chance that the skull does turn out to be a genuine artifact rather than a more modern creation. This may be more of an attempt to bring attention to Belize's troubles with illegally removed artifacts or to draw attention to Belize as a home to archaeological artifacts. (Edit: Or perhaps he's looking to resolve the question of whether the skull is a hoax.)
A Swazi Member of Parliament has urged the government to hike taxes on traditional healers and soothsayers to help solve a funding crisis in Africa's last absolute monarchy.
The mediums, known as sangomas in the landlocked southern African nation, pay an annual 10 emalangeni ($1.15) license fee, but MP Majahodvwa Khumalo said they had jacked up their fees fourfold in the last few years and should pay more.
"A majority of our people consult traditional healers but the money they pay to government falls far too short of the money they make," he told parliament.
Swaziland's budget deficit ballooned to 15 percent of its annual economic output in 2010 but the government managed to keep itself afloat by running through central bank reserves and delaying payment of wages to civil servants.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) declined to launch a bailout because of reluctance by King Mswati III, who has at least a dozen wives and a personal fortune estimated at $200 million, to cut royal or military spending.
The IMF has continued to press for reductions to what is officially Africa's most bloated bureaucracy. In an in-depth assessment of the economy published in February, it rated the scope for raising more taxes as "small".
- Reuters
New Zealand Dogs Pass Driving Testhttp://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/zealand-dogs-pass-driving-test-152931917--abc-news-topstories.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/zealand-dogs-pass-driving-test-152931917--abc-news-topstories.html)
By Katie Kindelan | ABC News Blogs – 18 mins agoEmail0Share0Share0Print
The racetrack went to the dogs in New Zealand Monday when a pair of abandoned pups chosen by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) each successfully drove a car on their own.
Porter, a 10-month-old beardie cross, drove a Mini Countryman around the track while his exploits, all part of a marketing campaign for the SPCA's Auckland chapter, were broadcast live on New Zealand's 3 News station.
READ MORE: New Zealand Dogs Learn How to Drive
Next up was Monty, an 18-month-old giant schnauzer, who also successfully steered his car in a canine-modified Mini, and, like Porter, had some human help with a trainer outside the window giving verbal commands.
The SPCA chose Monty, Porter and another abandoned pup Ginny, a 1-year-old whippets cross, to go behind the wheel of a car to show that rescue dogs are a first-rate choice for adoptions, according to its Facebook page created specifically to encourage adoptions.
The trio of highway-ready rescue dogs had spent the past eight weeks at Animals on Q, a "premiere New Zealand animal talent agency," according to its website, for the "doggy driver training process," the New Zealand Herald reported at the time.
While Monty and Porter got to show off their skills on live TV, Ginny did not, something SPCA Auckland CEO Christine Kalin hopes does not continue to keep interested adopters away.
"We've had people offer to adopt Monty and Porter. We've had less interest in Ginny, so she's the one we'd really love not to have in the shelter too long," Kalin told the Herald.
Video of the dogs practicing for their live debut quickly went viral and made Porter and Monty, especially, worldwide stars. Kalin says despite "a lot of interest" shown in the talented pups, the SPCA has not yet made a decision on where the pair, and Ginny, too, will end up next.
"The key issue for us is about finding the best home possible for those dogs because they've done an exceptional job of being ambassadors for all SPCA animals throughout the country," she said, according to the Herald. "Our desire is to find the best possible home for them."
A message requesting comment from the SPCA was not immediately returned.
Utah College Students Rents Out Abandoned Puppies by the Hourhttp://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/utah-college-students-rents-abandoned-puppies-hour-130619217--abc-news-topstories.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/utah-college-students-rents-abandoned-puppies-hour-130619217--abc-news-topstories.html)
By ABC News | ABC News Blogs – 3 hrs ago
ABC News' Natasha Singh and Jesus Ayala report:
A student at Brigham Young University in Utah is renting out puppies on an hourly basis in an effort to place the dogs in good homes.
"We're not allowed to have pets in college and a lot of people miss the interaction, so it was something I wanted to solve," Jenna Miller, 20, told "Good Morning America," explaining the rationale behind her service.
She gets the puppies from people who are giving up their pets.
For $15, a client could rent Toast, or his rambunctious friend Charly, for one hour. For $25, the client would get to spend two hours with one of the 11-week-old mixed breed puppies.
"Our goal is to place the puppies in good homes. We're taking puppies that would otherwise be sitting in a cage, in a pound," she added.
Bill Berloni, a dog behaviorist from the Humane Society of New York, does not agree. He says renting puppies is a step in the wrong direction and can be damaging to the dogs.
"It reduces them to things, things we use for our leisure," he said.
He added that if a dog's role model keeps changes, the animal will "have problems learning how to attach, they'll be independent and harder to train."
"GMA" went along as Toast was being delivered to a family that would rent him for an hour.
The renter thought it would be fun to play with the dogs.
Asked if puppy renting offered all of the perks with none of the responsibility, Miller replied: "I think that adoption is obviously a superior option, with the responsibility, but that's just not an option for a lot of people and I think you have to recognize that and we are placing the dogs in homes."
Summer Jones rented Douglas four weeks ago. She ended up adopting him.
"Having a puppy is a lot of work," the Utah student said. "My mom has been really resistant about getting a dog, but I think me bringing him home and us renting him, the fact that we got to rent him and play with him, it softened my mom's heart a little."
Miller says all of the 11 puppies she has rented have been adopted. Her clients are mainly college students and families.
Rental helps to "create pet owners, people who thought they'd never have a dog. They rent a puppy, they see how much fun their kids have with it, they see the positive benefits of a dog," she said.
Texas boy with pentagram carved back dischargedhttp://news.yahoo.com/texas-boy-pentagram-carved-back-discharged-125205834.html (http://news.yahoo.com/texas-boy-pentagram-carved-back-discharged-125205834.html)
Associated Press – 5 hrs ago.. .
RICHLAND HILLS, Texas (AP) — A 6-year-old Texas boy whose father has been accused of carving a pentagram on the child's back has been released from a hospital.
Richland Hills police Sgt. Nathan Stringer says officers planned to speak with the boy Thursday about the attack a day earlier. Police say the child's father called 911 and said he inscribed a pentagram on his son because it was "a holy day."
It is not clear which faith he was referring to. Wednesday's date was 12-12-12, a once-in-a-century event.
Brent Troy Bartel was being held in jail on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Police say they plan to seek a mental evaluation.
Stringer says the child was discharged Wednesday night from a Fort Worth hospital. Details on his treatment weren't immediately available.
February, 1984http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/page/10/ (http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/page/10/)
It was afternoon PE in fifth grade, and I was terrified. I ran and jumped and ducked, surrounded by a jeering crowd of my classmates. The PE teacher did nothing to stop the attack – and, in fact, encouraged it.
“Get him!” someone yelled as I fell to the asphalt, small rocks digging into my palms. I breathed hard. Through my adrenaline-fueled flight-or-fight response, the world slowed, the jeering faded, and I wondered to myself why our playground was just a parking lot and why we had to wear corduroy pants in the middle of a Southern California heat wave. Before I could offer any answers, a clear and loud voice spoke from within my head. “Hey,” it said. “You’d better get up and move, or you’re dead.”
I nodded my head and looked up in time to see the red playground ball, spinning in slow motion, as the word “Voit” rotated into view. Pain exploded across my face and a mighty cheer erupted from the crowd. The PE teacher blew her whistle.
I don’t know how I managed to be the last kid standing on our team. I usually ran right to the front of the court so I could get knocked out quickly and (hopefully) painlessly before the good players got worked up by the furor of battle and started taking head shots, but I’d been stricken by a bout of temporary insanity – possibly caused by the heat – on this February day, and I’d actually played to win the game, using a very simple strategy: run like hell and hope to get lucky.
I blinked back tears as I looked up at Jimmie Just, who had delivered the fatal blow. Jimmie was the playground bully. He spent as much time in the principal’s office as he did in our classroom, and he was the most feared dodgeball player at the Lutheran School of the Foothills.
He laughed at me, his long hair stuck to his face in sweaty mats, and sneered. “Nice try, Wil the Pill.”
I picked myself up off the ground, determined not to cry. I sucked in deep breaths of air through my nose.
Mrs. Cooper, the PE teacher, walked over to me. “Are you okay, Wil?” she asked.
“Uh-huh,” I lied. Anything more than that and I risked breaking down into humiliating sobs that would follow me around the rest of the school year, and probably on into sixth grade.
“Why don’t you go wash off your face,” she said, not unkindly, “and sit down for a minute.”
“Okay,” I said. I walked slowly across the blacktop to the drinking fountains. Maybe if I really took my time, I could run out the clock and I wouldn’t have to play another stupid dodgeball game.
I was almost killed by unborn baby's fingernail: Mother was left in coma and needed 22 blood transfusionsAngela Cottom almost died after a nail or hair passed into her bloodstream
The rare condition only affects one in 80,000 births
It caused Mrs Cottom to suffer internal bleeding and her lungs collapsed
Doctors told husband she could be in a coma for days or even weeks
But she woke up 12 hours later and went home a week later
By Liz Hull
PUBLISHED: 17:31 EST, 6 January 2013 | UPDATED: 07:51 EST, 7 January 2013
Comments (81) Share
..
Born five weeks premature, twins Amelie and Ava only just made it into this world after being resuscitated with oxygen.
But they’re not the only ones who are lucky to be alive.
Their mother Angela Cottam almost died after a suspected fingernail or hair from one of them passed into her bloodstream during their birth.
Lucky to be alive: Angela Cottam with Amelie and Ava who were born five weeks premature. Mrs Cottam almost died after a suspected fingernail or hair from one of them passed into her bloodstream
The rare condition – which affects only one in 80,000 births – caused 32-year-old Mrs Cottam to suffer severe internal bleeding and her lungs collapsed.
The primary school teacher lost seven pints of blood, needed 22 transfusions and spent 12 hours in a coma, when her family was told she might not pull through.
More...Mother shoots home intruder five times in face and neck after he cornered her in attic with her twins, 9
The miracle of childbirth: Amazing photo of baby reaching out from her mother's womb during Caesarean section to grab doctor's finger takes the web by storm
Mrs Cottam, who is married to Peter, 33, said: ‘I feel so lucky to be here and really blessed that both the girls are with us because it could have been so different.
‘There are moments when I’ve been on my own and I’ve had a little cry and thought “What if?” But I try not to dwell on that and just thank my lucky stars the doctors and midwives on duty that day recognised what was happening.
A rare condition, which affects only one in 80,000 births, caused Mrs Cottam to suffer severe internal bleeding and her lungs collapsed
‘Knowing that I almost died has changed my perspective on life, I’m more laid back and I am enjoying being a mum more than ever because I know we were so close to losing so much.’
Mrs Cottam, who also has a four-year-old daughter Olivia with her husband, was admitted to the Countess of Chester Hospital suffering from pre-eclampsia – the potentially fatal condition which causes high blood pressure and swelling in pregnancy.
Doctors decided the babies, now aged eight months, needed to be born before the condition worsened, so Mrs Cottam was induced. The labour was progressing normally and Mrs Cottam asked for an epidural. But shortly afterwards a midwife became concerned that Mrs Cottam was coughing and struggling for breath.
Medics realised Mrs Cottam’s lungs were collapsing because she was suffering a rare complication, known as an amniotic fluid embolism, where fluid from the sac surrounding the babies leaks into the mother’s bloodstream through blood vessels in the womb.
Cells – such as a fingernail or hair – from the unborn children, that were in the fluid, travelled to her lungs, prompting a severe allergic reaction. Doctors immediately began giving Mrs Cottam oxygen and rushed her to theatre for a caesarean section to try to save the babies.
Happy family: Mrs Cottom with her husband Peter, four-year-old daughter Olivia and twins Amelie and Ava
Amelie was the first to be born, weighing 4lb 2oz, followed by Ava, weighing 4lb 10oz a minute later.
‘Ava was very, very touch and go,’ said Mrs Cottam. ‘They told us afterwards she was three minutes without oxygen and they really had to work on her to resuscitate her.’
After successfully delivering the girls, however, medics realised Mrs Cottam was haemorrhaging because her blood had lost the ability to clot. She was given 22 blood transfusions and it wasn’t until three hours later, at around 2am, that doctors managed to stabilise her.
Mrs Cottam was taken to intensive care in a coma and placed on a life-support machine.
Doctors told her husband, a technical manager, that she could be in a coma for days or even weeks.
Fortunately, however, Mrs Cottam, of Flintshire, Wales, woke up around 12 hours later. She managed to hold the twins for the first time a day later and was well enough to go home the following week. The twins spent a fortnight in hospital and haven’t suffered any lasting effects.
Dr Usha Rao, the consultant obstetrician who treated Mrs Cottam, said: ‘Amniotic fluid embolism is a unique, catastrophic condition.
‘Although we know it is more likely to occur in twin pregnancies or women who have their labour induced, they are not the direct cause. It is unpredictable, unpreventable and very rare.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2258148/I-killed-unborn-babys-fingernail-Mother-left-coma-needed-22-blood-transfusions.html#ixzz2HJCMri60 (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2258148/I-killed-unborn-babys-fingernail-Mother-left-coma-needed-22-blood-transfusions.html#ixzz2HJCMri60)
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A few words about dodgeball (by Will Wheaton of TNG Westley Crusher fame) I just coincidentally happened to stumble over:
CNN) -- A smoky fire broke out aboard an empty Japan Airlines 787 Dreamliner in Boston on Monday in the latest glitch for the much-heralded Boeing model.
The Japan Airlines plane, which had arrived at Logan Airport from Tokyo at 10 a.m., was being prepared for a noon departure at a gate when a maintenance worker noticed smoke and called emergency crews.
"Upon arrival, we observed a heavy smoke condition in the entire cabin," said Bob Donahue, chief of the Massport Fire Rescue Department. "We found a fire condition about midship in the avionics compartment underneath. We advanced an aggressive, offensive fire attack."
Batteries used to start the auxiliary power unit, which provides electricity for ground operations, are located in the small area in the belly of the plane.
Boeing unveils new 787 Dreamliner
Historic landing for Ethiopian Airlines
First S.C.-built Dreamliner lifts off "We did have a flare-up. There was a small explosion -- one of the batteries -- and we again went in with a secondary attack and were again able to knock it down," Donahue said.
Japan Airlines confirmed the cause of the fire in a news release. It said 172 passengers and 11 crew members had been on the plane. Everyone had disembarked when the fire was discovered, the airline said.
One firefighter had a skin irritation from the material used to put the fire out, but no one else was injured.
Donahue says it's not likely this could have happened during flight when the auxiliary power unit was not in use.
"This is an extremely serious situation," Kevin Hiatt, a former pilot and vice president with the Flight Safety Foundation, told CNN. "If there is any problem I think you will see something come out very shortly."
Monday's incident is not the first mechanical problem for the 787 series, which was delivered to airlines starting in 2011 after years of manufacturing delays and cost overruns. The JAL plane was delivered in December.
In 2010, fire caused a 787 test flight to lose primary electrical power while flying from Yuma, Arizona, to Laredo, Texas. It landed safely using backup systems and the 42 people aboard evacuated using emergency slides.
An engine failed during tests on the ground in South Carolina in July 2012 and inspectors found a similar problem on another aircraft in September.
In December, another relatively new 787 operated by United Airlines diverted safely to New Orleans after experiencing mechanical problems.
"The 787, being a new airplane, does have teething problems," John Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, told CNN.
Goglia, a former airline mechanic, said it is common for new planes to have "these kinds of problems."
While serious, Hiatt did not think these issues are a sign of larger concerns with the 787 program.
"There does not appear to be a common thread in the problems the planes have seen," he told CNN. "If they had another situation, a fire, that was in that same locality you'd start to say yes, we've got something else that is going on."
Boeing said it was investigating the incident and noted it was too early to draw any parallels.
"We need to give our technical teams time to really understand the event," Lori Gunter, spokeswoman for the 787 program, said in a statement.
"Anything offered now would be speculation and likely incorrect. It's just too early to make comparisons to other events or to draw conclusions."
The NTSB sent a team to investigate the incident.
"It's one of our 'most wanted list' issues, fire in transportation," Eric Weiss, a board spokesman, said.
Mom awoken by cat finds python wrapped around 2-year-old daughterhttp://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/python-baby-mom-wrapped-cat-175346395.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/python-baby-mom-wrapped-cat-175346395.html)
By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo! News | The Sideshow – 21 hrs ago..
Zara and Tess Guthrie (left); Tex Tillis with the python (Guthrie/Australian TV/Brisbane Times)
An Australian woman was awoken by her hissing cat early Sunday to find a python wrapped around the arm of her 2-year-old daughter.
Tess Guthrie, a 22-year-old from Lismore, New South Wales, said the 6-foot python was wrapped three times around her daughter's arm.
"I thought I was having a nightmare," Guthrie told a local television news station. "It was only because the cat was hissing that I woke up and saw the snake with its body wrapped around my daughter Zara’s arm."
The toddler was sleeping in the bed with Guthrie, who pried the snake off her. But before she could, the nonvenomous python bit the toddler three times on her left hand.
"In my head I was just going through this unbelievable terror, and my thought was that it was going to actually kill her at first, because it was wrapped so tight," Guthrie told the Brisbane Times. "Her little arm was bleeding really bad from the bites, and all I could feel was blood and Zara was screaming by that stage, and I was in hysterics because it was such a shocking thing to wake up to. It was just terrifying."
Zara was taken to a local hospital where she was treated and released. The coastal python (or "carper snake") was captured by a local wildlife official and eventually released back into the wild.
"The snake [had] not in any way, shape or form intended to eat the baby," Tex Tillis, who runs Tex's Snake Removals, told the Daily Telegraph. "It was trying to have a group hug."
"Pythons, underneath their bottom jaw, have a row of sensors which enable them to see the world in terms of infrared pictures," Tillis explained. "So in the dark they're going to see a baby as this warm spot."
Of course, snake invasions are nothing new down under.
Last month, a 3-year-old Australian boy escaped injury after a collection of eggs he had found in his Queensland yard and stashed in his bedroom closet "hatched into a slithering tangle of deadly snakes."
Also in December, a childcare center in Darwin was forced to be shut down before Christmas because of a snake infestation. According to ABC Australia, snake catchers who were called in when a baby python was spotted found a nest with 23 baby pythons and 41 hatched eggs inside a wall.
Only in Austria... :)
Am I gonna have to put a cork hat on Hitler?
A guide to the world for americans :)
Austria: Alps, Arnold Schwarzenegger and The Pope, no kangaroos!
Australia, Kangaroos, Koalas and every deadly creature that slithers or scutters.
Sweden, beautiful blondes, ABBA and social democracy, NO cuckoo clocks!
Switzerland, alps, chocolate and cuckoo clocks.
...BTW, I've always womdered how the Von Trapp family skied from Australia to Sweden...
...BTW, I've always womdered how the Von Trapp family skied from Australia to Sweden...
I'm only leaving that because I like the model.well.. i'm not!
That's a bit harsh imo...
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By ANDY PASZTOR And JON OSTROWER
The Federal Aviation Administration, increasingly concerned about safety and reliability issues surrounding Boeing Co.'s BA -2.10%787 Dreamliner, said Friday it will launch a top-priority review of the plane focusing on its electrical system and quality controls used in the manufacturing process.
The review will cover the 787's critical systems, including design, manufacture, and assembly.
"This review will help us look at the root causes and do everything we can to safeguard against similar events in the future." Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement released at the start of a press conference Friday that included Federal Aviation Administrator Michael Huerta and Ray Conner, head of Boeing's commercial aircraft arm.
More on Dreamliner
Heard on the Street: Boeing Buyers Still Can't Sleep Easy
."We are confident that the aircraft is safe. But we need to have a complete understanding of what is happening," Mr. Huerta said.
In its own statement, Boeing declared its confidence in "the design and performance of the 787," adding that it welcomes "the opportunity to conduct this joint review."
The unusual move by the FAA comes after the agency has spent months monitoring various electrical problems and other operational glitches affecting the planes, according to people familiar with the matter, but was specifically prompted by a battery fire on Monday aboard a Japan Airlines Co. 9201.TO +0.69%787 on the ground in Boston.
Industry and government officials said the anticipated review—slated to be headed by officials from the FAA's new-plane certification and transport directorate offices—marks the first time in recent years that the agency has gone back to reassess the safety of specific systems in a jetliner already in revenue service.
Timeline: Dream Diverted
View Interactive
..Nobody was hurt in this week's incident, but it ratcheted up pressure on the FAA to announce steps to find the root cause of the blaze and determine common factors that may have affected earlier problems stemming from improperly assembled wiring and other electrical issues.
The FAA's lead spokeswoman declined to comment.
A Boeing spokesman declined to comment on "the nature and content" of the company's communications with regulators, but said "we are working with the FAA and our customers to ensure we thoroughly understand" issues pertaining to introduction of the plane into widespread service. Spokesman Marc Birtel added, "we are absolutely confident in the reliability and performance of the 787."
The review won't ground planes or halt production, but the FAA has broad latitude to take action as a result of any findings. That could range from ordering new production procedures to revising designs of some electric components, which potentially could prompt further production delays and additional costs for Boeing.
In addition to reviewing technical and safety questions related to the design of the 787's groundbreaking electrical system, the FAA also will delve into manufacturing issues such as how well subcontractors are integrated into Boeing's overall production system, according to one person familiar with the details.
The decision to launch the review is bound to stoke concerns on Wall Street about potential negative fallout to Boeing's reputation and stock price. But the move also carries some political risks for Michael Huerta, the recently confirmed chief of the FAA, who now must oversee a high-profile review that could reopen some safety and manufacturing issues the agency was supposed to put to bed before it certified the Dreamliner in late 2011.
U.S. aviation regulators raised questions about the reliability of the Dreamliner during long transocean flights months before the advanced new jet suffered a spate of electrical and other problems this week, according to people familiar with the matter.
The ability of the Dreamliner to fly long routes, such as the 7,400-mile trek between Houston and Auckland, New Zealand, was touted as one of the plane's game-changing characteristics by Boeing and airline customers alike, with the jet's lightweight body and fuel-efficient engines linking cities out of the range of similarly sized aircraft.
Reaching that ambitious goal quickly now will be a challenge, according to government and industry officials, limiting the routes available to airlines just as Boeing boosts production to satisfy carriers that have waited years for their Dreamliners after a succession of delays.
Electrical issues, leaking fuel lines and a series of other malfunctions have caused a string of operational problems and emergency landings stretching back several months.
Regulators and airlines around the world, including the eight who fly the 787 today, will look to the FAA for guidance because the plane is built in the U.S. and the agency leads the certification of the new jet.
From its inception, the 787's advanced design, featuring weight-saving carbon-fiber composite materials and two fuel-efficient engines, was intended to make it suitable to fly practically any global route—crossing long stretches of ocean or spanning remote polar regions.
Chicago-based Boeing, by the middle of the past decade, had hoped that soon after introduction into service, safety regulators would allow 787s to fly up to 330 minutes, or 5½ hours, from the nearest emergency-landing strip.
When the first Dreamliner began carrying passengers in October 2011, 3½ years behind schedule, the FAA and overseas regulators permitted the jets to fly no longer than 180 minutes, or three hours, from any suitable airport. At the time, Boeing said it expected to extend that to 330 minutes by early 2012, citing work under way to modify some fuel-gauge software.
But FAA experts have been monitoring a variety of reliability issues that arose in the past few months and attracted attention inside and outside the agency, prompting FAA officials to adopt a go-slow approach in extending the three-hour restriction, according to people familiar with the matter.
The FAA's concerns, these people said, moved beyond the fuel-system-related software to include a range of power-supply issues along with questions about quality controls during Boeing's manufacturing process.
For now, Dreamliners remain under the 180-minute rule, a substantially tighter restriction than the FAA imposes on the Boeing 777, the 787's larger twin-engine sibling, which started flying in 1995 and is now offered with 330-minute certification only as of late-2011.The lead-up to the 787's original approval suggested both Boeing and the FAA believed the same factors would play out. Both Rolls-Royce RR.LN -0.34%PLC and General Electric Co. GE -0.31%engines offered on the Dreamliner were granted approved for 330-minute extended operations ahead of their first deliveries to their respective launch customers, All Nippon Airways Co. 9202.TO +0.55%and Japan Airlines. During initial testing and certification, Boeing flew the 787 for 345 minutes on one engine, and five of six power generators disconnected, according to Mr. Sinnett.
That rules out airlines flying the 787 between, for example, Dallas and Sydney—a route Qantas Airways Ltd. now flies with the larger four-engine 747.
Continental Airlines, now part of United Continental Holdings Inc. UAL +0.47%and the U.S. launch customer for the 787, highlighted its hopes for the jet by naming Houston-Auckland as the first route for the plane. That plan has since been shelved for other reasons, but United has identified routes from the U.S. to Australia as another target market for its 787s, six of which are now flying.
A United spokeswoman said the airline doesn't comment on future route plans but said that it "looks forward to more opportunities to where we could fly" with the Dreamliner.
A study found that meth could suppress replication of the influenza A virus responsible for the flu. While the researchers conclude that meth “might not enhance influenza A virus infection and spread among meth abusers,” it cautions that further investigation is needed.
But just how does meth suppress the flu, if it really does? The researchers, from the National Health Research Institutes in Taiwan and the University of Regensburg in Germany, found that meth “exerts an anti-influenza effect predominantly during the viral replication stage” of the flu. This means that the flu virus was unable to reproduce and spread, giving users reduced susceptibility to the disease.
The findings run counter to previous studies into meth’s effects on disease. The drug has previously been found to enhance the infection and replication of HIV because it suppresses immune response. In general, meth is believed to make users dramatically more likely to pick up viruses.
Gizmodo points out that the study was only conducted on one strain of flu. It’s impossible to know right now if the results would be the same for every strain of flu. Gizmodo also noted that the experiment took place in a lab on cells in Petri dishes – a very different scenario than real people in the real world.
The study is especially relevant this year, when flu cases have skyrocketed across the nation and a new strain of norovirus has started to spread around the world.
Deaf Twins Going Blind Euthanizedhttp://news.yahoo.com/deaf-twins-going-blind-euthanized-165500992--abc-news-topstories.html (http://news.yahoo.com/deaf-twins-going-blind-euthanized-165500992--abc-news-topstories.html)
By Russell Goldman | ABC News – 23 hrs ago.. .
Two deaf twin brothers in Belgium were euthanized by their doctor after realizing they were going blind and would be unable to see each other ever again, their physician says.
The 45-year-old men, whose names have not been made public, were legally put to death by lethal injection at the Brussels University Hospital in Jette, on Dec. 14.
The men, who were born deaf, had a cup of coffee and said goodbye to other family members before walking into hospital room together to die, their doctor told Belgian television station RTL.
"They were very happy. It was a relief to see the end of their suffering," said Dr. David Dufour.
"They had a cup of coffee in the hall. It went well and a rich conversation. Then the separation from their parents and brother was very serene and beautiful," he said. "At the last there was a little wave of their hands and then they were gone,"
More than 1,000 people legally availed themselves of doctor-assisted deaths in Belgium in 2011, most of them were terminally ill cancer patients.
The brothers are unique in that their illness was not terminal. Belgian law, however, allows doctors to euthanize "suffering" patients who are both mentally sound, over 18 and want to die.
Belgian lawmakers are considering a law that would extend euthanasia to dementia patients and children, whose families and doctors consented.
Officials in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park caution that there have been numerous reports of bats acting erratically and caution people to avoid contact with them.
Park biologists say bats should be hibernating now, but some have been seen flying in erratic ways during the day and diving toward people.
Bats can carry diseases, including rabies. Any skin-to-skin contact is dangerous. Heath officials say people who have touched bats should seek immediate medical advice.
Unusual bat activity inside the park should be reported to rangers. Erratic behavior elsewhere should be reported to state wildlife officials.
TOKYO - A Boeing 787 Dreamliner headed for Tokyo made an emergency landing Wednesday morning in Takamatsu, Japan after error messages indicated there was a problem with the plane's batteries and smoke in the plane.
An "unusual smell" was detected inside the cockpit and the passenger cabin, according to a news conference held by All Nippon Airlines, whose plane was grounded. Fire trucks were deployed after the plane landed, but there was no fire to put out.
This adds to a slew of recent problems with Boeing's new Dreamliner aircraft. Another 787 -- the world's first mainly carbon-composite airliner -- had two fuel leaks, a battery fire, a wiring problem, brake computer glitch and cracked cockpit window last week.
The two Japanese airlines -- ANA and Japan Airlines -- said they would ground the 21 Boeing 787 jets currently being flown for further safety checks.
Both Japan and the United States have opened broad and open-ended investigations into the plane after a series of incidents that have raised safety concerns.
ANA said instruments on the early Wednesday domestic flight indicated a battery error. All passengers and crew evacuated safely by using the plane's inflatable slides, ANA said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANA said it evacuated 129 passengers and eight crew members from the Dreamliner after measuring instruments in the flight's cockpit indicated there was a battery malfunction and the pilot smelled something strange.
Flight 692 bound for Haneda Airport near Tokyo left Yamaguchi Airport in western Japan shortly after 8 a.m. but made an emergency landing in Takamatsu at 8:45 a.m. after smoke appeared in the cockpit, an Osaka airport authority spokesman said.
Reuters
An All Nippon Airways' Boeing 787 Dreamliner, photographed here by a passenger, made an emergency landing at Takamatsu airport in western Japan after there were reports of smoke in the cockpit.
Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel told Reuters: "We've seen the reports, we're aware of the events and are working with our customer."
Federal Aviation Administration officials said Friday they would conduct a comprehensive review of Boeing’s 787 airplane program following several high-profile mishaps, including a fire. But the FAA sought Friday to reassure fliers that they still believe the airplane is safe to fly.
In a statement following the emergency landing in Japan, the FAA said it is monitoring the report: "The incident will be included in the comprehensive review the FAA began last week of the 787 critical systems, including design, manufacture and assembly."
The FAA plans to review all aspects of the new aircraft, including design and production. But the review will focus heavily on the electric components of the aircraft.
The new 787 Dreamliner, which went into service in the fall of 2011, relies much more heavily on electric components than previous airplane models.
Boeing officials said Friday that they welcome a review of the new model aircraft and that the FAA's scrutiny did not diminish the company's confidence in the airplane.
Japan is so far the biggest market for the Dreamliner, with ANA and Japan Airlines Co. flying 24 of the 50 Dreamliners delivered to date.
Shares of Boeing Dreamlier suppliers in Japan came under pressure on Wednesday, with Fuji Heavy Industries, GS Yuasa Corp, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, IHI down between 1.6 and 3 percent, while the benchmark Nikkei shed 1.3 percent.
Japanese authorities said on Monday they would investigate fuel leaks on a 787 operated by JAL, and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said later its agents would analyse the lithium-ion battery and burned wire bundles from a fire aboard another JAL 787 at Boston's Logan Airport last week.
Satanists plan rally in support of Florida governor
Published: 16 January, 2013, 23:31
Edited: 16 January, 2013, 23:31
The Satanic Temple is planning a rally outside of Florida Governor Rick Scott’s office to support his bill allowing students to pray at school events.
Senate Bill 98 gives students “sole discretion in determining whether an inspirational message is to be delivered” at a school assembly – including religious prayers. Scott has long advocated for students to be able to pray at school events, but he wasn’t expecting Satanists to jump on the opportunity.
To celebrate the governor’s signing of the bill, Satanists will rally outside of his office on Jan. 25 to show their support for Scott’s decision, as well as to promote their own beliefs.
“You don’t build up your membership unless people know about you,” Satanic Temple spokesman Lucien Greaves told the Palm Beach Post. “So this allows us to get our message out in public. We’re hoping it will reduce the stigmatism.”
Neil Bricke, founder of the Satanic Temple, will travel from his home in New York to Florida to speak at the rally.
“New York is a pretty good place for Satanism. Florida is too,” Greaves told ABC News. Currently, the Satanic Temple is “more or less an online community”, but its members are trying to bring their places of worship to US cities.
“Though we have far to go before public education leads to a mainstream embrace of our Satanic religion, we feel that our own public ‘coming out’ will go a long way toward raising the consciousness of the populace … and the social environment has never yet been better prepared for the welcoming of the Satanic era.”
Gov. Scott is an evangelical Christian who supports prayer in schools and has therefore always supported Senate Bill 98, which was sponsored by Sen. Gary Siplin. The bill was subject of heated opposition in early 2012, with the American Civil Liberties Union, the Anti-Defamation League and Americans United claiming it would alienate students whose religions are in the minority.
Gov. Scott did not expect the Satanic minority to publicly thank him for the legislation and hold a rally outside of his office, but told ABC News that every group has a right to express themselves.
The Satanic Temple does not know how many people will attend the Jan. 25 rally, since most of its followers have expressed online interest and could be located anywhere in the world. But one thing is clear: they want the Republican governor to know the effect the new legislation is having on their community.
“Satanists are happy to show their support of Rick Scott who – particularly with SB 98 – has reaffirmed our American freedom to practice our faith openly, allowing our Satanic children the freedom to pray in school,” the Temple said in a press release announcing the rally.
Cleaning Lady Steals Train, Slams It Into Apartment Building
Neetzan Zimmerman
Transit officials in Sweden are at a loss to explain how a cleaning lady was able to steal a commuter train from a station near Stockholm and drive it for three minutes before crashing into a three-story house.
Luckily, no one was on the train at the time of the accident, which occurred early Tuesday morning.
A spokesman for Stockholm County's transit operator Storstockholms Lokaltrafik said the twentysomething woman seized the train around 3 AM and drove it for two stops before derailing in the Stockholm suburb of Saltsjöbaden.
The train slammed into the first-floor kitchen of an apartment building where three families live. The cleaning lady had to be rushed to the hospital with "serious" injuries, but none of the building's residents were hurt.
An investigation into the incident has been launched, with local politicians demanding to know how an unauthorized person was able to commandeer a commuter train.
A spokesman for Arriva, the subcontractor that operates the line, said driving their trains wasn't that complicated.
"Generally speaking that's possible even if you're not a train driver," he told the Associated Press. "You can read about it on the Internet, or observe how others do it."
Teach children to worship Satan!
Why am I surprised?
The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth
1.Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.
2.Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.
3.When in another’s home, show them respect or else do not go there.
4.If a guest in your home annoys you, treat them cruelly and without mercy.
5.Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal.
6.Do not take that which does not belong to you, unless it is a burden to the other person and they cry out to be relieved.
7.Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will lose all you have obtained.
8.Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.
9.Do not harm young children, for they are the future.
10.Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked.
11.When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them.
The Nine Satanic Sins
1.Stupidity
2.Pretentiousness
3.Solipsism
4.Self-deceit
5.Herd Conformity
6.Lack of Perspective
7.Forgetfulness of Past Orthodoxies
8.Counterproductive Pride
9.Lack of Aesthetics
POLICE in Zimbabwe say they are investigating a massive explosion at a tribal sorcerer's house outside the capital, Harare.
Police officials said on Tuesday the blast killed five people.
The sorcerer, often known in the West as a witchdoctor, and a man seeking to improve his failing finances, were among the dead, witnesses said.
The explosion damaged 12 nearby houses in the Chitungwiza township.
Witnesses said crowds began sprinkling salt on nearby streets and footpaths afterward, a traditional belief to ward off evil spirits.
Army bomb disposal experts told neighbours they found no remnants of a bomb or petrol or gas containers.
In Zimbabwe superstition, sorcerers can use lightning, common during current rain storms, to eradicate enemies. Neighbours told reporters they feared a "lightning manufacturing process" was being carried out Monday.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/blast-at-african-sorcerers-house-kills-5/story-e6frfkui-1226559670382#ixzz2IjvPgYT6 (http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/blast-at-african-sorcerers-house-kills-5/story-e6frfkui-1226559670382#ixzz2IjvPgYT6)
WINDSOR, Ontario, Jan. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- On behalf of Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, Bob Dechert, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, today visited Windsor, Ontario, to announce the launch of a study to identify the cause of the so-called "Windsor Hum"--the recurring vibration and noise that have been disturbing people in the area for almost two years.
"Our government takes this issue seriously and is following up on its commitment to find a solution that works for the people of Windsor. Promise made, promise kept," said Parliamentary Secretary Dechert.
Acting on a recommendation from the International Joint Commission, the Government of Canada is funding the study to try to identify the source of the Hum. The study, to be conducted jointly by scientists at the University of Windsor and Western University, will be a key step in developing a possible solution.
"Our government will continue to work with the people of Windsor and others to hopefully pinpoint the source of the Windsor Hum," said Dechert. "We want to protect citizens' quality of life. To get a solution, we first need to find the source. This study is a step in the right direction."
"I would also like to thank Jeff Watson, Member of Parliament for Essex, for his tireless efforts to get this matter resolved," added Dechert.
Follow us on Twitter: @DFAIT_MAECI
SOURCE Canadian Consulate General
Copyright (C) 2013 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
Scientist: I'm NOT seeking a mom for a Neanderthalhttp://news.yahoo.com/scientist-im-not-seeking-mom-neanderthal-215347543.html (http://news.yahoo.com/scientist-im-not-seeking-mom-neanderthal-215347543.html)
By MALCOLM RITTER | Associated Press – 15 hrs ago.. .
NEW YORK (AP) — A prominent genetics expert from Harvard Medical School says he is not looking for a woman to bear a Neanderthal baby. Not even an adventurous one.
Some press reports in the past few days suggest Harvard's George Church is supporting the idea of creating a Neanderthal and even looking for an "adventurous" woman for the project.
Church says those reports are based on misunderstandings of an interview he gave the German magazine Der Spiegel. Church said the idea gets a brief mention as a theoretical possibility in his recent book.
Scientists have recovered DNA from Neanderthal fossils. Making a Neanderthal baby would start with putting that DNA into human stem cells.
Church says such a process would face ethical questions.
Robot Makers Spread Global Gospel of Automation
Sally Ryan for The New York Times: A robot designed by Rethink Robotics to work with people. An industry group said increased automation would lead to millions of new jobs by 2020.
By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: January 23, 2013
CHICAGO — The robot equipment industry has one word for the alarmist articles and television news programs that predict a robot is about to steal your job: Fiddlesticks!
Multimedia:
Video Feature: Robots for Tasks Large and Small, Light and Heavy.
Sally Ryan for The New York Times: Rethink Robotics’ Baxter adapts to the actions of humans.
Sally Ryan for The New York Times: Motoman by Yaskawa dealt cards at a robotics trade show.
Well, that wasn’t actually the word used this week at the Automate 2013 trade show held here through Thursday, but the sentiment was the same. During a presentation on Monday, Henrik I. Christensen, the Kuka Chair of Robotics at Georgia Institute of Technology’s College of Computing, sharply criticized a recent “60 Minutes” report on automation that was based on the work of the M.I.T. economists Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson.
The two economists in 2011 wrote “Race Against the Machine,” a book that renewed the debate about the relationship between the pace of automation and job growth. They argue that the pace of automation is accelerating and that robotics is pushing into new areas of the work force like white-collar jobs that were previously believed to be beyond the scope of computers.
During his talk, Dr. Christensen said that the evidence indicated that the opposite was true. While automation may transform the work force and eliminate certain jobs, it also creates new kinds of jobs that are generally better paying and that require higher-skilled workers.
“We see today that the U.S. is still the biggest manufacturing country in terms of dollar value,” Dr. Christensen said. “It’s also important to remember that manufacturing produces more jobs in associated areas than anything else.”
An official of the International Federation of Robotics acknowledged that the automation debate had sprung back to life in the United States, but he said that America was alone in its anxiety over robots and automation.
“This is not happening in either Europe or Japan,” said Andreas Bauer, chairman of the federation’s industrial robot suppliers group and an executive at Kuka Robotics, a German robot maker.
To buttress its claim that automation is not a job killer but instead a way for the United States to compete against increasingly advanced foreign competitors, the industry group reported findings on Tuesday that it said it would publish in February. The federation said the industry would directly and indirectly create from 1.9 million to 3.5 million jobs globally by 2020.
The federation held a news media event at which two chief executives of small American manufacturers described how they had been able to both increase employment and compete against foreign companies by relying heavily on automation and robots.
“Automation has allowed us to compete on a global basis. It has absolutely created jobs in southwest Michigan,” said Matt Tyler, chief executive of Vickers Engineering, an auto parts supplier. “Had it not been for automation, we would not have beat our Japanese competitor; we would not have beat our Chinese competitor; we would not have beat our Mexican competitor. It’s a fact.”
Also making the case was Drew Greenblatt, the widely quoted president and owner of Marlin Steel, a Baltimore manufacturer of steel products that has managed to expand and add jobs by deploying robots and other machines to increase worker productivity.
“In December, we won a job from a Chicago company that for over a decade has bought from China,” he said. “It’s a sheet-metal bracket; 160,000 sheet-metal brackets, year in, year out. They were made in China, now they’re made in Baltimore, using steel from a plant in Indiana and the robot was made in Connecticut.”
A German robotics engineer argued that automation was essential to preserve jobs and also vital to make it possible for national economies to support social programs.
“Countries that have high productivity can afford to have a good social system and a good health system,” said Alexander Verl, head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering in Germany. “You see that to some extent in Germany or in Sweden. These are countries that are highly automated but at the same time they spend money on elderly care and the health system.”
In the report presented Tuesday by the federation, the United States lags Germany, South Korea and Japan in the density of manufacturing robots employed (measured as the number of robots per 10,000 human workers). South Korea, in particular, sharply increased its robot-to-worker ratio in the last three years and Germany has twice the robot density as the United States, according to a presentation made by John Dulchinos, a board member of the Robot Industries Association and the chief executive of Adept Technology, a Pleasanton, Calif., maker of robots.
The report indicates that although China and Brazil are increasing the number of robots in their factories, they still trail the advanced manufacturing countries.
Mr. Dulchinos said that the United States had only itself to blame for the decline of its manufacturing sector in the last decade.
“I can tell you that in the late 1990s my company’s biggest segment was the cellular phone market,” he said. “Almost overnight that industry went away, in part because we didn’t do as good a job as was required to make that industry competitive.”
He said that if American robots had been more advanced it would have been possible for those companies to maintain the lowest cost of production in the United States.
“They got all packed up and shipped to China,” Mr. Dulchinos said. “And so you fast-forward to today and there are over a billion cellphones produced a year and not a single one is produced in the United States.”
Yet, in the face of growing anxiety about the effects of automation on the economy, there were a number of bright spots. The industry is now generating $25 billion in annual revenue. The federation expects 1.6 million robots to be produced each year by 2015.
Mr. Greenblatt said that one of the advantages of robots was they did not take breaks.
“My robots are going to work during the Super Bowl,” he said. “Do you know how popular I would be to ask my employees to work during the Super Bowl?”
A version of this article appeared in print on January 24, 2013, on page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: This Robot Wants to Be Your Co-Worker.
News Watch HomeExplorers JournalWater CurrentsOcean Views Dung Beetles Navigate Via the Milky Way, An Animal-Kingdom FirstPosted by Christine Dell'Amore of National Geographic News in Weird & Wild on January 24, 2013 (0)
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Talk about star power—a new study shows that dung beetles navigate via the Milky Way, a first in the animal kingdom.
The tiny insects can orient themselves to the bright stripe of light generated by our galaxy, and move in a line relative to it, according to recent experiments in South Africa.
“This is a complicated navigational feat—it’s quite impressive for an animal that size,” said study co-author Eric Warrant, a biologist at the University of Lund in Sweden.
A dung beetle rolling its ball in South Africa. Photograph courtesy Eric Warrant.
Moving in a straight line is crucial to dung beetles, which live in a rough-and-tumble world where competition for excrement is fierce. (Play “Dung Beetle Derby” on the National Geographic Kids website.)
Once the beetles sniff out a steaming pile, males painstakingly craft the dung into balls and roll them as far away from the chaotic mound as possible, often toting a female that they have also picked up. The pair bury the dung, which later becomes food for their babies.
But it’s not always that easy. Lurking about the dung pile are lots of dung beetles just waiting to snatch a freshly made ball. (Related: “Dung Beetles’ Favorite Poop Revealed.”)
That’s why ball-bearing beetles have to make a fast beeline away from the pile.
“If they roll back into the dung pile, it’s curtains,” Warrant said. If thieves near the pile steal their ball, the beetle has to start all over again, which is a big investment of energy.
Seeing Stars
Scientists already knew that dung beetles can move in straight lines away from dung piles by detecting a symmetrical pattern of polarized light that appears around the sun. We can’t see this pattern, but insects can thanks to special photoreceptors in their eyes.
The Milky Way glimmers over Indonesia. Photograph by Justin Ng, Your Shot.
But less well-known was how beetles use visual cues at night, such as the moon and its much weaker polarized light pattern. So Warrant and colleagues went to a game farm in South Africa to observe the nocturnal African dung beetle Scarabaeus satyrus. (Read another Weird & Wild post on why dung beetles dance.)
Attracting the beetles proved straightforward: The scientists collected buckets of dung, put them out, and waited for the beetles to fly in.
But their initial observations were puzzling. S. satyrus could still roll a ball in a straight line even on moonless nights, “which caused us a great deal of grief—we didn’t know how to explain this at all,” Warrant said.
Then, “it occurred to us that maybe they were using the stars—and it turned out they were.”
Dapper Beetles
To test the star theory, the team set up a small, enclosed table on the game reserve, placed beetles in them, and observed how the insects reacted to different sky conditions. The team confirmed that even on clear, moonless nights, the beetles could still navigate their balls in a straight line.
To show that the beetles were focusing on the Milky Way, the team moved the table into the Johannesburg Planetarium, and found that the beetles could orient equally well under a full starlit sky as when only the Milky Way was present. (See Milky Way pictures.)
Lastly, to confirm the Milky Way results, the team put little cardboard hats on the study beetles’ heads, blocking their view of the sky. Those beetles just rolled around and around aimlessly, according to the study, published recently in the journal Current Biology.
The scientists put hats on the dung beetles to block their ability to see stars. This beetle, which is wearing a clear hat, acted as a control in one experiment. Photograph courtesy Eric Warrant.
Dung beetle researcher Sean D. Whipple, of the University of Nebraska at Kearney, said by email that the “awesome results …. provide strong evidence for orientation by starlight in dung beetles.”
He added that this discovery reveals another potential negative impact of light pollution, a global phenomenon that blocks out stars.
“If artificial light—from cities, houses, roadways, etc.—drowns out the visibility of the night sky, it could have the potential to impact effective orientation and navigation of dung beetles in the same way as an overcast sky,” Whipple said.
Keep On Rollin’
Study co-author Warrant added that other dung beetles likely navigate via the Milky Way, although the galaxy is most prominent in the night sky in the Southern Hemisphere.
What’s more, it’s “probably a widespread skill that insects have—migrating moths might also be able to do it.”
As for the beetles themselves, they were “very easy to work with,” he added.
“You can do anything you want to them, and they just keep on rolling.”
What's wrong with my T-shirt? Airline passenger boasting 'Prepare to Die' on his chest is asked to changeBy Leslie Larson
PUBLISHED: 22:00 EST, 23 January 2013 | UPDATED: 08:17 EST, 24 January 2013
Comments (239) Share
..'My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die.'
The infamous line from 'The Princess Bride' has been repeated the world over by fans of the cult classic but some Aussies on a Qantas flight on Sunday didn't appreciate the humor.
Wynand Mullins boarded his Sydney flight wearing a T-shirt with the movie quote and was asked to change his attire after his fellow passengers complained that they felt threatened.
Scroll down for video.
The offending tee: Wynand Mullins was asked to change his shirt on a Sydney flight bound for Auckland since passengers found his message intimidating
Mr Mullinsw was wearing a brown T-shirt printed with an image of a large 'Hello, My Name is' name tag like those often worn at parties.
Written in the white space below were the words from the 1987 Rob Reiner film, according to Stuff.co.nz, who reported the incident.
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He said that while he waited to board his plane, bound for his native Auckland, New Zealand, he did receive a few looks from other passengers.
When he finally boarded the flight, a Qantas flight attendant informed him that other passengers felt intimidated by the message of his shirt.
The line: Actor Mandy Patinkin portrayed the character Inigo Montoya in the 1987 film
Legendary: The actor said he had no idea the line would garner such popularity
All in good fun: The quote has become a running joke and has been plastered on items for fans
'The flight attendant said to me, "Are you able to remove it because some of the passengers are quite intimidated by it." I thought it was all a bit silly. The person next to me was laughing, because they knew the movie,' he told the website.
He told the airline employee that he didn't have a change of clothes and joked that he hoped he could wear the pilot's shirt.
The flight attendant ended up dropping the issue and never returned to Mullins' seat.
'I wouldn't be surprised if they had someone watching me the whole time,' he said, calling the experience 'a bit over the top, but also a bit comical.'
Significance: The actor says that the line actually impacted him, since he had lost his own father in 1972
The line is a bit of joke to most people familiar with the movie, a fairytale parody.
In the film, actor Mandy Patinkin portrays Montoya - an expert swordsman on a mission to revenge the death of his father.
In interviews, Mr Patinkin has said that he had no idea the line would become so legendary.
'That line. I didn't know that it would become what it became. Matter of fact, when I first read it I went, "God, I don't have a lot to say but I say that over and over again."'
Though the words evoke laughter from fans, it actually takes a more somber tone for the actor who delivered them.
He lost his father in 1972 and said that the quote, 'hit a chord with me that I want my father back just like [Montoya] does.'
Read more:
'Prepare to die' t-shirt causes stir on flight
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2267389/Qantas-passenger-wearing-shirt-Princess-Bride-Prepare-Die-quote-told-change-message-intimating.html#ixzz2Iv11clMQ (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2267389/Qantas-passenger-wearing-shirt-Princess-Bride-Prepare-Die-quote-told-change-message-intimating.html#ixzz2Iv11clMQ)
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That there is some bad ju-ju.
A traditional healer and survivor of the Chitungwiza blast claims the tragedy occurred during a cleansing ceremony in which an imported goblin was beheaded.
A traditional healer and survivor of the Chitungwiza blast claims the tragedy occurred during a cleansing ceremony in which an imported goblin was beheaded.
The survivor, Ms Clara Banda, who escaped with visible minor burns and eye injury, says the blast occurred soon after her counterpart, 24-year-old Speakmore Mandere, popularly known as Sekuru Shumba, beheaded the goblin.
She claims to have miraculously escaped after failing to land the major role of conducting the ceremony. In a state of shock, she ran to her nearby home soon after the blast.
According to Ms Banda, transport operator Mr Clever Kamuyedza approached Mandere seeking help to dispose of the troubling goblin. He was to pay $15 000 for the ritual.
“The tragedy fell upon us while we were conducting the ceremony to dispose of the goblin that this businessman brought to Sekuru Shumba,” said Ms Banda.
According to the traditional healer, Mr Kamuyedza acquired a money-spinning goblin from a nearby country to boost the fortunes of his transport business.
He, however, decided to dispose of it after it started “to make extreme demands.’’
Mandere is said to have assembled a team of traditional healers including Ms Banda, to assist in conducting the ceremony. “After assembling the team, Sekuru Shumba invited Mr Kamuyedza, his wife and two of their associates to his home for consultations,” said Ms Banda.
“The consultations lasted three days during which we discussed whether or not we could handle this kind of ritual.”
Ms Banda said during the three days Mr Kamuyedza kept the goblin at home and only brought it to Sekuru Shumba’s lodgings for destruction on the fourth day. “Sekuru was in the bedroom with three other men who were members of the group. I was with Mai Tsitsi (Mr Kamuyedza’s wife) and Virginia (another healer) in the lounge.
“Other members of the group sat outside since the house was already packed. Sekuru Shumba beheaded the goblin. Clever (the businessman), subsequently, told his wife to collect the US$15 000 from their car that was parked outside.
“That is when Sekuru shouted that the goblin was fighting back. All I remember after that is a loud sound coming from the bedroom. The walls of the house crumbled. Virginia and I struggled to get outside.”
Ms Banda — who was slightly injured by debris — says she later disappeared from the scene before crowds gathered. Another healer is believed to have been among those rushed to hospital for treatment.
“I was hit by debris falling off a crumbling wall, but my friend Virginia was not as lucky. She is still nursing serious injuries from that blast,” said Ms Banda.
A neighbour, Victoria Sarangera, said the explosion occurred at around 1520 hours. She said she was the first person to see victims of the blast.
“I was outside doing the dishes when all of a sudden there was a loud bang and I was hit by a brick,” she said.
“When I turned back, there were two men who were already dead. Their skin had turned black. One of them had a deep gash on the head and his brains could be seen while the other man’s body had been ripped into two.
“A cloud of smoke went up into the air. Sekuru Shumba was lying motionless. The businessman was also dead. At that moment, a tenant at the house, Mai Kelly, was looking for her daughter whose corpse was later retrieved under a bed. “Limbs and other human parts were strewn all over.”
The mysterious blast killed five people, including Sekuru Shumba, the businessman and a seven-month-old child. Investigators are still trying to establish the cause of the explosion that also damaged 12 other houses.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said specialists in the police bomb disposal and ballistics unit were yet to ascertain the cause of the blast. “The investigation is likely to take longer. There is no likelihood of the findings coming out next week,” she said. sunday mail
The survivor, Ms Clara Banda, who escaped with visible minor burns and eye injury, says the blast occurred soon after her counterpart, 24-year-old Speakmore Mandere, popularly known as Sekuru Shumba, beheaded the goblin.
She claims to have miraculously escaped after failing to land the major role of conducting the ceremony. In a state of shock, she ran to her nearby home soon after the blast.
According to Ms Banda, transport operator Mr Clever Kamuyedza approached Mandere seeking help to dispose of the troubling goblin. He was to pay $15 000 for the ritual.
“The tragedy fell upon us while we were conducting the ceremony to dispose of the goblin that this businessman brought to Sekuru Shumba,” said Ms Banda.
According to the traditional healer, Mr Kamuyedza acquired a money-spinning goblin from a nearby country to boost the fortunes of his transport business.
He, however, decided to dispose of it after it started “to make extreme demands.’’
Mandere is said to have assembled a team of traditional healers including Ms Banda, to assist in conducting the ceremony. “After assembling the team, Sekuru Shumba invited Mr Kamuyedza, his wife and two of their associates to his home for consultations,” said Ms Banda.
“The consultations lasted three days during which we discussed whether or not we could handle this kind of ritual.”
Ms Banda said during the three days Mr Kamuyedza kept the goblin at home and only brought it to Sekuru Shumba’s lodgings for destruction on the fourth day. “Sekuru was in the bedroom with three other men who were members of the group. I was with Mai Tsitsi (Mr Kamuyedza’s wife) and Virginia (another healer) in the lounge.
“Other members of the group sat outside since the house was already packed. Sekuru Shumba beheaded the goblin. Clever (the businessman), subsequently, told his wife to collect the US$15 000 from their car that was parked outside.
“That is when Sekuru shouted that the goblin was fighting back. All I remember after that is a loud sound coming from the bedroom. The walls of the house crumbled. Virginia and I struggled to get outside.”
Ms Banda — who was slightly injured by debris — says she later disappeared from the scene before crowds gathered. Another healer is believed to have been among those rushed to hospital for treatment.
“I was hit by debris falling off a crumbling wall, but my friend Virginia was not as lucky. She is still nursing serious injuries from that blast,” said Ms Banda.
A neighbour, Victoria Sarangera, said the explosion occurred at around 1520 hours. She said she was the first person to see victims of the blast.
“I was outside doing the dishes when all of a sudden there was a loud bang and I was hit by a brick,” she said.
“When I turned back, there were two men who were already dead. Their skin had turned black. One of them had a deep gash on the head and his brains could be seen while the other man’s body had been ripped into two.
“A cloud of smoke went up into the air. Sekuru Shumba was lying motionless. The businessman was also dead. At that moment, a tenant at the house, Mai Kelly, was looking for her daughter whose corpse was later retrieved under a bed. “Limbs and other human parts were strewn all over.”
The mysterious blast killed five people, including Sekuru Shumba, the businessman and a seven-month-old child. Investigators are still trying to establish the cause of the explosion that also damaged 12 other houses.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said specialists in the police bomb disposal and ballistics unit were yet to ascertain the cause of the blast. “The investigation is likely to take longer. There is no likelihood of the findings coming out next week,” she said. sunday mail
A starving man in North Korea has been executed after murdering his two children for food, reports from inside the secretive state claim.
A 'hidden famine' in the farming provinces of North and South Hwanghae is believed to have killed up to 10,000 people and there are fears that incidents of cannibalism have risen.
The grim story is just one to emerge as residents battle starvation after a drought hit farms and shortages were compounded by party officials confiscating food.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has spent vast sums of money on two rocket launches despite reports of desperate food shortages in the country and concerns that 10,000 people have died in a famine
Undercover reporters from Asia Press told the Sunday Times that one man dug up his grandchild's corpse and ate it. Another, boiled his own child for food.
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Despite reports of the widespread famine, Kim Jong Un, 30, has spent vast sums of money on two rocket launches in recent months.
There are fears he is planning a nuclear test in protest at a UN Security Council punishment for the recent rocket launches and to counter what it sees as US hostility.
One informant was quoted as saying: 'In my village in May a man who killed his own two children and tried to eat them was executed by a firing squad.'
Farming communities, such as these pictured outside the capital Pyongyang last year, have been desperately hit by drought which has led to reports of people turning to cannibalism in a bid to ward off starvation
One official said the fields are in such a bad state from drought that he had to avert his eyes
The informant said the father killed his eldest daughter while his wife was away on business and then killed his son because he had witnessed the murder.
When his wife returned the man told her they had 'meat' but she became suspicious and contacted officials who discovered part of the children's bodies.
Jiro Ishimaru, from Asia Press, which compiled a 12 page report, said: 'Particularly shocking were the numerous testimonies that hit us about cannibalism.'
Undercover reporters said food was confiscated from the two provinces and given to the residents of the capital Pyongyang.
A drought then left food supplies desperately short.
Cannibalism has also been reported in the vast network of prison camps inside North Korea, such as Camp 22, pictured, where 50,000 are believed to be imprisoned
The Sunday Times also quoted an official of the ruling Korean Worker's party as saying: 'In a village in Chongdan county, a man who went mad with hunger boiled his own child, ate his flesh and was arrested.
United Nations officials visited the area during a state-sponsored trip but local reporters said it is unlikely they were shown the famine-hit areas.
It has not the first time that reports of cannibalism have come out of the country.
In May last year, the South Korean state-run Korean Institute for National Unification said that one man was executed after eating part of a colleague and then trying to sell the remains as mutton.
One man killed and ate a girl and a third report of cannibalism was recorded from 2011.
Another man was executed in May after murdering 11 people and selling the bodies as pork.
There were also reports of cannibalism in the country's network of prison camps.
North Korea was hit by a terrible famine in the 1990s - known as the Arduous March - which killed between 240,000 and 3.5million people.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2269094/North-Korean-parents-eat-children-driven-mad-hunger-famine-hit-pariah-state.html#ixzz2JIEhmETv (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2269094/North-Korean-parents-eat-children-driven-mad-hunger-famine-hit-pariah-state.html#ixzz2JIEhmETv)
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PHOENIX -- He's known as the world's first pregnant man, but he's now facing more controversy.
Thomas and Nancy Beatie now find themselves in the middle of more drama. They must convince an Arizona court system they aren't the same sex, therefore, they should be granted a divorce.
Nancy remembers after Thomas got pregnant, "We had death threats and people knew where we lived and from a lot of people there was a lot of outpouring of positive."
Thomas ended up giving birth to three children during his marriage to Nancy. The couple eventually relocated to Arizona. But last year, evidence their relationship was in trouble was leaked to the media.
"It was a very unhappy place for me for a few years," Nancy said.
The couple are now in the midst of trying to get a divorce. But as Nancy's attorney explains, "Arizona just doesn't have a body of law or authority to work off of."
Court documents show the judge is questioning if the union is actually a same-sex marriage and since that's banned in Arizona, the judge may not be able to grant the Beaties a divorce.
"Now we have to prove to the judge that we're man and woman, married, legally," Nancy said.
"Thomas wants to be treated as an equal," said his attorney, David Michael. "He doesn't want his children to be born out of wedlock or that he wasn't in a valid different-sex marriage. "
Thomas began testosterone treatment in the late 90s and by 2002, had a double mastectomy and chest reconstruction. He's been a man, legally, ever since.
"Once they said Thomas was a man, he could use that for any other purpose, passport, driver's license, marriage license," Cantor explained.
But the confusion seems to surround the fact that despite his sex-change operation, Thomas kept his reproductive organs.
"What held the judge up is wait a second, he had children, he didn't sterilize himself," Cantor said.
"Did Thomas undergo a sufficient enough change to make him now a male and then, of course, the giving birth part factored into that," Higgins explained.
According to Superior Court records, "it appears, by any reasonable standard, Thomas was the biological mother at the times his children were born."
"Under the dictionary definition of having child-bearing organs, that makes him a female by definition, but that's not the definition that the law looks at," Cantor said.
Thomas' attorney argues most transgender people don't become sterile, so it can't be used as a measurement of a successful sex change.
"Only 21 percent of female-to-male transsexuals actually get a hysterectomy," Cantor said. "That means 80 percent keep their reproductive organs."
"I think that this point, there is plenty of authority to back up our position," Higgins said.
Nancy is in a better place now. She simply wants to be mom to Susan, Austin and Jensen and close this chapter.
"I'm just standing up for the truth and what's right and I'm doing the right thing," she said. "I want this divorce and I want him to move on with his life and I want to move on with mine."
The Beaties are scheduled to make their next court appearance on Thursday.
TUCSON (KGUN-9) - It was a normal Sunday in Vail for Geradine Vargas. Normal, until she and her husband stumbled upon something kind of weird.
"We were taking photos around the area and we just.... I mean, how could you miss this?" Geradine said. "It was just like glittering in the sun."
Thousands of tiny, purple-hued spheres piled in the middle of nowhere.
"It's just one of those things that you've never seen before."
They were watery, some where translucent, and the pile was completely isolated. Gerardine was amazed, and she wanted answers.
"We did email a friend of ours who's a zoologist, but she didn't know. I mean, she didn't seem to recognize what it was."
So, she sent KGUN-9 pictures of the spheres, hoping we could find some answers.
We checked out the mysterious spheres for ourselves, and learned they were still there. They're like gooey marbles that ooze out a water substance when squished. They roll, they shine, and they're out of this world.
Geradine was dying to know what they were, and so were we.
We spoke to Darlene Buhrow, director of marketing at Tucson Botanical Gardens, who's husband is a botanist. He said if these are something naturally occurring, they could be a slime mold or jelly fungus.
We've received tons of calls into the newsroom tonight from viewers who think they are a product like Deco Beads, which are tiny, colored, water-filled spheres that keep plants hydrated.
But thousands of them? In the middle of the desert?
No one is positive what these spheres are, and for now, all we can say for certain is that they're definitely out of the ordinary.
Burger King has tonight admitted that it has been selling burgers and Whoppers containing horsemeat despite two weeks of denials.
The fast food chain, which has more than 500 UK outlets, had earlier given a series of ‘absolute assurances’ that its products were not involved.
However, new tests have revealed these guarantees were incorrect in a revelation that threatens to destroy the trust of customers.
Burger King has faced allegations of orchestrating a cover-up of its links to the horsemeat scandal in order to give it time to find an alternative supplier. It has admitted selling burgers containing horsemeat
It also raises serious questions about whether the food company, which sells around one million burgers a week in the UK, has any good idea about what goes into its products.
The contaminated burgers were made by the Irish-based processing company, Silvercrest, which is part the ABP Foods Group.
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Contaminated burgers made in Poland for UK supermarkets contained horse and beef 'offcuts' for up to a year
The same company also made tainted burgers for Tesco, Asda and the Co-op, among others.
Burger King has faced allegations of orchestrating a cover-up of its links to the horsemeat scandal in order to give it time to find an alternative supplier.
It is currently shipping in tens of thousands of burgers from suppliers in Germany and Italy in order to meet demand at its UK outlets.
It is known that the management at Silvercrest has been using a series of non-approved ingredients in their burgers for a range of household name brands.
These included meat off-cuts, including horse, that were imported in large frozen blocks from Poland.
The contamination has been going on since at least last May and potentially for up to one year, according to evidence presented to MPs earlier this week.
Tonight Burger King abandoned its earlier denials, saying: ‘Four samples recently taken from the Silvercrest plant have shown the presence of very small trace levels of equine DNA.
Burger King is currently shipping in tens of thousands of burgers from suppliers in Germany and Italy in order to meet demand at its UK outlets
‘Within the last 36 hours, we have established that Silvercrest used a small percentage of beef imported from a non-approved supplier in Poland.
‘They promised to deliver 100per cent British & Irish beef patties and have not done so. This is a clear violation of our specifications, and we have terminated our relationship with them.
‘Through our investigation, we have confirmed that this non-approved Polish supplier is the same company identified by the Irish Department of Agriculture as the source of Silvercrest’s contamination issue.’
'We are deeply troubled by the findings of our investigation and apologise to our guests, who trust us to source only the highest quality 100per cent beef burgers.'
- Burger King vice presidentThe contamination scandal was first triggered two weeks ago, with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland revealed it had found horse meat in burgers sold in Ireland and the UK.
When the news first emerged, Burger King said it had been given an ‘absolute assurance’ by its supplier that its products were not involved.
Yesterday, Burger King vice president, Diego Beamonte, said: ‘We are deeply troubled by the findings of our investigation and apologise to our guests, who trust us to source only the highest quality 100per cent beef burgers.
‘Our supplier has failed us and in turn we have failed you. We are committed to ensuring that this does not happen again.’
He added: ‘We will dedicate ourselves to determining what lessons can be learned and what additional measures, including DNA testing and enhanced traceability controls, can be taken to ensure that we continue to provide you with the quality products you expect from us.’
Jeanette Longfield, of the campaigning food and health group, Sustain, has condemned Burger King’s handling of the problem.
Burgers were pulled off the shelves at Tesco after the supermarket discovered that there were traces of horse meat in their products
‘Burger King’s approach has been very shabby,’ she said.
‘It really is not the open, honest and transparent way that we expect a major food company to treats its customers.’
Earlier today, Aldi admitted for the first time that burgers sold through its UK stores were also probably contaminated with traces of horse meat.
Its burgers were made by a British supplier, Dalepak, which is based in Richmond, north Yorkshire.
The same company manufactures burgers for Iceland, which has also admitted to finding horse meat in products sold to families in this country.
Tesco Everyday Value beefburgers that were removed from shelves at Tesco after they were found to contain 29 per cent horse meat
Dalepak also makes burgers for Waitrose and Sainsbury’s, which both insist that their burgers are clear of contamination.
The processing company is a subsidiary of the Irish company, ABP Food Group, which also owns a second burger manufacturing business, which is Silvercrest, in southern Ireland.
Aldi said a sample of its frozen Oakhurst Beefburgers showed up positive for 0.1per cent horse DNA, while its Oakhurst Beef Quarter Pounders were 0.1per cent equine and 0.1per cent pork.
The company withdrew all of its frozen burgers from UK stores when the scandal first erupted two weeks ago as a precaution.
Silvercrest used a small percentage of beef imported from a non-approved supplier in Poland
A spokesman said: ‘Customers are our absolute priority. This is why we immediately withdrew these products until such a time that we could verify that there was no risk to our customers.
‘We are deeply angry and feel let down by our supplier and we are pursuing more tests until we are certain that we understand how the production line was contaminated.
‘Aldi requires rigorous verification and quality control procedures and we cannot allow our quality commitment to our customers to be compromised.
‘We will continue to maintain active scrutiny across our supply lines, and we assure our customers their health and safety is our number one priority.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271440/Burger-King-admits-selling-beef-burgers-Whoppers-containing-horse-meat.html#ixzz2Jf0pUkQL (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271440/Burger-King-admits-selling-beef-burgers-Whoppers-containing-horse-meat.html#ixzz2Jf0pUkQL)
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Canada Kills the Pennyhttp://news.yahoo.com/canada-kills-penny-152828366.html (http://news.yahoo.com/canada-kills-penny-152828366.html)
By Ned Smith, BusinessNewsDaily Senior Writer | LiveScience.com – 18 mins ago.. .
It's the end of the line for the Canadian penny in retail purchases. On Feb. 4 the Canadian Mint, which stopped producing pennies last spring, will stop circulating the coins to financial institutions and will encourage them to send back any pennies they have on hand. And the majority of retailers will follow the government's proposal to round the prices of all cash transactions.
It's billed as a cost-savings move.
"The penny is a currency without any currency in Canada, and it costs us 1.5 cents to produce a penny," said Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
While there may be some nostalgic souls north of the U.S. border who lament the passing of the iconic twin-maple-leaf coin, Flaherty said that when the Canadian senate committee held hearings on axing the penny last year, not one witness came forward to say it should be preserved.
Canadians, though, won't be forced to go cold turkey. Retailers will still be allowed to make exact change in pennies until the supply runs outs. And rounding applies only to cash transactions; it will not affect electronic forms of payment, such as credit and debit transaction.
And the rules on rounding aren't hard and fast. Retailers are expected to follow a variety of rounding approaches, with some expected to round down all transactions to the nearest nickel, others rounding down all sales below 5 cents and rounding up all sales above five cents, and still others using the government's more complicated penny-by-penny rules.
[Top 10 Rarest U.S. Coins]
All are good in the eyes of the government. There are also no requirements that retailers change their cash registers. They can simply have their staff use "rounding rules in their head," as long as they are consistent in the approach.
Canada will not be the first penniless nation. New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Norway and Finland are among those that have made smooth transitions to a penny-free economy, according to the Canadian government.
The great consolation for U.S. citizens is that the Canadian penny will now be as useless north of the border as it is south of the border when Americans find one among their change.
Stop using cash at all and use debit cards with direct deposit.
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) — A mob stripped, tortured and bound a woman accused of witchcraft, then burned her alive in front of hundreds of witnesses in a Papua New Guinea town, police said Friday after one of the highest profile sorcery-related murders in this South Pacific island nation.
Hundreds of bystanders, including many children, watched and some took photographs of Wednesday's brutal slaying. Grisly pictures were published on the front pages of the country's biggest circulating newspapers, The National and Post-Courier, while the prime minister, police and diplomats condemned the killing.
In rural Papua New Guinea, witchcraft is often blamed for unexplained misfortunes. Sorcery has traditionally been countered by sorcery, but retaliations have become increasingly violent in recent years.
The death was the first sorcery-related murder in Papua New Guinea in a year, national police spokesman Dominic Kakas said.
Kepari Leniata, a 20-year-old mother, had been accused of sorcery by relatives of a 6-year-old boy who died in the hospital the day before.
She was tortured with a hot iron rod, bound, doused in gasoline, then set alight on a pile of car tires and trash in the Western Highlands provincial capital of Mount Hagen, Kakas said.
Deputy Police Commissioner Simon Kauba on Friday blasted Mount Hagen investigators by phone for failing to make a single arrest, Kakas said.
The public were apparently not cooperating with police and police carrying out the investigation were not working hard enough, Kakas said.
"He was very, very disappointed that there's been no arrest made as yet," Kakas said.
"The incident happened in broad daylight in front of hundreds of eyewitnesses and yet we haven't picked up any suspects yet. He was very, very curious about that and he blasted the investigators on the phone," Kakas added.
Kakas described the victim's husband as the "prime suspect" and said the man fled the province. Kakas said he did not know if there were a relationship between the husband and the dead boy's family.
He said more than 50 men and people are suspected to have "laid a hand on the victim" and committed crimes in the mob attack. While many children had witnessed the murder, there were no child suspects, he said.
Police Commissioner Tom Kulunga described the murder as "shocking and devilish."
"We are in the 21st century and this is totally unacceptable," Commissioner Kulunga said in a statement.
He suggested courts be established to deal with sorcery allegations, as an alternative to villagers dispensing justice.
Prime Minister Pete O'Neill said he had instructed police to use all available manpower to bring the killers to justice.
"It is reprehensible that women, the old and the weak in our society should be targeted for alleged sorcery or wrongs that they actually have nothing to do with," O'Neill said.
The U.S. Embassy in the national capital Port Moresby issued a statement calling for a sustained international partnership to enhance anti-gender-based violence laws throughout the Pacific.
The embassy of Australia, Papua New Guinea's colonial ruler until independence in 1975 and now its biggest foreign aid donor, said "We join ... all reasonable Papua New Guineans in looking forward to the perpetrators being brought to justice."
Then, just hours after the Pontiff dropped the bombshell that he no longer had the health and vigour to carry out his duties as leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, a freak thunderstorm swept over Rome and a lighting bolt struck the basilica of St.Peter's dome.
Thunderstorms are not unknown in winter, but they are more likely to hit the celestial city in spring or summer, which makes the lightning strike even more unusual.
Photographer Filippo Monteforte was in the right place at the right time to capture an image that could be construed as a sign from God.
As Psalm 29 says: "The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning."
The jelly-like substance has been found at the RSPB Ham Wall Nature reserve in Somerset. As yet the mystery slime has not been identified.
Steve Hughes, the RSPB site manager at Ham Wall, said: "This past week we've been finding piles of this translucent jelly dotted around the reserve.
"Always on grass banks away from the water's edge. They are usually about 10cm (4in) in diameter. We've asked experts what it might be, but as yet no one is really sure. Whatever it is, it's very weird."
Scientific speculation as to the nature of the jelly is varied.
One of the more favoured explanations is that it is a form of cyanobacteria called Nostoc.
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Some, however, suggest that it is the remains of the regurgitated innards of amphibians such as frogs and toads and of their spawn.
Alternatively, it may be related to the intriguingly named crystal brain fungus.
Tony Whitehead, an RSPB spokesman for the South West, said: "Although we don't know what it actually is, similar substances have been described previously.
Mr Whitehead added: "It's great that in this day and age that there are still mysteries out there. We've read a few articles now and much speculation.
"One suggested it was neither animal nor plant, and another that it didn't contain DNA, although it does give the appearance of something 'living'.
"Our reserve team will be looking out for the slime over the next few days, but if anyone can offer any explanations we'd be glad to hear."
The public are being warned not to touch the mystery substance, and to inform nature reserve staff.
Tasmanian police and firefighters are unable to explain the source of a beam of light which reportedly fell from the sky and formed a circle of fire in a Hobart suburb.
Early Saturday morning police and fire crews received calls from concerned residents in Carnegie Street at Claremont, who reported seeing a bright light igniting a fire in a nearby paddock.
Tasmania Fire Service officer Scott Vinen says the blaze was quickly put out, leaving an obvious burnt patch.
He says the bizarre incident has everyone baffled.
"Once we put the fire out, we kind of walked through the fire and tried to find something," he said.
"We thought a flare or something may have landed there, but we couldn't find any cause."
The Fire Service says it will not investigate further.
New York "cannibal cop" in tears as defense rests after one dayhttp://news.yahoo.com/defense-poised-open-york-cannibal-cop-kidnap-conspiracy-143130114.html (http://news.yahoo.com/defense-poised-open-york-cannibal-cop-kidnap-conspiracy-143130114.html)
By Chris Francescani | Reuters – 18 hrs ago.. .
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York City cop on trial for plotting to kidnap, cook and eat women shed tears on Tuesday as his attorneys rested their case after one day.
"Just knowing that we've finally come to the conclusion (of the trial) and that his fate is in the jury's hands" made Officer Gilberto Valle emotional, attorney Robert Baum said after court ended.
"That's a huge weight for someone to bear," Baum said.
Closing arguments were scheduled for early on Thursday.
Since the trial's start last week, jurors have heard excerpts read aloud from dozens of Internet chats and emails in which Valle talked with others about murdering and eating women. Those women included his estranged wife, Kathleen Mangan-Valle.
Out of two dozen plots involving women, at least three were real, prosecutors contended.
Defense lawyers said their client's cyber-plots were "pure fiction," no more dangerous than a Stephen King novel or a horror movie.
They concluded the defense case without calling Valle to the witness stand or noted forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz, who interviewed the cannibalistic serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
Earlier on Tuesday, defense attorneys showed jurors a video tour of DarkFetishNet.com, the website where prosecutors say Valle's kidnap plots were first hatched.
Jurors saw graphic pictures of mutilation, hanging corpses and profile pages for members with names like Vicious Vixen.
Banner ads were displayed throughout the site for various torture erotica websites that featured pictures of bound women and men beside lines such as "Their pain. Your Gain," and "Dead Girls Are Easy."
Jurors received a brief dose of comic relief from a videotaped deposition of the creator of DarkFetishNet.com, who repeatedly compared his violent, sexual, fantasy role-play website to Facebook.
"It's a social media network very similar to Facebook," Sergay Merenkov, 34, said in describing how the site works.
"It does everything that Facebook does," he said during the deposition, which was taken recently in Moscow.
Prosecutors have accused Valle of conspiring to kidnap, cook and eat women, saying many of his plots were hatched on DarkFetishNet.
Asked at one point whether he knew all of the 37,000 members of his website, Merenkov, wearing a black T-shirt and sipping from an "I Love Tea" mug, scoffed at a prosecutor.
"No," he said, drawing muted smiles from weary jurors. "That's like asking (Facebook creator Mark) Zuckerberg if he knows each and every member of Facebook."
After months of online role play last year, Valle began to act on his fantasies when he met one of his online "targets" for brunch and improperly accessed a law enforcement database to get personal information on another, Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall Jackson has alleged.
Valle's secret online life began to unravel last year after Mangan-Valle said he began acting oddly and spent much of his time on the couple's computer. She discovered dozens of files her husband kept on their computer about women, including herself, that he wanted to kidnap, torture and murder, she testified.
She contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Valle was arrested in October.
Voucher school textbook defines ‘hippies’ as followers of rock stars who may have worshipped Satanhttp://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/hippies-satan-worship-school-history-book-201334876.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/hippies-satan-worship-school-history-book-201334876.html)
By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo! News | The Sideshow – 1 hr 20 mins ago.. .
A school participating in Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's controversial voucher program is apparently using a history book that teaches its eighth-grade students that "hippies" were dirty followers of Satan-worshipping rock musicians.
The textbook, “America: Land I Love," includes a section on the counterculture movement of the 1960s.
Here's a paragraph taken from that section, which was published Wednesday by AmericaBlog.com:
Many young people turned to drugs and immoral lifestyles; these youth became known as hippies. They went without bathing, wore dirty, ragged, unconventional clothing, and deliberately broke all codes of politeness or manners. Rock music played an important part in the hippie movement and had great influence over the hippies. Many of the rock musicians they followed belonged to Eastern religious cults or practiced Satan worship.
It's not clear which school is using the aforementioned textbook. John Aravosis, who published the text on AmericaBlog, said the source was "a friend" who sent him a photo of the section.
(http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thesideshow/hippies-book-lg.jpg)
But this isn't the first time books used in Jindal's voucher program—which allows poor and middle-class students the opportunity to attend private schools that often have religion-based curricula—have been called into question. Last fall, Mother Jones magazine published a list of "14 wacky 'facts' kids will learn in Louisiana's voucher schools."
Among them:
"A few slave holders were undeniably cruel. Examples of slaves beaten to death were not common, neither were they unknown. The majority of slave holders treated their slaves well."—United States History for Christian Schools, 2nd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 1991
And:
"[The Ku Klux] Klan in some areas of the country tried to be a means of reform, fighting the decline in morality and using the symbol of the cross. Klan targets were bootleggers, wife-beaters, and immoral movies. In some communities it achieved a certain respectability as it worked with politicians."—United States History for Christian Schools, 3rd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 2001
Last month, Jindal defended the program in Washington.
"To oppose school choice is to put the wishes of the adults who control the status quo ahead of the needs of our children," Jindal said. "To oppose school choice is to oppose equal opportunity."
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Police in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo are baffled by a macabre puzzle: someone has been leaving gift-wrapped human skulls around town.
Investigator Paul Henry Bozon Verduraz described the case to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper in a story published Thursday.
The first skull in cherry-red wrapping was found on February 20 in a planter near a residential building downtown. Since then, seven others have been found near Mormon temples or consulates, including those for Russia, the Czech Republic and South Africa. The skulls are old, with traces of dirt.
Verduraz says security cameras captured images of a woman in an ankle-length skirt leaving the skulls, which seem old, with traces of dirt. He thinks this may be part of some sort of ritual.
QuoteVoucher school textbook defines ‘hippies’ as followers of rock stars who may have worshipped Satan
By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo! News | The Sideshow – 1 hr 20 mins ago...
A school participating in Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's controversial voucher program is apparently using a history book that teaches its eighth-grade students that "hippies" were dirty followers of Satan-worshipping rock musicians.
The textbook, “America: Land I Love," includes a section on the counterculture movement of the 1960s.
Here's a paragraph taken from that section, which was published Wednesday by AmericaBlog.com:
QuoteMany young people turned to drugs and immoral lifestyles; these youth became known as hippies. They went without bathing, wore dirty, ragged, unconventional clothing, and deliberately broke all codes of politeness or manners...
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/hippies-satan-worship-school-history-book-201334876.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/hippies-satan-worship-school-history-book-201334876.html)
FBI dog 'Ape' killed in line of duty in Herkimer
Posted: Mar 14, 2013 4:08 PM EDT
Police in Herkimer kill suspect in deadly shooting spree
HERKIMER, N.Y. - On Thursday morning, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Tactical K-9 "Ape" was killed in the line of duty while accompanying FBI agents who were attempting to arrest Kurt Myers, the suspected killer of four people in Herkimer Wednesday.
Ape was shot by the suspect during a shootout with police, who then returned fire killing the suspect.
Special Agent Ann Todd says Ape will be returned home to Quantico, Virginia. A memorial will be held at Quantico and his name will be added to a memorial wall.
Ape was a Czech German Shepherd born on November 17, 2010. He began on duty with the FBI on February 25, 2013 after successfully completing a demanding tactical training course which started on October 12, 2012.
"Ape was doing what he was trained to do and made the ultimate sacrifice for his team. His actions were heroic and prevented his teammates from being seriously wounded or killed," Todd says. "K-9s are a tremendous asset in tactical operations and enhance the safety of law enforcement personnel who routinely confront complex and high-risk threats"
"He will be missed by his FBI family."
An explosion at a military ammunition storage facility in Nevada during a Marine Corps training exercise killed seven U.S. Marines and wounded several others, military officials said.
The North Carolina-based soldiers with the 2nd Marine Division were killed late Monday when a 60-millimeter mortar exploded during a live-fire training exercise at Hawthorne Army Depot as Marines were preparing to fire it, NBC News reports.
The cause of the incident remains under investigation. The identities of those killed were not released pending notification of their families, officials said in a statement from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp LeJeune, N.C.
"We send our prayers and condolences to the families of Marines involved in this tragic incident. We remain focused on ensuring that they are supported through this difficult time," said Maj. Gen. Raymond C. Fox, the force's commander. "We mourn their loss, and it is with heavy hearts we remember their courage and sacrifice."
Stacy Kendall, a spokeswoman for Renown Regional Medical Center, told NBC News the facility was treating eight people wounded in the blast. Three were listed in serious condition; five were listed in fair condition. Kendall said the injuries included traumas and fractures.
Earlier, Russ Collier, an official at the facility, told KRNV-TV that the explosion was an accident unrelated to the ammunition that is stored at the military facility near the small desert community of Hawthorne.
The 147,000-acre depot, established in 1930, is about 140 miles southeast of Reno. The facility stores and disposes of ammunition, and provides long-term storage for industrial plant equipment. It is comprised of nearly 3,000 buildings — including igloos, supply warehouses and munitions sheds — throughout more than 230 square miles.
The facility had an operating budget of $270,000 and a payroll of $2.88 million in fiscal year 2009, according to its website.
Messages seeking comment from Hawthorne Army Depot officials were not immediately returned.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/19/explosion-during-training-at-hawthorne-army-depot/#ixzz2NzmC6hDJ (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/19/explosion-during-training-at-hawthorne-army-depot/#ixzz2NzmC6hDJ)
PYONGYANG—While performing his duties as Supreme Leader of North Korea Tuesday, Kim Jong-un reportedly heard a small voice in the back of his mind telling him that his actions over the last six months have been very strange and wrong.
Sources confirmed that the tiny voice, which spoke to Kim at various points throughout the day, quietly suggested that the four-star military general and Worker Party’s secretary is a weird person with out-of-whack priorities who acts in a way that makes little sense to anyone.
“You are a very odd man who does things that are bizarre and indicative of a mentally ill person,” the little voice reportedly said following a speech in which Kim issued apocalyptic threats to enemies in the West and predicted the destruction of America. “The things you say on a daily basis are not only extremely creepy and off-putting, but they are also very wrong. You should probably not be the leader of a country.”
“Stop that,” the voice continued as Kim issued another threat to the global community. “Stop saying these weird things. You’re making people frightened and uncomfortable.”
According to sources, the faintly perceptible voice located in the recesses of Kim’s mind continued communicating with the dictator during the presentation of a propaganda film depicting the nuclear annihilation of the United States’ Eastern Seaboard. The soft whisper told the North Korean leader that the film was not only strange-looking because it was clearly rendered from a video game, but also filled with factual inaccuracies. The voice went on to note that when Kim Jong-un endorsed the video and shared it with millions of people all over the world, it made him seem like he didn’t know what was going on and that something was deeply wrong with him psychologically.
The voice then openly asked the dictator whether any of this was registering at all.
“When you tell the world that you will turn the West into a sea of fire, do you realize that this is not a normal thing for people to say?” said the barely audible voice, adding that it is equally strange for Kim to say he was born under a double rainbow and can control the weather. “When you pose in pictures on top of horses looking off into the distance, do you see that makes you look like a psychotic individual?”
At this point, sources reported, the small voice was suddenly cut off by a second, deeper voice telling the North Korean leader that he is not only very strong and powerful, but also very likable and popular and that he should not listen to any voice that tells him otherwise.
A third voice sounding vaguely like his deceased father told Kim it was “extremely impressed and proud” with the way he was acting. That was reportedly followed by a fourth and even stronger voice informing the military commander that he is the leader of the most powerful country and military in all of the world and had better act like it.
Sources also said that, based upon the way he was slightly moving his eyes back and forth and up and down, the voices were mostly likely talking to Kim at the exact same time.
“Dear Leader, you are a great and beloved strange human being who is extremely odd and should fulfill the destiny of your ancestors,” said the cacophonous group of voices reverberating in Kim’s head. “You are the shining sun. You are a lunatic who is going to end the world. You should destroy South Korea. You look ridiculous right now. They must bow to the might of your nuclear arsenal. I love you, my son. You are an insane man whose death would benefit the entire world.”
At press time, the Dear Leader was enjoying a 12-course meal, and reportedly had an easy time shutting out the voices of 15 million starving North Koreans who were crying out in agony and despair
12 Million Americans Believe Lizard People Run Our Countryhttp://news.yahoo.com/12-million-americans-believe-lizard-people-run-country-184751427.html (http://news.yahoo.com/12-million-americans-believe-lizard-people-run-country-184751427.html)
By Philip Bump | The Atlantic Wire – 19 hrs ago...
About 90 million Americans believe aliens exist. Some 66 million of us think aliens landed at Roswell in 1948. These are the things you learn when there's a lull in political news and pollsters get to ask whatever questions they want.
Public Policy Polling has raised weird polls to an art form. During last year's presidential campaign, the firm earned a bit of a reputation for its unorthodox questions; for example, "If God exists, do you approve of its handling of natural disasters?"
Today PPP released the results of a national survey looking at common conspiracy theories. Broken down by topic and cross-referenced by political preference, the results will not inspire a lot of patriotism. If you need to defend your fellow countrymen, be sure to note that the margin of error is 2.8 percent.
We took the findings and arranged them from most- to least-believed. And, just to inspire additional shame, figured out how many actual Americans that meant must believe in things like the danger of fluoride in water. (28 million, if you're wondering.)
Conspiracy Percent believing Number of Americans believing
JFK was killed by conspiracy 51 percent 160,096,160
Bush intentionally misled on Iraq WMDs 44 percent 138,122,178
Global warming is a hoax 37 percent 116,148,195
Aliens exist 29 percent 91,035,072
New World Order 28 percent 87,895,931
Hussein was involved in 9/11 28 percent 87,895,931
A UFO crashed at Roswell 21 percent 65,921,948
Vaccines are linked to autism 20 percent 62,782,808
The government controls minds with TV 15 percent 47,087,106
Medical industry invents diseases 15 percent 47,087,106
CIA developed crack 14 percent 43,947,966
Bigfoot exists 14 percent 43,947,966
Obama is the Antichrist 13 percent 40,808,825
The government allowed 9/11 11 percent 34,530,544
Fluoride is dangerous 9 percent 28,252,264
The moon landing was faked 7 percent 21,973,983
Bin Laden is alive 6 percent 18,834,842
Airplane contrails are sinister chemicals 5 percent 15,695,702
McCartney died in 1966 5 percent 15,695,702
Lizard people control politics 4 percent 12,556,562
Just to further inspire conversation, PPP broke down belief in each theory by whom the respondent supported in the 2012 election. This yielded some genuinely interesting results.
For example, only two conspiracies were more commonly believed by Obama supporters: that Bush intentionally misled America about Iraq's WMDs (a massive 69 percent of his supporters believe that one) and that the moon landing was faked. There two theories with equal support among Obama and Romney supporters: that aliens exist and theone about fluoridation. Everything else, from lizard people to vaccines and autism to global warming being a hoax? Believed by more Romney supporters.
No conspiracy was less commonly believed than one suggesting that the government is populated by lizard people. But that's mostly because only 2 percent of Obama supporters believe the theory while 5 percent of Romney supporters do.
Interesting.There's a link at the Yahoo! posting to the questions asked.
There's a lot in the wording.
Faked Moon Landing? Conspiracy Beliefs Fall Along Party Lineshttp://news.yahoo.com/faked-moon-landing-conspiracy-beliefs-fall-along-party-155031640.html (http://news.yahoo.com/faked-moon-landing-conspiracy-beliefs-fall-along-party-155031640.html)
By Benjamin Radford, LiveScience Bad Science Columnist | LiveScience.com – Thu, Apr 4, 2013...
Updated at 12:26 p.m. ET
A new national poll reveals that Americans differ along political party lines even in their endorsement of conspiracy theories, including the belief that President Obama is the Anti-Christ and the idea that global warming is a hoax.
The poll found, for instance, just 15 percent of Democrats believe a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian world government, or New World Order; compare that with 34 percent of Republicans and 35 percent of Independents who believe the same.
As one might expect, the more far-out the conspiracy theory, the fewer people endorse it. Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, which conducted the research, noted, "Most Americans reject the wackier ideas out there about fake moon landings and shape-shifting lizards."
Even so, 20 percent of Republicans believe that President Obama is the Anti-Christ, compared with 13 percent of Independents and 6 percent of Democrats who agree.
Some other highlights include:
— 58 percent of Republicans think global warming is a hoax, whereas just 24 percent of Democrats said the same. [The Reality of Global Warming: 10 Myths Busted]
— 15 percent of the respondents believe the pharmaceutical industry conspires with the medical industry to fabricate new diseases for profit, and the same number believe that secret mind-controlling technology is added to TV broadcast signals.
Democrats, Republicans and conspiracy theorists
The difference in endorsement between self-identified Democrats and Republicans is less surprising than it may seem at first glance; many events producing conspiracy theories have important political implications that make them more or less likely to be believed depending on your worldview.
For example, the recent Sandy Hook conspiracy theories were framed by believers not as merely a tragic school shooting but instead as a hoax perpetrated or coordinated by the Obama administration (or gun control groups or other powerful, unknown organizations) to scare the public into supporting gun control legislation. Similarly, conspiracies involving the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and whether or not President Obama is a legal U.S. citizen clearly have political implications.
Other common conspiracies — such as whether a UFO crashed in Roswell, New Mexico (21 percent said yes), or the moon landings were faked (7 percent said yes), or that Paul McCartney died in a car crash in 1966 (5 percent said yes) — have little implications for people's everyday lives. [The 10 Craziest Conspiracy Theories Explained]
The Conspiracy Mentality
The image of the bug-eyed, tinfoil-hat-wearing conspiracy believer is largely a stereotype. There is no single profile fitting all conspiracy theorists, but generally what the conspiratorial mind sees as misinformation and lies, others see as merely perfectly ordinary incomplete and inaccurate information or misunderstandings. Conspiracy believers tend to be skeptical of coincidences, instead seeing a reason or hidden purpose behind seemingly random events.
Sometimes evidence showing that a conspiracy theory is false has a measurable effect on public belief; for example, soon after Obama released his long-form birth certificate proving that he'd been born in Hawai'i, the number of people believing he'd been born outside the United States dropped by half, according to a 2011 Washington Post poll.
Often, however, no amount of evidence can deter true believers from conspiracy thinking. There is no shortage of documentation about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, for example, and questions from so-called "9/11 Truthers" have been repeatedly answered but to little effect.
In many cases, in fact, conspiracy believers endorse contradictory theories. Recent studies by researcher Karen Douglas at the University of Kent suggest a reason why. She and colleagues asked 137 students to rate how much they agreed with five conspiracy theories about the 1997 death of Princess Diana. The results were surprising — and contradictory. As Douglas explained to LiveScience, "The more people were likely to endorse the idea Princess Diana was murdered, the more they were likely to believe that Princess Diana is alive." To many conspiracy theorists settling on one definitive theory (for example whether bin Laden or Princess Diana is alive or not — and if they aren't, how or when they died) is far less important than knowing that something has been covered up and is being kept secret.
Research suggests that in some cases belief in conspiracy theories can actually be psychologically adaptive and beneficial, as the very premise of conspiracies implies a powerful, hidden force at work with some overarching grand design. Conspiracy theorists see a hidden hand behind the world's major events, including social and political changes. Even though conspiracy theorists claim to want to expose the conspiracy and thwart its goals (such as establishing a New World Order), some take comfort that the world is not merely random — that things happen for a reason. Though conspiracy believers don't feel in control of the events, they feel that at least someone is (or a small cabal of powerful "someones" are).
The survey, conducted by the Public Policy Polling group, sampled 1,247 registered American voters by telephone from March 27?30 and was not paid for by any political organization.
Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of "Skeptical Inquirer" science magazine and author of six books including "Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us." His website is www.BenjaminRadford.com (http://www.BenjaminRadford.com).
Feral Pigs Going Hog-Wild in UShttp://news.yahoo.com/feral-pigs-going-hog-wild-us-170222887.html (http://news.yahoo.com/feral-pigs-going-hog-wild-us-170222887.html)
By Douglas Main, Staff Writer | LiveScience.com – 20 hrs ago...(http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/LiveScience.com/ig43_Wild_boar_02.jpg1296257777)
Feral pigs are becoming a wild problem in the United States.
The wild hogs can now be found in three-fourths of U.S. states — and their populations are growing in many areas — and are estimated to cause $1.5 billion in damages each year, the Associated Press reports. There are currently more than 5 million wild hogs in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
By all accounts, the animals are quite intelligent. They also sport razor-sharp tusks and can be aggressive toward people and pets. They have a remarkable knack for causing trouble, ranging from eating threatened species like dune lizards and spreading invasive weeds to carrying and transmitting more than 30 different kinds of diseases to humans, livestock and other wildlife, according to the AP. Feral pigs’ habit of digging and rooting around in the ground also tears up gardens and crop fields, and creates holes in roads that serve as hazards for cars and tractors.
$1 million hunt
But the state of New Mexico isn't letting the pigs get away with those antics. The state recently partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a $1 million project to hunt, trap and kill the animals. The plan is to hit the animals in a single coordinated effort, because the pigs are so smart that they can learn from failed efforts to trap them and avoid the snares in the future.
"They're much brighter than I am," Ray Powell, a veterinarian and New Mexico's land commissioner, told the AP. "If they had the dexterity, they'd be driving vehicles around. I mean these guys are really smart."
Hunters will also employ a "Judas pig." After finding and killing a hog family, officials will intentionally leave one pig alive — usually, an adult female. This "Judas pig" will then be outfitted with a tracking collar in order to lead state officials to a new set of pigs, which the surviving hog will seek out, the AP reports. [Image Gallery: The Most Destructive Invasive Species]
Multiplying hogs
Texas may have the most wild hogs of any U.S. state, and the situation is expected to worsen, despite the $7 million per year that Texans spends to keep the animals' numbers down, the AP reports. A recent study by Texas A&M University found that the number of feral pigs is likely to triple in five years in the state of Texas if serious efforts aren't made to reduce feral-pig populations, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
"If a feral-hog sow produces a dozen piglets, 13 survive," goes an old joke, according to the Avalanche-Journal. But feral-pig reproduction is no laughing matter. The animals may start reproducing when they’re just 6 months old, and their litters average about six sows, reports Mississippi State University. They produce an average of 1.5 litters per year.
Feral pigs were introduced to North America in the 1500s by Spanish explorers and were used for hunting. In the wild, they can grow to be up to 300 pounds (136 kilograms) or more, according to U.S. government figures. Not one to shy away from controversy (or porcine genocide), the rock musician Ted Nugent killed 455 wild hogs in a recent hunting expedition in Texas. "I did it for Bill Maher and all those other animal-rights freaks out there," Nugent said, according to Mlive.com. He allegedly donated the meat to the homeless.
Survival of the Funniest: Celebrating Bad Evolutionary Theoryhttp://news.yahoo.com/survival-funniest-celebrating-bad-evolutionary-theory-113909646.html (http://news.yahoo.com/survival-funniest-celebrating-bad-evolutionary-theory-113909646.html)
By Michael Dhar, LiveScience Contributor | LiveScience.com – 4 hrs ago...
Update: This festival has been postponed due to a lockdown in Boston.
A beautiful scientific hypothesis can reduce the chaos of the world to a few, simple principles. Of course, it also helps if that explanation is true. A different kind of science festival that had been scheduled for April 20, however, will celebrate exquisitely argued evolutionary hypotheses — that just happen to be hopelessly, terribly wrong.
(The festival will be rescheduled for a later date.)
The first-ever BAH! (Festival of Bad Ad Hoc Hypotheses) will treat an audience at MIT to seven lectures on internally coherent, even convincing — but ultimately hilariously absurd — explanations of evolutionary adaptation.
The event was inspired by a joke in the science-obsessed Web comic "Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal" (SMBC), which is co-sponsoring the festival, along with the comic's publisher Breadpig (also behind the science-geek comic XKCD), and the MIT Lecture Series. In the comic, a scientist imagines a prehistoric advantage to punting newborns into neighboring villages. [No Duh! The 10 Most Obvious Science Findings]
The ridiculous argument, made in absolute sincerity by the illustrated scientist, posits that infants are hairless to minimize drag, "football-shaped" to maximize puntability, and filled with soft bones to cushion the impact. Airmailing infants would have allowed early humans to spread their genes, the scientist argues to great applause, earning her a trophy of "Darwin looking doubtful."
All the hypotheses chosen for BAH! Fest will be of a similar nature, sharing ludicrous conclusions supported by careful evolutionary explanations. Many of the presentations will even reference published scientific papers and present real data, Zach Weinersmith of SMBC said. But the conclusions are all absurd, intentionally so.
In selecting presenters, BAH! Fest organizers looked for the use of real data, cleverness and artistry, parsimony and strength of defense. "Please note," the guidelines state, "Being funny is not a good defense. We want to see you actually defend your terrible, terrible theory!"
The winner of BAH! Fest, chosen by a panel of bona fide scientists, will earn a 3D-printed version of the trophy first imagined in the SMBC comic — a "depressed-looking Darwin," Weinersmith said, complete with a voice bubble admitting, "I guess so?"
Pure satire, the festival is intended, first of all, to make people laugh. But, like most good satire, the event also pokes fun at a real issue, in this case, the misuse of evolutionary theory.
The major criticism for evolutionary theorists is hyperadaptationism, "over-the-top" evolutionary ideas that try to explain too many of an organism's features as adaptations, said Hadassah Head, project coordinator for Binghamton University's Evolutionary Studies (EvoS) Program, which helped promote BAH! Fest.
Taking part in the festival "shows an awareness of the issue and the ability to joke about it and understand it," said Glenn Geher, professor and chairman of psychology at the State University of New York at New Paltz, and a member of the EvoS Consortium.
Weinersmith himself was inspired by a classic (or notorious) case of bad evolutionary theory, the aquatic ape hypothesis. First proposed in the 1940s, the theory imagines that human ancestors went through a sea-based stage, which would explain things like the species' relative hairlessness and greater ability to digest fish compared with other primates.
Despite seeming coherence, though, that theory has very little (if any) support from serious evolutionary theorists. "Clearly, it's crazy," Weinersmith said. BAH! Fest just takes that craziness to the extreme. And, serious satirical intent aside, the event has captured the enthusiasm of scientists and science fans alike.
"This is definitely the coolest project I'm ever going to be a part of," Head said.
The event sold out MIT's 450-seat auditorium, and a successful outing will likely lead to an annual or even biannual event in the future, Weinersmith said. The event is also part of the Cambridge Science Festival.
I've heard that Arizona javelinas will laugh at .22 shots to the head...
NASA Captures Monster Hurricane from Spacehttp://news.yahoo.com/nasa-captures-monster-hurricane-space-163255671--abc-news-tech.html (http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-captures-monster-hurricane-space-163255671--abc-news-tech.html)
By Max Golembo | ABC News – 16 hrs ago...(http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/mEJgaRvsBloKQsnjgdrrrg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0zNjA7cT03OTt3PTY0MA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/gma/us.abcnews.go.com/ht_saturn_storm_jef_130430_wmain.jpg)
NASA's spacecraft Cassini took this amazing colorful picture of a Saturn storm that resembles a hurricane on Earth. The center eye of the storm on Saturn is about 1,250 miles wide. That's 20 times larger than the average hurricane eye on Earth, that's the distance between Dallas and Washington, DC.
Usually, hurricanes on Earth have a small eye and much larger outer bands. But incredibly on Saturn 1,250 miles is the distance of the center eye only. The entire storm could be several thousand miles more.
As for the wind speed in the storm, usually in hurricanes the strongest wind is in the center of the storm around what is called "the eye wall" of the hurricane, and tends to get weaker as you get to the edge of the hurricane. The wind speed on the outer edge of the cloud band of Saturn's hurricane is 330 mph and the winds in the center eye are four times faster than some of the strongest hurricanes on Earth. To compare Saturn's storm to hurricanes that affected the U.S., the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. was Camille in 1969 with winds of 190 mph.
One of the interesting facts is that usual hurricanes on Earth feed off the water vapor from the warm ocean water. That gives it the needed energy for the hurricane to develop. But on Saturn there is no body of water nearby for this storm to feed off. Instead it is feeding off of small amounts of water vapor in Saturn's hydrogen atmosphere.
Another interesting fact: Hurricanes on Earth form usually in the tropical latitudes and move north due to the forces acting on them. But Saturn's storm is located at the planet's north pole that has made it stationary with nowhere further north to go. Because of this discovery, NASA scientists believe that it could have been there for years.
Only in 2009 sun began reaching the northern Hemisphere allowing Cassini spacecraft to capture these images. This is because Saturn's seasons last nine years each, therefore their north pole is dark nine years at a time. So when the space craft first reached Saturn in 2004, the north pole was in the middle of winter.
NASA scientists will study this terrestrial hurricane-like storm because even though there are differences in size, strength and source of energy, it does carry similar characteristics such a central eye that has no clouds, counter clockwise spin in the northern Hemisphere, and high clouds circling the eye.
The harsh winter of 1609 in Virginia’s Jamestown Colony forced residents to do the unthinkable. A recent excavation at the historic site discovered the carcasses of dogs, cats and horses consumed during the season commonly called the “Starving Time.” But a few other newly discovered bones in particular, though, tell a far more gruesome story: the dismemberment and cannibalization of a 14-year-old English girl.
“The chops to the forehead are very tentative, very incomplete,” says Douglas Owsley, the Smithsonian forensic anthropologist who analyzed the bones after they were found by archaeologists from Preservation Virginia. “Then, the body was turned over, and there were four strikes to the back of the head, one of which was the strongest and split the skull in half. A penetrating wound was then made to the left temple, probably by a single-sided knife, which was used to pry open the head and remove the brain.”
Much is still unknown about the circumstances of this grisly meal: Who exactly the girl researchers are calling "Jane" was, whether she was murdered or died of natural causes, whether multiple people participated in the butchering or it was a solo act. But as Owsley revealed along with lead archaeologist William Kelso today at a press conference at the National Museum of Natural History, we now have the first direct evidence of cannibalism at Jamestown, the oldest permanent English colony in the Americas. “Historians have gone back and forth on whether this sort of thing really happened there,” Owsley says. “Given these bones in a trash pit, all cut and chopped up, it's clear that this body was dismembered for consumption.”
It’s long been speculated that the harsh conditions faced by the colonists of Jamestown might have made them desperate enough to eat other humans—and perhaps even commit murder to do so. The colony was founded in 1607 by 104 settlers aboard three ships, the Susan Constant, Discovery and Godspeed, but only 38 survived the first nine months of life in Jamestown, with most succumbing to starvation and disease (some researchers speculate that drinking water poisoned by arsenic and human waste also played a role). Because of difficulties in growing crops—they arrived in the midst of one of the worst regional droughts in centuries and many settlers were unused to hard agricultural labor—the survivors remained dependent on supplies brought by subsequent missions, as well as trade with Native Americans.
By the winter of 1609, extreme drought, hostile relations with members of the local Powhatan Confederacy and the fact that a supply ship was lost at sea put the colonists in a truly desperate position. Sixteen years later, in 1625, George Percy, who had been president of Jamestown during the Starving Time, wrote a letter describing the colonists’ diet during that terrible winter. “Haveinge fedd upon our horses and other beastes as longe as they Lasted, we weare gladd to make shifte with vermin as doggs Catts, Ratts and myce…as to eate Bootes shoes or any other leather,” he wrote. “And now famin beginneinge to Looke gastely and pale in every face, thatt notheinge was Spared to mainteyne Lyfe and to doe those things which seame incredible, as to digge upp deade corpes outt of graves and to eate them. And some have Licked upp the Bloode which hathe fallen from their weake fellowes.”
Despite this and other textual references to cannibalism, though, there had never been hard physical evidence that it had occurred—until now. Kelso’s team discovered the girl’s remains during the summer of 2012. "We found a deposit of refuse that contained butchered horse and dog bones. That was only done in times of extreme hunger. As we excavated, we found human teeth and then a partial human skull," says Kelso.
Kelso brought them to Owsley for a battery of forensic tests, including microscopic and isotope analysis. “We CT scanned the bones, then replicated them as virtual 3D models and then put them together, piece by piece, assembling the skull,” Owsley says. Digitally mirroring the fragments to fill in the missing gaps allowed the team to make a 3D facial reconstruction despite having just 66 percent of the skull.
The researchers used this reconstruction, along with the other data, to determine the specimen was a female, roughly 14 years old (based on the development of her molars) and of British ancestry. Owsley says the cut marks on the jaw, face and forehead of the skull, along with those on the shinbone, are telltale signs of cannibalism. "The clear intent was to remove the facial tissue and the brain for consumption. These people were in dire circumstances. So any flesh that was available would have been used," says Owsley. "The person that was doing this was not experienced and did not know how to butcher an animal. Instead, we see hesitancy, trial, tentativeness and a total lack of experience."
He’s probably one of the researchers best qualified to make this judgment. As one of the country’s most prominent physical anthropologists, he’s analyzed many cannibalized skeletons from ancient history, and as an accomplished forensic investigator who works with the FBI, he’s also worked on much more recent cases, such as one of the victims of 1980s serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer. In total, he estimates that he’s examined more than 10,000 bodies during his career, oftentimes people who were killed in tragic circumstances, including victims of 9/11 and journalists who were kidnapped and murdered in Guatemala. Most of his time, though, is spent working on more inspiring cases, such as the 9,000-year-old “Kennewick Man” discovered in Washington State, and the mysterious remains of ancient Easter Islanders. “I love the moments when you come up with something that you're just totally in awe of," he told Smithsonian magazine when he was named one of “35 Who Made a Difference.” “Something that gives you an overwhelming sense of wow!”
Owsley speculates that this particular Jamestown body belonged to a child who likely arrived in the colony during 1609 on one of the resupply ships. She was either a maidservant or the child of a gentleman, and due to the high-protein diet indicated by his team’s isotope analysis of her bones, he suspects the latter. The identity of whoever consumed her is entirely unknown, and Owsley guesses there might have been multiple cannibals involved, because the cut marks on her shin indicate a more skilled butcher than whoever dismembered her head.
It appears that her brain, tongue, cheeks and leg muscles were eaten, with the brain likely eaten first, because it decomposes so quickly after death. There’s no evidence of murder, and Owsley suspects that this was a case in which hungry colonists simply ate the one remaining food available to them, despite cultural taboos. “I don’t think that they killed her, by any stretch,” he says. “It's just that they were so desperate, and so hard-pressed, that out of necessity this is what they resorted to.”
Kelso’s team of archaeologists will continue to excavate the fort, searching for other bodies that might help us learn about the conditions faced by some of the country’s first European colonists. This might be the first specimen that provides evidence for cannibalism, but Owsley is pretty sure there are more to come. Percy’s letter also describes how, as president of the colony, he tortured and burned alive a man who had confessed to killing, salting and eating his pregnant wife—so the remains of this woman, along with other victims of cannibalism, may still be waiting to be found underground. “It’s fairly convincing, now that we see this one, that this wasn’t the only case,” he says. “There are other examples mentioned here and there in the literature. So the only question is: Where are the rest of the bodies?”
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Starving-Settlers-in-Jamestown-Colony-Resorted-to-Eating-A-Child-205472161.html#ixzz2S9Ko25Zd (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Starving-Settlers-in-Jamestown-Colony-Resorted-to-Eating-A-Child-205472161.html#ixzz2S9Ko25Zd)
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Teen Girl Expelled, Charged With a Felony After Science Experiment Goes Awryhttp://news.yahoo.com/teen-girl-expelled-charged-felony-science-experiment-goes-050006336.html (http://news.yahoo.com/teen-girl-expelled-charged-felony-science-experiment-goes-050006336.html)
Takepart.com – 10 hrs ago...
Science experiments don't always go the way they are intended. This, a 16-year-old Florida teenager knows all too well.
This week, Kiera Wilmot went to school and mixed some household chemicals in a tiny 8-ounce water bottle. It looked like a simple chemistry project but then the top popped off when a small explosion occurred.
Wilmot, who is in good standing as a student, said it was an accident. The Bartow High School principal told a local television station that the teen made a “bad choice” and called her a a good kid who has never previously been in trouble.
“Honestly, I don't think she meant to ever hurt anyone,” Principal Ron Pritchard told a Tampa Bay television station. “She wanted to see what would happen [when the chemicals mixed] and was shocked by what it did. Her mother is shocked too.”
In another era, Wilmot may have gotten scolded and sent back to class. But in this age of zero-tolerance policies, Wilmot is in deep trouble. She was arrested on Monday morning after the incident and charged with possession and discharge of a weapon on school property and discharging a destructive device.
In turn, she was expelled and will finish her high school years in an expulsion program.
“This situation is a poignant example of the absurdity of zero tolerance and the over-use of police intervention in schools” Dr. Kathleen Nolan, the author of Police in the Hallways: Discipline in an Urban High School and a lecturer at Princeton’s Program in Teacher Preparation, told TakePart.
“Tragically, this young woman, all because of what appears to have been misguided curiosity, now faces expulsion and felony charges, which could negatively impact her future opportunities and alter the course of her life,” she said. “The policies are particularly pernicious for African Americans and other young people of color as research shows these groups are disproportionately targeted by zero-tolerance policies and subject to harsher treatment once involved in the criminal justice system.”
Zero-tolerance policies in schools began in 1994 after Congress required states to adopt laws that guaranteed one-year expulsions for students who brought firearms to school. In order for states to receive federal funding, leaders had to adopt these laws. All 50 states did so.
“The criminal justice paradigm, under which zero tolerance operates, strips educators of decision-making powers and discretion,” Nolan said. “It forces otherwise caring and thinking adults to respond to incidents in unthinking and often destructive ways.”
Earlier this year, a 5-year-old Pennsylvania girl was suspended from kindergarten after she told another girl she was going to shoot her with a Hello Kitty toy gun that blows soapy bubbles. School officials told the girl’s parents she made a 'terrorist threat.'
Honor students have often been expelled or suspended for such infractions as having possession of a bottle of soda mixed with a few drops of alcohol or having pain relievers such as Midol and Tylenol, or even cough drops. Other students have ended up in serious trouble for bringing antiques that contain tiny knives to school for show and tell.
In the Florida case, Kelly Welch, a Villanova University criminal justice professor, said the story is “just another example of schools handling normal acts of juvenile misbehavior with extraordinarily harsh measures that more closely resemble the exclusion inherent to criminal justice rather than restorative discipline in school.”
Some schools, however, have started to realize the negative effects of such harsh discipline for non-violent infractions. Policies, in turn, are changing.
Last month, the Buffalo, New York school district voted to say goodbye to zero-tolerance policies that result in suspensions. Instead, the district will focus more on intervention and prevention, conflict resolution, counseling referrals and restorative justice.
In Fresno, Calif., the school district’s superintendent has decided to focus funding toward district-wide restorative justice programs.
This week, in Louisiana, the state House Education Committee approved a bill to counter zero tolerance and allow educators more flexibility in disciplinary measures.
“There must be a way for schools to address violations of school policies that do not have the harmful effects of criminalizing students,” Welch said. “Research shows that students who have been expelled and charged with felonies have a much greater likelihood of receiving a diminished education going forward, and may also have more encounters with the criminal justice system.”
Haunted house used to train China's SWAT teams
A haunted house in Wuhan, China, is being used by police for the psychological training of their prospective SWAT teams.
Xia Zhigang, a police instructor, said the new facility was intended to beef up "officers born in the 1980s and 1990s [under the one-child policy], single children who were spoiled by their families." By Malcolm Moore, Beijing
12:29PM BST 03 May 2013
9 Comments
For China's elite police cadets, it is the ultimate test of their psychological pluck.
Left alone in the dead of night in an abandoned driving school, the prospective SWAT teams are expected to show they can remain calm even in the face of the paranormal.
"After only three steps, my flashlight shone on a skeleton," wrote a journalist from the Wuhan Evening News who was permitted to test run the new haunted house training centre.
"Suddenly the wind started howling and there was lightening. I saw another skeleton hanging in the middle of the pouring rain.
"On my left, the screams of a baby shocked me. Then I heard a woman weeping, and then giggling. When I turned, a female corpse with long hair and dressed in white was hanging from a tree".
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Xia Zhigang, a police instructor, said the new facility was intended to beef up "officers born in the 1980s and 1990s [under the one-child policy], single children who were spoiled by their families."
"The house generates tension, fear, the inability to concentrate and improves psychological balance," he explained.
"This house was going to be demolished but we thought even the directors of horror movies could not find such a perfect spot," he added.
Recruits are allowed a one-minute study of the layout of the 27-room building before entering armed only with a flashlight. The goal is to battle past the "atmosphere of terror" into the control room and turn off the apparitions.
Flying car crashes outside elementary schoolhttp://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/flying-car-crashes-outside-elementary-school-015247415.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/flying-car-crashes-outside-elementary-school-015247415.html)
By Eric Pfeiffer, Yahoo! News | The Sideshow – 22 hrs ago(http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thesideshow/MaverickInFlight.jpg)
An image of the Maverick during one of its successful test flights (Maverick)
The flying car has long tantalized the imaginations of people everywhere. And a recent successful test flight by a Massachusetts company came with the promise that their prototype could go on sale to the public beginning sometime in 2014.
But another company’s airborne vehicle had a much different experience on Friday, when their flying car crashed into a tree just outside a Canadian elementary school.
The Globe and Mail reports that the flying car, dubbed the Maverick, is produced by a company in Florida.
Police spokesman Gord Molendyk told the paper that the two passengers inside the flying car were injured in the crash but are expected to recover. No one else was hurt in the incident, which reportedly occurred just before 9am, local time.
The Maverick is far different than the other flying car that made headlines last month. Instead, this vehicle is more like a dune buggy with a parachute and giant fan attached to the back of the vehicle.
And while this particular flight did not end well, the company that produces the Maverick has in fact conducted a number of successful test flights. They've chronicled several of these flights on their website (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AhhKvOylwaUsyvSObZ2YJ0vEeOd_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkcWhpdTZuBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzUEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTM0Mzhoc29kBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNWUyYmJhOWEtMmE2Ni0zYTMyLWJjYWQtYjI4OTMxODY0NzFhBHBzdGNhdANibG9nc3x0aGVzaWRlc2hvdwRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=0/SIG=11m1j7bp2/EXP=1369526779/**http%3A//mavericklsa.com/videos.html) and they are fascinating to watch.
"The idea is to go beyond roads," Maverick's Raymond Siebring said in an interview last year. "We'll be using it to fly medical supplies and humanitarian aid in places that roads don't reach."
After gaining momentum on a runway of about 3,00 feet, the fan and parasail then combine to life the vehicle off the ground. It needs about an equal distance to safely land.
Molendyk told the paper that after the Maverick took after, it attempted to gain velocity but crashed into a fence and several trees before coming to rest.
In an email sent to the website Jalopnik, reporter described how the Maverick’s inventors intend to use their unique vehicle:
“From what I know, pilot Ray Sebring designed the car to be used in 3rd world countries for missionaries. The idea is when the road ends, they put up the "Wing" and fly until there is road again.”
Maverick’s website describes their vehicle as: “The Maverick LSA design has been developed as an easy-to-operate – air, land, and snow craft. It is intuitive and safe to fly, drive and maintain by people in frontier areas of the world enabling them to use this unique vehicle in missions and humanitarian applications – in the world “beyond roads.”
Though, for the time being, they may have to ignore the final line from Doc Brown in “Back to the Future.” Because it would seem that where they are going, they do in fact, need roads.
Police say a 57-year-old central Florida woman is a grave robber who stole nearly 150 items that she used to decorate her home.
Statues, lights, planters, decorations and other trinkets pilfered from Mount Peace Cemetery in St. Cloud were allegedly adorning the home and yard of Debra Farinella, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
In all, the middle-aged tomb raider is accused of taking 146 pieces from the burial spots, according to WFTV.
"She was not very particular," said Officer Chad Durham, spokesman for the St. Cloud Police Department, to WOFL. "She would take them from baby gravesites, as well as adult gravesites."
A tipster gave police a description of a suspect and a partial license plate number. Police eventually located Farinella, who claimed that she bought the cemetery mementos at a yard sale, the Sentinel reported.
She's been charged with grand theft and petty theft, according to the Osceola County Sheriff's office.
Victims are encouraged to contact the St. Cloud Police Department to reclaim stolen goods, WKMG said.
No charges for teen after explosion at Fla. schoolhttp://news.yahoo.com/no-charges-teen-explosion-fla-school-232335649.html (http://news.yahoo.com/no-charges-teen-explosion-fla-school-232335649.html)
Associated PressBy TAMARA LUSH | Associated Press – 1 hr 39 mins ago...
A central Florida teenager who was accused of igniting a chemical explosion on school grounds — and who became the subject of a grassroots social media campaign on her behalf — will not face criminal charges, authorities said Wednesday.
Polk County State Attorney Jerry Hill wrote in a statement that the case against 16-year-old Kiera Wilmot has been dismissed, but that she must complete a diversion program.
The teen was arrested April 22 and faced possible felony charges after school administrators reported she combined toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil in a bottle, and the resulting gas blew the cap off the plastic bottle, according to the police report. The explosion happened outside, before school started, and no one was injured.
Kiera told Bartow police she was doing a science experiment, but science teachers said they had no knowledge of an experiment.
"Based upon the facts and circumstances of the case, the lack of criminal history of the child involved, and the action taken by the Polk County School Board, the State Attorney's Office extended an offer of diversion of prosecution to the child," Hill said in the statement. "The child and her guardian signed the agreement to successfully complete the Department of Juvenile Justice Diversion Program."
Details about the program aren't public record because Kiera is a juvenile.
The teen's arrest launched an outcry on social media by people who thought the arrest was unfair and heavy-handed.
Nearly 200,000 people signed an online petition protesting her arrest, and her name trended on Twitter for a few days. Several heavily trafficked websites wrote about her case, saying that she shouldn't face felony charges for a science experiment gone bad — and that an arrest in the case sent the wrong message to budding scientists. Other columnists felt that Kiera was treated harshly because she is black — and that a white student doing a similar experiment wouldn't have been handcuffed and arrested.
"With this type of thinking is it any wonder Black and Latino Children are under-represented in Science Fairs," wrote DNLee, a biologist and popular blogger for the Scientific American website. "If everyone around you has the idea that only legitimate science experiments are those sanctioned and prescribed to students, then when are students expected to explore independent authentic science interests? In Bartow, Florida, I guess the answer is no."
Brian Haas, a spokesman for the state attorney's office, said the massive online support for Kiera had nothing to do with the decision not to prosecute.
"Not one bit," Haas said. "It's certainly something we were aware of. We looked at this like we would any other case involving a juvenile. We don't evaluate and make decisions on our cases based on what's being said on the Internet."
Kiera's attorney, Larry Hardaway, said on Wednesday that the teen and her mother are relieved — but that they are still negotiating with the Polk County School Board regarding Kiera's academic future.
Hardaway said that Kiera is worried that people at the school think she's a "terrorist" and is eager to clear her name there, as well.
After the incident, she was suspended for 10 days. She has been attending classes at an alternative school in the district.
Bartow High School Principal Ron Pritchard earlier had recommended her expulsion for a year, based on the district's Code of Conduct.
That recommendation was put on hold until the criminal allegations against her were resolved. School officials said the case will go before a School Board hearing officer now that the criminal proceedings are completed.
"We look forward to resolving all of the issues," Hardaway said.
The Mystery of the Immaculately Conceived Baby Anteaterhttp://news.yahoo.com/mystery-immaculately-conceived-baby-anteater-140155441.html (http://news.yahoo.com/mystery-immaculately-conceived-baby-anteater-140155441.html)
By Jen Doll | The Atlantic Wire – Fri, May 17, 2013..(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/5ZsnhRATdLXTQsevFdvjhQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0zODM7cT03OTt3PTYxNA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/theatlanticwire/The_Mystery_of_the_Immaculately-5bbe14aac536dad52791ff4a1e0bc6b3)
Staffers at a zoological conservation center in Greenwich, Conn., are very confused — as are the rest of us — because their female giant anteater, Armani, has managed to conceive a baby, apparently without the presence of a male anteater.
It all started in August, writes Lisa Chamoff for Greenwich Time. Armani, an anteater at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center, had given birth to anteater baby girl Alice. Alice's father, Alf, was kept away from Armani and Alice because male anteaters have a bad history of committing infanticide. And then one April morning, a zoo staffer entered Armani's abode and found ... another baby. Chamoff explains, "The sudden appearance of little Archie was a surprise, to say the least. The gestation period for anteaters is six months. Armani and Alf had not been back together long enough to do what they needed to do to put the cycle of life into gear a second time."
Hypotheses began to fly about the conservation center and beyond. Some people thought it was "immaculate anteater conception" (though probably no one really thought that). Or that "Alf had somehow gotten the keys to Armani's pen one night in October." Another explanation has been posited by the founder and director of the center, Marcella Leone, who believes that Archie "might have been a case of delayed implantation, when fertilized eggs remain dormant in the uterus for a period of time." Anteater-similar mammals like sloths and armadillos have demonstrated delayed implantation — and yet, still, there is mystery: "some experts say they've never seen a second embryo implant after a mammal has just given birth," and that such a thing would be unlikely in giant anteaters.
The anteater experts themselves are at a loss. "Dr. Margarita Woc-Colburn, an associate veterinarian at the Nashville Zoo, which has one of the largest collections of giant anteaters in the country, said some scientific papers have mentioned the scenario in which an animal's body pauses a pregnancy until environmental conditions are right," writes Chamoff. Stacey Belhumeur, a Tucson, Arizona, zookeeper and species survival plan coordinator for the North American population of giant anteaters, suspects that the baby's origins are far simpler, though. "My guess is they thought they had him separated ... We've had animals breed through fences." Leone says her anteater charges should not have been sharing a fence line at the time that this pregnancy would have occurred — but were they? Was this a case of delayed implantation? Or is it something far more miraculous?
Unfortunately, unless the anteaters themselves 'fess up, there appears to be no way to prove what actually happened. It's an anteater mystery for the ages.
*The photo above is of the Smithsonian National Zoo's giant anteater, Maripi, and her son, Pablo. Pablo was not conceived under mysterious conditions.
Bea Arthur topless painting fetches $1.9M in NYChttp://news.yahoo.com/bea-arthur-topless-painting-fetches-131634944.html (http://news.yahoo.com/bea-arthur-topless-painting-fetches-131634944.html)
Painting of late 'Golden Girls' actress Bea Arthur topless fetches $1.9 million at NYC auction
Associated Press – Fri, May 17, 2013..
NEW YORK (AP) -- A painting of actress Bea Arthur topless has sold for $1.9 million at a New York City auction.
The painting is by artist John Currin and is titled "Bea Arthur Naked." It sold at Christie's auction of postwar and contemporary art on Wednesday. It had been expected to bring in between $1.8 million and $2.5 million.
Christie's hasn't said who bought it.
The 1991 oil painting depicts the late television actress nude from the waist up. Christie's said Thursday the image was based on a photograph of her with her clothes on.
Arthur gained fame for her Emmy Award-winning roles in "Maude" and "The Golden Girls" in the 1970s and '80s. She died of cancer in 2009 at age 86.
AGREB, Croatia – Mirjana Filipovic is still haunted by the land mine blast that killed her boyfriend and blew off her left leg while on fishing trip nearly a decade ago. It happened in a field that was supposedly de-mined.
Now, unlikely heroes may be coming to the rescue to prevent similar tragedies: sugar-craving honeybees. Croatian researchers are training them to find unexploded mines littering their country and the rest of the Balkans.
When Croatia joins the European Union on July 1, in addition to the beauty of its aquamarine Adriatic sea, deep blue mountain lakes and lush green forests, it will also bring numerous un-cleared minefields to the bloc's territory. About 750 square kilometers (466 square miles) are still suspected to be filled with mines from the Balkan wars in the 1990s.
Nikola Kezic, an expert on the behavior of honeybees, sat quietly together with a group of young researchers on a recent day in a large net tent filled with the buzzing insects on a grass field lined with acacia trees. The professor at Zagreb University outlined the idea for the experiment: Bees have a perfect sense of smell that can quickly detect the scent of the explosives. They are being trained to identify their food with the scent of TNT.
"Our basic conclusion is that the bees can clearly detect this target, and we are very satisfied," said Kezic, who leads a part of a larger multimillion-euro program, called "Tiramisu," sponsored by the EU to detect land mines on the continent.
Several feeding points were set up on the ground around the tent, but only a few have TNT particles in them. The method of training the bees by authenticating the scent of explosives with the food they eat appears to work: bees gather mainly at the pots containing a sugar solution mixed with TNT, and not the ones that have a different smell.
Kezic said the feeding points containing the TNT traces offer "a sugar solution as a reward, so they can find the food in the middle."
"It is not a problem for a bee to learn the smell of an explosive, which it can then search," Kezic said. "You can train a bee, but training their colony of thousands becomes a problem."
Croatian officials estimate that since the beginning of the Balkan wars in 1991, about 2,500 people have died from land mine explosions. During the four-year war, around 90,000 land mines were placed across the entire country, mostly at random and without any plan or existing maps.
Dijana Plestina, the head of the Croatian government's de-mining bureau, said the suspected devices represent a large obstacle for the country's population and industry, including agriculture and tourism. In the nearly two decades since the end of the war, land mines have taken the lives of 316 people, including 66 de-miners, she said.
"While this exists, we are living in a kind of terror, at least for the people who are living in areas suspected to have mines," she said. "And of course, that is unacceptable. We will not be a country in peace until this problem is solved."
In 2004, Filipovic and her boyfriend were on a fishing trip that took them to a river between Croatia and Bosnia.
"As we were returning hand-in-hand, my boyfriend stepped on a mine," the 41-year-old Filipovic said. "It was an awful, deafening explosion ... thousands of shrapnel parts went flying, hundreds ending up in my body. He was found dead several meters away, while I remained in a pool of blood sitting on the ground."
She sued the Croatian government, saying the area wasn't clearly marked as a former minefield.
"At first I thought I was asleep," she recalled. "Then I heard the voice of my father. I opened my eyes, and saw nothing. I thought I lost my eyes."
The government admitted guilt in the case for failing to keep the minefield sign, but the court has yet to determine financial compensation.
It may be a while before the honeybees hit real minefields, Kezic said. First, they will conduct controlled tests, with real mines but which are marked.
Kezic said American researchers have in the past experimented with mine-searching bees, but TNT — the most common explosive used in the Balkan wars — wasn't part of their experiment because its smell evaporates quickly, and only small traces remain after time. Rats and dogs are also used to detect explosives worldwide, but unlike bees, they could set off blasts on the minefields because of their weight.
Even after the de-miners have done their job in an area, some land mines are missed and remain in the soil, and they are most often the cause of deadly explosions. Once the experiment with bees proves scientifically reliable, the idea is to use them in the areas that have already been de-mined, where their movement would be followed with heat-seeking cameras, Kezic said.
"We are not saying that we will discover all the mines on a minefield, but the fact is that it should be checked if a minefield is really de-mined," he said. "It has been scientifically proven that there are never zero mines on a de-mined field, and that's where bees could come in."
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/05/19/could-honeybees-save-europe-from-land-mines-croatian-scientists-think-so/#ixzz2TrdhkelW (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/05/19/could-honeybees-save-europe-from-land-mines-croatian-scientists-think-so/#ixzz2TrdhkelW)
The colloquial medical advice “rub some dirt in it” appears to have some merit. Researchers at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute have been experimenting with different clays, and it appears in research presented in the journal PLoS ONE that they’ve come across a family of antibacterial clays capable of killing pathogens ranging from E. coli to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, otherwise known as hard-to-kill MRSA.
Clays have been used as medical tools for ages, appearing in ancient medical texts going back as far as 3,000 B.C. Topically, they were used to treat wounds, a practice that became common in the 19th century. Early practitioners of clay therapy noted that clays tended to aid in healing, in reducing inflammation of wounds, and in pain management--though they couldn’t have known why exactly.
It turns out that’s probably because some clays--particularly clays rich in a certain group of metallic ions--work as antibacterial agents. In their study, the ASU researchers tested a variety of different clays with similar mineral composition but ranging compositions of metallic ions against E. coli and MRSA. They found that five metal ions--iron, copper, cobalt, nickel, and zinc--could fight the two bacterial strains, both of which are increasingly difficult to kill using standard antibiotics and antibacterials.
That doesn’t mean these clays are silver bullet or any kind of antibacterial panacea. Not all clays are created equal and some lack the necessary concentrations of the necessary metal ions. Moreover, clays can contain other metals as well, like cadmium, lead, mercury, and arsenic (if you weren’t paying attention in chem class, these are not metals you particularly want to introduce to your bloodstream).
But the researchers are optimistic that medicinal clays could find widespread use in certain therapeutic roles, particularly as bandaging agents as their absorptive and adhering characteristics make them somewhat ideal for sealing out external pathogens as well as absorbing and removing unwanted particulates or devitalized tissues from wounds--all while delivering a dose of antibacterial ions to the affected area.
Missing man walks up to news crew reporting on … missing manhttp://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/news-crew-reporting-missing-man-finds-him-during-144040400.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/news-crew-reporting-missing-man-finds-him-during-144040400.html)
By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo! News | The Sideshow – 6 hrs ago..
A local television news crew reporting on a missing Maine man found him as they were about to shoot a live update near his home.
Robert McDonough, a 73-year-old who suffers from dementia, had been missing for more than 14 hours when he walked past the WMTW News 8 crew camped out on the side of his road in rural Limington.
News 8 reporter Norm Karkos was preparing to deliver a live report on "News 8 This Morning" early Tuesday when McDonough walked into the frame. Karkos did not immediately recognize McDonough, who then identified himself to the stunned TV crew. They notified the Maine Warden Service, which had been searching for McDonough since late Monday afternoon.
The game wardens said they were just about to ramp up their search for McDonough when he returned home.
The man appeared to be in good condition, although Karkos said he spotted "some blood on McDonough's hand."
(http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/V0qS.r1aqQHG6Nbzxlf.VQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thesideshow/missing-maine-man.jpg)
Robert McDonough (background) approaches the WMTW News 8 crew. (WMTW)
One of Utah’s top gun lobbyists was arrested this week after he allegedly used a 2.5-ton Army surplus vehicle to threaten the lives of his ex-wife’s family, but his lawyer insisted that he was simply “having fun in his big boy toy.”
According to a KTSU report, Utah Shooting Sports Council Chairman Clark Aposhian was arrested by Salt Lake police on Monday for domestic violence. If Aposhian is convicted, he would have to give up his arsenal of weapons and possibly his job as chairman.
Police Sgt. Mark Askerlund told KTSU that a woman reported that Aposhian had driven his 2.5-ton army surplus truck onto her property.
“[He] honked the air horn, pulled into the residence, running over the lawn and almost striking her vehicle,” Askerlund said, adding that Aposhian returned to the victim’s home while police were investigating.
“And while we’re there investigating the trespassing and the threats, he comes back, and to make a long story short: Mr. Aposhian was arrested for domestic violence and trespassing,” he explained.
“He did indicate to the officers that he was carrying a weapon,” Askerlund recalled. “The officers took his weapon away. He was charged with a crime. They booked the weapon into evidence and transported Mr. Aposhian to jail.”
KTSU reported that the arrest report indicated that Aposhian “allegedly told the victim that he will go wherever he wants and he would run over the victim’s cars and bury the victim.”
Video of Aposhian’s M35 Army surplus truck — often referred to as a “deuce and a half” — showed that he spray-painted the words “CTWD HGTS NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH” and “ZOMBIE RESPONSE VEHICLE” on the side. Salon noted earlier this year that gun owners seemed to have an obsession with zombies. The National Rifle Association’s (NRA) conference earlier this month feature zombie targets resembling President Barack Obama and an “ex-girlfriend” that actually bleed when shot. And the NRA has even picked “Zombieland” as one of “Coolest Gun Movies.”
Aposhian’s attorney, Mitch Vilos, told The Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday that his client was “having fun in his big boy toy.”
Vilos explained that the dispute is related to a custody dispute between Aposhian and his ex-wife, who lives in the same neighborhood. Vilos said that it was “starting to get under his skin that he was being denied custody” of his 11-year-old daughter and that’s why his client was on edge when police arrested him.
“I’m trying to figure out why this family would go so ballistic for [him] backing into a driveway,” the attorney remarked. “It’s a non-event.”
“I would blame the Cottonwood Heights police for doing an incompetent investigation,” he added.
Aposhian found himself in hot water earlier this year when his assault rifle was stolen from where he left it on the top of his vehicle.
Watch this video from KTSU, broadcast May 30, 2013.
'Poop Transplants' Stall Amid New Ruleshttp://news.yahoo.com/poop-transplants-stall-amid-rules-140227187.html (http://news.yahoo.com/poop-transplants-stall-amid-rules-140227187.html)
By Rachael Rettner, LiveScience Senior Health Writer | LiveScience.com – Fri, May 31, 2013..
Poop transplants, which have become a more common way to treat potentially deadly bacterial infections in the intestines in recent years, have come to a near standstill amid new rules from the Food and Drug Administration regarding the procedure.
The FDA said last month that it considers the procedure, formally known as fecal microbiota transplantation, to be a biological product, and so it falls under the agency's regulation. The new rules require doctors to submit a special application before they are allowed to perform the procedure.
Fecal matter transplants had been essentially unregulated before the FDA statement. The transplants — which involve taking fecal matter from a donor and delivering it to patients' colons through a tube — have been shown in studies to be a very effective therapy for treating the bacterial infection Clostridium difficile. The infection, which causes severe diarrhea, is notoriously difficult to cure.
The new rules are intended to make sure the procedure is safe — to ensure for instance that donors are screened for certain infectious diseases, and that doctors do not perform the procedure unnecessarily.
However, some say the rules are hindering sick patients from getting access to a treatment that they need.
"The regulation by the FDA has created a denial, or an interrupted access, of care for patients," said Dr. Johan Bakken, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Minnesota.
The application process is extensive, and doctors may wait up to 30 to 45 days before they hear back from the FDA, Bakken said. "It becomes a very significant stumbling block, and most clinicians won't take the time to do that," if they aren't already filing paperwork to conduct a research project, he said.
"It's really made a limited-availability procedure basically unavailable for a period of time," said Dr. Trevor Van Schooneveld, an assistant professor of infectious disease at the Nebraska Medical Center's Department of Internal Medicine.
The FDA's goal to make the procedure safe is an excellent one, Van Schooneveld said, but "to just basically stop people from being able to do it, without guidance on where to go from here, is unfortunate."
In an emergency (when the patient's condition is life-threatening) the FDA can give a special approval for the procedure over the telephone without needing the paperwork. But doctors will still have to complete the application eventually, so it doesn't eliminate the extra work, Bakken said.
The spectrum of disease among patients who are candidates for fecal transplantation ranges from recurrent diarrhea that lasts for years, to life-threatening complications that may require the removal of the colon, Bakken said.
C. difficile causes 14,000 American deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Many patients already have trouble accessing the procedure because it is not always covered by insurance.
Although more than 700 fecal transplants have been preformed — some going back to the 1950s — the FDA still has questions about the long-term effects of the treatment, Bakken said. More studies are needed that randomly assign patients to receive either fecal transplants or an alternative treatment to better understand the side effects, Bakken said.
Once such studies have been conducted, the FDA could approve fecal transplants as a treatment of C. difficile if there appear to be no adverse effects, he said.
Until then, groups such as the Infectious Disease Society of America, the American Gastroenterological Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are discussing how they can provide the transplants so that those who need them can get them, Bakken said.
Bad behavior on reality TV is tested path to famehttp://news.yahoo.com/bad-behavior-reality-tv-tested-path-fame-182717508.html (http://news.yahoo.com/bad-behavior-reality-tv-tested-path-fame-182717508.html)
By CRISTINA SILVA | Associated Press – 34 mins ago..
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona restaurateur Amy Bouzaglo became an instant Internet celebrity last month after demonstrating an impressively short temper on a reality TV show that helps reform struggling businesses.
The episode of "Kitchen Nightmares" drew more than a million viewers on YouTube, and Bouzaglo's vitriolic rants became popular fodder on Twitter and Facebook.
So it should surprise no one that her next step was to announce she was shopping around her own reality TV show.
These days, head butting, table flipping, belly slapping, hair pulling, smack talking and other behavior generally considered impolite have become a tested strategy for reality TV fame, as seen in the proliferation of such shows as "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," ''Basketball Wives" and the "Real Housewives" franchise.
Some reality "stars" have become brands of their own after churning out self-help books, hair products, cocktail lines and flavored water. And the next generation of more shocking, immoral and declassee reality celebrities always seems just one face-slap away.
"That's the easiest kind of reality show to make and to sell," said Jason Carbone, a veteran reality TV producer behind shows such as "Road Rules," ''The Bachelor" and "Run's House."
"It's something where there are loud characters doing stupid, obnoxious things and you are either laughing with them or at them," he said.
Richard Hatch became America's favorite villain when he won the first season of the CBS reality series "Survivor" in 2000 by forming alliances and otherwise acting strategically. His behavior likely would be considered tame compared to the current crop of bad boys and girls, said Max Dawson, a reality TV show consultant in Los Angeles.
"He didn't pull weaves out and attack the other contestants on social media while the show was airing," Dawson said.
While cast members once had an entire season to build a character arc, social media now incentivizes villains to immediately act outrageous.
"Any moment is not only going to be discussed ad nauseam on Twitter, it's going to be uploaded on YouTube, it will be turned into an image meme, it will instantly, in most cases, go viral," Dawson said.
Modern television has become so predictably vulgar that a PBS station in New York recently launched a series of subway ads lampooning reality shows. The posters promote fake shows including "Bad Bad Bag Boys" and "Knitting Wars," alongside the slogan: "The fact you thought this was a real show says a lot about the state of TV."
Bouzaglo, who has repeatedly ignored requests for comment, was expected to discuss her proposed reality show on the television newsmagazine "Inside Edition" late Tuesday. She and her husband, Samy Bouzaglo, said they went on the show to disprove bad online reviews of their business, Amy's Baking Co., in Scottsdale, Ariz. But their story went viral after host and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay ended up walking away when they grew incensed over his constructive criticism.
It's not hard to imagine the foul-mouthed, defensive couple launching a TV series and creating a line of, say, Amy's Angry Kitchen products if only because so many others have already blazed that path.
On Bravo's "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," Teresa Giudice launched a line of cookbooks and hair products after flipping over a table at a dinner party. Beauty pageant participant Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson became a household name after the TLC network created a show capitalizing on her family's redneck stereotypes.
On MTV, the nastiest "Real World" contestants are often the ones invited back each year for an athletic competition show that can sometimes feel like the cast is reliving their cruelest high school memories.
"People who yell and scream sell because they attract the eyeballs and the eyeballs attract the advertisers," said June Deery, a communications professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and the author of "Consuming Reality: The Commercialization of Factual Entertainment."
TV networks are drawn to the shows because they are relatively inexpensive to produce.
"If it doesn't work, you cancel it after three shows. You haven't lost that much money," said James Wiltz, a licensed psychologist in Indiana who has studied reality TV viewership. "But if you get 10 million viewers, you are making a lot of money and you don't have to pay anybody for it."
But what do viewers get out of it? Why do they love to watch these people misbehave?
For one thing, anything taboo always has a certain seductive quality, said Jim Taylor, a University of San Francisco professor who has studied reality television.
"Our inner baby wants to have a tantrum or go off on somebody else because they hurt our feelings, but typically in our society that type of behavior is not rewarded," he said.
For others, the shows are aspirational.
"People fantasize about fame and fortune," Wiltz said. "It's interesting to see someone else who is just sort of a regular person become famous."
That doesn't mean reality TV is a positive distraction. A growing body of research suggests watching people act like jerks on TV inspires others to be less kind or sympathetic. Call it the Kardashian effect. If TV consistently portrays people as selfish and uncouth, it basically sends the message that such behavior is acceptable and lucrative.
"Reality TV normalizes narcissism," said Audrey Longson, a New Jersey psychiatrist who recently presented research at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting linking bad behavior and reality TV viewership. "It's alarming."
Toddler's Exorcism Death Part of Dark Historyhttp://news.yahoo.com/toddlers-exorcism-death-part-dark-history-185139085.html (http://news.yahoo.com/toddlers-exorcism-death-part-dark-history-185139085.html)
By Benjamin Radford, LiveScience Bad Science Columnist | LiveScience.com – 1 hr 35 mins ago..
A Virginia man was convicted earlier this week in the death of a 2-year-old who died during a 2011 exorcism. Eder Guzman-Rodriguez beat his daughter Jocelyn to death in an attempt to rid her of the demon he believed was inside her.
Police summoned to the scene encountered several people holding Bibles outside the home, where Guzman-Rodriguez stated that he had also become possessed by a "bad spirit" when he punched and choked Jocelyn to death. The girl was found on a bed, wrapped in a blanket surrounded by Bibles.
Such beliefs in demonic possession and the violent exorcisms that may follow have a long history and can harm the most innocent among us, children.
Psychology of the exorcism
The belief that demons can possess people is one of the most widely held religious beliefs in the world. The Vatican first issued guidelines on exorcisms in 1614 and revised them in 1999. According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, signs of demonic possession in adults include superhuman strength, spitting, cursing, aversion to holy water, and the ability to speak in unknown languages.
Those conducting exorcisms are devoutly religious and truly believe they are doing good through the beating and torture of innocents. Though spirits are said to be able to possess anyone, children are especially likely to be suspected of being possessed. Not only are children often thought to be more corruptible and susceptible to evil influences, but their misbehavior (and even innocent actions) may also seem to be manipulated by dark forces. Parents and caregivers who believe in spiritual possession may look for signs their child is possessed: According to police, Guzman-Rodriguez said he believed his daughter was "gesturing to him as if she wanted to fight."
In other cases, believers assume bad behavior is driven by evil spirits — "the devil made me (or him, or her) do it" is very much alive in many people's minds. The beatings and abuse are not seen as a punishment for the child, because the physical aggression, in the exorcist's mind, is directed at the evil spirit within. The child's body is simply seen as a temporary vessel for the bad spirit. The physical and emotional abuse is seen as an unfortunate but necessary price to pay for the child's spiritual salvation.
Child exorcisms
As disturbing as this case is, there are many similar historical precedents. A century ago in Ireland, it was not demons but other supernatural, malevolent entities — fairies — that were believed to possess babies and children. Some children were believed by their parents to be changelings, either "false children" or children possessed by an evil spirit that could be driven from the child through abuse and punishment. In her book "The Burning of Bridget Cleary" (about a woman killed by her husband in an attempt to exorcise fairy spirits from her), folklorist Angela Bourke of the National University of Ireland notes that many "accounts can be found in nineteenth-century newspapers and police reports of suspected child-changelings in Ireland being placed on red-hot shovels, drowned, or otherwise mistreated or killed."
Bourke cites an example from 1828 in which a woman named Ann Roche drowned a 4-year-old boy she believed was possessed; like Guzman-Rodriguez, she claimed that she didn't mean to harm or kill the child, just to drive the spirits out of him. Unlike Guzman-Rodriguez, who was sentenced to just under 21 years in prison, Roche was found not guilty and released.
Though belief in fairies has waned in modern times, belief in spiritual possession by demons and other supernatural entities remains very much with us. In 2003, an autistic 8-year-old boy in Milwaukee was killed during an exorcism by church members who blamed an invading demon for his disability; and in 2005, a young nun in Romania died at the hands of a priest during an exorcism after being bound to a cross, gagged, and left for days without food or water in an effort to expel demons. In 2010, a 14-year-old boy in England was beaten and drowned to death by relatives trying to exorcise an evil spirit from him.
Though belief in spirits and demons has been a part of humanity for millennia, it also has a dark side and can inflict terrible harm on the most innocent among us.
Witchcraft Accusations Lead to Torture, Murdershttp://news.yahoo.com/witchcraft-accusations-lead-torture-murders-123456799.html (http://news.yahoo.com/witchcraft-accusations-lead-torture-murders-123456799.html)
By Marc Lallanilla, Assistant Editor | LiveScience.com – 2 hrs 39 mins ago..
The witch hunts and subsequent killings that took place in colonial New England are considered a dark chapter in U.S. history.
But across Papua New Guinea and in other places around the world, accusations of witchcraft and sorcery may be on the rise, with tragic results.
In April, an elderly school teacher was beheaded in Papua New Guinea after her neighbors accused her of witchcraft, TIME reports.
A few days earlier, seven people were kidnapped and tortured with hot irons over suspicions of sorcery in Papua New Guinea's Southern Highlands province.
Last year, 29 people in the poor island nation located north of Australia were arrested for killing and cannibalizing the brains and genitals of seven people accused of sorcery.
And in February, Kepari Leniata, a 20-year-old mother in Papua New Guinea's Western Highlands region, was accused of witchcraft by the family of a 6-year-old boy who had recently died.
Leniata was stripped, bound, tortured with a hot iron, doused with gasoline and burned to death on a pile of trash in broad daylight in front of hundreds of onlookers, The Associated Press reports.
The brutal killing was condemned by officials, including Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, but no arrests of Leniata's killers were made.
Superstitions exist worldwide
Papua New Guinea is hardly alone in its embrace of superstitions about witchcraft, sorcery and other "black arts."
In Saudi Arabia, two housemaids were sentenced to 10 years in prison and given 1,000 lashes each after a court found them guilty of sorcery in May, Emirates 24/7 reports.
Throughout Tanzania, albinos have been targeted for killings, because people with the congenital condition are viewed as evil demons. Their body parts, however, are believed to have magical powers — so they are often the victims of mutilation.
"We are killed, we are hunted, we are chopped," albino activist Josephat Torner told CNN.
And a civil aviation director in the southeastern African country of Swaziland recently made headlines when he told a newspaper that "a witch on a broomstick should not fly above the limit" of 492 feet (150 meters) established for small objects like kites, toy helicopters and other airborne items.
Any witch caught flying higher than the limit will be arrested and fined, according to the Times Live.
Officials decry killings
Authorities and academics, however, are pushing back against the rising tide of witchcraft-related killings, torture and other crimes.
Australian National University this month convened a three-day conference in Canberra on sorcery- and witchcraft-related killings. Participants in the event included researchers, human-rights activists, government officials and victims of violence.
"It is reprehensible that women, the old and the weak in our society should be targeted for alleged sorcery or wrongs that they actually have nothing to do with," O'Neill told the AP.
In response, Papua New Guinea has repealed its 1971 Sorcery Act, which criminalized "evil sorcery," known locally as sanguma.
Papua New Guinea also brought back the death penalty for anyone found guilty of murdering a suspected witch (a move that has been condemned by groups including the United Nations and Amnesty International).
Torner is now the subject of a documentary called "In the Shadow of the Sun" (directed by Harry Freeland), which details the plight of albinos in Africa.
"It's my dream in my life that people with albinism are respected and given all rights which other human beings are being given," Torner told CNN.
Alien Life & Exoplanets
http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets (http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets)
Hubble Discovers Far-Out Baby Planet
Jun 14, 2013 01:40 AM ET
by Irene Klotz
Even by celestial standards, the span between a newly found suspected baby planet and its host star is astronomical — 7.5 billion miles, which is about twice as far as Pluto orbits the sun.
To date, no other other extrasolar planet is as far away from its host star as the fledgling world circling TW Hydrae, a small red dwarf located about 176 light-years from Earth.
PHOTOS: Hubble’s Latest Mind Blowing Cosmic Pictures
http://news.discovery.com/space/galaxies/hubble-space-telescope-latest-cosmic-pictures-130129.htm (http://news.discovery.com/space/galaxies/hubble-space-telescope-latest-cosmic-pictures-130129.htm)
Scientists are at a loss to explain how the planet, which is believed to be six- to 28 times as big as Earth, could exist. For starters, the host star is only about 8 million years old, which was believed to be too young to support planets. It also is small, about half as massive as the sun.
Computer models show that a planet 7.5 billion miles from its parent star would take 200 times longer to form than a planet positioned about where Jupiter is in our solar system. Jupiter, which took about 10 million years to form, is around 500 million miles from the sun.
PHOTOS: Hubble at 23: Horsehead Nebula in a New Light
http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/hubble-23-year-anniversary-horsehead-nebula-130419.htm (http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/hubble-23-year-anniversary-horsehead-nebula-130419.htm)
The baby planet was detected indirectly from a telltale gap in a 41-billion-mile wide ring of gas and dust circling TW Hydrae. The gap is believed to be due to the growing planet gravitationally sweeping up material that is then incorporated into the planet. Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope for their survey.
The research is published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, J. Debes (STScI), H. Jang-Condell (University of Wyoming), A. Weinberger (Carnegie Institution of Washington), A. Roberge (Goddard Space Flight Center), G. Schneider (University of Arizona/Steward Observatory), and A. Feild (STScI/AURA)
(Source: http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets/hubble-spies-far-out-baby-planet-130613.htm (http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets/hubble-spies-far-out-baby-planet-130613.htm))
If you’ve been arrested, and the police want to interrogate you, they will tell you that you have the right to remain silent.
How do you assert that right?
One way would be to say something like “I would like to remain silent.” Saying “I want a lawyer” should also stop the questioning.
But today, in Salinas v. Texas, the Supreme Court of the United States held that you do not assert your right to remain silent by remaining silent. If you want to remain silent, you’ll need to be prepared to talk about it.
No one will be surprised that this result came from the Justice least likely to be voted most beloved by those in our nation’s prison systems, Justice Alito.
Sort of….
Genovevo Salinas talked to a police officer who was investigating a murder. The murder happened after a party that Salinas had been to. The conversation was voluntary; Salinas was simply being a good citizen.
At some point, the officer asked Salinas if the shell casings found at the scene of the murder would match a shotgun that Salinas owned.
Salinas thought, at that point, that perhaps silence is one way of being a good citizen — as the Fifth Amendment provides. When asked about the possible ballistics test, he “[l]ooked down at the floor, shuffled his feet, bit his bottom lip, cl[e]nched his hands in his lap, [and] began to tighten up.”
Salinas was charged with murder. At trial, the prosecutors told the jury that Salinas started talking, then stopped. His lawyer objected, saying that the jury was being told only that Salinas asserted his Fifth Amendment rights – and that shouldn’t be held against him.
The case went to One First Street, originally to answer the question of whether a Fifth Amendment assertion can be used against a person in a criminal trial as a part of the government’s presentation.
Though a funny thing happened on the way to that question presented – it turns out the Court decided that merely being silent is not the same thing as invoking the Fifth Amendment.
Alito wrote an opinion announcing the judgment of the Court, but joined only by the Chief and Justice Kennedy. In it, Alito wrote that a witness does not signal his intention to not talk “by simply standing mute.”
Had Salinas said, for example, in response to the question about ballistics testing, “I will not answer that question, because I have the right not to under the Fifth Amendment,” that response would have invoked the Fifth Amendment. But Salinas just sat silent.
One may wonder who would think that saying “I do not want to talk” is different than just not talking. The answer: someone who has been to law school. Maybe the best explanation for this result is that Alito is trying to generate a new set of arguments for why you should go to law school.
Alito lends some support to this theory (internal citations omitted):
At oral argument, counsel for petitioner suggested that it would be unfair to require a suspect unschooled in the particulars of legal doctrine to do anything more than remain silent in order to invoke his “right to remain silent.” But popular misconceptions notwithstanding, the Fifth Amendment guarantees that no one may be “compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself ”; it does not establish an unqualified “right to remain silent.” A witness’ constitutional right to refuse to answer questions depends on his reasons for doing so, and courts need to know those reasons to evaluate the merits of a Fifth Amendment claim.
The bottom line: we are all making a record all the time. It’s better to have a J.D.
Justice Thomas, joined by Justice Scalia, thought the easier way to resolve this case would have been to hold that the Fifth Amendment doesn’t apply to police interviews that aren’t custodial.
The Court had already rejected that view in Griffin v. California, but Thomas doesn’t like that opinion. Or stare decisis.
Happily, though, with no majority opinion, and no common ground between the plurality opinions, this case is really only going to make life hard for Genovevo Salinas himself.
He may be one of the only people in America who should have gone to law school.
Ontario couple finds 400-year-old skeleton, gets $5,000 billhttp://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/ontario-couple-finds-400-old-skeleton-gets-5-141737421.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/ontario-couple-finds-400-old-skeleton-gets-5-141737421.html)
The Lookout
A Canadian couple who recently stumbled upon a 400-year-old skeleton is now saddled with a $5,000 bill, the Star reports.
Two weeks ago, Ken Campbell of Sarnia, Ontario, came upon some bones while digging postholes in his backyard. His wife, Nicole Sauve, encouraged him to unearth the rest of the skeleton.
Ontario police, who cordoned off the area, called up forensic anthropologist Michael Spence to examine the site. Spence told the Star that the skeleton is likely that of a 24-year-old aboriginal woman who died in the late 1500s or early 1600s. Spence then contacted the Registrar of Cemeteries, which told Sauve that she and Campbell would have to hire an archeologist to examine the rest of the backyard—at their expense.
According to the Star, property owners are legally responsible to pay for such an assessment "if human remains are found on their land."
Stuck with a $5,000 bill, Sauve appealed to the mayor of Sarnia but has yet to get a clear answer about whether the government will pay. According to the Star, she might be able to make a request to the Registrar of Cemeteries to cover the costs.
Sauve told the Star that people have been telling her if they wind up in a similar situation, they won’t risk getting a bill by telling the authorities about their finds.
“This is awful,” said Sauve. “God forbid you have a murder victim, and you cover them up.”
PARKER COUNTY, Texas –– The use of human waste as fertilizer is becoming a major concern for a growing number of Texas communities. Tuesday they take their fight to Austin. On Monday, it was Parker County.
"And I have never in my life smelled anything like what we've been smelling here the last three weeks," exclaimed one man at an emergency meeting of County Commissioners. They met outside in Springtown near treated fields.
But not too near.
"I don't know why we expect anyone to have to put up with that," said a clearly frustrated County Judge Mark Riley.
He got a snoot full from angry citizens like Julie Lambert. "So my property value, my worth, has it all gone to zero?" she asked. She said the smell chases her indoors for days at a time.
In Austin Tuesday, Judge Riley will ask the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to ban the practice in Parker County. Residents in Ellis, Wise, Johnson and other counties also want protection for their quality of life and property values.
"I'm not aware of any incidents where it's caused environmental problems," said Tony Walker with the TCEQ. He fought off flies while explaining that farmers want the fertilizer and have a right to use it.
"That stuff is considered similar to commercial fertilizer," he says."They can apply it anywhere."
That "stuff" is the solid material left over from treatment plants, like Village Creek in Fort Worth. It's treated in digesters for nearly a month, and stabilized with lime. But sometimes a powerful odor remains.
A company called Renda Environmental recycles the bio solids on 80 to 100 thousand acres a year in North Texas. Renda is challenging TCEQ findings of nuisance odor violations in Wise County last month. These are the first in the company's history, according to its website, despite more than 200 complaints filed.
The company says there's a three-to-five year wait for farmers wanting to get into the program because the fertilizer is so effective. Recycling also solves the problem of disposing of so many bio solids: about 120 tons a day.
But down-winders are growing increasingly angry.
A city council member in a small seaside town in the UK has raised some eyebrows after expressing his beliefs in extra-terrestrial life in a recent TV documentary.
Simon Parkes claims he has had experiences with aliens since birth, and his "real mother" is a 9-foot green alien with eight fingers, the Northern Echo reports. His first memory is being lifted out of his cot by an alien.
The married father of three also claims he has sexual relations with an alien he refers to as the Cat Queen, and that he fathered a child with her.
"What will happen is that we will hold hands and I will say 'I'm ready' and then the technology I don't understand will take us up to a craft orbiting the Earth," Parkes said.
Parkes, 58, says he meets with the Cat Queen four times a year.
"My wife found out about it and was very unhappy, clearly," Parkes said. "That caused a few problems, but it is not on a human level, so I don't see it as wrong."
When he's not representing the residents of Whitby, Parkes spends his days drawing out his extra-terrestrial experiences to help him come to terms with them, the Northern Echo reports.
"There are plenty of people in my position who don't choose to come out and say it because they are terrified it will destroy their careers," Parkes said.
Click for more from The Northern Echo.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/06/18/uk-city-council-member-reportedly-claims-to-have-fathered-alien-child/?test=latestnews#ixzz2Wg4BlheG (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/06/18/uk-city-council-member-reportedly-claims-to-have-fathered-alien-child/?test=latestnews#ixzz2Wg4BlheG)
Jury finds no negligence in trial over man's 8-month erectionhttp://news.yahoo.com/jury-finds-no-negligence-trial-over-mans-8-200157502.html (http://news.yahoo.com/jury-finds-no-negligence-trial-over-mans-8-200157502.html)
By Myles Miller | Reuters – Mon, Jun 17, 2013..
WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - A jury on Monday cleared a doctor of negligence in a lawsuit filed by a Delaware truck driver who underwent a penile implant procedure and ended up with an erection that lasted eight months.
"We're stunned," attorney Michael Heyden said as he left the New Castle County courthouse, where his client Daniel Metzgar, 44, of Newark, Delaware, was suing urologist Thomas Desperito of Wilmington, Delaware.
In April 2010, four months after the procedure was performed, Metzgar experienced swelling and went to a hospital, where he underwent testing. Before going to the hospital, Metzgar had been unable to reach Dr. Desperito.
The doctor's lawyer argued that hospital staff who performed tests were unfamiiar with penile implants and were not properly trained to do them. Therefore, the results from the tests, including images showing swelling, did not prove negligence.
Metzgar and his attorney during the one-week trial described the frequent discomfort and daily embarrassment he experienced after the procedure - including trouble riding a motorcycle, wearing normal clothes and joining family social events.
"I could hardly dance, with an erection poking my partner," Metzgar told jurors at the start of the trial. "It's not something you want to bring out at parties and show to friends."
Metzgar's stepson Alexander King, 18, described a once close relationship that grew distant after the procedure. King felt uncomfortable having friends over and noticed his stepfather stopped showing up at school and sporting events.
"I was - I'm sorry - highly embarrassed," he testified during the trial.
The device was ultimately removed in 2010 after tubing punctured Metzgar's scrotum. He received a replacement implant from another doctor.
Metzgar had no comment on the jury verdict.
The doctor's lawyer, Colleen Shields, said, "We think the jury reached the appropriate verdict."
Memorial service to be held for slain Oregon bees in Target parking lot
Sure, 'bee funeral' may scream Portland but a memorial service being held this Sunday to remember the 50,000 pollinators killed by pesticides at an Oregon Target store is more crucial than quirky in nature.
Wed, Jun 26 2013 at 5:31 PM Related Topics:Colony Collapse Disorder, Farming & Agriculture, Insects, Pesticides
Photo: reader of the pack/Flickr
While massive bee die-offs are troubling no matter where they take place, I suppose that the over 50,000 victims — including 25,000 bumblebees along with honeybees and ladybugs — of last week’s grisly api-cide in a Target parking lot were lucky to have perished, during National Pollinator week no less, in the vicinity of Portland, Ore., a town that cares about all of Earth’s creatures; a town the fosters bio-diversity atop big box stores; a town that is willing to hold memorial services for slain insects.
Yep, a memorial service for the dearly departed Wilsonville bees — subject to what’s believed to be the largest documented bee death in the Western United States — is in the works. It will be held this coming Sunday at the Wilsonville Target where the bees were found, confirmed victims of a “super-systemic” neonicotinoid-class pesticide called Safari that's used on mealybugs, whiteflys, apids and other crop-damaging critters. A landscaping firm had applied Safari to 65 linden trees around the Target store a couple of days before the dead and dying bees were discovered (the trees have since been netted to prevent any further fatalities).
Sound familiar? This past April, Neonicotinoids were positively outlawed in the E.U. after being ID’d by researchers as a key contributor to colony collapse disorder (meanwhile, the EPA continues to take its sweet time in addressing this urgent issue).
The Wilsonville Bees Memorial itself is being organized by Portland resident Rozzell Medina.
He writes on the event Facebook page:
On Sunday June 30, 2013 at 2:00 PM, please join us at the site where an estimated 50,000 bees were killed by humans who sprayed the toxic pesticide, Safari. We will memorialize these fallen lifeforms and talk about the plight of the bees and their importance to life on Earth. If you are passionate, concerned, or curious about this situation, this will be a good opportunity to communicate with others.
As you may know, this is a very crucial moment for bees, as they are dying in the millions, unnaturally, worldwide. Their unnatural deaths are being caused by humans applying chemical pesticides to the earth and its plants. In addition to the injustice and brutality of this situation for the bees that are being murdered, there are far-reaching effects for humans, who rely on bees to pollinate our crops. It is widely agreed that the endangerment and extinction of bees will have devastating consequences for humans and other lifeforms, which makes this an urgent opportunity to honor them and advocate for them.
As of publication, a total of 54 concerned citizens will be attending the event. Those who cannot attend are encouraged to send Medina a personal eulogy which will be read at the service.
Although rather apropos, I’d say it would be in poor taste to arrive with flowers. Instead, the best way to honor the slain Wilsonville bees is to keep informed of issues affecting nature’s most crucial pollinators and join the ongoing fight to ban bee-killing pesticides that the EPA continues to permit.
Primeval Underwater Forest Discovered in Gulf of Mexico
By Tia Ghose, Staff Writer
A primeval underwater ocean has been unearthed just a few miles off the coast of Alabama. Here, a sonar ….Scuba divers have discovered a primeval underwater forest off the coast of Alabama.
The Bald Cypress forest was buried under ocean sediments, protected in an oxygen-free environment for more than 50,000 years, but was likely uncovered by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said Ben Raines, one of the first divers to explore the underwater forest and the executive director of the nonprofit Weeks Bay Foundation, which researches estuaries.
The forest contains trees so well-preserved that when they are cut, they still smell like fresh Cypress sap, Raines said.
The stumps of the Cypress trees span an area of at least 0.5 square miles (0.8 kilometers), several miles from the coast of Mobile, Ala., and sit about 60 feet (18 meters) below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite its discovery only recently, the underwater landscape has just a few years to be explored, before wood-burrowing marine animals destroy the ancient forest. [8 of the World's Most Endangered Places]
Closely guarded secret
Raines was talking with a friend who owned a dive shop about a year after Hurricane Katrina. The dive shop owner confided that a local fisherman had found a site teeming with fish and wildlife and suspected that something big was hidden below. The diver went down to explore and found a forest of trees, then told Raines about his stunning find.
But because scuba divers often take artifacts from shipwrecks and other sites, the dive shop owner refused to disclose the location for many years, Raines said.
In 2012, the owner finally revealed the site's location after swearing Raines to secrecy. Raines then did his own dive and discovered a primeval Cypress swamp in pristine condition. The forest had become an artificial reef, attracting fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and other underwater life burrowing between the roots of dislodged stumps. [Images: Mysterious Underwater Stone Structure]
Some of the trees were truly massive, and many logs had fallen over before being covered by ocean sediment. Raines swam the length of the logs.
"Swimming around amidst these stumps and logs, you just feel like you're in this fairy world," Raines told LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.
Primeval forest
Raines reached out to several scientists to learn more about the forest. One of those scientists was Grant Harley, a dendrochronologist (someone who studies tree rings) at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Harley was intrigued, and together with geographer Kristine DeLong of Louisiana State University, set out to discover the site's secrets.
The research team created a sonar map of the area and analyzed two samples Raines took from trees. DeLong is planning her own dive at the site later this year. Because of the forest depth, scuba divers can only stay below for about 40 minutes before coming up.
Carbon isotopes (atoms of the same element that have different molecular weights) revealed that the trees were about 52,000 years old.
The trees' growth rings could reveal secrets about the climate of the Gulf of Mexico thousands of years ago, during a period known as the Wisconsin Glacial period, when sea levels were much lower than they are today. [World's Weirdest Geological Formations]
In addition, because Bald Cypress trees can live a thousand years, and there are so many of them, the trees could contain thousands of years of climate history for the region, Harley said.
"These stumps are so big, they're upwards of two meters in diameter — the size of trucks," Harley told OurAmazingPlanet. "They probably contain thousands of growth rings."
The team, which has not yet published their results in a peer-reviewed journal, is currently applying for grants to explore the site more thoroughly.
Harley estimates they have just two years.
"The longer this wood sits on the bottom of the ocean, the more marine organisms burrow into the wood, which can create hurdles when we are trying to get radiocarbon dates," Harley said. "It can really make the sample undatable, unusable."
Is Desert Bus the worst videogame of all time?
By Rob Waugh | Plugged In – Fri, Jul 12, 2013 12:05 PM EDT
The worst game ever made?
Desert Bus is often described as the "worst game of all time" -- a driving game where you pilot a bus, in real time, for eight hours, along a perfectly straight road.
"Your task is simply to remain conscious," says TV illusionist Teller, who revealed the secrets of the game's creation in a New Yorker article this week.
There is no traffic. The game cannot be paused. Worst of all, the bus lists constantly to the right -- so players have to steer constantly.
If the bus swerves, it goes off the road, and players have to start the eight-hour drive again from the beginning. Completing the mind-numbing journey earns players one point. High scores are, understandably, thin on the ground.
[Related: Star Wars toys brought to life]
The game was created by illusionists Penn Jillette and Teller in 1995, but remained unreleased -- but is now available on iPhone and Android.
The idea is simply to be as boring as real life, Teller said, to show politicians what a "realistic" game would be like.
“Every few years, video games are blamed in the media for all of the ills in society - in the early Nineties, I wrote an article for the New York Times citing all the studies that show video games have no effect on a child’s morals," Teller says. "But we wanted to create some entertainment that helped make the point.”
"The route between Las Vegas and Phoenix is long. It's a boring job that just goes on and on repetitiously, and your task is simply to remain conscious. That was one of the big keys - we would make no cheats about time, so people like the Attorney General could get a good idea of how valuable and worthwhile a game that just reflects reality would be."
An annual marathon of the game, Desert Bus for Hope, raises money for the Child's Play charity. Desert Bus for Hope are behind the current smartphone version.
"One man. One Bus. Three hundred and sixty miles of simulated post-apocalyptic desert, and the endless struggle between man and nature personified," the game's description says. "Desert Bus. The most realistic verisimilitude reality game ever created by man or beast or man-beast is here at last."
Astronomy News
Gas cloud swings around galactic center black hole
Observations of the heart of our Milky Way have revealed that parts of the infalling gas cloud have already swung past the black hole at our galactic center.
By Max Planck Institute, Garching, Germany — Published: July 17, 2013
Series of infrared images showing the central region of our Milky Way Galaxy. The gas cloud (indicated by an arrow) is unambiguously detected up to 2012. In the latest images, however, its surface brightness is too low for a firm detection. // MPE Recent observations from April of the galactic center have revealed that parts of the infalling gas cloud, which was detected in 2011, have already swung past the black hole at the heart of our Milky Way. Due to the tidal force of the gravity monster, the gas cloud has become further stretched, with its front moving now already 300 miles (500 kilometers) per second faster than its tail. This confirms earlier predictions that its orbital motion brings it close to the black hole, and that it will not survive the encounter. With the new detailed observations, the astronomers from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching, Germany, can now also place new constraints on the origins of the gas cloud, making it increasingly unlikely that it contains a faint star inside from which the cloud might have formed.
In 2011, MPE astronomers detected a gas cloud that is falling toward the black hole at the center of our Milky Way on a near radial orbit. New sensitive data taken in April 2013 with the SINFONI instrument at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope have now shown that part of the cloud has already passed its closest approach to the black hole. As the gas swings by the black hole, it reverses its velocity. The emission from this part of the cloud appears not redshifted as does the radiation from the rest of the cloud, but rather blueshifted.
“The ionized gas at the head of the cloud is now stretched over more than 150 light-hours (about 160 billion kilometers [99 billion miles]) at the pericenter of the orbit around the black hole, with the closest approach being about 25 light-hours (or a bit more than 25 billion km [16 billion miles]),” said Stefan Gillessen from MPE, who led the observing team. “The pericenter approach, however, is not a singular event but rather a process that will be stretching over a period of at least one year.”
Previous estimates of the gas cloud orbit had predicted the nominal pericenter passage for later in the year, while the new analysis prefers a date early in 2014 — a difference that is less than the duration of the event. In addition to the new observations, the team also reanalyzed archival data and can now give a better measurement of the cloud’s orbit. The fastest components appear to move with a red-shifted velocity of 1,900 miles (3,000km) per second), while the brightest part of the head moves with about 1,400 miles (2,180km) per second. Further down the orbit, there seems to follow a tail moving much slower with a velocity of only 400 miles (700km) per second but along the same orbit.
“But the most exciting detection is gas emission with a blueshifted velocity of 3,000 km/s along the orbit at a position after pericenter,” said Gillessen. “This means that part of the cloud has already passed the closest approach to the black hole. This could also affect our models of the gas cloud orbit as the brightest part of the head structure might not be comparable any longer to the head in 2012.” Measurements of the radial velocity seem to confirm this suspicion. The increase in velocity seems to be less than expected because the fastest particles have already moved to the other side of the black hole and thus no longer contribute to the velocity of the still redshifted part.
In addition, the new data shed light on the enigmatic origin of the gas cloud. Several options have been proposed, ranging from recent formation due to a collision between stellar winds and the interstellar medium or the possible jet emerging from the galactic center to a faint star that loses increasing amounts of gas. While the compactness of the gas cloud seems surprising for any of these scenarios, the shape of the tidal shear argues against models with a stellar core that would constantly supply new gas. Instead, the orientation of the orbit continues to favor an origin connected to the disk of young massive stars surrounding the black hole farther out.
Numerous observing campaigns have been set up to intensely monitor the region around the galactic center in 2013. This should provide the astronomers with a wealth of data, further constraining the parameters of the gas cloud but also giving interesting information about the surroundings of the black hole. The growing extension and the correspondingly decreasing surface brightness of the gas, however, will make such a detection difficult. The gas cloud is fading as it passes around the black hole.
Odd Craving Causes Woman's Serious Heart Problemhttp://news.yahoo.com/odd-craving-causes-womans-serious-heart-problem-121930870.html (http://news.yahoo.com/odd-craving-causes-womans-serious-heart-problem-121930870.html)
LiveScience.com
By Catherine Winters, Contributing writer 4 hours ago
A woman who devoured a 1-pound box of baking soda a day — before and during her pregnancy — developed serious muscle and heart conditions, according to a report of her case.
But it took doctors a week from the time she was hospitalized to pinpoint the cause of her life-threatening illnesses: the mysterious condition known as pica.
The condition involves cravings for nonfood items such as cornstarch, clay, baking powder, dirt or ice, and is common during pregnancy.
The 35-year-old mother-to-be, who showed up at the hospital complaining of weakness and dizziness during her 37th week of pregnancy, was initially diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat and muscle weakness in her legs. She also had low levels of potassium, an electrolyte vital for the proper functioning of nerve and muscle cells, especially the heart muscle.
"The low potassium levels explained why she was weak" and her irregular heartbeat, said Dr. Thomas Myles, co-author of the report and a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and women's health at St. Louis University in Missouri.
But the next question that doctors needed to answer was why her potassium levels were low.
"I had seen a patient who was weak from overdoing caffeine, so I thought about diet," Myles said. He said he is also familiar with pica and its symptoms, but the patient didn’t admit to any unusual dietary practices.
Doctors admitted the woman to the hospital, and when she developed a rapid heart rate, they transferred her to the intensive care unit, treating her with fluids and electrolytes.
Then lab tests found high blood levels of creatine kinase, an enzyme that signals a condition called rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle fiber that can harm the kidneys.
When an echocardiogram showed that the left ventricle of the woman's heart was dilated, doctors suspected the woman also had a condition called peripartum cardiomyopathy. This condition occurs when the heart muscle weakens, and is unable to pump blood efficiently. It affects one in every 1,300 to 5,000 births, and is usually diagnosed during the last month of pregnancy, or within five months of delivery, according to the National Institutes of Health.
After doctors treated the woman with heart medication and a blood transfusion, they induced labor. On her fifth day in the hospital, she delivered a healthy 5-pound, 4-ounce baby boy.
Further treatment improved her creatine kinase levels, but her potassium levels stayed stubbornly low.
During her hospital stay, the doctors and nursing staff kept questioning the woman about her dietary and other habits. Finally, two days after giving birth, she admitted she had been downing baking soda daily for several years, as a remedy for hiccups. She had even consumed some while in the hospital.
"I suspect she felt a little guilty that her symptoms were self-induced," Myles said.
She was told to stop eating the baking soda, and was closely watched to make sure she complied. Within a day, her potassium levels returned to normal and she was discharged.
At that point, the woman began to see a cardiologist, and three months later, an echocardiogram showed she still had mild cardiomyopathy, Myles said.
However, the muscle weakness in her legs had resolved. "As soon as you get away from the offending trigger and stay hydrated, muscle becomes stable and rebuilds," Myles said.
The baking soda, which is mainly sodium bicarbonate, triggered a cascade of metabolic abnormalities that led to her condition. Once the woman stopped her baking soda habit, "it made it a lot easier to treat her," Myles said.
The case report is published in the August issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Virginia Beach, Va. – Dead dolphins washed up on beaches in Virginia at an alarming rate in July.
Mark Swingle, Director of Research and Conservation at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center says the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team has responded to 82 bottle-nosed dolphin strandings in 2013, with 44 of those happening in the month of July.
“An average year for us is about 65 dolphin stranding for the whole year, so we are quite far ahead of that pace,” Swingle explained. “If you go back 10 years, the average number of dolphins in a July would be about 6 or 7.”
Related:
Dolphin washes ashore in Ocean View
Dead dolphin washes up on Ocean View beach
Right now, researchers are trying to figure out how and why the dolphins are dying, but initial examinations suggest it’s not from typical human interactions like boat propellers or fishing nets.
“This has not been that way. These animals don’t appear to have been involved in human activities, at least on cursory examination,” Swingle said.
The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center is hoping testing of samples of tissue they are collecting from the dolphins may shed light on what’s happening.
“That we hope will tell us more information,” Swingle explained. “So we’ll have tissue samples and things that can be tested for pathology, disease and whether they’ve been exposed to toxic substances.”
Swingle says the dolphins that have washed up are of all different sizes and ages. The only similarities seem to be that most are male and most have been found in the Chesapeake Bay.
Skateboarder uses helicopter to perform amazing tricks (video) Race car driver pulls off amazing recovery from 360-degree spin-out (video) Shark wrestler becomes most famous man from Nantucket outside a limerick (video) Photos: The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower on deployment This video of sand will blow your mind “We are finding them primarily in the Chesapeake Bay. Not in any one spot though – they are all over,” Swingle commented. “We’ve picked up animals all the way up near Maryland in the Chesapeake Bay.”
The Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response team is working with other coastal states to see if there are any similar trends happening elsewhere.
They stress that if you find a dolphin on the beach, don’t touch it, but immediately call the Stranding Response Team.
Their hotline is (757)385-7575 and is staffed 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.
To learn more about how to report a stranding, click here.
Jason Leach is just 41 and in good health, but he’s already made arrangements for his cremains. Part of it has to do with his family history. “I’ve heard stories about my father trying to scatter his grandfather’s ashes from a boat,” Leach says. “It went terribly wrong, and they ended up sweeping him off the deck.” Things didn’t turn out much better at his own grandfather’s memorial service. “There was a strong breeze,” he remembers, grimacing. “And the ashes blew right into my face.” When his time comes, Leach, who lives in Scarborough, on the northeast coast of England, wants a more dignified ending. So he’s having his ashes pressed into a vinyl record.
It’s not the most conventional final resting place, but for Leach—a 20-year veteran of the U.K. music business, as a producer, performer, and co-founder of such independent labels as Subhead and House of Fix—it was the only logical choice. And he’s not alone. In 2009, Leach founded And Vinyly (rhymes with “And Finally”), an online service for people who, like him, want their earthly remains to live on as an analog recording. At first, the site was mostly ignored. “I didn’t expect much from it,” Leach says. “It was just for fun.” But word slowly began to spread, and over the past six months he’s been inundated with requests. He’s only processed four records so far—including one with the ashes of a DJ whose parents wanted their late son “to be played at his favorite clubs a few more times”—but Leach has had hundreds of inquiries. “I’m sometimes up 24 hours a day just answering calls,” he says.
The process itself is fairly simple: Ashes are delivered to a pressing plant in London and sprinkled into the raw vinyl. But the cost can be exorbitant. The basic And Vinyly package starts at £3,000 ($4,600) for 30 copies of a record, each containing a bit of ash. It’s a fraction of the cost of a typical burial, which the National Funeral Directors Association ballparks at around $6,560. But then there are the add-ons. If you don’t want to provide your own audio, a team of musicians from Leach’s labels will write and record a song (or songs) about you for £500 per track. James Hague of the National Portrait Gallery in London will create an original painting for the record sleeve for around £3,500. You can also choose which specific body part is put into the vinyl and have your record distributed at “reputable vinyl stores worldwide,” Leach says, although there’s no guarantee you’ll ever be bought. By the time a final bill is tallied, an old-fashioned casket funeral might seem like a bargain.
But the price tag isn’t the biggest concern for the majority of And Vinyly’s customers. According to Leach, it’s the content that gets most of the hand-wringing. “People over-think it,” he says. “This tends to become a very long process with people changing their minds constantly.” Each record has just 24 minutes of available audio, with 12 minutes on each side. Not much to sum up a lifetime. And it gets even more complicated when Leach explains the infinite possibilities. “Just because it’s a record doesn’t mean it has to contain music,” Leach says. “It might be nice to have your own voice on there. I’d like nothing more than to listen to my great-great-grandfather say something on a record.” He’s recorded people telling jokes and talking about their family history, and even confessing their biggest regrets. One of his favorite And Vinyly records, he says, ends with laughter on a closed loop. “It just repeats over and over until you remove the needle.”
As for what he plans on putting on his ash record—he’s very serious about it, even including special instructions in his will—he’s as indecisive as any of his clients. “I’m working constantly on my soundtrack,” he says. “I make music, so that makes it difficult and complicated.” He names a few songs that will likely make the final cut, with titles such as Bust Rucket and Spaz ‘n Rave”. But lately, he says, he’s been more interested in what he calls “aural photographs,” which could include anything from a dog barking to the creaking of feet on floorboards to a muffled conversation in the distance. “Whenever I’m listening to field recordings, I’m always fascinated by the surrounding sounds we usually tune out,” he says. “Those things in the background that create an atmosphere, that’s what takes me back to a specific time and place.”
He’s also considered the idea of not recording anything at all and letting the only sound on his final LP be the pop and crackle of his ashes vibrating against the needle. “I quite like that idea,” he says. And then, after a thoughtful pause, he laughs at the impossibleness of his task. “Don’t hold me to any of this,” he says. “I’m sure I’ll change my mind tomorrow.”
More Than Half of Stranded Bottlenose Dolphins May Be Deafhttp://news.yahoo.com/more-half-stranded-bottlenose-dolphins-may-deaf-114002277.html (http://news.yahoo.com/more-half-stranded-bottlenose-dolphins-may-deaf-114002277.html)
LiveScience.com
By Tanya Lewis, Staff Writer 5 hours ago(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/P7Avp6MI6b2u8xk1joh0IA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTM4MztweW9mZj0wO3E9ODU7dz01NzU-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/LiveScience.com/bottlenose-dolphin.jpg1375207452)
Dolphin deafness can be caused by aging, underwater noise or other factors.
In waters from Florida to the Caribbean, dolphins are showing up stranded or entangled in fishing gear with an unusual problem: They can't hear.
More than half of stranded bottlenose dolphins are deaf, one study suggests. The causes of hearing loss in dolphins aren't always clear, but aging, shipping noise and side effects from antibiotics could play roles.
"We're at a stage right now where we're determining the extent of hearing loss [in dolphins], and figuring out all the potential causes," said Judy St. Leger, director of pathology and research at SeaWorld in San Diego. "The better we understand that, the better we have a sense of what we should be doing [about it]."
Whether the hearing loss is causing the dolphin strandings — for instance, by steering the marine mammals in the wrong direction or preventing them from finding food — is also still an open question.
Deaf strandings
Dolphins are a highly social species. They use echolocation to orient themselves by bouncing high-pitched sound waves off of objects in their environment. They also "speak" to one another in a language of clicks and buzzing sounds. Because hearing is so fundamental to dolphins' survival, losing it can be detrimental. [Deep Divers: A Gallery of Dolphins]
A 2010 study found that more than half of stranded bottlenose dolphins and more than a third of stranded rough-toothed dolphins had severe hearing loss. The animals' hearing impairment may have been a critical factor in their strandings, and all rescued cetaceans should be tested, the researchers said in the study, detailed in the journal PLOS ONE.
How exactly do scientists give dolphins a hearing test? In captivity, dolphins and whales can be trained to press a paddle or make a noise when they hear a test sound. But a different approach is needed for wild animals.
Above water, animals perceive sound via airwaves. But underwater, dolphins hear primarily via pressure changes in their jawbone, so researchers use a "jawphone," which consists of a suction cup placed on the dolphin's lower jaw to produce sound pulses. Electrodes embedded in the suction cups measure brain responses to the sounds.
Causes of deafness
Dolphins can become deaf for a variety of reasons. The most common cause is age-related hearing loss, said Dorian Houser, a marine biologist at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego. Like humans, dolphins tend to lose their high-pitch hearing first, and males tend to go deaf more often than females, Houser told LiveScience.
Some dolphins are also born with impaired hearing; certain drugs used to treat the animals' other health problems can also cause hearing loss. Other causes are chronic exposure to noise (such as from shipping), or exposure to short-lived intense noise (such as explosions).
Many studies have investigated the effects of military sonar on dolphin hearing. "There's mounting evidence that midfrequency sonar may be impacting dolphins and whales," St. Leger said.
The animals may lose hearing for a short time and then recover — the so-called rock-concert effect, Houser said. But they'd have to be pretty close to the source of the sonar and be exposed to it repeatedly, he added. Studies have shown temporary hearing loss from sonar, but less is known about its long-term effects. The bigger concern is how sonar could disrupt the dolphins' behavior. For example, the high-frequency pings can mask the calls of dolphins and whales and scare them away from their habitats.
As for deafness in dolphins, researchers are still trying to get a handle on the problem's prevalence, which may not be as pronounced as the PLOS ONE study suggested, Houser said. "But I think, in time, we're going to answer the question," he said.
HAMAMATSU, Japan It was a sight fit for an episode of the Twilight Zone: Dressed in black formal wear, a crowd of musicians filed into a concert hall west of Tokyo and sit down to play. But instead of raising flutes or violins, their instruments were garishly painted Russian dolls -- and not a single fingertip made contact with the instruments.
When the musicians warmed up, the usual pre-performance cacophony sounded like an alien landing -- a symphony of eerie wailing. When the concert began, the musicians pinched at thin air, yielding a bizarre but recognizable rendition of Amazing Grace.
Grimly motionless but for their waving hands, they looked like a coven of well-dressed witches trying to cast a spell over their smiling toys.
The 272 musicians gathered from across Japan to grab a new world record -- the world's largest theremin ensemble. The featured instruments are actually modified versions of the theremin crammed into empty Russian nested dolls, dubbed "matryomin" by their creator.
The world's only instrument played without any direct contact, the theremin's high-pitched vibrato is familiar soundtrack to anyone who has ever screened a sci-fi flick.
Invented in the Soviet Union around 1920 by scientist Leon Theremin (who taught music aficionado Vladimir Lenin how to play it), the electronic device has been used over the years to add its distinctive, spooky sound to the Beach Boys' hit "Good Vibrations" and the cult-classic daytime soap opera Dark Shadows.
A vocally simulated theremin was used in the opening theme to the Star Trek TV series. Theremin have also featured in many films scores and tunes by artists including Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.
The original theremin is a far cry from the compact, portable instruments played by the Japanese musicians today. Standard theremin consist of a wooden console with two large antennas, and they're played with two hands; one to control pitch, the other for volume, but all without directly touching any surface of the instrument -- a technique known as "aerial fingering."
The instrument is notoriously difficult to master -- even Brian Wilson eventually gave it up in favor of a simplified device that produced the same sound.
A Japanese musician shows the inside of a "matryomin".
/ CBS/Lucy Craft
But today's Japanese version, the matryomin, went over well with the representative on hand from the Guinness World Records office.
"I was honestly very moved by the performance, said Gulnaz Ukassova, an official adjudicator for Guinness World Records Japan."It was very touching."
Leading the musicians was Masamichi Takeuchi, 46, Japan's leading theremin proponent and creator of the nested-doll version.
"No other country has as many theremin players of such high skill as Japan," he said. While Takeuchi doesn't know how many there are exactly, he has sold 4,500 of the miniature theremins, and runs a network of music instructors dedicated to the instrument.
In 2003, Takeuchi, who studied music technology, hit on a simplified model using the empty Russian nested doll filled with a miniaturized amp, speaker and antenna.
"Matryoshka are made from hollowed-out linden wood, which has excellent sound resonance," he said. "Good violins and pianos, for instance, are determined not by the quality of the strings, but by the wood used to make them. So a robust sound is produced by the doll's body -- which seems odd when you consider they are electronic instruments."
Instead of note-picking near large antennas, as with conventional theremin, matryomin musicians pluck away at the air behind the doll's head.
Takeuchi said his invention is much easier to play, since it is one-handed - controlling only the pitch of the theremin.
"Unlike a piano or guitar, there's no keyboard or fret to play, so you have to create an imaginary one in your head," said Sae Sato, an instructor based in Tokyo. "That makes it more challenging. But I don't think it's any harder to learn than other instruments."
While the theremin is usually associated with the spooky and spine-tingling, Takeuchi's followers prefer more prosaic tunes, like Edelweiss and Love Me Tender.
At the recent Hamamatsu performance, Takeuchi led the group in his own boogie-woogie arrangement of a Beethoven classic.
"To simply make scary music, you don't need technical skill," Takeuchi said. "What we seek is technique and musicality. All we care about is beautiful tone quality."
"Nothing," he boldly proclaimed, "is as fascinating as the theremin."
..., and I should blame your music teachers...
Huh. I would have expected more liberal arts education in Europe, not less.
The New York Times
Bits
August 4, 2013, 1:39 pm
Computer-Brain Interfaces Making Big Leaps
By NICK BILTON
(Image credit: David Lee/Focus Features
In the movie, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” a character played by Jim Carrey uses a service that erases memories to wipe his brain of his former girlfriend, played by the actress Kate Winslet.)
Scientists haven’t yet found a way to mend a broken heart, but they’re edging closer to manipulating memory and downloading instructions from a computer right into a brain.
Researchers from the Riken-M.I.T. Center for Neural Circuit Genetics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology took us closer to this science-fiction world of brain tweaking last week when they said they were able to create a false memory in a mouse.
The scientists reported in the journal Science that they caused mice to remember receiving an electrical shock in one location, when in reality they were zapped in a completely different place. The researchers weren’t able to create entirely new thoughts, but they applied good or bad feelings to memories that already existed.
“It wasn’t so much writing a memory from scratch, it was basically connecting two different types of memories. We took a neutral memory, and we artificially updated that to make it a negative memory,” said Steve Ramirez, one of the M.I.T. neuroscientists on the project.
It may sound insignificant and perhaps not a nice way to treat mice, but it is not a dramatic leap to imagine that one day this research could lead to computer-manipulation of the mind for things like the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, Mr. Ramirez said.
Technologists are already working on brain-computer interfaces, which will allow us to interact with our smartphones and computers simply by using our minds. And there are already gadgets that read our thoughts and allow us to do things like dodge virtual objects in a computer game or turn switches on and off with a thought.
But the scientists who are working on memory manipulation are the ones who seem to be pushing the boundaries of what we believe is possible. Sure, it sounds like movie fantasy right now, but don’t laugh off the imagination of Hollywood screenwriters; sometimes the movies can be a great predictor of things to come.
In the movie, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” a character played by Jim Carrey uses a service that erases memories to wipe his brain of his former girlfriend, played by Kate Winslet.
But it seems the movie’s screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman, was selling science short.
“The one thing that the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” gets wrong, is that they are erasing an entire memory,” said Mr. Ramirez of M.I.T. “I think we can do better, while keeping the image of Kate Winslet, we can get rid of the sad part of that memory.”
Hollywood and science-fiction writers, of course, have had fun with memory manipulation over the years.
In the film “Total Recall,” which is based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, a character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger receives a memory implant of a fake vacation to Mars. In “The Matrix,” characters can download new skills like languages or fighting techniques to their mind, much like downloading a file to a computer.
Far-fetched? Perhaps, and we’re not yet fighting our robot overlords as the humans were in “The Matrix,” but researchers really are exploring ways to upload new information to the brain.
In 2011, scientists working in collaboration with Boston University and A.T.R. Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan, published a paper on a process called Decoded Neurofeedback, or “DecNef,” which sends signals to the brain through a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine, or FMRI, that can alter a person’s brain activity pattern. In time, these scientists believe they could teach people how to play a musical instrument while they sleep, learn a new language or master a sport, all by “uploading” information to the brain.
Writing to the brain could allow us to interact with our computers, or other human beings, just by thinking about it.
In February, Dr. Miguel A. Nicolelis, a neuroscientist at Duke University successfully connected the brains of two rats over the Internet, allowing them to communicate with their minds so when one rat pressed a lever, the other one did the same. The rats were in different locations, one at Duke University, in North Carolina, and another in a laboratory in Natal, Brazil.
(Image credit: Jeremy M. Lange for The New York Times
Dr. Miguel A. Nicolelis, a neuroscientist at Duke University, in 2008.)
Dr. Nicolelis said he has recently performed other experiments in his lab where he has connected the brains of four mice in what he calls a “brain net” allowing them to share information over the Internet. In another experiment, he took two monkeys and gave them both half of a piece of information to successfully move a robotic arm, which required them to share the information through their brain.
Last week scientists at Harvard Medical School created a brain-to-brain interface that enables a human to move a rat’s tail just by thinking about it.
Of course, in all the movies about brain technology and enhancing memories there is usually a downside. In “Total Recall,” the character has a difficult time distinguishing between reality and his fantasy adventure. This leads to mayhem. In “Eternal Sunshine,” after Mr. Carrey’s character erases his memories, they reappear in a jumble. Hilarity (and insight into love and loss) ensues.
But some researchers don’t appear to be worried about that sort of thing. In his book, “Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines — and How It Will Change Our Lives,” Dr. Nicolelis said he believes it is possible that humans will be able to communicate wirelessly without words or sound, where brain waves are transmitted over the Internet.
“I think this is the real frontier of human communication in the future. We already can get our monkeys, and even humans, to move devices just by thinking,” he said. “Once you can write to the brain, I can imagine the same type of logic working for communication where your thoughts and a message will be communicated to another human being and they will be able to understand it.”
It looks like mending that broken heart, through manipulation of our memories, might be here closer than we think.
A version of this article appeared in print on 08/05/2013, on page B4 of the NewYork edition with the headline: Big Leaps in Linking Computers and Brains.
Holy cow! World's first in-vitro beef burger to make history on Monday
By Kate Kelland, Reuters
Posted at 08/05/2013 12:01 AM | Updated as of 08/05/2013 12:01 AM
LONDON - A corner of west London will see culinary and scientific history made on Monday when scientists cook and serve up the world's first lab-grown beef burger.
The in-vitro burger, cultured from cattle stem cells, the first example of what its creator says could provide an answer to global food shortages and help combat climate change, will be fried in a pan and tasted by two volunteers.
The burger is the result of years of research by Dutch scientist Mark Post, a vascular biologist at the University of Maastricht, who is working to show how meat grown in petri dishes might one day be a true alternative to meat from livestock.
The meat in the burger has been made by knitting together around 20,000 strands of protein that has been cultured from cattle stem cells in Post's lab.
The tissue is grown by placing the cells in a ring, like a donut, around a hub of nutrient gel, Post explained.
To prepare the burger, scientists combined the cultured beef with other ingredients normally used in burgers, such as salt, breadcrumbs and egg powder. Red beet juice and saffron have been added to bring out its natural colours.
"Our burger is made from muscle cells taken from a cow. We haven't altered them in any way," Post said in a statement on Friday. "For it to succeed it has to look, feel and hopefully taste like the real thing."
VIABLE ALTERNATIVE?
Success, in Post's view, would mean not just a tasty burger, but also the prospect of finding a sustainable, ethical and environmentally friendly alternative to meat production.
According to a 2006 report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), industrialized agriculture contributes on a "massive scale" to climate change, air pollution, land degradation, energy use, deforestation and biodiversity decline.
The report, entitled Livestock's Long Shadow, said the meat industry contributes about 18 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions and this proportion is expected to grow as consumers in fast-developing countries such as China and India eat more meat.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), annual meat production is projected to rise to 376 million tonnes by 2030 from 218 million tonnes in 1997-1999, and demand from a growing world population is expected to rise beyond that.
Post cites FAO figures suggesting demand for meat is expected to increase by more than two-thirds by 2050.
Animal welfare campaigners applauded the arrival of cultured meat and predicted a great future for it.
"In vitro technology will spell the end of lorries full of cows and chickens, abattoirs and factory farming," the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) campaign group said in a statement. "It will reduce carbon emissions, conserve water and make the food supply safer."
A study published in 2011 comparing the relative environmental impacts of various types of meat, including lamb, pork, beef and cultured meat, said the lab-grown product has by far the least impact on the environment.
Hanna Tuomisto, who conducted the study at Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, found that growing meats in-vitro would use 35 percent to 60 percent less energy, emit 80 percent to 95 percent less greenhouse gas and use around 98 percent less land than conventionally produced animal meat.
While Monday's fry-up will be a world first and only an initial proof-of concept, the Dutch scientist reckons commercial production of cultured beef could begin within the next 20 years.
"What we are going to attempt is important because I hope it will show cultured beef has the answers to major problems that the world faces," he added
I found out about theremins from a 7th grade music teacher who brought one to class and let us fool with it a little.
I can see the merits, but don't put no stinkin' beet juice in my burger!Absolutely.
Telepathy could have been used to compel four young Turkish engineers to kill themselves, it's been suggested.
That's one explanation of the deaths of four workers at the defence giant Aselsan contained in a report presented to the PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to reports. All four deaths, within the space of 14 months during 2006 and 2007, were initially recorded as suicides. The men had been undergoing psychological treatment before they died but doubts persisted from their sceptical families, reports newspaper Today's Zaman. And last year the Inspection Board of the Prime Ministry launched a fresh probe.
Included in its report was a study by a neuropsychologist, Nevzat Tarhan, who asks prosecutors not to disregard the possibility of telepathy causing severe distress and headaches in the victims, giving them a tendency to kill themselves, reports Hurriyet Daily News. Brainwaves could have been sent from 1.5km (just under a mile) away, Hurriyet quotes Tarhan as saying. The report apparently doesn't offer a clear answer as to whether the deaths were murder or suicide but it's been submitted to the Ankara Chief Prosecutor's Office for further investigation.
Mattel's Astronaut Barbie Becomes a Mars Explorer with NASA Helphttp://news.yahoo.com/mattels-astronaut-barbie-becomes-mars-explorer-nasa-help-175226742.html (http://news.yahoo.com/mattels-astronaut-barbie-becomes-mars-explorer-nasa-help-175226742.html)
SPACE.com
by Robert Z. Pearlman, collectSPACE.com Editor August 5, 2013(http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/NNoqWWW0qrWQ0ErEz6o6nQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTM4MTtweW9mZj0wO3E9ODU7dz01NzU-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/SPACE.com/Mattel%27s_Astronaut_Barbie_Becomes_a-4b66778983134d4cb7b482d7bb22fcdf)
Mattel's Mars Explorer Barbie doll has launched on the first "one-doll" mission to Mars, in collaboration with NASA.
A new collaboration between NASA and Mattel, the largest toy company in the world, is turning the Red Planet a tad more pink.
"Mars Explorer Barbie," a new spacesuited version of the iconic fashion doll, officially launched on Monday (Aug. 5), to coincide with the first anniversary of NASA's Curiosity rover landing on Mars. Mars Explorer Barbie is packaged with a cardboard cutout of the six-wheeled Mars Science Laboratory, decked out in pink.
"Ready to add her signature pink splash to the Red Planet,' [the] Barbie doll is outfitted in a stylish spacesuit with pink reflective accents, helmet, space pack and signature pink space boots," Mattel wrote in a statement describing the new doll, which as part of the company's "I Can Be" line of Barbie dolls has the added distinction of the being named the "Career of the Year" for 2013.
"Adding to her resume of more than 130 careers, Mars Explorer Barbie doll inspires girls to be adventurous and to always reach for the stars!" Mattel stated.
The Mars Explorer Barbie packaging art includes a list of facts about the history of U.S. female space explorers and promotes the space agency's Women@NASA website to learn more.
Barbie Miss Astronaut
The Mars Explorer Barbie is Mattel's first Barbie promoted as produced in collaboration with NASA, after nearly a 50-year history of dressing the dolls in spacesuits.
The first Barbie astronaut outfit, "Barbie Miss Astronaut," was released in 1965, two years after Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the world's first woman to fly into space and 18 years before an American woman, Sally Ride, would follow her.
Inspired by the pressure suits worn by the all-male U.S. Mercury astronauts of the era, the Barbie Miss Astronaut (and matching "Ken Mr. Astronaut") spacesuits were silver with brown mittens and boots. Each outfit included a white helmet and an American flag for the dolls to carry.
Mattel celebrated the 50 year anniversary of Barbie by re-releasing some of the dolls' most famous sets, including the Miss Astronaut outfit.
"Yes, she was a rocket scientist, taking us to new fashion heights, while firmly placing her stilettos on the moon," Mattel wrote on the packaging for the 2009 "My Favorite Career" recreation.
Barbie blasts off
Twenty years after introducing Barbie Miss Astronaut, a new "Astronaut Barbie" was released featuring a pink and silver mini skirt-spacesuit "with sparkly skirt and tights."(http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/DQKo_XzaQoCoZDqZmVX7yQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTM4MTtweW9mZj0wO3E9ODU7dz01NzU-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/SPACE.com/Mattel%27s_Astronaut_Barbie_Becomes_a-fe10931e9a4420ce21ba1b75074ccbd3)
Mattel promotional image for its 1985 "Astronaut Barbie."
A 1985 television commercial described the doll in song.
"You can be the first in outer space, fantastic fun in a far-out place. Then, for a change of pace, we know a spacey spot where this mini will look real hot!"
Astronaut Barbie's accessories took a more realistic turn in 1994 in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the first moon landing.
"Includes authentic looking NASA helmet and spacesuit!" described the packaging for the "Special Edition" Career Collection doll, which was issued in time for Space Week. The toy set included glow-in-the-dark "moon rocks" and a stand featuring NASA's Apollo 11 anniversary emblem.
In addition to her career as an astronaut, Barbie also went to U.S. Space Camp twice in a partnership between Mattel and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.
First released in 1998, Space Camp Barbie was originally outfitted in an "astronaut blue" flight suit "like the ones worn by real astronauts." The doll came packaged with a NASA logo cap and miniature space food, space travelers checks and a Space Camp graduation certificate.
A decade later, Mattel reissued Space Camp Barbie with a pink baby tee, white two-piece spacesuit and a mood star necklace (the shirt and necklace was also sold as life-size versions for Space Camp attendees to wear). The "Silver Label" edition was limited to 50,000 dolls.
Mattel's Mars toys
Mars Explorer Barbie is the second toy Mattel has timed with NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover mission milestones.
In September 2012, a month after the car-size science laboratory landed on the Red Planet, Mattel released a Hot Wheels model of Curiosity. The 1:64 scale miniature was part of the toy company's assortment of 247 Hot Wheels cars for 2012.
Prior to the Hot Wheels Curiosity set, Mattel worked with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, from where Curiosity is controlled, to release a series of five Hot Wheels Action Packs between 1997 and 1999. The toys included models of Mars rovers, Apollo spacecraft, planetary probes and the space shuttle.
Spanish skyscraper going up — but without an elevator?
Claudine Zap 22 hours ago
Intempo skyscraper in Benidorm, Spain (Enrique Domingo via Flickr)
If you are thinking of investing in an apartment at the Intempo skyscraper in Benidorm, Spain, be prepared to bring some good walking shoes: Its builders forgot a working elevator, says the Spanish news site El Pais.
According to a story surfaced on Gizmodo, the luxury high-rise tower, which started construction in 2007, was originally designed for 20 floors. But the the developers decided to push the design to include 47 floors with 269 homes. When completed, it will be Benidorm’s highest building at 650 feet.
There seemed to be just one important oversight: In going up to 47 floors, designers forgot to take into account room for an elevator shaft. El Pais reports that the architects on the project resigned in May 2012.
The building “represents a long story of incompetence,” according to El Pais. The coastal town had a building boom that led to the nickname “Beniyork” for its skyline of high-rises.
But then the recession hit. Intempo’s developer, which had once advertised the building as the “banner of the future,” and the bank that provided the loan for construction both went bankrupt in 2009. The building has cost €100 million so far.
“We had heard reports on the elevator last week when we listed the building to generate advance interest,” wrote Terry Walker, a spokesperson for Walker Property Spain’s London office, in an email to Yahoo News.
“In the light of the other problems that have been overcome at Intempo, we would be confident that a solution can be found,” Walker said.
Already 35 percent of the apartments have been sold to international buyers — the site describes the abodes as "Dubai style luxury." The building is 95 percent complete, and it is expected to be done by spring 2014.
Expect, too, a built-in exercise regime.
I pity the Indians working in Dubai, unsafe and terrible working conditions combined with an elitist arab populace that hates them. Man that's got to be rough.
Because Muslims would never treat poor foreign Muslim workers badly?
Didn't intend to show pictures. You never know where those end up ;lol
Geo, what're you doing working for the NSA?
Forced sterilization was the law in 32 U.S. states, and actually inspired the Nazis. We're just learning the truth
Though North Carolina did not sterilize the greatest number of people (that distinction belongs to California, where 20,000 were sterilized), the state’s Eugenics Board was notorious for its aggressiveness. While many states confined their sterilization programs to institutions, North Carolina allowed social workers to make recommendations based on observations of “unwholesome” home environments or poor school performance. The state’s program was also one of the longest lasting, increasing its number of sterilizations while others were winding down. Between 1929 and 1974, more than 7,600 North Carolinians were sterilized. Like Willis Lynch, many of the victims were children, and consent was provided by relatives or guardians who feared the loss of welfare benefits or other consequences if they refused.
I'm sure they already had other spies, and didn't need you.
http://www.salon.com/2013/08/11/north_carolinas_shocking_history_of_sterilization/ (http://www.salon.com/2013/08/11/north_carolinas_shocking_history_of_sterilization/)QuoteForced sterilization was the law in 32 U.S. states, and actually inspired the Nazis. We're just learning the truthQuoteThough North Carolina did not sterilize the greatest number of people (that distinction belongs to California, where 20,000 were sterilized), the state’s Eugenics Board was notorious for its aggressiveness. While many states confined their sterilization programs to institutions, North Carolina allowed social workers to make recommendations based on observations of “unwholesome” home environments or poor school performance. The state’s program was also one of the longest lasting, increasing its number of sterilizations while others were winding down. Between 1929 and 1974, more than 7,600 North Carolinians were sterilized. Like Willis Lynch, many of the victims were children, and consent was provided by relatives or guardians who feared the loss of welfare benefits or other consequences if they refused.
Gross! 15-Ton Blob of Fat Found Growing in Sewerhttp://news.yahoo.com/gross-15-ton-blob-fat-found-growing-sewer-130743125.html (http://news.yahoo.com/gross-15-ton-blob-fat-found-growing-sewer-130743125.html)
LiveScience.com
By Marc Lallanilla, Assistant Editor 14 hours ago
A 15-ton blob of congealed fat so large it's been dubbed a "fatberg" has been removed from a sewer tunnel beneath London.
And just in case you're not completely grossed out yet, the fatberg — as large as a double-decker bus — was mixed with thousands of used baby wipes.
"While we've removed greater volumes of fat from under central London in the past, we've never seen a single, congealed lump of lard this big clogging our sewers before," Gordon Hailwood, supervisor for water utility Thames Water, said in a statement.
"Given we've got the biggest sewers and this is the biggest fatberg we've encountered, we reckon it has to be the biggest such berg in British history," Hailwood said.
The monstrous blob of fat was created by people pouring food fat down the drain, and by flushing baby wipes down the toilet. Thames Water discovered the fatberg after residents in the suburb of Kingston, Surrey, complained that they couldn't flush their toilets.
By using closed-circuit television (CCTV), investigators discovered the creamy white fatberg, which had reduced the 28-inch (70 centimeter) sewer pipe to just 5 percent of its normal capacity.
"The sewer was almost completely clogged," Hailwood said. "If we hadn't discovered it in time, raw sewage could have started spurting out of manholes across the whole of Kingston."
Concerned environmentalists will be relieved to know that the fat will be recycled, not sent to a landfill, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We recycle everything that we remove — the water is extracted and the remaining fats and oils are turned into products like soap, biodiesel and fuel," a spokesman for CountyClean, the waste management company that removed the fatberg, told AFP.
"We have a very specialized piece of equipment — called a Kroll recycler — that we can use from the road and allows us to remove the fat without any workmen having to descend into the sewers," the spokesman said.
It will take about six weeks to repair the damaged sewer, according to Thames Water. The utility shared the CCTV video in an effort to educate its customers about the hazards of dumping fat and baby wipes down the drain.
"Homes and businesses need to change their ways," Hailwood said. "When it comes to fat and wipes, please remember: 'Bin it — don’t block it.'"
When the BBC Breakfast show decided to do an item about being bitten by mosquitoes, the programme's producers took no chances.
A sealed box of mosquitoes was brought in with a small hole cut in the side, covered by some protective gauze netting, through which each presenter could put their arm to see who the insects preferred.
Unfortunately, as presenter Louise Minchin tried to put her arm through the netting into the box, she managed to rip it off entirely, leaving the way clear for the whole swarm of bugs to fly free into the studio.
Scroll down for video
Don't bite me! BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin gently puts her arm into the box of mosquitoes
Oops! As she pulled her arm away, the protective sleeve detached from the box, leaving the hole unguarded
The presenter was reduced to helpless laughter and had to mop her eyes after realising what she had done
The popular blonde host, 44, shrieked with laughter when she realised what she'd done, as the insects swarmed out of the box and up into the rafters.
Minchin had been interviewing Dr James Logan from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine about how the recent muggy weather had been perfect for mosquitoes.
She and co-host Bill Turnbull, 57, had asked the doctor how best to avoid being bitten, and they'd discussed whether mosquitoes preferred some victims to others, putting their arms into the box of bugs.
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But when Minchin pulled her arm away, she ripped the protective sleeve, leaving the doctor with an empty box where the insects had been.
Minchin gasped and said: 'Me and mosquitoes have a very bad relationship,' while Turnbull added: 'Anyone got any fly spray?'
The camera then cut to the newsdesk where newsreader Simon McCoy flapped his hands, mimicking swatting the pests away.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2394408/BBC-Breakfast-presenter-Louise-Minchin-accidentally-releases-mosquitoes-inside-studio.html#ixzz2c3p5sS62 (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2394408/BBC-Breakfast-presenter-Louise-Minchin-accidentally-releases-mosquitoes-inside-studio.html#ixzz2c3p5sS62)
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ewly declassified documents, obtained by George Washington University's National Security Archive, appear to for the first time acknowledge the existence of Area 51. Hundreds of pages describe the genesis of the Nevada site that was home to the government's spy plane program for decades. The documents do not, however, mention aliens.
The project started humbly. In the pre-drone era about a decade after the end of World War II, President Eisenhower signed off on a project aimed at building a high-altitude, long-range, manned aircraft that could photograph remote targets. Working together, the Air Force and Lockheed developed a craft that could hold the high-resolution cameras required for the images, a craft that became the U-2. Why "U-2"?
They decided that they could not call the project aircraft a bomber, fighter, or transport plane, and they did not want anyone to know that the new plane was for reconnaissance, so [Air Force officers] Geary and Culbertson decided that it should come under the utility aircraft category. At the time, there were only two utility aircraft on the books, a U-1 and a U-3. told Culbertson that the Lockheed CL-282 was going to be known officially as the U-2.
The next step was to find a place from which the top-secret aircraft could be flown.
On 12 April 1955 [CIA officer] Richard Bissell and Col. Osmund Ritland (the senior Air Force officer on the project staff) flew over Nevada with [Lockheed's] Kelly Johnson in a small Beechcraft plane piloted by Lockheed's chief test pilot, Tony LeVier. They spotted what appeared to be an airstrip by a salt flat known as Groom Lake, near the northeast corner of the Atomic Energy Commission's (AEC) Nevada Proving Ground. After debating about landing on the old airstrip, LeVier set the plane down on the lakebed, and all four walked over to examine the strip. The facility had been used during World War II as an aerial gunnery range for Army Air Corps pilots. From the air the strip appeared to be paved, but on closer inspection it turned out to have originally been fashioned from compacted earth that had turned into ankle-deep dust after more than a decade of disuse. If LeVier had atrempted to land on the airstrip, the plane would probably have nosed over when the wheels sank into the loose soil, killing or injuring all of the key figures in the U-2 project.
That's the first acknowledged mention of the Groom Lake site, according to Chris Pocock, a British author who's written extensively about the program and provided his thoughts to the GWU archive. Nor, it seems, has the low-contrast image that accompanies that section (below) been seen.
The name "Area 51," so evocative, was an accident of circumstance.
After consulting with [the CIA's] Dulles, Bissell and Miller asked the Atomic Energy Commission to add the Groom Lake area to its real estate holdings in Nevada. AEC Chairman Adm. Lewis Strauss readily agreed, and President Eisenhower also approved the addition of this strip of wasteland, known by its map designation as Area 51, to the Nevada Test Site. The outlines of Area 51 are shown on current unclassified maps as a small rectangular area adjoining the northeast corner of the much larger Nevada Test Site.
Recognizing that people might not be excited about moving to a place called "Area 51" in the middle of the desert, a new name was offered: "Paradise Ranch, which was soon shortened to the Ranch." It was less appealing, however, in popular culture.
The National Security Archive outlines other new revelations in the documents (all 407 pages of which can be downloaded from the site). Three new details:
UNDATED (WSVN) -- A South Florida family is disappointed after they said they were kicked out of a Florida theme park over a T-shirt.
Sixteen-year-old Sabryna Jarosz had no idea her parents were taking her on a birthday trip to Universal Studios Orlando. But the excitement soon turned into disappointment.
"It was a surprise for our daughter's sweet 16," said Sabryna's mother Diana.
The family was on their way to see the Blue Man Group on Saturday night when they said park security surrounded them. "This is what they kicked me out for, wearing that?" said Sabryna's father Christian as he showed off the police shirt he was wearing when he claims security escorted him out of the theme park.
Christian said security told him he couldn't wear the shirt. "He just basically said, 'You can't wear that that shirt in this park,'" he said.
"We wanted to get to the show. It was about Sabryna's birthday. So he's like, 'Follow us, we'll go to Billabong, we'll buy a shirt.' I picked out a shirt for him," said Diana.
According to the Jaroszes, while they were buying the new shirt and questioning the policy, more security showed up. "[They said], 'Don't bother; you guys are out of here.' We were like, 'What are you talking about? We are out of here? We are buying a shirt.' He's like, 'Don't even worry about it. Don't buy it; you guys are all out of here,'" said Christian.
Sabryna said she just wanted to enjoy her birthday. "I was like, 'What is going on? I just want to see Blue Man Group.' I'm just so excited my family took me here," she said.
A spokesman for Universal Studio's released a statement by e-mail which read: "The only people we allow in our parks with shirts that might identify them as police officers are working law enforcement personnel. This is for everyone's safety and to avoid confusion."
"He just basically said over and over, 'You know what this means ... if you don't leave right now you are trespassing and you'll be arrested.' And honestly, I run a school; I've never done anything against the law," said Diana.
The Universal spokesman refused to comment on the specific case, but he did say staff wouldn't kick anyone out of the park for simply asking a question.
The Jaroszes said they don't plan on returning to Universal Studios anytime soon.
(Copyright 2013 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Read more: http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21011550967433/family-allegedly-kicked-out-of-universal-studios-over-police-t-shirt/#ixzz2dvlZIsRA (http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21011550967433/family-allegedly-kicked-out-of-universal-studios-over-police-t-shirt/#ixzz2dvlZIsRA)
Is the "uncanny valley" a myth?
The "uncanny valley" is that creepy Final Fantasy feeling when a robot or CGI character is too dead-eyed to be believable, but too realistic to be cute. Roboticists and animators have long tried to avoid creations that induce this psychological state. But maybe they've been worried about nothing.
Roboticist Masahiro Mori invented the idea of the uncanny valley back in the 1970s, when he created a chart showing an enormous dip in people's comfort levels around humanoid robots that were almost lifelike but not quite perfect.
And Mori's idea has been law among roboticists and animators for years, as they try to avoid freaking people out with creations that remind us of corpses and zombies (which you can see are at the bottom of that uncanny trough).
But now some scientists are finding that people are no longer having that creeped-out response to lifelike automatons.
Rose Eveleth writes on the BBC:
A few studies have asserted that the whole thing doesn’t exist. In one study, David Hanson of Hanson Robotics, in Plano, Texas, and his colleagues showed participants images of two different robots that were animated to simulate human-like facial expressions. The survey simply asked the participants what they thought of the experience. The vast majority (73%) liked the human-like robots. In fact, not one person stated that these robots disturbed them.
Hanson and his team then showed the participants a continuum of images, starting with a picture of Princess Jasmine taken from the Disney movie Aladdin. Over the course of six images, Jasmine’s face slowly morphed into that of actress Jennifer Love Hewitt. The idea of these facial progression studies is to try to observe the dip in likeability that Mori predicted between an obviously cartoon image and an obviously human one. The participants were asked to rank the acceptability of each picture in the series. But, again, rather than see a dip in the scores in the middle of the range – as the uncanny valley would predict – none of the images seemed to bother anyone.
Why this happened isn’t clear, and not everyone thinks Hanson’s experiment is robust. Many other studies have shown the opposite. For example, Edward Schneider’s lab at SUNY Potsdam in New York collected 75 existing characters from video games and animation, including Hello Kitty, Mickey Mouse, Snoopy and Lara Croft. They asked participants how human and how attractive (or repulsive) they perceived each character to be. In this case, the researchers did find a dip in likeability in the middle of the series, roughly where the ogres from World of Warcraft sit.
Moreover, a team lead by Karl MacDorman at Indiana University conducted an experiment similar to Hanson’s, using a progression of images in which a robot face slowly morphs into a human one. They, too, found a U-shaped dip in likeability in the middle of their 11-image series.
Is this a generational difference between people who grew up in the 1990s, with robots and CGI, and Mori's generation who grew up in the 1960s?
Annalee Newitz is the author of the book, Scatter, Adapt and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction. Follow her on Twitter.
Utah beekeepers asked to report red honey to state officials
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
First Published Sep 04 2013 02:06 pm • Last Updated Sep 04 2013 02:15 pm
The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is advising beekeepers to separate red honey from natural honey in their hives and to report the colored product to state officials.
The advisory comes after the department received several complaints about the presence of the red honey occurring in bee hives located in areas of Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties.
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Red honey likely stems from bees being fed a by-product from a candy cane factory.
Officials are investigating the safety of red honey, "but we have no reason to believe the product is unsafe," said department spokesman Larry Lewis.
The Division of Regulatory Services also is determining if the product is in violation of the Utah Honey Standard of Identity Act, which identifies honey as a product that originates from a floral source.
Panda poop: The missing link for cheap, renewable energy?http://news.yahoo.com/panda-poop-missing-cheap-renewable-energy-194700378.html (http://news.yahoo.com/panda-poop-missing-cheap-renewable-energy-194700378.html)
Carmel Lobello September 11, 2013 3:47 PM The Week
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What goes in...comes out as renewable energy?
Pandas may hold the key to efficiently and cheaply turning plants into renewable energy — in their feces.
This week, at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Indianapolis, Ashli Brown, a biochemist from Mississippi State University, presented research she's doing with the feces of Ya Ya and Le Le, two pandas at the Memphis Zoo.
"We have discovered microbes in panda feces that might actually be a solution to the search for sustainable new sources of energy," she told attendees, according to National Geographic. Apparently these microbes are very good at breaking down plant material used to make biofuels like ethanol.
The finding could solve a tough problem for scientists. Biofuels are often made from crops like corn and soy beans that can also be used for food. Because scientists are reluctant to dip into the food supply, they've had develop ways to break down the inedible parts of these crops, like the corn cobs and stalks.
But those materials are tough. They have to be cooked or treated with substances like acid to turn them into simple sugars, which are then fermented into ethanol or other biofuels. The process is expensive, and not particularly energy-efficient — which kind of defeats the point.
The microbes in panda poop, however, could break down these materials a lot more efficiently and at a lower cost.
What's so special about panda waste? For one, an adult panda eats 20 to 40 pounds of tough, fibrous bamboo each day. It spends about 12 of each 24 hours munching away.
There are other factors that make the microbes in panda poop more effective than the microbes in, say, cow dung:
Pandas also have short digestive tracts for such large animals, and just a single stomach chamber, [Candace Williams, one of the researchers] added. (Cows, in comparison, use four different stomach regions to gradually remove the energy from grass.) "This means their bacteria have to be even more potent at breaking down the material quickly," she said, "making them very efficient and perhaps even more promising for biofuel production."
The scientists hope to use the microbes themselves, or the enzymes the bacteria makes to digest the plant material.
And if the prospect of cheap, efficient biofuel production isn't enough, there's another reason these microbes appeal to scientists: Pandas are an endangered species — the world is down to about 2,500 of them. "Researching the poop microbes may also lead to the discovery of new information that can be used to keep pandas healthy," says Nature World News.
Now, if only we could convince them to procreate.
What Goes Up, Must Come Down: Balloonist Abandons Transatlantic Voyagehttp://news.yahoo.com/goes-must-come-down-balloonist-abandons-transatlantic-voyage-181211602.html (http://news.yahoo.com/goes-must-come-down-balloonist-abandons-transatlantic-voyage-181211602.html)
LiveScience.com
By Marc Lallanilla, Assistant Editor September 13, 2013 2:12 PM
Updated at 2:06 p.m. ET, Friday, Sept. 13.
Balloonist Jonathan Trappe, who was attempting to set a new world record by becoming the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean by cluster ballooning, has abandoned his effort and landed in a remote part of Canada.
Trappe lifted off from Caribou, Maine, Thursday morning (Sept. 12) with 370 balloons attached to a small yellow lifeboat, and headed east across the sea according to The Guardian. His destination: somewhere between Iceland and Morocco.
An experienced cluster balloonist, Trappe has floated over the English Channel and once traveled for 14 hours by balloon, setting a world record. "This is far greater than anything achieved before," Trappe said before liftoff. "I'm looking at 62 hours or longer."
But Trappe's latest attempt was short-lived: He reported "technical difficulties" late Thursday evening, landed his craft and spent the night in an isolated area of coastal Canada, according to Reuters.
Cluster ballooning is an extreme activity that began in 1982, when Larry Walters of San Pedro, Calif., strapped 45 helium balloons to an ordinary lawn chair, intending to rise a few yards above his backyard. Underestimating the lift of helium balloons, Walters suddenly found himself shooting upward to a height of about 15,000 feet (4,600 meters). He eventually landed safely by using a pellet gun to shoot some of his balloons, but not before his "aircraft" became entangled in some power lines, causing an area-wide blackout.
Not all balloonists are greeted with the same enthusiasm that Walters and Trappe have encountered. The U.K. Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) has denounced cluster-ballooning stunts as a waste of helium, a valuable and increasingly rare commodity. "While Mr. Trappe is attempting a remarkable feat, when you know how precious helium is, it seems crazy to use such a large volume of it in such a frivolous way," James Hutchinson, science manager of the RSC, said in a statement.
Indeed, resource managers worldwide are growing increasingly alarmed over the looming shortage of helium. Though it's the second-most-abundant element in the universe after hydrogen, helium is not easy to find or store in usable quantities — most of the helium in the atmosphere escapes into space, and current helium supplies are largely extracted from underground natural-gas reserves.
Because helium has the lowest boiling and melting points of all the chemical elements — liquid helium is the only liquid that cannot be solidified by lowering its temperature — it's proven to be indispensable in a wide range of industrial and medical uses. Magnetic resonance imagery (MRI) relies on helium to cool the powerful magnets needed to create MRI scans.
Helium is also essential to the manufacturing of computer chips, optical fiber and medical lasers. It's often used in rocket-engine testing, arc welding, air-to-air missile guidance, and other civilian and military uses. Party balloons and parade floats use just a small fraction of the world's helium supply.
Recycled Fashion? Menswear Made of Recycled Water Bottleshttp://news.yahoo.com/recycled-fashion-menswear-made-recycled-water-bottles-104509890.html (http://news.yahoo.com/recycled-fashion-menswear-made-recycled-water-bottles-104509890.html)
Nicole Fallon, BusinessNewsDaily Contributor September 16, 2013 6:45 AM
Fun and quirky business news from around the world.
Countless plastic water bottles end up in landfills across the country every single day. One company, Dirtball Fashion, is doing its part to lighten the environmental load by recycling these bottles into new products. But Dirtball isn't converting them into pens or plastic bags, but rather men's apparel.
Dirtball Fashion, founded in 2008 by race car driver and entrepreneur Joe Fox, makes 100-percent-recycled clothing and hats out of plastic water bottles and cotton scraps. When the bottles reach Dirtball's Hickory, N.C., facility, they are sorted by color, stripped of labels and caps, and ground into shavings, which are melted and extruded into virgin polyester fiber. The polyester is then blended with recycled cotton — scraps from the cutting-room floors of other clothing manufacturers — to create a new fiber that is spun into the yarn used to knit Dirtball's unique clothing fabric.
The company produces men's T-shirts, polos, shorts, socks, hoodies and headgear, all made entirely in the U.S. According to Dirtball's website, each T-shirt contains seven 16-ounce water bottles and is printed with water-based or thiolate-free ink. The "Dirt Short," which is made of 25 bottles, is also recyclable: Customers can send their worn-out pairs of Dirtball shorts back to the company's headquarters to be respun back into polyester fiber.
By using recycled bottles and cotton in its manufacturing process, Dirtball eliminates the waste of freshwater, crude oil and cotton, and prevents harmful chemicals and air emissions from reaching the air, soil and water tables, the company's website says. And Dirtball's philosophy and practices go beyond environmental consciousness: Its "made-in-the-USA" policy contributes to a stronger local economy and shorter shipping distances.
The apparel brand's latest project is the Green Jean, which will contain eight to 10 recycled bottles and come in four different styles. Dirtball is currently campaigning on Kickstarter to bring the line to market. To learn more, visit the company's website at DirtballFashion.com.
New Bigfoot Evidence Screened as Experts Claim Proof of Existencehttp://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/bigfoot-evidence-screened-experts-claim-proof-existence-183405414--abc-news-tech.html (http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/bigfoot-evidence-screened-experts-claim-proof-existence-183405414--abc-news-tech.html)
By Kevin Dolak | ABC News Blogs – Wed, Oct 2, 2013 4:09 PM EDT..
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New Bigfoot Evidence Screened as Experts Claim Proof of Existence (ABC News)View Photo.
Bigfoot is real, and now at least one scientist claims there is proof.
A group of Sasquatch researchers who have been collecting over 100 pieces of evidence over the past five years screened "never before seen HD video" of the alleged creature at a news conference in Dallas on Tuesday.
The footage, which came from a similar effort dubbed The Erickson Project, led by Adrian Erickson, included what the group said was a sasquatch moving through wooded areas in Kentucky.
Dr. Melba Ketchum, who has led the group of researchers called the Sasquatch Genome Project, has been working on a $500,000 analysis of DNA samples from an unknown hominin species. Ketchum calls the project "a serious study" that concludes the legendary Sasquatch exists in North America and is a human relative that arose approximately 13,000 years ago.
"They're a type of people, they're a human-hybrid, we believe. And all of the DNA evidence points to that. And they can elude us, so if you get [footage] at all, it can be fleeting," Ketchum told ABC affiliate WFAA.
Ketchum, who was initially a skeptic, says she implemented strict protocols as DNA was extracted from the collected samples.
"We soon discovered that certain hair samples - which we would later identify as purported Sasquatch samples - had unique morphology distinguishing them from typical human and animal samples," Ketchum said in February of the research.
"Those hair samples that could not be identified as known animal or human were subsequently screened using DNA testing, beginning with sequencing of mitochondrial DNA followed by sequencing nuclear DNA to determine where these individuals fit in the 'tree of life,'" she said.
In total, 111 specimens of purported Sasquatch hair, blood, skin, and other tissue types were analyzed for the Sasquatch Genome Project's study. The samples were submitted from 34 different hominin research sites in 14 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.
At Tuesday's press conference, Dennis Pfoul, the group's project manager, showed footage of footprints of what he believes belongs to a Sasquatch in the snow in Colorado.
"We've all had experiences that have changed our lives, I mean, literally shook the foundation of what we believe in," Pfoul said at the news conference.
Funding for the Sasquatch Genome Project comes from Erikson and entrepreneur Wally Hersom, according to Ketchum. The Erikson Project has in the past teased footage of supposed Sasquatch sightings, notable in a November 2012 trailer for "Sasquatch: The Quest." Watch the trailer here.
Todd R. Disotell, a professor at the Department of Anthropology at New York University, told ABCNews.com that Ketchum's research is nonsense.
"It's just a joke," he said. "She is a laughing stock of people that are of a community that are already kind of wacko."
"This was not reported in any scientific way whatsoever. It's complete junk science, and then she misinterprets it. She hasn't published in peer-reviewed papers on this stuff. I don't know how this got put together," he said.
Disotell says that he has disproven samples from being what they're claimed to be many times, including debunking a yeti, a chupacabra, and a sasquatch eight times, including once on ScyFy's "Joe Rogan Questions Everything."
"You can't prove something doesn't exist," he said. "You can prove that every sample you're brought isn't what they're claiming, But you can't disprove this. It will go on forever. We'll always have it."
'Poop Pills' May Halt Gut Infectionshttp://news.yahoo.com/poop-pills-may-halt-gut-infections-163923108.html (http://news.yahoo.com/poop-pills-may-halt-gut-infections-163923108.html)
LiveScience.com
Rachael Rettner, Senior Writer October 3, 2013 12:39 PM
Bacteria extracted from human poop are the main ingredients of a new pill that may help treat patients who have difficult-to-cure intestinal infections, according to a new study from Canada.
The study involved 32 patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile, a bacterial infection that causessevere diarrhea and can be life-threatening. The infection can occur after people take antibiotics, which often wipe out "good" bacteria and leave the door open for harmful bacteria like C. difficile to flourish in the gut. Some patients, like those in the study, become trapped in a cycle of antibiotic treatment and recurrent C. difficile infection,said study researcher Dr. Thomas Louie, professor of medicine at the University of Calgary in Alberta.
Study participants had suffered at least four bouts of C. difficile prior to the study. But after taking the pills — which repopulate the gut with "good" bacteria — nearly all participants were free of C. difficile infection, and have not had another infection since then, in the three months to three years that they have been followed. Just one participant appears to have had a recurrence, and this was after taking antibiotics for a separate infection, Louie said in a news conference today.
Poop transplants, formally known as fecal microbiota transplantation, have been previously shown to be an effective way to treat C. difficile infections.But in earlier studies, fecal bacteria were typically delivered through anenema, or a tube placed either in the colon, or into the nose and leading down to the gastrointestinal tract.
"Pills are a great option because they're easier for patients to take, [and]don't involve costly, invasive procedures," Louie said. And some patients fail to respond to enemas (because of incontinence), and cannot tolerate nose tubes for medical reasons, he said.
The researchers made the pills by processing donor fecal matter until it contained only bacteria. Then, they put the bacteria into three-layer capsules that do not disintegrate until they are passed the stomach and into the small intestine, Louie said.
Participants took 24 to 34 capsules over a five- to 15-minute period, and the pills were well-tolerated (no one vomited after swallowing the pills).
"Many people might find the idea of fecal transplantation off-putting, but those with recurrent infection are thankful to have a treatment that works," Louie said.
"It is still early research, but it may be a good option for patients who just can't break the cycle of repeated C. difficile infections," Louie said.
In the future, if researchers can discover which bacteria are mainly responsible for "curing" patients of C. difficile, those bacteria could be grown in a lab and manufactured into pills, Louie said.
The study was presented today (Oct. 3) in San Francisco, at IDWeek, a meeting of several professional medical organizations, including the Infectious Disease Society of America and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. It has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Another study presented at the meeting found that patients are satisfied with existing methods of fecal transplantation. The study surveyed 28 patients who received a fecal transplant through a tube in the nose that went into their GI tract. On average, patients rated their overall satisfaction with the procedure as 9.6 out of 10. When asked how likely they were to recommend the procedure to a family member or friend, the rating was 9.9 out of 10.
About 500,000 Americans become ill withC. difficile each year, and 14,000 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between 15 and 30 percent of patients with C. difficile experience recurrent infections.
Coded message from the National Weather Service? ‘PLEASE PAY US’http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/coded-message-from-national-weather-service--%E2%80%98please-pay-us%E2%80%99-002058457.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/coded-message-from-national-weather-service--%E2%80%98please-pay-us%E2%80%99-002058457.html)
Eric Pfeiffer, Yahoo! News October 4, 2013 8:20 PM
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Does this image contain a thinly veiled message from the National Weather Service? (Yahoo News)
Someone at the Anchorage, Alaska, branch of the National Weather Service seems to have a very important message regarding the federal government shutdown: “PLEASE PAY US.”
The acrostic message appears to have been included in the first paragraph of a weather alert issued from the office on Friday. In an acrostic message or poem, the first letters of each sentence in a paragraph combine to spell out a word that is separate from the larger text.
Employees at the National Weather Service, like many other federal government workers, have continued to show up for their jobs even as the government is in its fourth day of a shutdown.
NBC News attempted to contact someone at the office, but no one was taking credit, or blame, for the release.
A permanent link to the NWS update containing the acrostic message was changed a few hours after it was discovered. But technically, the original message is still up on the weather service site but is being pushed farther down the page as each new meteorological alert is issued.
Yale searches for stinker adding feces to dryershttp://news.yahoo.com/yale-searches-stinker-adding-feces-dryers-170144030.html (http://news.yahoo.com/yale-searches-stinker-adding-feces-dryers-170144030.html)
Associated Press
19 hours ago Education
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Yale University hopes to solve a case of whodungit by identifying the stinker who has been soiling students' laundry by sticking human feces inside clothes dryers.
The culprit has been dubbed the "poopetrator" and is being blamed for at least four incidents in the past month in the laundry room at Saybrook College.
"We have asked our students not to leave their laundry unattended, the affected machines have been thoroughly disinfected and we are actively seeking information about who the perpetrator might be," Saybrook Master Paul Hudak told the Yale Daily News. "That's about all we can do."
Hudak said Yale police are investigating. Officials at the Ivy League school also are considering changes to laundry room access.
Yale police declined to comment in the investigation.
Lucy Fleming was one of the first victims. She opened a dryer in the Saybrook College laundry room on Sept. 7 and found her clothes soiled by human feces. Someone also urinated on them. She tried to rewash them, but they were ruined.
"I simultaneously wanted to throw up, cry and punch someone," Fleming told the Daily News.
The suspect apparently struck again on Friday by hanging up a clothesline with soiled clothes in a courtyard of Berkeley College. A person claiming to be the culprit alerted students and the Daily News about it.
"Some people think the whole thing is funny; some think it is scary; and everyone thinks it is gross," Yale sophomore David Steiner told the New Haven Register.
Steiner received two emails on Friday that apparently were from the culprit, the Register reported. The name on the emails was "Copro Philiac." Coprophilia is an abnormal interest in fecal matter.
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Lucy Fleming
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Common Sore Cream Can Make You Believe You Are Dead
18 Oct 2013
Next time someone you know is ill, and say they feel like they're dying, you might have to believe them.
A new study published in Journal of the Neurological Sciences has identified a link between Acyclovir - also known as the common cold sore cream Zovirax, (which can additionally be used to treat herpes, chicken pox and shingles) - and Cotard's syndrome, a rare condition causing people to believe they have died, that parts of their body do not exist, or that they have 'lost' their blood and internal organs.
A link between using the drug, renal failure and Cotard's has now been found by pharmacologists after aggregating data from Swedish hospital admission records and drug databases, with 1% of users experiencing psychiatric effects. In rare cases, these may manifest as Cotard's.
Examples of the syndrome have included a woman who used acyclovir as a treatment for shingles, then became overwhelmed by a strong feeling that she was dead. Even when symptoms lessened, she was adamant that her left arm did not belong to her. Another sufferer in 1990 believed that he was dead and was in hell, after being taken to a warm South Africa from colder Scotland, in an effort to help him recover.
Analyses have revealed that acyclovir can leave low levels of a breakdown product CMMG after being processed by the kidneys; those who had Cotard's showed increased levels of CMMG. Lowering the dose or stopping the use of Zovirax appeared to halt symptoms.
Co-author of the study Anders Helldén commented that “several of the patients developed very high blood pressure, so we have a feeling that CMMG is causing some kind of constriction of the arteries in the brain.”
So, you might feel like you're dying after using Zovirax. But it could also be those 20 pints you drank. One of the two for sure.
Is watching “The Walking Dead” seriously hurting American society?
I would argue ‘Yes.’ Hate me all you want, or call me paranoid and misinformed, but there is one common theme that is pervasive in American pop culture today: violence. Even more specifically, zombie violence. The idea of a zombie-infested world inspires fantasies of monsters possessed by an uncontrollable rage to kill, and viewers get a thrill imagining what it would be like to participate in this new world order.
We also see this zombie obsession in many videogames. Even more disturbingly, these games create environments for young children, in which they are exposed to an imaginary world where they get to play with firearms and place themselves in dangerous situations that they find exciting. And studies have shown that these videogames can sometimes condition people, especially young children, to be apathetic towards violence. That’s why they’re labeled M for Mature.
This obsession with the undead in television and other media is quite puzzling. The concept of zombies has been around for decades, and their mythology has even been studied by scientists to prove that such an outbreak can never occur. Yet, whether it be in books or film, zombie popularity has only increased after having originally been popularized by the 1960s film, “The Night of the Living Dead.”
Now, it seems that zombies on television are part of our daily routine. The obsession also permeates into other facets of our lives, such as with so-called Zombie Runs, in which people dressed as zombies chase other “civilians” to make them run faster towards the finish line. Even scientists at the National Institutes of Health have spent time creating an apocalyptic how-to guide on dealing with a zombie outbreak.
Give me a break. As a doctor and scientist, I know one thing for sure: When you’re dead, you’re dead. Our brains should be less focused on imaginary zombie hoards and more focused on harnessing the tools that we need in order to enhance our lives, whether it be music, education, science or the classics. Entertainment should help us soothe our brains so that we can ease our minds of some of the stress from our daily lives.
With this country heading towards a socialized system of government, in which officials don’t want you to think or focus on what is important for your own personal growth, I’m sure they’re more than happy to let you obsess over something as stupid as zombies.
And in turn, you ultimately become the zombie.
Wake up and smell the coffee. Stop obsessing over eating brains, and focus on cultivating your own.
Novel approach to hair growth employs infant foreskinshttp://news.yahoo.com/novel-approach-hair-growth-employs-infant-foreskins-160716513.html (http://news.yahoo.com/novel-approach-hair-growth-employs-infant-foreskins-160716513.html)
October 21, 2013 12:07 PM Relaxnews
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Novel approach to hair growth employs infant foreskins
A new experiment to regrow hair by cloning follicles and using discarded infant foreskins to graft them has shown some early success in lab mice, researchers said Monday.
The process generated new human hair in five of the seven animals on which it was tested, according to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The approach goes beyond the current strategies of transplanting hair from one part of the scalp to another, or using medication to slow hair loss or stimulate the growth of existing hair, said lead researcher Angela Christiano, professor of genetics and development at Columbia University Medical Center.
"Our method, in contrast, has the potential to actually grow new follicles using a patient's own cells," she said.
Researchers hope the technique -- once it is tested more throughly and expanded into human trials -- could be useful for women with hair loss, men in the early stages of male pattern baldness, and burn victims who need both skin and follicles.
The breakthrough came when researchers tried a new way to foster growth via the dermal papilla cells, which give rise to hair follicles.
In the past, these papilla would not thrive in 2D cultures in a lab dish.
So taking inspiration from experiments on lab rats, whose papillae can be readily transplanted, they cloned human papillae in a 3-D tissue culture.
The tissue came from discarded infant foreskins obtained through circumcision procedures at Columbia University Medical Center.
Infant foreskin was chosen "because it would challenge the human dermal papillae not just to contribute to hair follicles within the skin, but rather, to fully reprogram the recipient epidermis to a follicular fate," said the study.
When scientists grafted the newly grown human skin tissue complete with donated human papillae, they saw hair growth in five of seven lab animals.
The hair matched the human donor DNA and lasted at least six weeks.
Co-author Colin Jahoda, professor of stem cell sciences at Durham University, England, said the team is hopeful that clinical trials could begin soon.
"We also think that this study is an important step toward the goal of creating a replacement skin that contains hair follicles for use with, for example, burn patients," he said.
DENVER - Several federal agencies are investigating counterfeit decorative contact lenses that could cause permanent eye injuries to people who wear them in their Halloween costumes.
By law, a prescription is required to purchase contact lenses. Any store selling lenses without requiring a prescription is breaking the law.
"Our concern is that consumers who buy and use decorative contact lenses without a valid prescription can run significant risks of eye injuries, including blindness," FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Director John Roth said in a press release about the investigation.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement say they are working with the FDA, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to seize counterfeit contact lenses, illegally imported decorative lenses, and lenses unapproved by the FDA. Their operation is being called "Operation Double Vision."
"What's truly scary is the damage these counterfeit lenses can do to your eyes for a lifetime," said HSI Executive Associate Director James Dinkins.
Along with the press release announcing their consumer warning, the agencies shared photos of eye damage related to the counterfeit lenses including iritis, keratitis and corneal ulcers.
Satellite Spots Light Show in the Middle of the Ocean.
By Mike Krumboltz, Yahoo News
Those weird lights in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean — what are they?
Are they an unstoppable force of electric underwater creatures swimming, slowly but steadily, toward the shore where they will flood our cities and force us all to watch "Finding Nemo" from now until the end of time?
Fortunately, no (for now). The lights, which were spotted using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite on the Suomi NPP satellite, are actually a large collection of fishermen.
NASA explains, "There are no human settlements there, nor fires or gas wells. But there are an awful lot of fishing boats."
Yep, that's right, those lights that could easily be mistaken for a series of heavily populated islands are actually powerful lights on boats.
What exactly are the fishermen looking for? And why are they out blasting their high beams?
From NASA:
The night fishermen are hunting for Illex argentinus, a species of short-finned squid that forms the second largest squid fishery on the planet. The squid are found tens to hundreds of kilometers offshore from roughly Rio de Janeiro to Tierra del Fuego (22 to 54 degrees South latitude). They live 80 to 600 meters (250 to 2,000 feet) below the surface, feeding on shrimp, crabs, and fish. In turn, Illex are consumed by larger finfish, whales, seals, sea birds, penguins ... and humans.
Fishermen use the powerful lights, "generating as much as 300 kilowatts of light per boat," to draw the plankton and fish that the squid eat toward the surface. The squid then follow the food. Alas, it's the last meal for many.
Iraq vet's family considering gravestone optionshttp://news.yahoo.com/iraq-vets-family-considering-gravestone-options-200650071.html (http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-vets-family-considering-gravestone-options-200650071.html)
Associated Press
By AMANDA LEE MYERS October 23, 2013 12:09 PM
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In this Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013, photo provided by the family of Kimberly Walker, shows Walker's gravestone in the likeness of popular cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants. Despite getting prior approval for the gravestone from Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, the cemetery recently removed it, saying it did not fit in with the character of the historic and picturesque cemetery. (AP Photo/Kara Walker)
CINCINNATI (AP) — The family of a slain Iraqi war veteran wants her towering SpongeBob SquarePants headstone returned to her final resting place while the cemetery officials that removed it say that's the only thing they won't do, leaving both sides at an apparent impasse that may have to be decided in court.
Deborah Walker told The Associated Press after Tuesday's meeting with Spring Grove Cemetery officials that she'd consider their various proposals if they would think about hers — simply putting her daughter Kimberly's gravestone back.
But cemetery President Gary Freytag told the AP that isn't an option.
The headstone fashioned in the cartoon character's likeness was erected at Spring Grove Cemetery on Oct. 10, almost eight months after Kimberly Walker, 28, was found slain in a Colorado hotel room.
Despite getting the cemetery's prior approval of the headstone design — a smiling SpongeBob in an Army uniform, with Walker's name and rank — cemetery staff called her family the day after it was installed to say it would have to come down.
Cemetery officials said the employee who approved the design made a mistake. It was taken down along with a near-exact duplicate erected for Walker's living twin sister.
Deborah Walker said she's beyond frustrated with Spring Grove, saying her family had a contract, wants it to be honored as promised and is now considering their legal options.
"You can't keep blaming it on an employee," she said. "That employee represented that whole cemetery and when they do wrong, you've got to make it right. Put SpongeBob back up."
Freytag said he's "willing to do whatever the family thinks is best, other than installing the monuments back as they were."
Other possible solutions, Freytag said, include creating new, more traditional headstones bearing a smaller SpongeBob likeness, or laying the original headstones flat on the ground after redesigning the lot.
Spring Grove would cover all the costs, Freytag said.
Kimberly Walker's twin sister, Kara Walker, said her family went to great lengths for each of the $13,000 headstones, including obtaining copyright approval from Nickelodeon. The family believes the headstone was the only fitting tribute for her sister, a huge SpongeBob fan.
Kimberly Walker was an Army corporal assigned to the 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion and served two yearlong tours Iraq in 2006 and 2010 as a petroleum supply specialist, her family said.
She was found dead in a hotel room in Colorado Springs in February on Valentine's Day, strangled and beaten to death. Her boyfriend, an Army sergeant stationed nearby, was arrested and charged with her killing.
"My sister served our country and most people try to accommodate veterans and try to take care of them," Kara Walker said. "For them not to accommodate and respect what my sister sacrificed, not only for my family, but for everyone else in this country, really bothers me."
Freytag said Spring Grove admires and appreciates Kimberly Walker's military service but that the cemetery has to consider the wishes of other families whose loved ones are interred there and may not feel that gravestones modeled after cartoon characters are appropriate.
The dispute over the headstones has gained nationwide attention. Freytag said the cemetery has received so many calls, both in support of and against its decision, that they had to set up a special extension to field all the comments.
Type in 16°51′53″N, 11°57′13″E on Google Maps, Zoom in and Watch What Happens.
By Liz Klimas
14 hours ago
If you go to Google maps and search 16°51?53?N and 11°57?13?E something pretty cool happens: you're taken to a place in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Zoom in and you would see a compass with the image of an airplane in the middle.
And that's not an icon.
The image is actually a giant tribute to all the passengers and crew who lost their lives in a plane crash more than two decades ago.google_UTA Flight 772
UTA Flight 772 memorial. (Image source: Google Maps)
Although it's not the anniversary of the UTA Flight 772 explosion that led to a crash that killed about 170 people on board, the aerial image that most will only ever see thanks to Google's satellite images is going viral now none the less.
Flight 772 from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo to Chad to Paris went down in Niger on Sept. 19, 1989, after a briefcase bomb planted by Libyan terrorists was detonated.NIGER-AIRPLANE ACCIDENT
The cabin of the UTA DC 10 flight 772 lays on the Tenere desert after the passenger plane exploded on September 19, 1989, killing all 171 people aboard. (PASCAL GUYOT/AFP/Getty Images)
The memorial was created in 2007 by an association dedicated to the crash victim's families. It features a DC10 airplane, the model that went down, in black rock inside the compass pointed in the direction of its intended flight path.UTA Flight 772
A look at UTA Flight 772?s memorial from the ground. (Image source: Imgur)
Check out touching images of the memorial being constructed from stone.
(H/T: Viral Nova)
The New York Times - U.S.
Rules to Require Equal Coverage for Mental Ills
By JACKIE CALMES and ROBERT PEAR
Published: November 8, 2013
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday will complete a generation-long effort to require insurers to cover care for mental health and addiction just like physical illnesses when it issues long-awaited regulations defining parity in benefits and treatment.
The rules, which will apply to almost all forms of insurance, will have far-reaching consequences for many Americans. In the White House, the regulations are also seen as critical to President Obama’s program for curbing gun violence by addressing an issue on which there is bipartisan agreement: Making treatment more available to those with mental illness could reduce killings, including mass murders.
In issuing the regulations, senior officials said, the administration will have acted on all 23 executive actions that the president and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced early this year to reduce gun crimes after the Newtown, Conn., school massacre. In planning those actions, the administration anticipated that gun control legislation would fail in Congress as pressure from the gun lobby proved longer-lasting than the national trauma over the killings of first graders and their caretakers last Dec. 14.
“We feel actually like we’ve made a lot of progress on mental health as a result in this year, and this is kind of the big one,” said a senior administration official, one of several who described the outlines of the regulations that Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, will announce at a mental health conference on Friday in Atlanta with the former first lady Rosalynn Carter.
While laws and regulations dating to 1996 took initial steps in requiring insurance parity for medical and mental health, “here we’re doing full parity, and we’ve also taken steps to extend it to the people covered in the Affordable Care Act,” the senior official said. “This is kind of the final word on parity.”
With the announcement, the administration will make some news that is certain to be popular with many Americans at a time when Mr. Obama and Ms. Sebelius have been on the defensive for the bungled introduction of the insurance marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act.
According to administration officials, the rule would ensure that health plans’ co-payments, deductibles and limits on visits to health care providers are not more restrictive or less generous for mental health benefits than for medical and surgical benefits. Significantly, the regulations would clarify how parity applies to residential treatments and outpatient services, where much of the care for people with addictions or mental illnesses occurs.
Any geographic or facility-type limitations would have to be comparable for medical and mental health benefits. For example, an administration official said, an insurer “can’t say you can only get substance-abuse treatment in state but you can go anywhere for medical/surgical.”
The regulations, which specifically put into effect the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, would affect most Americans with insurance — roughly 85 percent of the population — whether their policies are from employer plans, other group plans, or coverage purchased in the market for individual plans.
The final parity rules do not apply to health plans that manage care for millions of low-income people on Medicaid. However, the administration has previously issued guidance to state health officials saying that such plans should meet the parity requirements of the 2008 law.
The parity law does not apply to Medicare, according to Irvin L. Muszynski, a lawyer at the American Psychiatric Association.
The rules have been awaited since the 2008 law by patient advocate groups. As it happened, the groups’ complaints about regulatory delays were the subject of a Senate hearing on Thursday. Interest picked up further last month as individuals could begin enrolling in the new insurance marketplaces, or exchanges, provided under Mr. Obama’s health care law.
Under that law,treatment for mental health and substance abuse is among 10 categories of benefits considered essential and thus mandatory in plans marketed in the new exchanges to individuals and small groups. Although many insurers already provide extensive mental health coverage, some have found ways to get around existing rules and to deny payment for treatment, or to otherwise limit the benefits.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, said the five-year delay in issuing a final rule had real-world consequences. “In mental health, uncertainty kills,” he said. “If an individual poses a threat to himself or others, he cannot be told he will get the care he needs as soon as his insurance company decides what ‘parity’ means.”
Insurance companies have raised concerns about the expense involved in paying for the lengthy and intensive courses of treatment that the final regulations address. But experts have said the rules are not expected to significantly add to the cost of coverage because so few patients require these levels of care.
Mental health services are scarce in many parts of the country, particularly for children, so experts have questioned whether changes in the law will have much impact in practice.
Former Representative Patrick J. Kennedy of Rhode Island, a co-sponsor of the 2008 law, said the rules could particularly help veterans. “No one stands to gain more from true parity than the men and women who have served our country and now need treatment for the invisible wounds they have brought home from Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.
Administration officials consulted closely with mental health groups. “What we are hearing is very positive,” said Andrew Sperling, a lobbyist at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, based on what he had been told of the final language.
Under the 2008 law, treatment limits — like restrictions on the number of doctor visits or days in a hospital — cannot be more restrictive for mental health benefits than for medical and surgical benefits. But interpretation of the law left much in question.
For example, Mr. Sperling said, policyholders can easily determine whether numerical limits on doctor visits are comparable in their plans for mental and medical health care. But, he said, it is more difficult to challenge “nonquantitative limits” — like some insurers’ requirements that people get their authorization before seeing a psychotherapist.
The provision of the rule that will seek to clarify the amount of transparency required of health plans “is important,” Mr. Sperling said. Patients advocates say they need to be able to see the criteria by which insurers find a particular service to be medically necessary, so policyholders can judge whether standards for mental health treatments are more restrictive.
Carol A. McDaid, the leader of a coalition of patients and providers of mental health and addiction services, said: “This is the beginning, not the end, of our work to make the vision of the law a reality. We have to make sure that the law and the rules are fully enforced.”
Insurers and business trade groups said they did not know enough about the rules to comment.
Dr. Paul Summergrad of Tufts University, president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association, said he hoped the final rules would end “the uniquely discriminatory form of prior authorization and utilization review” applied to emergency care for patients with mental illness.
A person who has a heart attack or pneumonia and goes to a hospital will routinely be admitted, with electronic notice sent to the insurer on the next business day, Dr. Summergrad said. By contrast, he said, if a person who is profoundly depressed and tried to commit suicide goes to a hospital, an emergency room doctor must call a toll-free telephone number, “present the case in voluminous detail and get prior authorization.”
State insurance commissioners will apparently have the primary responsibility for seeing that commercial insurers comply with the parity standards. They already have their hands full, however, enforcing new insurance market rules, and in some states insurance regulators are considered close to the industry.
“We need enforcement,” Mr. Kennedy said in an interview. “The notion of delegating this to the states, which are looking to the federal government for direction, is problematic.”
A version of this article appears in print on November 8, 2013, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Rules to Require Equal Coverage for Mental Ills.
Your Pee Could Power Future Robots
LiveScience.com
By Tanya Lewis, Staff Writer 3 hours ago
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Researchers have found a way to turn urine into electric power that could drive a robot.
There's a new use for artificial hearts, and it involves a more taboo bodily fluid than blood.
A device that mimics the squeezing action of the human heart has been used to pump urine into a microbial fuel cell, which could power robots that convert the waste into electricity.
"In the future, we hope the robots might be used in city environments for remote sensing," where they could help to monitor pollution, said study researcher Peter Walters, an industrial designer at the University of the West of England. "It could refuel from public lavatories, or urinals, " Walters said.
Walters and colleagues at the University of Bristol have created four generations of these so-called EcoBots over the past decade. Previous versions of the robots ran off energy from rotten produce, dead flies, wastewater and sludge.
Each is powered by a microbial fuel cell, containing live microorganisms like those found in the human gut or sewage treatment plants. The microbes digest the waste (or urine) and produce electrons, which can be harvested to produce electrical current, Walters said.
The researchers have already proved the microbial fuel cells can use urine power to charge a mobile phone.
Now, the team has developed a device, made of artificial muscles, that delivers real human urine to the robot's microbial power stations. The pump is constructed from smart materials, called shape memory alloys, which remember their shape after being deformed.
Heating the artificial muscles with an electric current causes them to compress the soft center of the pump, forcing urine through an outlet that pumps it up to the height of the robot's fuel cells. Removing the heat allows the muscles to revert to their original shape, allowing more fluid to enter the pump — much as a heart relaxes to suck in more blood.
Twenty-four of these fuel cells stacked together were able to produce enough electricity to charge a capacitor, which was used to trigger contractions of the artificial heart pump, the researchers report today (Nov. 8) in the journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics.
Whereas conventional motor-powered pumps tend to get clogged, the artificial muscle pump has larger internal orifices, Walters said.
While the new pump does produce more electricity than it consumes (since some of the electricity comes from urine that's converted to electrons), it's still not extremely efficient. The researchers hope to improve the pump's efficiency for use in future generations of the EcoBot.
Cursive Handwriting Will No Longer Be Taught in Schools Because It's a Big, Old Waste of Time
Also, because computers.
The biggest controversy to take place in the world of penmanship is happening right now: The Common Core education standards dictate that cursive will no longer be taught in elementary schools. And things are getting pretty heated.
Where does your allegiance fall?
Seven states — California, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Utah — are now fighting to keep cursive in the curriculum. Their argument is that "it helped distinguish the literate from the illiterate."
Jokes on them because all kids are illiterate these days. Because again: computers.
"It's much more likely that keyboarding will help students succeed in careers and in school than it is that cursive will," said Morgan Polikoff, assistant professor of K-12 policy and leadership at the University of Southern California. So instead of cursive, kids might learn keyboarding.
Here's our two cents: You spend the entire year in third grade learning how to write in cursive and then will never, ever write in cursive again. Instead, schools should add additional spelling lessons to the curriculum. Kids are more tech savvy these days, but because of Microsoft Spell Check, NOBODY knows how to spell without a computer anymore.
Let's spend that time teaching kids that there is a difference between language used to text and tweet and proper, written English. It's no longer a matter of knowing "your" vs. "you're," it's learning that it's definitely never "ur."
Also, the capital, cursive "Q" looks so stupid.
Advocates for learning cursive (including Idaho representative Linden Bateman, 72) argue that "more areas of the human brain are engaged when children use cursive handwriting than when they keyboard."
Bateman continues, "The fluid motion employed when writing script enhances hand-eye coordination and develops fine motor skills, in turn promoting reading, writing and cognition skills."
And if that's the reasons schools taught cursive, sure, fine. That's great. Also, there are plenty of other ways that kids can develop hand-eye coordination that doesn't involve spending a year of their prime development time learning a new alphabet.
But Bateman also argues that forgoing cursive may have much more consequential results: He argues we "will lose the ability to interpret valuable cultural resources—historical documents, ancestors' letters and journals, handwritten scholarship — if they can't read cursive."
"The Constitution of the United States is written in cursive. Think about that," Bateman said.
The Constitution of the United States is also available online, typed out. Not in cursive. Soooooo...We're probably good.
Though, the Chinese teacher is VERY particular about how they write the characters.
I use a bizarre mix of print and cursive.
I use a bizarre mix of print and cursive.
My stepsons (age 14/grade 8 and age 16/grade 10) and their teachers are very glad there is the computer and printer. The loss, though, is neither has a proper signature; they just print fast and say "good enough."
All right, Apple. It's like this.
You like to tell us that more people take pictures with the iPhone than any other camera.
You like to make ads in which, if you're not taking a picture of something, you can't be said to be living.
But just stop it. You might be messing with our memory.
That, at least, seems to be the conclusion from a depressingly modern piece of research performed by the Fairfield University in Connecticut.
Published in Psychological Science, this study took its subjects on a tour of an art museum, then tested their memory of the artifacts, period, and of the details of those artifacts.
The conclusion was that those who had photographed objects had far worse recollection of ever having seen the artifacts at all or, if they did remember seeing them, of details within those objects.
On the other hand, if the aim of their point-and-shoot was to capture one particular detail only, that detail was well remembered.
Linda Henkel, who led the study, described this phenomenon as a "photo-taking impairment effect."
Of course, it could be that the subjects' memories weren't directly affected by the photo-taking, but rather by their sheer interest in that particular work of art.
And then there's the problem that the 28 subjects were actually students. Can you really base research on those notoriously wayward beings?
More Technically Incorrect
US surveillance satellite's logo: Octopus encircling the world
One woman's small nightmare with a demo iPad Air sold by AT&T
Viral genius Rebecca Black back with, um, 'Saturday'
Busboy's mom throws iPad in fire, customer buys him new one
Teacher suspended after stolen nude pics appear online
But as Henkel was quoted in the Telelgraph: "People so often whip out their cameras almost mindlessly to capture a moment, to the point that they are missing what is happening right in front of them."
She added: "When people rely on technology to remember for them -- counting on the camera to record the event and thus not needing to attend to it fully themselves -- it can have a negative impact on how well they remember their experiences."
Still, what are you supposed to do? Your smartphones have made it far too easy for you to capture everything.
It's quite natural, then, to shoot first and ask questions of your memory later.
Perhaps quite soon the only way we'll remember we were anywhere is by referring to our picture libraries.
What strange people we will then have become.
The Transportation Department and contractors building a highway tunnel under downtown Seattle are trying to identify the mystery object that has blocked their tunnel boring machine.
The machine called Bertha ran into something Friday and was shut down Saturday about 1,000 feet from the start. The $80 million machine is designed to break up boulders, so there's speculation about what it hit.
Engineers are considering drilling down 60 feet to the object as one of the ways to break up or remove the obstruction. A large crane equipped with a drill bit was seen at the site Wednesday morning.
The nearly two-mile tunnel is supposed to be completed by the end of 2015, creating a four-lane replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct on Highway 99.
But already it has experienced at least three delays - one caused by union picketing over work assignments, another by a sinkhole near Jackson Street and now the mystery object.
WSDOT says the latest trouble started Friday when Bertha's five-story tall cutter head felt some resistance, then stopped. WSDOT says engineers with Seattle Tunnel Partners, the company in charge of building the viaduct replacement tunnel, have been consulting with other experts to identify the obstruction - whether it's natural or manmade.
They say Bertha wasn't damaged in any way. They're keeping her idle until they decide whether crews need to dig the obstruction out from above or if Bertha can charge through it.
Bertha has dug 1,000 feet of tunnel since July. She's sitting 60-feet underground between South Jackson Street and South Main Street among a mix of native dirt and fill tossed into place from as early as the 1800s.
She has just 450 more feet to travel before leaving that fill behind. It will also mark the end of phase one in the $4 billion tunnel project that will stretch 1.7 miles from adjacent to Safeco Field to Battery Street.
WSDOT doesn't know how long Bertha will remain stuck, but they say it's too early to say whether the delay will affect the project's bottom line or it's scheduled opening in late 2015.
Look at how happy this little fellow is! That's because it's about to kill and eat something.
Dragonfly nymphs (immature stages) are aquatic predators. The "face" on this nymph is actually incredibly fast weaponized mouthparts.
Photo © Jan Hamrsky.
In this photo, you can see how the mask covering the face is actually a shovel for stuffing prey into the nymph's mouth. Which makes it slightly less cute.
The mask is made up the lower "lip", or Labium, of the dragonfly. At rest it is folded under the head and thorax between the legs.
Photo © Jan Hamrsky.
In this photo, the labium is extended. It's basically a pressurized hydraulic grabber.
The nymph clenches its anus (more about this below) and contracts its thoracic and abdominal muscles to increase its body cavity pressure and push out the labium. The mask shoots out within milliseconds and harpoons prey with the two sharp "fangs" on the edge of the labium.
The shape of the mask and the teeth on the edge are a key way to identify different species of dragonfly nymphs.
Photo © Jan Hamrsky.
This side view shows how the labium folds back under the body, but also is used in handling prey items while they are consumed.
Photo © Jan Hamrsky.
Even vertebrates need to fear freshwater dragons, as this tadpole learned too late. Larger species of dragonfly nymphs will eat minnows and tadpoles, as well as any other dragonfly nymphs they can latch onto.
Photo © Jan Hamrsky.
This Spiketail dragonfly nymph (Cordulegastridae) is an ambush predator. This series of photos shows how it buries itself to lie in wait for unsuspecting prey. You might notice it forgot to bury a part--its butt. That's because dragonflies breathe via anal gills. But wait! There's more!
The gills have a secret function: Jet propulsion. Water in the rectal chamber can be jetted out at high pressure, pushing the nymph forward through the water. The forward thrust generated has been measured as 1.5 g in 0.1 second, and up to 10cm/second.
Photo © Jan Hamrsky.
As dragonfly nymphs grow, their wings begin to develop. You can see the beginnings of 4 wings in this photo. Dragonflies have simple metamorphosis--they gradually change into their adult form. Dragonfly larvae molt varying numbers of times, and live from 1 to 6 years underwater before climbing onto land to assume their final form.
Insects like moths and flies have complete metamorphosis; there are distinct changes in shape and form between larvae (caterpillars and maggots) and adults with a pupal stage.
Photo © Jan Hamrsky.
As the dragonfly nymph prepares to make its final transformation, it crawls up out of the water onto nearby vegetation. This photo shows a newly emerged adult next to its split open, shed nymphal outer skin (exoskeleton). As the dragonfly rests, it once again uses hydraulic body pressure, this time to expand its new soft outer shell and inflate the wings.
You might notice two whitish strings extending out of the shed skin. Those are the remnants of the main tracheal trunks, a breathing system that runs through the entire insect. The inside of the respiratory system is also lined with exoskeleton, and is also shed when the insect molts.
Once the dragonfly dries off and the exoskeleton hardens, it's ready to fly off and begin terrorizing animals in the air instead of water. It has assumed its final form.
Photo © Jan Hamrsky.
Want to time travel? Stand at the edge of some fresh water. Dragonflies are ancient insects — they look remarkably unchanged from fossils of the Paleozoic Era (350 million years ago). They are sometimes described as “paleopterous“, or “old wings”. These antique predators of the sky are actually just the final form of a much stranger creature.
Right now, while much of the above-ground land in North America is chilly or frozen, life goes on in ponds, lakes, and streams all around you. Here be dragons. Predatory underwater dragons that breathe through their anus, use their rectum for jet propulsion, and have hydraulic-powered grabby mouthparts.
Slow-mo dragonfly nymph labium (lower lip) in action. The actual strike only takes 10 milliseconds. From Bulanbeck.
The ability of a dragonfly nymph to successfully snatch and grab food is directly related to its anus. The mouth-grabber (labium) is hydraulically activated. The dragonfly draws water in through the anus, clenches, then compresses its abdominal and thoracic muscles against the water-filled rectal chamber. This raises the internal body cavity pressure, and pushes the labium out –in a strike that takes 10 to 30 milliseconds.
The amount of internal pressure generated is about 6000 Pa, or 6 kPa; equivalent to 0.87 psi (pounds per square inch). That doesn’t seem like a lot, until you consider that big nymphs only weigh 100mg (0.0002 lbs), so generating almost a pound of pressure WITH THEIR BUTT is pretty impressive. A Camaro turbocharger produces 7 psi, so you could say this little insect has 1/7th of a Camaro in its ass.
The other amazing function of a dragonfly nymph rectum is jet-propulsion. By un-clenching their rectum, water in the rectal chamber can be jetted out at high pressure, pushing the nymph forward through the water. The forward thrust generated is 1.5 g in 0.1 second; nymphs’ top speed is 10cm/second. They can throttle their rectum back to produce varying amounts of thrust through the water.
But Wait! There’s More! The jet-propulsion butt-hydraulic system also is a gill. Dragonflies breathe through gills in their rectums; you can see some great photos of that above. Because dragonflies breathe through feathery gills, they are sensitive to lots of forms of aquatic pollution. Dragon and damselfly nymphs are used as important water quality indicators–when ponds and streams are impacted by heavy metals, high levels of agricultural runoff, and sewage, the numbers and kinds of dragons in the water decrease. If you are in North America, you can join a citizen science project to monitor dragonflies and dragonfly migration.
The amazing photos featured on this post are from Jan Hamrsky. He lives in Prague, where he works as a graphic designer in an online advertising company. Photographing this secret underwater world is Jan’s specialty. It’s incredibly challenging to take good macrophotography photos, and Jan takes macros of animals underwater and through glass. In an interview last year, he said:
“the aquariums are probably the most important gear in the process. I have several sizes from approximately 8 liters to really small ones, made of microscopic glass. It is often quite difficult to maintain suitable conditions in the aquarium but there is a reliable indicator of whether the environment is well prepared or not. If the insects start hunting or looking for food, conditions will be fine.”
Thank you so much for showing us this underwater world of dragons, Jan!
Anglican Canon Simon Tatton-Brown also told a gruesome tale of the real Santa’s role in a plot to butcher kids and turn them into ham.
Furious parents at the school, have accused him of ruining their children’s Christmas.
And several have vowed to boycott a Christmas Carol concert at his church.
Linzi Merritt, whose son Levi, nine, attends the school in Chippenham, Wilts, said: “We wouldn’t just walk into the church during one of his services and tell everyone that Jesus isn’t real.”
Canon Tatton-Brown upset dozens of children at Charter Primary School when they were called in for assembly.
He said a pre-planned talk had to be scrapped because of technical difficulties and spoke about the festive season instead.
And he reduced youngsters to tears as he revealed that Santa was a fictional character based on the 4th Century St Nicholas.
He said a myth had built round St Nick as he used to hand out gifts to the poor.
FURIOUS: Parents Linzi Merrit and Kerry Butler say Christmas has been ruined [SWNS]
The vicar recounted a gruesome legend about how three children were slaughtered by an evil butcher then put in a barrel to be cured and sold as ham.[/b]
But he added that St Nick used his prayers to bring the victims back to life.
Linzi added: “Loads of kids went home crying – it has ruined Christmas for them.”
Kerry Butler added: “All the parents here are very upset. He’s coming back to the school for the carol concert. After this I don’t understand why he is allowed back.”
Last night Canon Tatton-Brown apologised.
He said: “I didn’t intended to upset anyone or to dispel children’s beliefs in Santa Claus, but I accept I was wrong.
“I understand that people are disappointed. I got it wrong. It wasn’t intentional. I can’t undo it.”
Headteacher Sarah Flack said she had accepted his apology
Outrage has erupted among advocacy groups in Romania after the state channel TVR broadcast an anti-Semitic Christmas song calling for Jews to be burned in a chimney. According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), the song ran on a Dec. 5 broadcast by the rural-targeted TVR3 channel.
ANZEIGEIn the broadcast, a choir was shown singing a Christmas song that indirectly glorifies the Holocaust. The song, which rhymes and uses the word "jidovi," a pejorative word for a Jew, includes the lyrics, "only in the chimney as smoke, this is what the 'jidov' is good for."
On Wednesday, Romania's Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean harshly condemned the event and called on the public prosecutor's office and parliament to bring those responsible to justice. Israel's embassy said it was "concerned" about the broadcast.
Channel Shifts Responsibility
The channel said in a statement on Thursday that it was not responsible for selecting the Christmas songs, but merely broadcasting carols selected by a cultural center dedicated to preserving the traditional culture of the northwestern Cluj region. The YouTube video of the performance shows the host thanking both the singers and the director of the cultural center and asking him about local Cluj folklore values.
MCA Romania, a non-governmental organization dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism, said it was unacceptable for the channel to evade responsibility by blaming the local organization. According to the JTA, MCA sent a complaint to Romanian President Traian Basescu and Prime Minister Victor Ponta that said: "It is outrageous that members of the public weren't scandalized by an anti-Semitic song calling for people to burn Jews."
TVR's leadership is already in the process of being replaced as a result of an unrelated matter, after the parliament concluded on Tuesday that the station had been mismanaged. TVR head Claudiu Saftoiu and the rest of the management were relieved of their positions and replacements have yet to be found.
tmr -- with wires and reporting by Keno Verseck
A 40-year-old foetus has been found in the body of an 82-year-old woman.
The Colombian woman went to hospital in Bogota suffering from abdominal pain.
It was only then that doctors discovered the calcified foetus or lithopaedian inside her body.
Lithopaedian, also known as stone baby, is a rare syndrome that can occur when the foetus implants outside the uterus.
If the baby becomes too large to be absorbed back into the body, it undergoes a process of mummification, with barriers of calcium protecting the mother from the decaying foetus.
Beams of light play a special role in our cultural heritage: World War II search lights picking out Nazi bombers, Gotham City’s Bat signal summoning help in times of distress and lighthouses warning unsuspecting shipping to stay away. Beams of light are beacons of safety.
Now film-makers and optical engineers have something much more sinister to play with. Chao Wan at the National University of Singapore and a few pals have built a “darkness” beam that bathes objects in the absence of light.
The new device hides macroscopic objects by beaming invisibility from a distance, an entirely different technique to the one used in conventional invisibility cloaks that have received much media coverage in recent years.
The new device turns the conventional approach to optics on its head. Conventionally, optical engineers devise imaging system with the best resolving power possible.
The basic idea is that an imaging system focuses light into a pattern known as a point spreading function. This consists of a central region of high intensity surrounded by a concentric region of lower intensity light and a higher intensity lobe beyond this.
Engineers get the best resolution by narrowing and intensifying the central region while suppressing the outer lobe. (Indeed, one of the more exciting recent developments in imaging is in using this technique to resolve objects that are significantly smaller than the wavelength of the light being using to create the image, a technique known as super-resolution. )
Now Chao and co have taken exactly the opposite approach. Instead of narrowing and intensifying the central region at the expense of the lobes, these guys intensify the lobes while suppressing the central region.
The result is a central region where the field intensity of light is essentially zero. This is a region where objects cannot be resolved, hence the group’s name for this effect: anti-resolution.
The central region is surrounded by a region of high intensity light which acts like a kind of light capsule containing a 3D region of darkness. “A three-dimensional object placed in the optical capsule does not cause scattering and one can therefore see the scene behind the object,” they say.
In effect, it is an invisibility capsule. Chao and co say that the region of darkness can be as much as 8 orders of magnitude bigger than the wavelength of light used in the imaging process. That’s huge!
And the imaging system itself is simple. Chao and co demonstrate it using a laser beam passing through a “lens” consisting of concentric dielectric grooves that are straightforward to manufacture. In their test, they hide an object—a letter ‘N’—that is 40 micrometres in size. That’s significantly larger than conventional invisibility cloaks could do when they first hit the headlines.
Perhaps that’s not surprising given that the new device works in an entirely different way from conventional invisibility cloaks. These are built using bespoke metamaterials that steer light around an object placed inside them. By contrast, Chao and co can effectively beam invisibility from a distance.
There are some limitations, however. The current device works at a single frequency of light so an interesting challenge will be to make broadband lenses that work at a wide range of frequencies.
Beyond that, Chao and co will have to find a killer app for their new device. They say it has many potential applications such as in cloaking and surveillance but give little detail.
Perhaps imaginative readers of the Physics arXiv Blog can help out with suggestions of their in the comments section here.
Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1312.0057: Experimental Demonstration of Light Capsule Embracing Super-Sized Darkness Inside Via Anti-Resolution
It's a thick, light beige goop. Depending on who you ask, its taste is described as "bland" or even similar to Play-Doh unless other flavorings are added.
Rob Rhinehart, who invented Soylent and now serves as the company's CEO, is working on the taste, but taste isn't why he created it. This product is for those who are only looking for sustenance and nutrition in a meal.
"We're trying to be pragmatic here. People aren't going to eat well all the time," he said. "You need a lot of knowledge -- all these details that go into eating healthily -- and we're trying to automate it."
Rhinehart created Soylent last year while working as a software engineer in Silicon Valley.
Tight on time and funds, he researched biochemistry within the human body and combined vitamins and nutrients to create what he now calls Soylent, named after the food made of people in the sci-fi film "Soylent Green."
Rhinehart ate only this powder mixture for 30 days and blogged about it. He now eats a mixed diet of Soylent and solid foods.
The product has gotten the attention of big investors who see a future for the product and customers who are tired of cooking and chewing.
The company announced late October that it raised $1.5 million in seed funding and $1.5 million in preorders since posting on a crowd funding site earlier this year. At around $3 per meal, the product could be a real money saver for some people.
CNNMoney: Is Soylent the food of the future?
With the attention, however, come questions: Is Soylent really nutritious enough to replace every meal? Who would want to give up eating? And could this be a solution to end world hunger?
What about nutrition?
Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, department chair at the School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill, said she is skeptical about Soylent as a sole substance of consumption and doesn't understand why anyone wouldn't want to eat food.
"There are parts of this product that are healthy, but claims of why to use this are overstated," Mayer-Davis said. "At the end of the day, relying on a single formula isn't good for your nutrition."
However, it would probably be fine as a meal every now and then, she said.
People's nutritional needs vary depending on their personal growth and development, genetic makeup, and other factors, she said.
The core fat, carbs and protein of Soylent come from agriculturally grown ingredients, such as maltodextrin, which stems from from corn, rice protein and oat powder, but the majority of the vitamins and minerals come from mining or industrial synthesis, Rhinehart said.
He wants the product to be even more synthetic in the future so as to reduce its environmental impact and not be affected by fluctuating crop seasons, he said.
Mario Ferruzzi, a nutritionist and food scientist at Purdue University, doesn't see how a more factory-made product is possible.
"I don't know how you can eat without agriculture," Ferruzzi said.
Ferruzzi has worked with Nestle and other companies to develop dietary supplements, and researches how phytochemicals and plant-derived compounds play a role in disease prevention, such as how red pigment in tomatoes can prevent prostate cancer.
He said Soylent is cheaper than supplements put out by national companies, but still looks like a nutritional shake.
"When you simplify something and make it a sole source of nutrition, my concern is that people might be able to sustain (themselves), but will they be optimally healthy?"
Who doesn't like food?
Rhinehart said the initial interest is coming from people in the same situation he was when experimenting with Soylent -- young, busy and broke.
People around the world have been trying their own Soylent recipes inspired by Rhinehart's and posting them on a DIY Soylent forum.
Ben Samuel, who works in Ireland, read about Soylent about a year-and-a-half ago and created his own Soylent based on Rhinehart's recipe shared on the forum. He used olive oil and chocolate-flavored whey concentrate as his base ingredients.
"It tastes mildly of chocolate pudding, and also a tiny bit like wood," Samuel said.
But, he added, it's easy to get used to, and he and other Soylent samplers aren't eating it for the taste.
Samuel is a security analyst for an online gaming company on the overnight shift, so when he's hungry on the clock, he can't buy food at the company cafeteria.
He never tried other meal substitutes because they were either incomplete or expensive, he told CNN in an e-mail, but he ordered his own ingredients and blogged about his experience consuming only this for a month.
During the first few days of eating his Soylent, he realized the formula wasn't perfect -- excess sulfur made him gassy and the taste needed tweaking -- but after adjustments, he said he had more energy, better sleep and found running easier.
"The rest of the month was the best I ever had," he wrote.
Still, he's since reverted back to food.
"I use Soylent maybe half the time, and the other half I eat as previously," he wrote.
Meal replacements are typically used for one of two situations: when dieting to break habits, or when physical conditions require certain nutrients and it's easier for a person to supplement a meal, Mayer-Davis said.
Soylent, on the other hand, appears to be marketed to healthy people looking for food alternatives, she said. It also appears to be targeting the temporary poor, she said, meaning graduate students who could qualify as living in poverty, but only for a few years.
But Mayer-Davis said she wouldn't recommend living on any kind of meal substitute for the true poor -- those working long hours in low-paying jobs to support their families. In such cases, a diverse diet is needed, she said.
Ending world hunger?
Rhinehart said using his product to end world hunger is several years out, but it's been on his mind from the start.
"Being able to produce calories very cheaply at scale, in a form that is very shelf-stable and comparatively easy to store and transport, alleviates many issues around food aid and security," Rhinehart said.
"I think we can focus on food security -- that's something that's been on my mind from the very beginning -- but we have to be profitable first."
Cost is a main driver in determining the products used for food aid, said Ferruzzi, who has worked with USAID to develop dietary supplements for food insecure countries.
Soylent is cheap. But feeding people, even starving people, is not as simple as handing them a powder, Ferruzzi said.
"Just because people are poor doesn't mean they aren't picky eaters," Ferruzzi said. "You have to think about the context of how people live and how they eat."
For example, when working on a cereal blend for USAID, he had to be sure that it could be made into both a thick and thin mixture, depending on the viscosity of the porridge the community typically ate.
In the end, whether a product is an alternative to Cheetos in your pantry or one of only a few caloric options in a war-torn region, it has to taste good enough for people to eat it.
As Ferruzzi puts it: "It isn't nutritious unless people eat it."
Scientists send text message through evaporated vodkahttp://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/scientists-send-text-message-through-evaporated-vodka-212245979.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/scientists-send-text-message-through-evaporated-vodka-212245979.html)
By Eric Pfeiffer December 19, 2013 4:22 PM
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The future of wireless communication in a bottle? (Agence France-Presse)
How many people have sent a text message they later regretted, blaming alcohol as the catalyst for an ill-advised communication?
Well, scientists at Canada’s York University have flipped the “message in a bottle” concept on its head, sending the world’s first text message through alcohol itself.
That’s right, a text message reading “O Canada,” was transmitted using the chemicals in evaporated vodka.
“We believe we have sent the world’s first text message to be transmitted entirely with molecular communication, controlling concentration levels of the alcohol molecules to encode the alphabet, with single spray representing bits and no spray representing the bit zero,” said Nariman Farsad, a York University doctoral candidate in charge of the experiment.
As the Voice of America explains, while the experiment was a first for humankind, it mirrors the communicative behavior exhibited by a number of other creatures, including bees, which use chemicals to transmit communications.
Another recent study found that some plants use fungi as chemical conduits to send their own warning messages to other plants.
And the scientists responsible for the communication say it could help advance communications around the world, particularly in areas like underground tunnels that do not have access to traditional wireless communication.
“Chemical signals can offer a more efficient way of transmitting data inside tunnels, pipelines or deep underground structures,” York University professor Andrew Eckford said.
“For example, the recent massive clog in the London sewer system could have been detected earlier on, and without all the mess workers had to deal with, by sending robots equipped with a molecular communication system.”
The experiment’s findings were published in the latest issue of the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
Eckford and his team say the chemical communication worked transmitting the message four meters across their lab, using a simple tabletop fan to literally push the message forward. A receiver on the other end then picked up and translated the message.
The research could yield exciting results beyond personal communication. University of Warwick professor Weisi Guo, whose work helped launch the experiment, said it could have groundbreaking medical applications as well.
“They [molecular communication] can also be used to communicate on the nanoscale, for example in medicine where recent advances mean it’s possible to embed sensors into the organs of the body or create miniature robots to carry out a specific task such as targeting drugs to cancer cells.”
Hospital wraps newborns in Christmas stockingshttp://news.yahoo.com/hospital-wraps-newborns-christmas-stockings-184053877.html (http://news.yahoo.com/hospital-wraps-newborns-christmas-stockings-184053877.html)
Associated Press December 24, 2013 7:33 PM
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Newborns sleep in oversized red stockings in the nursery at Long Beach Memorial in Long Beach, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 23, 2013. For more than 50 years, babies born between Dec. 21-25 at Long Beach Memorial are placed in big red stockings to be presented to the new parents.(AP Photo/Daily Breeze, Scott Varley)
REDLANDS, Calif. (AP) — Southern California hospitals are spreading holiday cheer for new parents by delivering newborns in giant Christmas stockings.
The bright red stockings were provided this week for babies born at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. The Long Beach Press-Telegram reports (http://bit.ly/1c3zlYE (http://bit.ly/1c3zlYE) ) it's a half-century-old tradition.
The Redlands Community Hospital has been handing out stockings to parents of infants born this month.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports (http://bit.ly/1eCvBli (http://bit.ly/1eCvBli)) the tradition began in 1930, but lapsed before it was revived in 2005.
This year, 16 volunteers made 250 fleece stockings during a daylong sewing bee.
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Mile marker 420 becomes 419.99 to thwart thieveshttp://news.yahoo.com/mile-marker-420-becomes-419-99-thwart-thieves-235742124.html (http://news.yahoo.com/mile-marker-420-becomes-419-99-thwart-thieves-235742124.html)
Associated Press
1 hour ago
DENVER (AP) — Colorado officials think a difference of one-hundredth of a mile will be enough to stop thieves from stealing the mile marker 420 sign along Interstate 70.
Amy Ford of the Colorado Department of Transportation says the "MILE 420" sign near Stratton was stolen for the last time sometime in the last year, and officials replaced it with a sign that says "MILE 419.99."
Ford says it's the only "420" sign to be replaced in the state that recently legalized recreational marijuana. Most highways aren't long enough to need one.
The number "420" has long been associated with marijuana, though its origins as a shorthand for pot are murky.
Mile 419.99, about 25 miles from the Kansas border, isn't the only place in Colorado with a fractional mile marker. Cameron Pass in Larimer County has a "MILE 68.5" sign after frequent thefts of the "MILE 69" sign.
Electricity Bills Shock Some Residents
SCOTT DONNELLY -- [email protected] Glens Falls Post-Star
Before he opened his latest utility bill, Kim Nelson never thought much about how electricity is priced.
“At least with gasoline, we know what the cost is going to be before we put it in the tank,” he said. “We can grump about that, but then we can say, ‘If it’s going to cost me that much, I can’t do this trip, this trip and that trip.’”
The Queensbury resident heats almost exclusively with a wood stove, using electricity only for the water heater, lights and appliances. His two daughters recently decided to move back home, though, so he knows his energy use is up.
Still, he is in good company among New York residents who have seen their cost per kilowatt hour jump by about 53 percent from December to January.
Patrick Stella, a spokesman for National Grid, which serves most electricity and natural gas customers in the greater Glens Falls area, explained this week the increase is directly linked to a jump in natural gas prices, which have risen because of record-low temperatures nationwide in December and the first part of January.
“Electric supply is very, very much tied to the cost of natural gas because those power plants that are making electricity, the majority of them are natural gas-powered,” Stella said. “So, they’re buying natural gas in order to make electricity.”
National Grid said last week its 3.4 million natural gas customers used about 4.56 billion cubic feet on Jan. 3, beating the previous record by more than 68 million cubic feet.
Another record was recorded Jan. 7, when the utility’s customers used more than 4.79 billion cubic feet. At the same time, electricity plants were using larger-than-normal amounts of natural gas to create electricity, which was also in higher demand because of the record-cold temperatures.
The same dynamic comes into play during extremely hot summers, when air-conditioning demands cause a spike in natural gas use by electricity plants.
Stella said National Grid has heard from customers suffering from sticker shock in recent days. But he pointed out National Grid doesn’t make electricity or produce natural gas.
The utility’s business is delivering energy to customers.
National Grid has to purchase enough of both commodities to keep them flowing to customers who don’t opt to purchase them from third-party suppliers. But the utility’s portion of the bill is limited to transmission costs.
Also, National Grid can’t space out its electricity purchases the way it manages natural gas purchases — buying during summer months when the prices are typically lower — because electricity can’t be stored as readily as natural gas can, Stella said. The utility’s purchase practices for natural gas sheltered natural gas customers from similar spikes in prices during recent frigid weather, he said.
“Natural gas bills for upstate New York residents were down 9 percent from December of 2012,” Stella said. “When I say that, I’m talking about the entire natural gas bill, so putting together delivery and supply.”
Stella said the utility’s delivery rates are also lower than they were last year, due to a new rate agreement with the state’s Public Service Commission that went into effect April 1.
National Grid, like most utilities in New York state, relies on the New York Independent Service Operator to procure the electricity it needs to serve customers.
David Flanagan, a spokesman for the private, not-for-profit NYISO, said natural gas prices have been up over the past year, and a further increase each winter is not unusual.
He said the energy markets experienced a similar jump in January 2011 and in January 2013. The winter of 2012 was relatively mild, however, prompting lower demand for natural gas and keeping prices lower that year, Flanagan said.
Extremely cold weather can further boost the cost of natural gas by straining the delivery system for the commodity, Flanagan said. As electricity plants compete with residential customers for the fuel, efforts to move it around grow more expensive.
As a result, the statewide monthly average natural gas price rose 46.5 percent from November to December. At the same time, the statewide wholesale market price of electricity rose by 53 percent over the same period.
Electricity-generating facilities that burn natural gas are more susceptible to the monthly spot prices for natural gas because they don’t have the option of storing cheaper natural gas purchased during the summer months, as utilities do. They must comply with negotiated supply contracts.
For his part, Nelson said he knows another reason his electricity use spiked in January. He bought a hot tub in the summer, in part to help him manage pain from injuries he suffered on the job, he said.
“This is my first winter with it, but I thought, ‘Shoot, we’ve got this cold snap, I’m not going to go in it for that long,” he said.
If he’d known the cost of electricity had spiked, he might have drained the tub and winterized it for a month or two “until the weather calms down,” he said.
Nelson said he’s aware National Grid offers a budget plan, which spaces residents’ estimated full-year energy costs out over all 12 months to minimize — or eliminate — price spikes. He also knows he has the option of shopping around for a third-party electricity supplier.
He said he’s going to consider both options in the future, considering this winter’s harsh lesson.
National Grid also offers information about residents’ energy use and price plans online at nationalgridus.com/NewYork.
Man in dog shirt poses with dog in man shirthttp://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/man-in-dog-shirt-poses-with-dog-in-man-shirt-214849356.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/man-in-dog-shirt-poses-with-dog-in-man-shirt-214849356.html)
By Mike Krumboltz, Yahoo News January 22, 2014 4:48 PM
(http://riehlworldview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/dog-shirt.jpg)
An open letter to whoever took this photograph:
Congratulations, you have won the Internet. Your photo, while blurry and not particularly well-framed, is without question one of the greatest single images in the history of history.
Of course you are aware of the photo's majesty, but please permit us to expound on its many virtues as we were rendered speechless after first seeing it and are just now beginning to make sense of all it does.
The shirts are amazing. Even more amazing, though, are the poses. The male subject sits slightly slouched staring downward, perhaps at a rebroadcast of "Puppy Bowl." He seems wholly uninterested in the fame that awaits him.
And the dog. A lot of pooches lose some dignity when they are forced to wear clothes. Not this one. This dog owns it.
Perhaps someday another image will come along that sends our hearts aflutter even more, but we doubt it. We seriously doubt it.
Is the photo new? Who knows, and who cares? Was it digitally altered? Possibly; it's still genius.
Special thanks to actress Rose McGowan for posting it to Instagram. Your odds of getting a lifetime achievement award just went up.
With deepest admiration,
Yahoo Sideshow
UPDATE: The man in the photo is Chris Bowser, a war veteran who was struck by a grenade while serving in Iraq in 2003. His nonprofit organization, Heroes Meeting Heroes, aims to give "other wounded soldiers the opportunity to get to meet some of their heroes."
Dozens of children at a Utah school had their lunches seized and thrown away because they did not have enough money in their accounts, prompting an angry response from parents, it was reported.
"She took my lunch away and said, 'Go get a milk,’” Sophia Isom, a fifth-grader at Salt Lake City’s Uintah Elementary School, told NBC affiliate KSL.com. "I came back and asked, 'What's going on?' Then she handed me an orange. She said, 'You don't have any money in your account so you can't get lunch.’”
Up to 40 kids suffered similar treatment, given fruit and milk as their lunches were thrown away, the station reported.
Isom's mom Erica Lukes called the move “traumatic and humiliating” and told the Salt Lake Tribune she was all paid up.
"I think it’s despicable," she said. "These are young children that shouldn’t be punished or humiliated for something the parents obviously need to clear up."
Salt Lake City District Spokesperson Jason Olsen told the Tribune that parents had been notified about negative balances on Monday and a child nutrition manager had decided to withhold lunches to deal with the issue. They were thrown away because once food is served to one student it can’t be served to another, he explained.
Employees put on leave after school lunches takenhttp://news.yahoo.com/employees-put-leave-school-lunches-taken-180138368.html (http://news.yahoo.com/employees-put-leave-school-lunches-taken-180138368.html)
Associated Press
1 hour ago
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Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, left, and Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, speak to reporters in the doorway of Uintah Elementary School before stoping in for school lunch Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014, in Salt Lake City. A school district apologized Thursday to outraged parents after about 30 students at a Salt Lake City school had their lunches thrown out because of outstanding balances on their food accounts. Salt Lake City School District spokesman Jason Olsen said the district is investigating what happened at Uintah Elementary and working to make sure it doesn't happen again. "This was a mistake. This was handled wrong," Olsen said during a news conference outside the school. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah school cafeteria manager and a district supervisor have been placed on paid leave while officials investigate why lunches were taken from students who owed money on food accounts, a district spokesman said Friday.
Salt Lake City School District spokesman Jason Olsen said he could not identify or offer further details on the workers because of personnel privacy issues.
About 32 elementary school students had their lunches seized and thrown away on Tuesday after a district official arrived at Uintah (Yoo-IN-tah) Elementary to investigate a large number of overdue lunch accounts, Olsen has said.
The district has apologized to outraged parents and said it was working to ensure a similar incident didn't happen again.
Olsen has said students whose $2 meals were thrown out were given milk and fruit, a standard practice when students don't have lunch money.
"This was a mistake," Olsen said. "There shouldn't have been food taken away from these students once they went through that line."
The school is located in a middle-class neighborhood, and the district qualifies for federal reimbursement on lunches when students select certain offerings that are within nutritional guidelines.
(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/Jn5WuXUxKqfLWV6933NWnA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTEzNDE7cHlvZmY9MDtxPTc1O3c9OTYw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/40b8133b3e546e044a0f6a7067004b52.jpg)
Salt Lake City School District spokesman Jason Olsen speaks to reporters in the doorway of Uintah Elementary School Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014, in Salt Lake City. A school district apologized Thursday to outraged parents after about 30 students at a Salt Lake City school had their lunches thrown out because of outstanding balances on their food accounts. Olsen said the district is investigating what happened at Uintah Elementary and working to make sure it doesn't happen again. "This was a mistake. This was handled wrong," Olsen said during a news conference outside the school. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Olsen said officials started notifying parents on Monday that many children were behind on the lunch payments.
The district was still investigating which workers decided to seize lunches the next day and how many were taking the meals from students.
A district policy requires that parents be given time to respond to account shortfalls.
Parent Erica Lukes said it was "humiliating and demoralizing" when deep dish pizzas and other items were taken away from her daughter and other children.
"People are upset, obviously, by the way this has been handled because it's really needless and quite mean," she said. "Regardless if it's $2, $5, you don't go about rectifying a situation with a balance by having a child go through that."
Her daughter reported children were upset and confused and some shared food with each other.
Olsen said school employees were upset by the situation and the district was getting angry messages from around the country.
He said the school principal has set up an account to cover lunch for students without money in their accounts, and other principals are taking steps to ensure that no more lunches are seized.
Two Utah lawmakers have said they were outraged and wanted to call attention to the policy.
If the district does not address the problem, lawmakers will look at whether state policies need to change, the senators said.
"To me, this rises to the level of bullying," State Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross said. "These children were humiliated in their own school, in front of their classmates."
Weiler was joined at a news conference by Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City.
The seizure of the lunches was first reported by The Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday.
Allergic to the Cold: How Cara Yacino Fights Cold Urticaria
By Jeffrey Kopman Published: Jan 30, 2014, 3:45 PM EST weather.com
A brutal winter has caused many frustrated Americans to exclaim their hatred for the cold. Winter might not be the favorite season of many Americans — but for people with cold urticaria, such as 20-year-old Cara Yacino, from Douglas, Mass., the feeling goes beyond a longing for 4th of July barbecues and the beach filled days of summer.
In June 2013, Yacino was diagnosed with the condition after a trip to Boston began with a Dunkin Donuts iced mocha and an “engorged” hand.
“I was holding [the mocha], and I realize my hand that was holding the iced mocha started swelling up and was really painful,” Yacino told weather.com. “It was kind of itchy, and it looked different (after) comparing my two hands.”
Cold urticaria is an allergic reaction to cold temperatures. Also known as cold hives, the condition causes redness, itching and swelling after exposure to the cold, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“My mom told me to stop drinking [the mocha] because [the reaction] might have been [from] something in the coffee, like maybe hazelnuts,” explained Yacino.
Yacino promptly stopped drinking the coffee on her way to the New England Aquarium in Boston. But the visit to a touch tank proved her condition was more than a hazelnut allergy.
“They had a touch tank — a shark and ray touch tank — and I stuck my arm in, like everyone else, so that the rays could swim by and touch my hand,” she said. “I was in the tank for maybe like 10 minutes. I pulled my arm out and within five minutes that arm was covered in hives.”
“These are conditions that are not so common, but we do encounter individuals who have hives or swelling with exposure to cold,” David Lang, M.D., section head of allergy and immunology at the Cleveland Clinic, told weather.com. “They develop localized redness, itchiness and swelling, usually confined to cold exposed areas.”
“Random things like that started happening pretty frequently. Within the next couple of days, I got hives on my leg at one point from being outside in the wind and rain when it was like 40 degrees, maybe 45,” Cara added.
After a little research from her father and an ice cube test from her allergist, Cara was diagnosed with cold urticaria. But why did the condition first arise after 20 years of life in a cold-weather climate?
“My allergist asked me a couple questions about if I had gotten sick, like a virus, within the past couple of weeks, and as it turned out I had,” Yacino explained. “I had just recovered from a fever. I had a fever for a day and a half, and [my allergist] said certain viruses can trigger an immune response that can make you allergic to something like that.”
“There is something called primary acquired cold urticaria, and another category of individuals who have secondary acquired cold urticaria. Patients with secondary acquired cold urticaria may be related to an underlying condition, like an infection,” explained Dr. Lang. “It effects patients of all ages, from infants to the elderly. In some cases it can occur spontaneously, and in some cases it can go away in a few years.”
Signs and Symptoms of an Outbreak
Diagnosing Yacino’s newfound problems with the cold was only the beginning. Despite the record breaking cold winter, she has actually handled the disorder “pretty well.”
“If I don’t take [medicine] I’ve noticed a difference — it can be really painful. The hives aren’t like normal hives. They’re not super itchy — they actually burn, it’s really uncomfortable,” she said. “Let’s say my legs or calves are exposed. First I’ll probably have to be outside for five minutes before it starts — it [doesn’t happen] right away — but first thing I’ll notice is my legs will start to burn, almost like a really bad sunburn,” she described. “It’ll start to burn. I’ll look down and usually they’ll be covered in really densely populated welts. I’ve had reactions last up to a day, and I’ve had reactions up to an hour, at the minimum.”
And her outbreaks don’t limit themselves to winter months.
“On the Fourth of July, I went over my best friend’s house, and his pool was 80 degrees. I checked the temperature, and I was in his pool for 15 minutes and when I started noticing that my vision was getting blurry,” she recalled. “I got out quickly, and I noticed my whole body was covered in hives. I almost needed to use the EpiPen, but I ended up taking my hyper heptadine, and it went away in like 10 minutes. But it was pretty scary.”
“It was 80 degrees,” Yacino reiterated.
“In a number of these episodes, the symptoms are when the exposed skin is rewarmed,” said Dr. Lang. “What happens when you get out of a shower or pool is that the water starts to evaporate, and causes cooling.”
Living with the Condition
Since that incident, Cara has learned to live with her condition.
“My mom bought out most of L.L. Beans catalogue for me,” she joked. “So I have this great down coat that goes down to my ankles, and it’s super warm, and it cuts the wind chill.”
“Usually if I know I’m going to be around cold things, and there is no control I have over it, I’ll take Zyrtec in the morning. That usually helps a lot, and then if I still have a reaction I have cyproheptadine — which is a pretty heavy-duty version of Benadryl,” said Cara. “So I’ll take one of those, and then obviously if my throat starts closing up I’ll use my EpiPen. I haven’t had to use it yet, thank God, but I hope it doesn’t have to come to that.”
Dr. Lang supported Cara’s decision to still go out in the cold.
“Someone in Cleveland — with negative wind chills — it’s important that they dress warmly and limit their exposure,” he said. “Cold can’t be avoided completely. We don’t want our patients to hibernate.”
Explaining Cold Urticaria
In an effort to spread awareness and learn about others, Cara reached out to Reddit, a popular internet forum.
“I have never met anybody in person with this condition. I was curious to see who suffered the same thing or something similar,” she explained. “I think there needs to be more awareness because it’s life-threatening. There are certain degrees of severity, but as a whole it’s a life-threatening condition. It’s not something to be laughed at or taken lightly.”
“A lot of people who have this feel that it hasn’t been taken seriously or even believed. I’ve had people be like ‘no, no you’re joking,’” she recalled. “It’s not fun.”
EarthSky // Human World, Science Wire
Release Date: Jan 28, 2014
7,000-year-old hunter-gatherer had dark skin, blue eyes
Researchers analyzed the DNA from a tooth belonging to the 7,000-year-old remains of European hunter-gatherer to determine his appearance.

Image credit: PELOPANTON / CSIC
They say the man – who scientists named La Braña 1 – had blue eyes and dark skin.
The remains were recovered at La Braña-Arintero site, a cave in Valdelugueros in Spain in 2006. Carles Lalueza-Fox, of the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona, was the leader of the study. He said:
"The biggest surprise was to discover that this individual possessed African versions in the genes that determine the light pigmentation of the current Europeans, which indicates that he had dark skin, although we can not know the exact shade.
"Even more surprising was to find that he possessed the genetic variations that produce blue eyes in current Europeans, resulting in a unique phenotype in a genome that is otherwise clearly northern European."
The man lived in the Mesolithic, a period from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago, between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic, that ends with the advent of agriculture and livestock farming, coming from the Middle-East. The arrival of the Neolithic, with a carbohydrate-based diet and new pathogens transmitted by domesticated animals, entailed metabolic and immunological challenges that were reflected in genetic adaptations of post-Mesolithic people. Among these is the ability to digest lactose, which the La Braña individual could not do.

Image credit: PELOPANTON / CSIC
The study of the genome suggests that current populations nearest to La Braña 1 are in northern Europe, such as Sweden and Finland.
Lalueza-Fox said that these findings indicate that there is genetic continuity in the populations of central and western Eurasia.
The research is published in Nature.
Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140126134643.htm (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140126134643.htm)
7,000-year-old hunter-gatherer had dark skin, blue eyesI swear this guy looks like my dad by the end of summer. He'd get dark like that and let his beard start growing out for deer seaon.
Norwegian boy takes parents' car to visit grandparents, claims he's a dwarfhttp://news.yahoo.com/norwegian-boy-takes-parents-39-car-visit-grandparents-141745097--sector.html (http://news.yahoo.com/norwegian-boy-takes-parents-39-car-visit-grandparents-141745097--sector.html)
Reuters
8 hours ago
OSLO (Reuters) - A ten-year-old Norwegian boy came up with a novel excuse after he drove his parents' car into a snowy ditch on Wednesday morning: he told police he was a dwarf who forgot his driving license.
The boy lives near Dokka, a town about 110 kilometers north of Oslo. Sometime before 0600 local time, he loaded his 18-month old sister into the car and headed for their grandparents in Valdres, about 60 kilometers away, local police said.
He drove more than 10 kilometers before he veered off the road. A snowplow driver found him and alerted the police.
"The parents woke up and discovered that the children were missing and that someone had taken off with their car. They were pretty upset, as you can imagine," said Baard Christiansen, a spokesman for the Vest Oppland police district.
"The boy told the snowplow driver that he was a dwarf and that he had forgotten his driver's license at home."
Police said no charges would be filed and the case was closed.
"We have talked to them, and I'm pretty sure they're going to pay very close attention both to their children and to their car keys in the future," Christiansen said.
The children were not injured and the car was not damaged, police said.
7,000-year-old hunter-gatherer had dark skin, blue eyesI swear this guy looks like my dad by the end of summer. He'd get dark like that and let his beard start growing out for deer seaon.
Girl Scout sells 117 cookie boxes in two hours outside pot dispensaryhttp://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/girl-scout-sells-117-cookie-boxes-in-two-hours-outside-pot-dispensary-230640827.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/girl-scout-sells-117-cookie-boxes-in-two-hours-outside-pot-dispensary-230640827.html)
The Sideshow
By Eric Pfeiffer 1 hour ago
(http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/news/2014-02-21/b7b9be30-9b4c-11e3-83b9-656792196ab2_Girl-Scouts-at-TGC.jpg)
Danielle Lei outside the Green Cross dispensary (Green Cross/Facebook)
Want to sell a lot of Girl Scout Cookies? Set up shop outside a pot dispensary.
Just about everyone loves Girl Scout Cookies. And one 13-year-old girl came up with an ingenious strategy to significantly boost her sales: setting up shop outside a San Francisco medical marijuana dispensary.
In a major surprise to no one, it was a huge hit, with Danielle Lei selling 117 boxes in just two hours.
Danielle’s mother Carol said she supervised the sale on Monday and that it was the second time she’s allowed her two daughters to sell their Girl Scout Cookies outside of a Green Cross establishment.
"You put it in terms that they may understand," Carol said in an interview with Mashable, who first reported the story. "I'm not condoning it, I'm not saying go out in the streets and take marijuana [...] It also adds a little bit of cool factor. I can be a cool parent for a little bit."
And for a little context on just how intertwined these two things are, one of the more popular and potent strains of medical marijuana is in fact called Girl Scout Cookies.
In fact, the website Leafly says that the Girl Scout Cookies strain was invented by San Francisco-based rapper Berner. So, in a manner of speaking, it’s all coming full circle.
Some chapters of the Girl Scouts have objected to the report but the Northern California branch that oversees Danielle’s area says they have no problem with her business strategy since it was conducted outside of a legal establishment.
"The mom decided this was a place she was comfortable with her daughter being at,” Dana Allen, director of marketing and communications for Girl Scouts of Northern California, told Mashable. "We're not telling people where they can and can't go if it's a legitimate business."
For it’s part, the Green Cross dispensary fully supported the move. And employees were not immune from the lure of Tagalongs and other popular cookies varieties, reportedly buying several boxes themselves.
They’ve also been making jokes about the story on their Facebook page, including a play on the “most interesting man alive” advertising campaign that reads, “I don’t always buy Girl Scout Cookies But when I do, I buy them from the genius outside the Green Cross pot dispensary.”
Of course, let’s not credit all of Danielle’s success to geographic luck. While she did experience a measurable uptick in sales outside the pot dispensary, she also managed to sell 80 boxes during a comparable two-hour period outside a local Safeway grocery store.
A-10 Warthog on the Pentagon chopping block. Why?
A-10 Warthog, if eliminated, would save $3.5 billion in Pentagon spending. But supporters of the A-10 Warthog say it has been key to close-air support missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
By Bradley Klapper, Associated Press / February 26, 2014
WASHINGTNO
Lawmakers signaled a difficult battle ahead for the Obama administration's plan to dramatically overhaul the nation's military, voicing opposition Tuesday to proposed cuts in benefit packages, long-standing weapons programs and bases that mean money and jobs across America.
Speaking to reporters, Levin said the Pentagon's proposal to scrap the Air Force's A-10 "Warthog" Thunderbolt tank-killer aircraft would be a particularly tough sell. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., said scrapping the plane was a "serious mistake" and vowed to fight it.
Retiring the A-10, nicknamed the Warthog, will save $3.5 billion over five years, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said. The Air Force has a fleet of more than 300 Warthogs that provide air support for ground troops. Meanwhile, the Pentagon also plans to ground its U-2 spy planes, replacing them with the unmanned Global Hawk, according to Fox News.
For now, Northrop Grumman (NOC), Boeing (BA) and Lockheed Martin (LMT) can compete for Thunderbolt Life Cycle Program Support contracts to do work for the fleet A-10 aircraft. The Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman two work orders worth $24 million in November, and one of the contracts called for the defense company to maintain the A-10 until at least 2028.
The A-10, which entered service in the 1970s, was designed to take out Soviet tanks. While it hasn’t been in production for years, the aircraft is known for being proficiently used to conduct close-air support missions, up through the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Hagel said it was a “close call” to drop the A-10, but he backed the decision to retire what he called an outdated aircraft. The Air Force has indicated before that it could retire the A-10 with Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter on the way. Its plan calls for replacing the A-10 with the F-35 in the early 2020s, Hagel said.
"We have been cutting and cutting for the last five years," said Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., the Senate Armed Services Committee's top Republican.
The skepticism from both Republicans and Democrats augured poorly for Hagel's vision of shrinking the Army to its smallest size in three-quarters of a century and creating a nimbler force more suited to future threats than the large land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last decade. Tuesday's advance of a new veterans bill also suggested Congress may be more interested in increasing military spending in a midterm election year.
The cuts "will weaken our nation's security while the threats we face around the world are becoming more dangerous and complex," Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, two leading GOP hawks, said in a joint statement. "Now is not the time to embrace a defense posture reminiscent of the years prior to World War II," they said, without outlining substitute cost reductions.
Although Congress has agreed on keeping next year's military budget just under $500 billion, major tradeoffs must still be made to get under the cap.
Tensions exist in both parties. GOP hawks are lining up against tea party supporters keen to rein in spending, while Democrats backing the Obama administration must deal with colleagues from military-heavy districts and states fretful about the potential fallout. Automatic spending cuts that landed heavily on the military were only eased somewhat by a budget agreement two months ago.
The evidence since then suggests appetite is waning for difficult decisions on defense reductions, especially as the nation gears up for congressional elections in November.
Two weeks ago, the House and Senate overwhelmingly eliminated a cut in veterans' benefits of less than 1 percent that lawmakers themselves enacted only in December. On Tuesday, a Democratic bill expanding health, education and other benefits for veterans at a cost of $21 billion over the next decade unanimously cleared an initial hurdle, with the Senate voting 99-0 in favor of starting debate.
"There's a lot of need in the veterans community," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who sponsored the legislation.
Still, the measure faces an uncertain future. Some Republicans consider it a campaign season ploy by Democrats to force them to oppose helping veterans. The House has approved some of the benefit improvements in Sanders' bill, but Republicans controlling that chamber oppose other parts and want other ways of financing the costs.
"We don't have enough money right now, in my view, to defend the nation," Graham told reporters. The South Carolina senator added: "I want to help veterans, but we got to have a sense of priority here."
More is at stake when it comes to the plan Hagel unveiled Monday, which would shrink the active-duty Army from 522,000 soldiers to between 440,000 and 450,000 — making it the smallest since just before the U.S. entered World War II. The time frame for the reduction wasn't specified.
Hagel said it was necessary to reshape forces to confront a "more volatile, more unpredictable world." The nation can afford the smaller military so long as it retains a technological edge and the agility to respond on short notice to crises anywhere on the globe, he said.
President Barack Obama will submit the budget to Congress next week.
A hearing Tuesday of the Senate Armed Services Committee provided a glimpse at some of the debates that await the plan.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman, asked Obama's nominee for the No. 2 post at the Pentagon to justify the smaller pay rises and reductions in housing allowances, health benefits and other subsidies for service members and retirees.
"We want to compensate our men and women for everything that they do for their nation, but we need to slow down the growth of personnel compensation so that we can spend more money on readiness and modernization," said Robert Work, a former top Navy official nominated to be deputy secretary of state.
"We have to make some savings," added Michael McCord, nominee for undersecretary of defense. He said civilian and military compensation comprises half of the Pentagon's budget.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., doubted the economic arguments behind closing bases in the United States and urged cuts overseas instead. Work suggested the military was studying reducing capacities in Europe, too.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine sought assurances the Navy would maintain a fleet of 11 aircraft carriers — a vital issue in his state of Virginia, where carriers are often based and repaired.
Polls show the American public split on the overall issue of defense spending. Republican voters are more likely to say it should be higher while Democratic voters are more likely to say it should be lower. But maintaining bases and manufacturing operations becomes much more sensitive when it affects jobs close to home.
Governors, too, have entered the fray over plans to transfer equipment from Army National Guard units. Some in Congress oppose almost any cuts at all.
"We have been cutting and cutting for the last five years," said Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., the Senate Armed Services Committee's top Republican.
Firefighters Dramatically Rescue College Freshman Stuck in Tree
The Daily Caller
It’s only Wednesday, but a freshman at Pacific University has almost certainly locked up this week’s award for America’s stupidest student already.
The unidentified 18-year-old student managed to get herself stuck in a redwood tree near the library on the campus of the smallish private school in Forest Grove, Ore., reports The Oregonian.
The incident happened on Tuesday. It’s not clear when the student shimmied up the tree or how long she had been stuck there. Campus security called the local fire department around 5 p.m.
The distressed student was stranded at a place in the tree about 20 feet off the ground.
Michael Kinkade, Forest Grove’s fire chief, arrived on the scene first. He helpfully pitched a jacket up to the student so she could stay warm.
A full crew arrived later with a big 24-foot ladder and everything. With their help, the adventurous student was able to descend from the tree unharmed.
According to fire department spokesman Dave Nemeyer, the student explained her behavior to the fire chief by saying that she frequently climbs trees as a hobby. She noted that she is usually – usually – able to get down without assistance from several firefighters.
Nemeyer said the fire department doesn’t respond to many calls about adults stuck in trees. He recalled that there had been a local 12-year-old trapped in a tree fairly recently.
“That’s usually around the age range we’re dealing with on these calls,” he observed.
The leafy campus of Pacific University is located about 25 miles west of Portland. It’s home to a famously large number of trees including ginkgos, Douglas firs, bigleaf maples and giant sequoias.
Follow Eric on Twitter and on Facebook, and send education-related story tips to erico[at]dailycaller[dot]com.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0226/A-10-Warthog-on-the-Pentagon-chopping-block.-Why (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0226/A-10-Warthog-on-the-Pentagon-chopping-block.-Why)
Oklahoma Father Dies in Police Encounter After Mother Slaps Daughter
(CNN) -- It was supposed to be a fun family outing to the movies, but Nair Rodriguez's 19-year-old daughter got under her skin. They fought, she said, and she slapped her daughter.
Moments later, police arrived on a domestic dispute call at the Moore, Oklahoma, theater and did not confront Nair Rodriguez but rather her husband, Luis. They took him down, and after the encounter on February 15, he was dead.
Cell phone video taken by Nair Rodriguez and released this week shows the final minutes of the takedown.
Nair Rodriguez accuses officers of brutality. Police say they were following protocol and used no undue force, although three officers have been suspended with pay.
Argument, upset
The mother-daughter spat upset the mother so badly that she bolted for the family car. Her husband, Luis, followed her to calm her down, family attorney Michael Brooks-Jimenez told reporters.
That's when a group of police and theater security officers turned up, he said.
There were three of them -- one working off-duty security at the theater and two active-duty officers already there to deal with two drunk patrons who'd passed out -- according to Moore police spokesman Sgt. Jeremy Lewis. (In addition, two Oklahoma state game wardens were working as off-duty security at the theater, state wildlife department spokesman Micah Holmes said.)
As the two on-duty Moore officers were leaving, a person ran into the lobby and told them about some kind of domestic dispute outside, Lewis said.
What happened next is disputed.
Nair Rodriguez has said officers beat Luis Rodriguez, CNN affiliate KFOR reported. But Moore Police Chief Jerry Stillings calls the actions of his officers "reasonable."
He would not go into much detail and said an investigation is under way. But he mentioned police used pepper spray, CNN affiliate KOCO reported.
Luis Rodriguez ended up on the ground with five men pinning him down, and Nair Rodriguez pulled out a cell phone.
Her fearful cries fill the recording.
"Luis! Luis!" she calls out frantically. Her husband does not respond and does not appear to move.
She calls to the officers to assure her that he is alright.
"Please somebody tell me that he is alive," she implores. "He is not moving."
The officers appear calm. One tells her that he will talk to her once they are finished securing her husband.
Then one walks over to the camera. He tells her that police have called in a medical unit to check on her husband.
It wasn't him
The officer says police received a call about domestic violence before confronting her husband.
It wasn't him, Nair Rodriguez tells him. "I hit my daughter," she says. She wants to know why they have pinned down her husband.
"He refused to give his ID," the officer said. "He got combative."
She notices blood on the officer. "Is he bleeding?" she demands to know.
"I'm bleeding; that's me," the officer says.
An ambulance can be seen in the background, and Luis Rodriguez is lifted onto a stretcher.
The video ends shortly afterward.
Cause of death
An autopsy may reveal more about why Luis Rodriguez died, and surveillance camera footage of the encounter in the movie theater parking lot may reveal what happened before his wife pulled out her cell phone camera.
What police describe as normal procedure, lawyer Brooks-Jimenez describes as something brutal and possibly deadly -- pepper spray to the face and the weight of five men on top of him.
CNN has reached out to Brooks-Jimenez for further comment.
Lewis, from the Moore Police Department, said that three officers from his department who were involved in this incident have been suspended with pay while the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation reviews the incident. The two game wardens working security that day at the theater are continuing in their normal roles, according to Holmes of the state wildlife department.
An autopsy on Luis Rodriguez was conducted on February 16, said Amy Elliott from Oklahoma's office of the chief medical examiner. His body was released four days later, but Rodriguez's full report won't be released until toxicology results come in, adds Elliott.
Regardless of when that happens, the Rodriguez family may have to wait for closure.
The Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation doesn't anticipate it will make any findings for months, according to spokeswoman Jessica Brown.
CNN's Tristan Smith contributed to this report.
Surprise! Baby Born on New York City Sidewalk
By ABC News | ABC News Blogs – 17 hours ago
It's no secret that trying to hail a cab during rush hour in New York City is a thankless task, but one would think that a woman in labor trying to get to the hospital would be an exception.
Not so for New Yorker Polly McCourt, who delivered her daughter on a city sidewalk Monday after another woman stole her cab.
"He was trying desperately to hail a cab," McCourt, 39, said of the doorman of her Manhattan building who came to her aid after she went into labor around 4 p.m. while inside her family's apartment.
"A lady walked out five minutes in front and hailed the cab and got into it," McCourt told local reporters from her hospital bed. "I went, 'No, that's my cab.'"
With the baby well on its way, McCourt told the doorman, identified by the New York Daily News as Anton Rudovic, that she was not going to make it to the hospital. "I turned around and said, 'I need to actually sit down,'" she recalled.
With McCourt in labor on the sidewalk, propped up by Rudovic, strangers came to her aid.
In video captured by nearby cameras, a crowd can be seen gathering around McCourt, with some strangers giving her their scarves to help her stay warm in the chilly weather.
Paramedics arrived just in time to pull the baby out and take McCourt to a nearby hospital, where both mom and baby are doing fine.
"She's a real New Yorker," McCourt said of her daughter, whom she named Ila Isabelle. "She's born on the streets of New York."
McCourt's daughter will always know too of the generosity that brought her into the world, thanks to her middle name.
McCourt says she had planned to give her daughter the middle name of Polly, but instead changed it to Isabelle after a woman who gave McCourt the coat off her back to stay warm.
"I'm getting emotional just thinking about it," McCourt said.
Ila Isabelle is the third child for McCourt and her husband, Cian McCourt, who was stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel during his wife's surprise delivery and arrived at their home minutes after his daughter's birth, according to the Daily News.
Is this an article or you talking?
John Boehner gets in on the joke about his nameJohn Boehner Confirms, "It's Boner. Boner." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdlvDk4EZDk#ws)
"It's Boner."
Chris Moody, Yahoo News
By Chris Moody, Yahoo News 1 hour ago
(http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/gma/us.abcnews.go.com/AP_john_boehner_kab_140226_16x9_992.jpg)
John Boehner (ABC News)
Childhood surely wasn't easy for young John Boehner, who one images faced a tornado of teasing from kids who willfully mispronounced his name. His family pronounces it "Bayner."
But shed no tears for the gentleman from Ohio, because these days, as the most powerful member of the House of Representatives, he's clearly taking it in stride. When a reporter accidentally referred to him as "Mr. Camp" during a press conference on Thursday, Boehner played along.
"It's 'Boner,'" he replied before the reporter could correct himself. "Boner."
Even in adulthood, as this 1991 video shows, his own colleagues mispronounced his name.
John Boehner Name Fail (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JknwWJwOWBc#ws)
And so have members of the media.
Joy Behar: Presumptive Speaker Of The House "John Boner" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMet6K7b8SM#)
http://news.yahoo.com/john-boehner-pronunciation-194225620.html (http://news.yahoo.com/john-boehner-pronunciation-194225620.html)
You know, I'm worried that it'll end up being Georgia all over again.
Would you say yours is a fairly typical Russian POV?
I'm asking a lot of questions 'cause, as everyone knows, my country is terrible at world news. I'm interested in understanding other perspectives. I'd love to hear from citizens of other countries, too - I'm looking at you, Geo.
Yeah. Ugly situations, which is why I stepped out of political debate. I'll my opinion, but I don't feel I need to debate how I feel to people who disagree. I'm too old and tired for that..
But on the note of Mexico, one could easily reverse the tables and say America is assuming manifest destiny again. Which I'm not; I don't believe in political stereotypes. I believe in stigma's which affect politics rather.
Why U.S. presidents are powerless to stop the Russianshttp://theweek.com/article/index/257221/why-us-presidents-are-powerless-to-stop-the-russians (http://theweek.com/article/index/257221/why-us-presidents-are-powerless-to-stop-the-russians)
To understand Obama's dilemma, you really have to understand Vladimir Putin's psyche
By Paul Brandus | 3:15pm ET
(http://media.theweek.com/img/dir_0115/57768_article_full/russian-president-vladimir-putin-greets-president-barack-obamanbspat-the-g20-summit-on-september-5.jpg?199)
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets President Barack Obama at the G20 summit on September 5, 2013 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Alexey Kudenko/Host Photo Agency via Getty Images)
Why is Vladimir Putin tossing away his $50 billion Olympic effort to polish Russia's international image by intervening militarily in Ukraine?
It helps to understand the mindset of this balding former KGB colonel who clawed his way up under Boris Yeltsin to become president 14 years ago. (I actually crossed paths with him when he was an unknown aide to the corrupt mayor of St. Petersburg in the early 1990s).
This is a guy who has called the collapse of the Soviet Union "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the (20th) century." Like many Russians, Putin is deeply suspicious of what's called nazapad — the West — and fears being surrounded by enemies. Devastating invasions by Napoleon in 1812 and Hitler in 1941, which killed tens of millions, are huge parts of this Russian mindset that Americans may not fully appreciate. The fact that three former Soviet republics (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) are now members of NATO also fuels this paranoia.
History and geography loom large in ways that American policymakers and the American public may not grasp. And when it comes to Ukraine — Europe's largest country — Putin sees unrest in his backyard, with millions of people, largely in the western half of that country, yearning for closer ties with the West. This makes Putin frightened.
And it's this paranoia that continues to make Russia — nearly a quarter-century after the Soviet collapse — so dangerous. The geopolitical fallout extends far beyond Crimea; Russia is now likely to be even less cooperative on critical matters like Syria, its role in the P5+1 nuclear talks with Iran, and more. It controls natural gas supplies to much of Western Europe, a nasty form of leverage that Putin would almost certainly use if needed. If the Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and collapse of the U.S.S.R. itself two years later, then it's fair to say that the post-Cold War era is now over; what's next is anyone's guess.
So what can President Obama do about it?
Not much.
The fact is that Obama, like numerous presidents before him, won't — and really, can't — do much to stop Putin from acting in what he sees as his own backyard. The Soviet Union, and now Russia, has a long history of using brute force when it feels the need — and the United States has usually allowed it to happen.
In October 1956, Dwight Eisenhower ignored the pleas of Hungarian freedom fighters who were rebelling against Soviet rule. Ike, who had fanned the flames by saying he supported the "liberation" of "captive peoples" in Eastern Europe, did nothing when the chips were down, fearing a nuclear exchange with Moscow. Soviet tanks rolled.
A dozen years later, a similar revolt erupted in Soviet-controlled Czechoslovakia. The rebellion, dubbed the "Prague Spring," prompted a Moscow-led invasion. Lyndon Johnson's response? A stiff statement condemning the move as a clear violation of the United Nations Charter.
That was it.
One exception to this American docility: Ronald Reagan's response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The 1979 attack prompted Jimmy Carter to cut off sales of wheat and to order a boycott of the Moscow Olympics. And when Reagan became president, he took it to the Soviets, training the mujahideen and arming them with Stinger missiles. His moves to roll back Soviet influence, as opposed to merely containing it, deserve much credit for forcing Moscow's retreat.
But fast forward 20 years, and you'll find President George W. Bush, who in 2008 reverted to the Eisenhower/LBJ/Carter style of talking tough and then backing down. Bush had encouraged Georgia, a former Soviet republic, to apply for NATO membership and accept American arms and training. But Vladimir Putin had no intention of allowing America too close to its "near abroad" (as the Kremlin calls its border regions), and the Russian invasion was on. What did Bush do? "I was very firm with Vladimir Putin," the president said. "Hopefully this will get resolved peacefully." But Bush failed to support the Georgians. Moscow grabbed big chunks of its territory.
Other than the Reagan exception, the record is clear. When it comes to Russia, American presidents often talk tough but do nothing. Expect the same from President Obama even as Russian troops head toward Crimea.
Ukraine, after all, is even closer (in terms of both history and geography) to Russia than any of the above examples. To think Obama or any president could stop the Russian bear in its own backyard is naïve.
Russia traditionally feels secure only when its neighbors do not; today they do not.
Do not expect Putin to back down. And do not expect President Obama to stand up to him. That would be a historical aberration.
Why Russia authorized the use of force in the Ukraine
With the Russian Parliament approving Vladimir Putin's request to deploy troops in Ukraine, foreign policy wonk Ian Bremmer has weighed in with a graphic illustrating Russia's perspective on the Ukraine, and just why Russia is willing to entangle itself in the country, in spite of the warnings of President Obama and other Western leaders not to do so:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BhqX1pYIUAA-TKf.jpg)
The territory that makes up the Ukraine today has been part of various Russian empires for much of the past 400 years. Some regions — including the troubled Crimea — have Russian majorities even today due to mass migration that occurred during the Soviet years. And Kiev — the Ukrainian capital today — was the first capital of Russia itself.
The breakup of the Soviet Union has been a long and messy process, and is in some ways still ongoing today in the Ukraine. If the Russian-majority regions including Crimea wish to leave and rejoin Russia, it would seem to be rather impossible and futile to prevent that process.
On the other hand, if Russia tries to annex the whole of the Ukraine, then that is much more likely to draw Western retaliation, a rather edgy and tense prospect given the massive numbers of Russian and Western nuclear weapons.
- - John Aziz
Did Russia just make a huge mistake in invading Ukraine?http://theweek.com/article/index/257222/speedreads-why-russia-authorized-the-use-of-force-in-the-ukraine (http://theweek.com/article/index/257222/speedreads-why-russia-authorized-the-use-of-force-in-the-ukraine)
(http://media.theweek.com/img/speedreads/257226?199)
The Russian military is reportedly in effective control of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, a move that is bound to have deep repercussions for the region and Russia's relationship with the West. It's early days yet, but so far the sense is that Russian President Vladimir Putin has pulled a fast one on the new provisional government in Ukraine and a European Union that would like to pull Ukraine and other Russian satellites into its orbit.
But what if the wily Putin has actually made a terrible mistake?
That is what Eugene Romer and Andrew S. Weiss suggest in an article in Politico Magazine, arguing:QuoteWe should not take for granted that even in Ukraine’s east and south, where so many ethnic Russians live, that a military occupation will be a cakewalk. Many local residents surely do not want to become Russia’s 90th province. In Ukraine’s west, where the Soviet Army had to fight a protracted counterinsurgency campaign after WWII against Ukrainian nationalist guerrillas, armed resistance is certain to be strong. During the revolution, many army depots and armories were overrun so there are more weapons floating around Ukraine than at any point since 1991. And the leadership of the main instruments of coercion — the army, the interior ministry, and the intelligence service — are all in the hands of political leaders with strong Ukrainian nationalist credentials.[Politico Magazine]
Furthermore, the fallout at the international level is going to be hell for Putin, even if the West stops short of intervention. The last scraps of credibility Russia had as a member of the United Nations Security Council — where it has steadfastly blocked action against Bashar al-Assad on the grounds of sovereignty — are shot. The great "reset" with the United States is in tatters. The Sochi Winter Olympics — which was supposed to be the face of a kinder, gentler Russia — will go down as the most expensive fig leaf in history. Romer and Weiss also suggest that Russia will be kicked out of the Group of Eight; surely some kind of economic pain will be involved.
Putin's Russia is more isolated than ever. Is Crimea worth all that?
- - Ryu Spaeth
-And for that matter, the bias of the news coverage is more a matter of that being the way of the world than propaganda, I think. Few Americans know of the allied invasion of Russia in 1918, yet I suspect Russian children hear about it in elementary school. That's just how people are.
4 Reasons Putin Is Already Losing in Ukrainehttp://news.yahoo.com/4-reasons-putin-already-losing-ukraine-211452971.html (http://news.yahoo.com/4-reasons-putin-already-losing-ukraine-211452971.html)
Time.com
By Simon Shuster / Simferopol 3 hours ago
Even a week ago, the idea of a Russian military intervention in Ukraine seemed farfetched if not totally alarmist. The risks involved were just too enormous for President Vladimir Putin and for the country he has ruled for 14 years. But the arrival of Russian troops in Crimea over the weekend has shown that he is not averse to reckless adventures, even ones that offer little gain. In the coming days and weeks, Putin will have to decide how far he is prepared to take this intervention and how much he is prepared to suffer for it. It is already clear, however, that he cannot emerge as the winner of this conflict, at least not when the damage is weighed against the gains. It will at best be a Pyrrhic victory, and at worst an utter catastrophe. Here’s why:
At home, this intervention looks to be the one of the most unpopular decisions Putin has ever made. The Kremlin’s own pollster released a survey on Monday that showed 73% of Russians reject it. In phrasing its question to 1600 respondents across the country, the state-funded sociologists at WCIOM were clearly trying to get as much support for the intervention as possible: “Should Russia react to the overthrow of the legally elected authorities in Ukraine?” they asked. Only 15% said yes – hardly a national consensus.
That seems astounding in light of all the brainwashing Russians have faced on the issue of Ukraine. For weeks, the Kremlin’s effective monopoly on television news has been sounding the alarm over Ukraine. It’s revolution, they claimed, is the result of an American alliance with Nazis intended to weaken Russia. And still, nearly three quarters of the population oppose a Russian “reaction” of any kind, let alone a Russian military occupation like they are now watching unfold in Crimea. The 2008 invasion of Georgia had much broader support, because Georgia is not Ukraine. Ukraine is a nation of Slavs with deep cultural and historical ties to Russia. Most Russians have at least some family or friends living in Ukraine, and the idea of a fratricidal war between the two largest Slavic nations in the world evokes a kind of horror that no Kremlin whitewash can calm.
Indeed, Monday’s survey suggests that the influence of Putin’s television channels is breaking down. The blatant misinformation and demagoguery on Russian television coverage of Ukraine seems to have pushed Russians to go online for their information. And as for those who still have no Internet connection, they could simply have picked up the phone and called their panicked friends and relatives in Ukraine.
So what about Russia’s nationalists? The war-drum thumping Liberal Democratic party, a right-wing puppet of the Kremlin, has been screaming for Russia to send in the tanks. On Feb. 28, as troops began appearing on the streets of Crimea, the leader of that party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, was on the scene handing out wads of cash to a cheering crowd of locals in the city of Sevastopol, home of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. “Give it to the women, the old maids, the pregnant, the lonely, the divorced,” he told the crowd from atop a chair. “Russia is rich. We’ll give everybody everything.” But in Monday’s survey, 82% of his party’s loyalists rejected any such generosity. Even the adherents of the Communist Party, who tend to feel entitled to all of Russia’s former Soviet domains, said with a broad majority – 62% – that Russia should not jump into Ukraine’s internal crisis.
That does not necessarily mean Putin will face an uprising at home. So far, the anti-war protests in Moscow have looked almost pathetically temperate. But sociologists have been saying for years that Putin’s core electorate is dwindling. What underpins his popularity – roughly 60% approved of his rule before this crisis started – is a total lack of viable alternatives to Putin’s rule. But this decision is sure to eat away at the passive mass of his supporters, especially in Russia’s biggest cities.
In Monday’s survey, 30% of respondents from Moscow and St. Petersburg said that Russia could see massive political protests of the kind that overthrew the Ukrainian government last month. Putin’s only means of forestalling that kind of unrest is to crack down hard and early. So on Feb. 28, Russia’s most prominent opposition activist Alexei Navalny was put under house arrest less than six months after he won 30% of the vote in the Moscow mayoral race. Expect more of the same if the opposition to Putin’s intervention starts to find its voice.
The economic impact on Russia is already staggering. When markets opened on Monday morning, investors got their first chance to react to the Russian intervention in Ukraine over the weekend, and as a result, the key Russian stock indexes tanked by more than 10%. That amounts to almost $60 billion in stock value wiped out in the course of a day, more than Russia spent preparing for last month’s Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. The state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom, which accounts for roughly a quarter of Russian tax revenues, lost $15 billion in market value in one day – incidentally the same amount of money Russia promised to the teetering regime in Ukraine in December and then revoked in January as the revolution took hold.
The value of the Russian currency meanwhile dropped against the dollar to its lowest point on record, and the Russian central bank spent $10 billion on the foreign exchange markets trying to prop it up. “This has to fundamentally change the way investors and ratings agencies view Russia,” said Timothy Ash, head of emerging market research at Standard Bank. At a time when Russia’s economic growth was already stagnating, “This latest military adventure will increase capital flight, weaken Russian asset prices, slow investment and economic activity and growth. Western financial sanctions on Russia will hurt further,” Ash told the Wall Street Journal.
Even Russia’s closest allies want no part of this. The oil-rich state of Kazakhstan, the most important member of every regional alliance Russia has going in the former Soviet space, put out a damning statement on Monday, marking the first time its leaders have ever turned against Russia on such a major strategic issue: “Kazakhstan expresses deep concern over the developments in Ukraine,” the Foreign Ministry said. “Kazakhstan calls on all sides to stop the use of force in the resolution of this situation.”
What likely worries Russia’s neighbors most is the statement the Kremlin made on March 2, after Putin spoke on the phone with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. “Vladimir Putin noted that in case of any escalation of violence against the Russian-speaking population of the eastern regions of Ukraine and Crimea, Russia would not be able to stay away and would resort to whatever measures are necessary in compliance with international law.” This sets a horrifying precedent for all of Russia’s neighbors.
Every single state in the former Soviet Union, from Central Asia to the Baltics, has a large Russian-speaking population, and this statement means that Russia reserves the right to invade when it feels that population is threatened. The natural reaction of any Russian ally in the region would be to seek security guarantees against becoming the next Ukraine. For countries in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, including Armenia, a stanch Russian ally, that would likely stir desires for a closer alliance with NATO and the European Union. For the countries of Central Asia, Russia’s traditional stomping ground on the geopolitical map of the world, that would mean strengthening ties with nearby China, including military ones.
China, which has long been Russia’s silent partner on all issues of global security from Syria to Iran, has also issued cautious statements regarding Russia’s actions in Ukraine. “It is China’s long-standing position not to interfere in others’ internal affairs,” the Foreign Ministry reportedly said in a statement on Sunday. “We respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
So in the course of one weekend, Putin has spooked all of the countries he wanted to include in his grand Eurasian Union, the bloc of nations he hoped would make Russia a regional power again. The only gung-ho participants in that alliance so far have been Kazakhstan (see above) and Belarus, which is known as Europe’s last dictatorship. Its leader, Alexander Lukashenko, has so far remained silent on the Russian intervention in Ukraine. But last week, Belarus recognized the legitimacy of the new revolutionary government in Kiev, marking a major break from Russia, which has condemned Ukraine’s new leaders as extremists and radicals. The Belarusian ambassador in Kiev even congratulated Ukraine’s new Foreign Minister on taking office and said he looks forward to working with him.
As for the impoverished nation of Armenia, a late-comer to Russia’s fledgling Eurasian alliance, it has also recognized the new government in Kiev while stopping short of any official condemnation of Putin’s intervention in Ukraine so far. But on Saturday, prominent politicians led an anti-Putin demonstration in the Armenia capital. “We are not against Russia,” said the country’s former Minister of National Security David Shakhnazaryan. “We are against the imperial policies of Putin and the Kremlin.”
Russia’s isolation from the West will deepen dramatically. In June, Putin was planning to welcome the leaders of the G8, a club of western powers (plus Japan), in the Russian resort city of Sochi. But on Sunday, all of them announced they had halted their preparations for attending the summit in protest at Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. So much for Putin’s hard-fought seat at the table with the leaders of the western world.
In recent years, one of Russia’s greatest points of contention with the West has been over NATO’s plans to build of a missile shield in Europe. Russia has seen this as a major threat to its security, as the shield could wipe out Russia’s ability to launch nuclear missiles at the West. The long-standing nuclear deterrent that has protected Russia from Western attacks for generations – the Cold War doctrine of mutually assured destruction, or MAD – could thus be negated, Russia’s generals have warned. But after Russia decided to unilaterally invade its neighbor to the west this weekend, any remaining resistance to the missile shield project would be pushed aside by the renewed security concerns of various NATO members, primarily those in Eastern Europe and the Baltics. Whatever hopes Russia had of forestalling the construction of the missile shield through diplomacy are now most likely lost.
No less worrying for Putin would be the economic sanctions the West is preparing in answer to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. Depending on their intensity, those could cut off the ability of Russian companies and businessmen in getting western loans and trading with most of the world’s largest economies. Putin’s allies could also find it a lot more difficult to send their children to study in the West or to keep their assets in Western banks, as they now almost universally do. All of that raises the risk for Putin of a split in his inner circle and, potentially, even of a palace coup. There is hardly anything more important to Russia’s political elite than the security of their foreign assets, certainly not their loyalty to a leader who seems willing to put all of that at risk.
And what about the upside for Putin? There doesn’t seem to be much of it, at least not compared to the damage he stands to inflict on Russia and himself. But he does look set to accomplish a few things. For one, he demonstrates to the world that his red lines, unlike those of the White House, cannot be crossed.
If Ukraine’s revolutionary government moves ahead with their planned integration into the E.U. and possibly NATO, the military alliance that Russia sees as its main strategic threat would move right up to Russia’s western borders and, in Crimea, it would surround the Russian Black Sea fleet. That is a major red line for Putin and his generals.
By sending troops into Crimea and, potentially, into eastern Ukraine, Russia could secure a buffer around Russia’s strategic naval fleet and at its western border. For the military brass in Moscow, those are vital priorities, and their achievement is worth a great deal of sacrifice. Over the weekend, Putin’s actions showed that he is listening carefully to his generals. At the same time, he seems to be ignoring the outrage coming from pretty much everyone else.
I heard something on the radio about an hour ago to the effect that the stock market is very happy the Russian troops are pulling out...
Russian Stocks Gain as Putin Orders End to Military Exerciseshttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-04/russian-stocks-gain-as-putin-orders-end-to-military-exercises.html?cmpid=yhoo (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-04/russian-stocks-gain-as-putin-orders-end-to-military-exercises.html?cmpid=yhoo)
By Vladimir Kuznetsov Mar 4, 2014 2:03 AM ET
Russian stocks climbed the most since September after a report President Vladimir Putin ordered the end to military exercises.
The Micex Index (INDEXCF) gained 2.9 percent to 1,325.83 as of 10:40 a.m. in Moscow, snapping five days of declines including yesterday’s 11 percent slump. United Co. Rusal, the world’s biggest aluminum producer, and builder OAO LSR Group surged more than 12 percent.
The nation’s benchmark equities index plunged the most in more than five years yesterday after Putin ordered the deployment of troops to Crimea. Troops who took part in military exercises in Western Russia were ordered back to base, the Interfax news service reported today, citing Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“It’s more a reaction to yesterday’s decline -- after all, the plunge was very strong,” Alexei Bachurin, head of equities trading at Renaissance Capital in Moscow, said today by e-mail.
Russia’s equities have the cheapest valuations among 21 developing countries monitored by Bloomberg, with shares on the Micex trading at 4.8 times projected 12-month earnings, compared with a multiple of 10.1 for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
Any thoughts, Rusty?
Putin cools tensions in Ukraine, Kerry in Kievhttp://news.yahoo.com/putin-cools-tensions-ukraine-kerry-kiev-210507223.html (http://news.yahoo.com/putin-cools-tensions-ukraine-kerry-kiev-210507223.html)
Associated Press
4 hours ago
(http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/zFvO7hbBzJ9_0dfw7pMKkA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQxNDtweG9mZj01MDtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz03MzY-/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/video/video.associatedpressfree.com/5dd298a860e1719d14545ce646c16a19)
Pro-Russian troops who had taken control of the Belbek air base in the Crimea region fired warning shots into the air on Tuesday as around 300 Ukrainian soldiers, who previously manned the airfield, demanded their jobs back. (March 4)
MOSCOW (AP) — Stepping back from the brink of war, Vladimir Putin talked tough but cooled tensions in the Ukraine crisis in his first comments since its president fled, saying Tuesday that Russia has no intention "to fight the Ukrainian people" but reserved the right to use force.
As the Russian president held court in his personal residence, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Kiev's fledgling government and Moscow agreed to sit down with NATO.
Although nerves remained on edge in Crimea, with Russian troops firing warning shots to ward off Ukrainian soldiers, global markets catapulted higher on tentative signals that the Kremlin was not seeking to escalate the conflict. Kerry brought moral support and a $1 billion aid package to a Ukraine fighting to fend off bankruptcy.
Lounging in an arm-chair before Russian tricolor flags, Putin delivered a characteristic performance filled with earthy language, macho swagger and sarcastic jibes, accusing the West of promoting an "unconstitutional coup" in Ukraine. At one point he compared the U.S. role to an experiment with "lab rats."
But the overall message appeared to be one of de-escalation. "It seems to me (Ukraine) is gradually stabilizing," Putin said. "We have no enemies in Ukraine. Ukraine is a friendly state."
He tempered those comments by warning that Russia was willing to use "all means at our disposal" to protect ethnic Russians in the country.
(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/Sv85XFxL1FqxhU7.tWx6wQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQxNDtweG9mZj01MDtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz03MzY-/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/video/video.associatedpressfree.com/5313a1ddea04da97bd80ad1cffeade40)
Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kiev Tuesday to show support for the country's government. Kerry touched down as the U.S. announced a $1 billion aid package to Ukraine amid worries that Moscow would extend its military reach. (March 4)
Significantly, Russia agreed to a NATO request to hold a special meeting to discuss Ukraine on Wednesday in Brussels, opening up a possible diplomatic channel in a conflict that still holds monumental hazards and uncertainties.
While the threat of military confrontation retreated somewhat Tuesday, both sides ramped up economic feuding in their struggle over Ukraine. Russia hit its nearly broke neighbor with a termination of discounts on natural gas, while the U.S. announced a $1 billion aid package in energy subsidies to Ukraine.
"We are going to do our best (to help you). We are going to try very hard," Kerry said upon arriving in Kiev. "We hope Russia will respect the election that you are going to have."
Ukraine's finance minister, who has said Ukraine needs $35 billion to get through this year and next, was meeting Tuesday with officials from the International Monetary Fund.
World stock markets, which slumped the previous day, clawed back a large chunk of their losses Tuesday on signs that Russia was backpedaling. Gold, the Japanese yen and U.S. treasuries — all seen as safe havens — returned some of their gains. Russia's RTS index, which fell 12 percent on Monday rose 6.2 percent Tuesday. In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.2 percent.
"Confidence in equity markets has been restored as the standoff between Ukraine and Russia is no longer on red alert," said David Madden, market analyst at IG.
Russia took over the strategic peninsula of Crimea on Saturday, placing its troops around its ferry, military bases and border posts. Two Ukrainian warships remained anchored in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, blocked from leaving by Russian ships.
"Those unknown people without insignia who have seized administrative buildings and airports ... what we are seeing is a kind of velvet invasion," said Russian military analyst Alexander Golts.
The territory's enduring volatility was put in stark relief Tuesday morning: Russian troops, who had taken control of the Belbek air base, fired warning shots into the air as some 300 Ukrainian soldiers, who previously manned the airfield, demanded their jobs back.
As the Ukrainians marched unarmed toward the base, about a dozen Russian soldiers told them not to approach, then fired several shots into the air and said they would shoot the Ukrainians if they continued toward them.
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In the wake of Russia's control of Ukraine's strategic Crimean peninsula, analysts say the Western opposition should deploy tough economic sanctions to encourage Russia to scale back its presence. (March 3)
The Ukrainian troops vowed to hold whatever ground they had left on the Belbek base.
"We are worried. But we will not give up our base," said Capt. Nikolai Syomko, an air force radio electrician holding an AK47. He said the soldiers felt they were being held hostage, caught between Russia and Ukraine. There were no other reports of significant armed confrontations Tuesday in Ukraine.
Amid the tensions, the Russian military on Tuesday test-fired a Topol intercontinental ballistic missile. The missile, fired from a launch pad in southern Russia, hit a designated target on a range leased by Russia from Kazakhstan.
The new Ukrainian leadership in Kiev, which Putin does not recognize, has accused Moscow of a military invasion in Crimea, which the Russian leader denied.
Ukraine's prime minister expressed hope Tuesday that a negotiated solution could be found. Arseniy Yatsenyuk told a news conference that both governments were talking again, albeit slowly.
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President Vladimir Putin answers journalists' questions on current situation in Ukraine at the Novo-Ogaryovo presidential residence outside Moscow on Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Putin accused the West of encouraging an "unconstitutional coup" in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Moscow reserves the right to use all means to protect Russians there. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service)
"We hope that Russia will understand its responsibility in destabilizing the security situation in Europe, that Russia will realize that Ukraine is an independent state and that Russian troops will leave the territory of Ukraine," he said.
In his hour-long meeting with reporters Tuesday, Putin said Russia had no intention of annexing Crimea, while insisting its residents have the right to determine the region's status in a referendum later this month. Crimean tensions, Putin said, "have been settled."
He said massive military maneuvers Russia has conducted involving 150,000 troops near Ukraine's border were previously planned and were unrelated to the current situation in Ukraine. Russia announced that Putin had ordered the troops back to their bases.
Putin hammered away at his message that the West was to blame for Ukraine's turmoil, saying its actions were driving Ukraine into anarchy. He warned that any sanctions the United States and European Union place on Russia for its actions will backfire.
Russia's Foreign Ministry derided American threats of punitive measures as a "failure to enforce its will and its vision of the right and wrong side of history" — a swipe at President Barack Obama's statement Monday that Russia was "on the wrong side of history."
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Russian soldiers fire warning shots at the Belbek air base, outside Sevastopol, Ukraine, on Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Russian troops, who had taken control over Belbek airbase, fired warning shots in the air as around 300 Ukrainian officers marched towards them to demand their jobs back. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
The EU was to hold an emergency summit Thursday on whether to impose sanctions.
Moscow has insisted that the Russian military deployment in Crimea has remained within the limits set by a bilateral agreement concerning Russia's Black Sea Fleet military base there. At the United Nations, Russia's ambassador to the U.N., Vitaly Churkin, said Russia was entitled to deploy up to 25,000 troops in Crimea under that agreement.
The Russian president also asserted that Ukraine's 22,000-strong force in Crimea had dissolved and its arsenals had fallen under the control of the local government. He didn't explain if that meant the Ukrainian soldiers had just left their posts or if they had switched allegiance from Kiev to the local pro-Russian government.
Putin accused the West of using fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych's decision in November to ditch a pact with the EU in favor of closer ties with Russia to fan the protests that drove him from power and plunged Ukraine into turmoil.
"I have told them a thousand times 'Why are you splitting the country?'" he said.
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A man wearing camouflage uniform holds a candle during the funeral of Volodymyr Topiy, 59, who was found burned in the house of trade unions in Kiev's Independence Square during recent clashes with police, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Vladimir Putin ordered tens of thousands of Russian troops participating in military exercises near Ukraine's border to return to their bases as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was on his way to Kiev. Tensions remained high in the strategic Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea with troops loyal to Moscow fired warning shots to ward off protesting Ukrainian soldiers. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
While he said he still considers Yanukovych to be Ukraine's legitimate president, he acknowledged that the fallen leader has no political future — and said Russia gave him shelter only to save his life. Ukraine's new government wants to put Yanukovych on trial for the deaths of over 80 people during protests last month in Kiev.
Putin had withering words for Yanukovych, with whom he has never been close.
Asked if he harbors any sympathy for the fugitive president, Putin replied that he has "quite opposite feelings."
I don't really want to argue anywhere. I wish I hadn't said that because I don't want to alienate anyone, but I thought it needed pointing out at the time. Maybe I'll lie low here for a while.Well, look at the conversation we've had in this thread - passion, but no acrimony. You know you're wanted here.
I just hope and pray for peaceful resolution.Amen.
Thanks a lot.
Maybe I'm just in a sensitive mood. Or maybe I'm reading too much into things, looking at various internet forums from the same perspective as confrontations between world leaders. Somebody sticks their neck out and then things get worse when there's no way to back down or bow out without losing face. That applies to me, too.
Thanks a lot.Between you and me, Zik is a prince among men, and you're worrying too much - just look at his sig. But you definitely should hide out here. ;)
Maybe I'm just in a sensitive mood. Or maybe I'm reading too much into things, looking at various internet forums from the same perspective as confrontations between world leaders. Somebody sticks their neck out and then things get worse when there's no way to back down or bow out without losing face. That applies to me, too.
How strong is the evidence that the US is to blame for the opposition takeover, anyway??
I don't have a problem with Recreation Commons, just the internet in general.You're telling me. Back in September, someone formerly my favorite internet friend - well, the back wound (one of too many) still bleeds on bad nights when the insomnia kicks in. I've cleaned up my act SO much over five years of heavy forum activity, and sometimes the SOBs can really get you down, no matter what you do, how careful you get.
I don't have a problem with Recreation Commons, just the internet in general.
As for my student, he was drafted into the Soviet Army. He served two years. He drove one of those awesome Ural trucks. He couldn't understand why the American army used smaller trucks that were more complicated and harder to maintain.
He told me that the enlisted part of the army was divided into groups, a new one every 6 months, sort of like freshmen/sophomores/juniors/seniors . The seniors were bullies. It didn't sound like any way to run an army to me, but come to think of it, it's not so different from the way things were at West Point in the 1970s. ( One of my friends went there. There were plenty of people on crutches and in casts from hazing incidents. ) . As far as I known, my Ukranian student was discharged at the end of his enlistment.
He was educated in art and he said he was/wanted to be a furniture designer. There didn't seem to be a comparable job here, so far as he could explain things to me. Here he worked as a rod man on a survey crew, and was learning computer assisted design the last I saw of him.
He was a very kind and good natured guy, and easy to get along with. There was an exception.
Sometimes we used a room that was a women's resource center during the day. Once he read some inspirational story on the bulletin board, about a woman with a miserable childhood and life turning things around starting her own business.
He was shocked to learn that a man would have ever have sex with his own daughter, and refused to believe that anything like that could happen in the Soviet Union, same with gays, because he never heard of it.
Camera Lowered Into Deep Ocean Trench Finds Unexpected Creatures
By Rich McCormick on March 4, 2014 05:13 am
Scientists have taken their first look into the previously unexplored New Hebrides deep-sea trench in the Pacific Ocean. At the bottom of the trench — a depth of more than 23,000 feet (7,000 meters) — they found a surprising group of creatures unlike those found in other deep trenches around the world.
The expedition was carried out by the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab team in association with New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. An unmanned lander fitted with cameras descended into the trench between the islands of New Caledonia and Vanuatu off Australia's eastern coast.
Dr. Alan Jamieson, who worked on the University's Oceanlab team, described the unexpected findings. "The surprising thing was that there was a complete and utter lack of one of the most common deep sea fish we would expect to see. Anywhere else around the Pacific Rim, around the trenches we've looked at, you see a lot of grenadiers — they are quite a conspicuous part of the deep-sea community. But when we went to the New Hebrides trench, we didn't see a single one." Also missing were snail fish, small, pink creatures with large heads, often found in deep-sea trenches.
Instead, the expedition found an ecosystem built around other animals. Large red shrimp scuttled across the trench's floor, joined by eel pouts, arrow-tooth eels and "thousands of smaller crustaceans," some of which the lander was able to collect and bring to the surface. The expedition also found a surprising abundance of Cusk-eels. Jamieson says the eels have appeared in other deep-sea trenches across the world, but in "very, very low numbers." In the New Hebrides trench, Jamieson says the eels were common.
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The difference in ecosystem, Jamieson and the scientists believe, is due to the "very unproductive" water above the trench. Without sufficient nutrients in the shallower sea off the coast of New Caledonia, fish that rely upon higher food quantities — such as the grenadiers the scientists expected to find — are unable to survive. Cusk-eels, on the other hand, are specialists in very low food areas. Jamieson says that each deep-sea trench is such a strange environment that scientists can't set solid expectations for what kind of creatures they'll discover. "We're starting to find out that what happens at one trench doesn't necessarily represent what happens in all the trenches."
That's a slippery subject; armies run on bullying, by the nature of the thing. A soldier is going to get told to go over the top when it's clearly not in his personal best interest, and he better be more afraid of Sarge than getting killed, or the army doesn't work as an army. All the rest naturally follows.
5 Key Facts About Crimeahttp://news.yahoo.com/5-key-facts-crimea-123447547.html (http://news.yahoo.com/5-key-facts-crimea-123447547.html)
LiveScience.com
By Marc Lallanilla, Assistant Editor March 4, 2014 7:34 AM
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Tuesday during a press conference, President Vladimir Putin said Russia has the right to 'take all measures' in Ukraine. It came as video surfaced of a confrontation between Russian and Ukraine soldiers.
In the ongoing international showdown between Russia and Ukraine, the region known as Crimea has emerged as the top prize — a position it has held, for better or worse, for millennia.
Russian-allied troops in Crimea have taken hold of key targets — including airports, government offices and military bases — and Russian military leaders demanded the complete surrender of all Ukrainian forces in Crimea on Monday (March 3).
What is it about this peninsula that makes it so desirable as a geopolitical trophy? The answer lies in Crimea's unique climate, diverse culture, geography and often-troubled history.
1. Crimea is semi-autonomous
Crimea has been a part of Ukraine since 1954, when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev "gave" it to Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Since that time, Crimea has existed as a semi-autonomous region of the Ukrainian nation, with strong political bonds to Ukraine — and equally strong cultural ties to Russia.
Crimea has its own legislative body — the 100-member Supreme Council of Crimea — and executive power is held by a Council of Ministers, which is headed by a chairman who serves with the approval of the president of Ukraine. The courts, however, are part of the judicial system of Ukraine and have no autonomous authority.
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The Crimean peninsula extends off the southern coast of Ukraine into the Black Sea.
2. Crimea's climate and geography
Crimea is surrounded almost completely by the Black Sea, and encompasses an area of about 10,000 square miles (26,000 square kilometers), roughly the size of the state of Maryland. The peninsula is connected to the Ukrainian mainland by the narrow Isthmus of Perekop.
And Crimea — which rests about 200 miles (322 km) northwest of Sochi, Russia — enjoys the same mild, year-round climate as the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics. The climate is a big reason why Russian leaders are so adamant about keeping Crimea within their sphere: The Black Sea is Russia's only warm-water port.
Though Crimea is recognized worldwide as a part of Ukraine, the Russian Navy has kept its Black Sea Fleet stationed at a naval base in Sevastopol (in southern Crimea) since the late 1700s. In 2010, Russia negotiated an agreement that allows the country to share the all-important Sevastopol naval base through 2042, in exchange for deep discounts of about $40 billion on natural gas from Russia.
3. Gas and grains drive the economy
Beyond the strategic importance of Crimea and Ukraine, the situation in the region is complicated by both the abundance and scarcity of certain natural resources.
Ukraine has been called "the breadbasket of Russia" for centuries, since the region produced much of the grain needed to feed the country's vast czarist empire. Even today, Ukraine is one of the world's largest producers of corn and wheat, and much of that passes through Crimean ports. (More than 50 percent of the Crimean economy is devoted to food production and distribution industries, according to Ukrainian government figures.)
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As Ukraine is tugged by the East and the West, many in Crimea welcome Russia’s aggressive stance, hoping Moscow will secure their place in a fractured future.
But the semiarid climate that makes Crimea such a popular tourist destination also makes the peninsula largely dependent on Ukraine for water, as well as about 70 percent of its food, according to Slate.
The energy picture in Crimea and Ukraine is also tricky: Crimea relies on Ukraine for much of its electricity, and Europe relies on Russia for about 25 percent of its natural gas, according to CNN. Furthermore, the natural gas that Russia sends to Europe travels largely through pipelines that snake across the Ukrainian landscape.
That's why any instability in the region is bound to send shock waves through international energy markets: Crude-oil prices jumped by $2.33 a barrel on Monday (March 3), due in large part to jitters over the Russian aggression in Crimea, according to the Associated Press.
4. The Crimean War
If you're looking for a time when the geopolitical scene in Crimea was stable, you won't have much luck. The peninsula has, throughout its long history, been occupied by ancient Greeks, Romans, Goths, Huns, Ottomans, Mongols, Venetians and Nazi Germans. [In Photos: Amazing Ruins of the Ancient World]
From 1853 to 1856, the Crimean War roiled the area, as France, England and the Ottoman Empire fought the Russians for control of Crimea and the Black Sea. Russia eventually lost and ceded its claim to the peninsula, but not before the cities and villages of Crimea were ravaged.
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Oleg, a Ukrainian soldier at the Belbek military base, kisses his girlfriend Svetlana through the gates of the base entrance on March 3, 2014 in Lubimovka, Ukraine. Tensions at the base, where between 100 and 200 Ukrainian soldiers are stationed, are high as a 4pm deadline reportedly given by Russian troops for the Ukrainians to surrender passed and locals feared the Russians might attack tonight. Heavily-armed soldiers who are not displaying identifying insignia but are widely believed to be Russians have blockaded several Ukrainian military bases across Crimea. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Despite its devastation, the Crimean War was noteworthy for several advances: Florence Nightingale and Russian surgeons introduced modern methods of nursing and battlefield care that are still in use today; the Russians soon abolished their medieval system of serfdom (in which peasants were bound to serve landowners, even as soldiers); and the use of photography and the telegraph gave the war a distinctly modern cast.
5. Crimean Tatars wield influence
For proof that the past is never really gone, you need look no further than Crimea, home to an ancient ethnic group known as the Tatars, who still wield considerable influence.
Primarily Muslim, the Tatars of Crimea were instrumental in making the peninsula one of the centers of Islamic culture. They were also known as slave traders who raided lands as far north as modern-day Poland.
The Tatars didn't fare well in the Crimean War or in later conflicts, and many fled the region. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin may have dealt the Tatars their cruelest blow: By shipping food out of Crimea to central Russia in the 1920s, Stalin starved hundreds of thousands of Tatars.
During World War II, Crimean Tatars were deported by the thousands to serve as laborers and other menial workers in Russia under inhuman conditions — about half the Tatar population reportedly died as a result. [Video - World War II Underwater Graveyard Discovered]
After the fall of the Soviet empire, Tatars began to return to their ancestral Crimean homeland, where they now number about 250,000 — roughly 12 percent of the Crimean population.
For obvious reasons, the Crimean Tatars take a dim view of renewed Russian incursions into their homeland, and are likely to put up some resistance. "If there is a conflict, as the minority, we will be the first to suffer," Crimean Tatar Usein Sarano told Reuters. "We are scared for our families, for our children."
They may be outnumbered, however: While much of western Ukraine favors a greater political, economic and cultural alliance with Western Europe and the United States, the majority of those in eastern Ukraine and Crimea — where many residents are ethnic Russians — look to Moscow for leadership and support.
Suppose you were their senior officer, JarlWolf, how would you handle that one?
Nothing for extremely dangerous action? He could have seriously injured the junior cadet, and that's surely not okay...
US deploys fighter jets to Poland, Lithuaniahttp://news.yahoo.com/us-deploys-fighter-jets-poland-lithuania-200314022.html (http://news.yahoo.com/us-deploys-fighter-jets-poland-lithuania-200314022.html)
AFP
4 hours ago
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Mounting evidence of military involvement as ABC News witnesses swearing-in ceremony of a pro-Russia militia unit.
Warsaw (AFP) - The United States is sending a dozen F-16 fighter jets to Poland as a part of a training exercise, amid continuing tensions between Ukraine and Russia, the Polish defence ministry said on Sunday.
Three hundred US service personnel will also be sent to Poland as part of the exercise. The deployment will be completed by Thursday.
Chuck Hagel, the US Secretary of State for Defence, and his Polish counterpart Tomasz Siemoniak agreed the deployment during a phone call, according to a statement from the Polish ministry.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry (R) shakes hands with Poland's Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak in front of an F-16 aircraft at the Lask Air Force Base, on November 5, 2013 (AFP Photo/Jason Reed)
"The unit will be composed of 12 F-16 planes and will transport 300 soldiers," defence ministry spokesman Jacek Sonta told AFP.
The fighters had been sent following a request from Poland.
The exercise was originally planned to be smaller but was increased and pushed forward because of the "tense political situation" in Ukraine, added Sonta.
The deployment in Poland comes after Washington announced it was also sending four F-15 planes to Lithuania to strengthen surveillance in the airspace around the Baltic.
According to Lithuania's defence ministry, the deployment was in response to "Russian aggression in Ukraine and increased military activity in Kaliningrad," the Russian exclave which borders Poland and Lithuania.
While, Poland has 48 of its own F-16 fighter jets, the Baltic states do not have sufficient air resources and look to NATO to provide protection for its airspace.
Do Elephants Make Alarm Call That Means ‘Humans!’?
A new study suggests that elephants make a specific rumble in response to the danger of humans that’s distinct from calls warning of bees or other threats.
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Elephants flee the sound of local people while emitting the telltale ‘human’ alarm call rumble. Image credit: University of Oxford
African elephants make a specific alarm call in response to the danger of humans, according to a new study of wild elephants in Kenya.
Researchers from Oxford University, Save the Elephants, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom carried out a series of audio experiments in which recordings of the voices of the Samburu, a local tribe from North Kenya, were played to resting elephants. The elephants quickly reacted, becoming more vigilant and running away from the sound whilst emitting a distinctive low rumble.
When the team, having recorded this rumble, played it back to a group of elephants they reacted in a similar way to the sound of the Samburu voices; running away and becoming very vigilant, perhaps searching for the potentially lethal threat of human hunters.
The new research, recently reported in PLOS ONE, builds on previous Oxford University research showing that elephants call ‘bee-ware’ and run away from the sound of angry bees. Whilst the ‘bee’ and ‘human’ rumbling alarm calls might sound similar to our ears there are important differences at low (infrasonic) frequencies that elephants can hear but humans can’t.
‘Elephants appear to be able to manipulate their vocal tract (mouth, tongue, trunk and so on) to shape the sounds of their rumbles to make different alarm calls,’ said Dr Lucy King of Save the Elephants and Oxford University who led the study with Dr Joseph Soltis, a bioacoustics expert from Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and colleagues.
‘We concede the possibility that these alarm calls are simply a by-product of elephants running away, that is, just an emotional response to the threat that other elephants pick up on,’ Lucy tells me. ‘On the other hand, we think it is also possible that the rumble alarms are akin to words in human language, and that elephants voluntarily and purposefully make those alarm calls to warn others about specific threats. Our research results here show that African elephant alarm calls can differentiate between two types of threat and reflect the level of urgency of that threat.’
Elephant ‘human’ alarm call rumble
Significantly, the reaction to the human alarm call included none of the head-shaking behaviour displayed by elephants hearing the bee alarm. When threatened by bees elephants shake their heads in an effort to knock the insects away as well as running — despite their thick hides adult elephants can be stung around their eyes or up their trunks, whilst calves could potentially be killed by a swarm of stinging bees as they have yet to develop a thick protective skin.
Lucy explains: ‘Interestingly, the acoustic analysis done by Joseph Soltis at his Disney laboratory showed that the difference between the ”bee alarm rumble” and the ”human alarm rumble” is the same as a vowel-change in human language, which can change the meaning of words (think of ”boo” and ”bee”). Elephants use similar vowel-like changes in their rumbles to differentiate the type of threat they experience, and so give specific warnings to other elephants who can decipher the sounds.’
This collaborative research on how elephants react to and communicate about honeybees and humans is being used to reduce human-elephant conflict in Kenya. Armed with the knowledge that elephants are afraid of bees, Lucy and Save the Elephants have built scores of ‘beehive fences’ around local farms that protect precious fields from crop-raiding elephants.
‘In this way, local farmers can protect their families and livelihoods without direct conflict with elephants, and they can harvest the honey too for extra income,’ says Lucy. ‘Learning more about how elephants react to threats such as bees and humans will help us design strategies to reduce human-elephant conflict and protect people and elephants.’
Bottom line: According to a new study, African elephants make a specific alarm call in response to the danger of humans.
Via University of Oxford
It still stinks.
And she's right on all 3 accounts- the sharpshooters have been proven to be a third party now.
Also, on a side note the Crimean Attorney General is drop dead gorgeous... :-[ ;lol ;lol
Crimea was ceded itself to my country because of historical ties: Crimea belonged to Russia at one point, we GIFTED it to Ukraine due to geographical ties and Political ties Kruschev had with Ukraine.
Scientists Say Destructive Solar Blasts Narrowly Missed Earth in 2012
by Laila Kearney
March 19, 2014 9:17pm
(Reuters) - Fierce solar blasts that could have badly damaged electrical grids and disabled satellites in space narrowly missed Earth in 2012, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
The bursts would have wreaked havoc on the Earth's magnetic field, matching the severity of the 1859 Carrington event, the largest solar magnetic storm ever reported on the planet. That blast knocked out the telegraph system across the United States, according to University of California, Berkeley research physicist Janet Luhmann.
"Had it hit Earth, it probably would have been like the big one in 1859, but the effect today, with our modern technologies, would have been tremendous," Luhmann said in a statement.
A 2013 study estimated that a solar storm like the Carrington Event could take a $2.6 trillion bite out of the current global economy.
Massive bursts of solar wind and magnetic fields, shot into space on July 23, 2012, would have been aimed directly at Earth if they had happened nine days earlier, Luhmann said.
The bursts from the sun, called coronal mass ejections, carried southward magnetic fields and would have clashed with Earth's northward field, causing a shift in electrical currents that could have caused electrical transformers to burst into flames, Luhmann said. The fields also would have interfered with global positioning system satellites.
The event, detected by NASA's STEREO A spacecraft, is the focus of a paper that was released in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday by Luhmann, China's State Key Laboratory of Space Weather professor Ying Liu and their colleagues.
Although coronal mass ejections can happen several times a day during the sun's most active 11-year cycle, the blasts are usually small or weak compared to the 2012 and 1859 events, she said.
Luhmann said that by studying images captured by the sun-observing spacecraft, scientists can better understand coronal mass ejections and predict solar magnetic storms in the future.
"We have the opportunity to really look closely at one of these events in all of its glory and look at why in this instance was so extreme," Luhmann said.
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This image, captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows the M5.3 class solar flare that peaked on July 4, 2012, at 5:55 AM EDT and released on July 5, 2012. REUTERS/NASA/SDO/AIA/Helioviewer/Handout
Toilet Tech Fair Tackles Global Sanitation Woes
by Katy Daigle
March 22, 2014 11:14pm
NEW DELHI (AP) — Who would have expected a toilet to one day filter water, charge a cellphone or create charcoal to combat climate change?
These are lofty ambitions beyond what most of the world's 2.5 billion people with no access to modern sanitation would expect. Yet, scientists and toilet innovators around the world say these are exactly the sort of goals needed to improve global public health amid challenges such as poverty, water scarcity and urban growth.
Scientists who accepted the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's challenge to reinvent the toilet showcased their inventions in the Indian capital Saturday. The primary goal: to sanitize waste, use minimal water or electricity, and produce a usable product at low cost.
The World Bank estimates the annual global cost of poor sanitation at $260 billion, including loss of life, missed work, medical bills and other related factors. India alone accounts for $54 billion - more than the entire GDP of Kenya or Costa Rica.
India is by far the worst culprit, with more than 640 million people defecating in the open and producing a stunning 72,000 tons of human waste each day - the equivalent weight of almost 10 Eiffel Towers or 1,800 humpback whales.
Pooping in public is so acceptable that many Indians will do it on sidewalks or in open fields. Gaze out the window of any Indian train and face a line of bare bottoms doing their business on the tracks. Meanwhile, diarrheal diseases kill 700,000 children every year, most of which could have been prevented with better sanitation.
"In the West, such things are a nuisance, but people don't lose their lives," said Christopher Elias, president of global development at the Gates Foundation. "People don't immediately realize the damage done by infections coming from human waste."
India has been encouraging rural communities to build toilets, and last year launched a $1.6 billion program to help. But building sanitation systems in developing countries is not easy. Flush toilets are not always an option. Many poor communities live in water-stressed areas. Others lack links to sewage pipes or treatment plants.
To be successful, scientists said, the designs being exhibited at Saturday's Toilet Fair had to go beyond treating urine and feces as undesirable waste, and recognize them as profit-generating resources for electricity, fertilizer or fuel.
"Traditionally, people have gone into communities and said, 'Let's dig you a pit.' That's seen as condescension, a token that isn't very helpful. After all, who is going to clean that pit?" said M. Sohail, professor of sustainable infrastructure at Loughborough University in the U.K.
The designs are mostly funded by Gates Foundation grants and in various stages of development, though others not created as part of the Gates challenge were also exhibiting on Saturday.
Some toilets collapsed neatly for easy portability into music festivals, disaster zones or illegal slums. One emptied into pits populated by waste-munching cockroaches and worms.
One Washington-based company, Janicki Industries, designed a power plant that could feed off the waste from a small city to produce 150 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power thousands of homes.
The University of the West of England, Bristol, showcased a urine-powered fuel cell to charge cellphones overnight.
Another team from the University of Colorado, Boulder, brought a system concentrating solar power through fiber optic cables to heat waste to about 300 degrees Celsius. Aside from killing pathogens, the process creates a charcoal-like product called biochar useful as cooking fuel or fertilizer.
"At the core are really interesting scientific principles, so translating this into scientific advances that people can relate to is really exciting," said one of the project leaders, Karl Linden, professor of environmental engineering in Boulder. "Biochar is an important subject for scientists at the moment, since it can be used to sequester carbon in the soil for 1,000 years or more."
A team from Beijing Sunnybreeze Technologies Inc. also brought a solar-biochar system, but with the solar panels heating air that will dry sludgy human waste into nuggets that are then heated further under low-oxygen conditions to create biochar.
"We are trying to build a system simple enough to be fixed in the village," technical adviser John Keating said.
One company from the southern Indian state of Kerala was not as concerned with providing toilets as with cleaning them. Toilets are more common in Kerala than they are in much of the country, but no one wants to clean them, said Bincy Baby of Eram Scientific Solutions.
"There is a stigma. The lowest of the low are the ones who clean the toilets," Baby said. Eram's solution is a coin-operated eToilet with an electronic system that triggers an automated, self-cleaning mechanism. With 450 prototypes now looped into sewage systems across India, electrical engineers are lining up for jobs as toilet technicians. "Now, they're proud of their jobs."
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In this Friday, March 21, 2014 photo, an exhibitor demonstrates the use of a toilet tap where water is recycled and reused, during Reinvent The Toilet Fair in New Delhi, India. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal)
(http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/33fbfa836a282a0b4f0f6a706700530f.jpg)
In this Friday, March 21, 2014 photo, an exhibitor displays a Biochar, a charcoal-like product made from human waste, used as cooking fuel or fertilizer, at the Reinvent The Toilet Fair in New Delhi, India.
Scientists who accepted the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s challenge to reinvent the toilet showcased their inventions in the Indian capital Saturday. The primary goal: to sanitize waste, use minimal water or electricity, and produce a usable product at low cost. India is by far the worst culprit, with more than 640 million people defecating in the open and producing a stunning 72,000 tons of human waste each day - the equivalent weight of almost 10 Eiffel Towers or 1,800 humpback whales. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal)
Thousands Make #nomakeupselfie Donation Error
By Dave Lee
Technology reporter, BBC News
24 March 2014 Last updated at 20:06 ET
(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/73785000/jpg/_73785083_163799414.jpg)
Many people accidentally enquired about adopting a polar bear
Thousands of pounds donated as part of the "#nomakeupselfie" craze were sent to Unicef instead of Cancer Research UK by mistake, the BBC has learned.
More than £2m has been raised after the craze of taking a self-portrait with no make-up spread virally.
But those texting "DONATE" rather than "BEAT" found their money sent to the wrong charity.
Others accidentally enquired about adopting a polar bear from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
UN agency Unicef told the BBC that so far £18,625 has been identified as being accidentally pledged.
It said it was now working with Cancer Research UK to transfer the funds donated so they can be used as intended.
Mike Flynn, director of individual giving at Unicef UK, said it was a "genuine mix-up".
"Unicef believes this error has occurred due to those interested in donating to the #nomakeupselfie campaign sharing the text keyword 'DONATE' - rather than the keyword 'BEAT' - and the text number 70099, which has then been repeated across social media.
"'DONATE to 70099' is an SMS keyword and shortcode combination that Unicef have sole use of, specifically for any members of the public who contact us and wish to donate to us via SMS."
He added: "Unicef is not responsible for this error however we've been working hard to find a resolution to the situation for those affected.
"We contacted Cancer Research [UK] as soon as we became aware of what was happening. Unicef and Cancer Research [UK] have agreed that these donations will be received in full by Cancer Research [UK].
"We are now working closely with all parties involved to ensure that this doesn't happen again in the future."
Adopting polar bears
The #nomakeupselfie craze has taken social media by storm since flourishing last week. Its origins are unclear, but since going viral the trend has raised more than £2m for Cancer Research UK and other cancer charities.
But it has not been without mishaps for some well-meaning selfie takers.
As well as the Unicef mix-up, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) acknowledged that it too had accidentally received text messages due to the wrong keyword.
Some people's smartphones had autocorrected the word "BEAT" to instead read "BEAR".
"Thank you for choosing an adorable polar bear," the reply from the WWF said. "We will call you today to set up your adoption."
The autocorrect blunder surprised many who took to Twitter to joke about their adoption news.
"Just told Jamie to text 70007 for cancer and he accidentally sent bear," wrote Twitter user @ChrisKirk07. "Now he's got two polar bears."
The WWF said no money was taken from people who had sent the texts.
"Any texts sent to us instead of Cancer Research [UK] would not result in any donations going to help protect polar bears as WWF relies on human operators calling people back to confirm adoptions, so no money would have changed hands," said Kerry Blackstock, WWF's director of fundraising.
"When we realised there was a lot of interest in a campaign we weren't presently running we made sure our automatic text message response let the sender know their text had gone awry.
"We wish Cancer Research UK every success in their campaign and their goals, polar bear selfies are harder to come by, though, as far as we are aware, none wear make up."
Stars Aligned for Nickel Bull Market
Published Thu, Mar 27, 2014
Tim Maverick, Staff Writer
Wall Street Daily
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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions have certainly stirred the pot in the energy market, as our Investment Director, Karim Rahemtulla, recently pointed out.
And now, the ripples have spread far beyond the energy market to other commodity markets.
You see, the threat of Western sanctions against Russia has put renewed focus on a base metal that’s been in the doldrums for years… nickel.
That’s because the world’s largest producer of the metal, which is used to make stainless steel and nonferrous alloys, happens to be Mother Russia’s Norilsk Nickel (NILSY). NILSY mines a whopping 17% of the world’s nickel each year.
Sanctions against such a huge source of nickel would indeed be a big deal, and share prices are reacting accordingly.
Nickel is suddenly in bull market mode, and prices recently hit their highest level since April at $16,230 per metric ton on the London Metals Exchange (LME). That represents a gain of more than 20% since nickel’s low on January 9, at $13,334 per ton, and meets the technical definition of a bull market.
It also makes nickel the best-performing base metal in 2014. Quite a contrast to 2013, when it was the worst-performing base metal!
But there’s a lot more behind nickel’s story than just Russia.
Indonesia and Nickel
Until recently, Indonesia was the world’s top high-grade nickel ore supplier.
But in early January, the Indonesian government imposed an export ban on some unprocessed mineral ores, including nickel ore.
And here’s the twist: Despite numerous denials, it seems Indonesia instituted the ban at the behest of Putin and Norilsk Nickel. Apparently Russia threatened to put its major Indonesian investment plan on hold if the ban wasn’t instituted.
And now, combined with sanctions against Russia, the Indonesian nickel ore export ban threatens to turn a market in surplus into one with a rapidly shrinking supply. Even some optimistic forecasts say that the surplus will shrink from 207,000 metric tons in 2013 to only a 68,000-ton surplus in 2014.
In other words, if Indonesia’s export ban stays in place, it could be a game-changer in the marketplace for several years.
For example, the high-grade nickel ore needed by Chinese pig iron factories is found mainly in Indonesia and, to a lesser extent, the Philippines. In 2013 alone, Indonesia shipped 45 million tons of nickel ore to China. The shrinking supply could put a huge strain on China’s stainless steel production.
Bottom line: Most estimates say 12% of the world’s nickel supply is threatened by the Indonesian export ban. Add to that the threat of sanctions against Russia, and it’s no wonder nickel prices are soaring.
Nickel ETNs
This situation presents a definite investment opportunity, though not for nickel companies.
As we already discussed, the biggest producer, Norilsk, is Russian. And the number two producer, Vale S.A. (VALE), is having its major Indonesian operations adversely impacted by the export ban.
That does, however, leave two nickel exchange traded notes (ETNs) from iPath.
The two ETNs are the iPath Dow Jones-UBS Nickel Subindex Total Return ETN (JJN) and the iPath Pure Beta ETN (NINI).
Both ETNs are designed to track the performance of a nickel future traded on the LME. The only difference is that NINI is designed to smooth out the price during contract expiration and subsequent rollover into a new contract.
If you’re looking for an opportunity, both ETNs should continue to benefit from Russian mischief-making.
And the “chase” continues,
Tim Maverick
Tim Maverick boasts decades of experience in the investment world. He spent 20 years at a major brokerage firm - as a trading supervisor and broker working directly with clients.
CBC News
Technology & Science
Malaysia Airlines MH370: Why Airlines Don't Live-Stream Black Box Data
By Andre Mayer, CBC News
Posted: Mar 28, 2014 5:00 AM ET
Last Updated: Mar 28, 2014 11:28 AM ET
Two Canadian companies have created systems to live-stream flight data.
International teams have spent nearly three weeks looking for evidence of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane, a search that includes the hunt for the aircraft's so-called black box, which holds flight data that would likely explain what caused MH370 to deviate from its course.
But many aviation experts wonder why, in our increasingly networked world, divers are scouring the Indian Ocean for a metal box when technology already exists that would enable planes to stream black box data to the ground in the event of an emergency.
"Look at how much money has been spent, on this crash and others, just to do the post-mortem," says Doug Perovic, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Toronto.
"It's crazy, when the technology [to stream the data] is already there."
By some estimates, it would have cost just a few thousand dollars in satellite time if MH370's black box had been primed to live-stream its data over the estimated seven hours that followed that first dramatic veering off course.
Black boxes have been on planes since the late 1950s, and now every commercial aircraft has two: a flight data recorder (FDR) and a voice recorder. (Although they are referred to as black boxes, they are typically orange in colour, making them easier to spot in murky waters.)
According to standards set by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the FDR must contain a minimum of 88 data "parameters" on the flight conditions of an aircraft, from time of day to altitude, air speed and acceleration.
Housed in a metal shell built to withstand extreme temperatures and pressure, black box recorders are mainly used to investigate the cause of in-flight accidents.
While black boxes are built to survive a crash and long-term submersion in water, they also have a built-in design flaw – if a plane has gone down in the ocean, it can be an enormous challenge to find the device. While each box contains a beacon, the unit only has enough battery power to transmit a signal for 30 days.
After the crash of Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean in June 2009, it took divers two years to find the black box.
(http://i.cbc.ca/1.2589112.1395948373!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_300/air-france-black-box.jpg)
Flight data recorders, such as this one recovered from an Airbus A340 crash in Toronto on Aug. 4, 2005, are housed in metal casing to withstand extreme temperatures and pressure. (Nicki Corrigall/The Ottawa Citizen-Canwest News Service)
Technology in place now
The disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines flight, and the thwarted efforts thus far to locate its black boxes, has led some aviation experts to doubt their usefulness.
Pierre Jiennot, a Canadian engineer who helped perfect black box technology while working at Air Canada about 40 years ago, feels that the device, in its current form, is "obsolete."
He started to question its effectiveness more than a decade ago, after seeing the extent of the plane wreckage in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade towers in New York.
"The black boxes were pulverized," he says. He thought back then that it would be far more efficient to be able to transmit that flight data to the ground.
"It seemed obvious to me that we could have had the information piped through a satellite instead of having to … look for a black box," says Jiennot, who is now on the advisory board of Star Navigation Systems Group, a Toronto-based firm that has built a live-streamed black box system.
Calgary-based FLYHT Aerospace Solutions sells a similar system. Called the Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRS), FLYHT's product combines the infrastructure of the internet and the constellation of 66 satellites operated by Virginia-based Iridium Communications.
When a plane experiences an adverse event, AFIRS can send streaming data off the aircraft to one of Iridium's 66 satellites and then down to ground-based servers, where the message is interpreted and sent to the airline.
The infrastructure for this type of system has existed since about 2000, but it wasn't until after the Air France crash that airlines took it seriously, says Richard Hayden, sales director for FLYHT.
"The loss of one of the most sophisticated aircraft in the sky in 2009 [the Airbus A330-203 in the Air France flight from Brazil] basically woke people up to the fact that the tools that were being used at that stage were inadequate for dealing with emergency situations," says Hayden.
Even so, he notes, "aviation doesn't move very quickly to adopt change."
Because of ever-present safety concerns, the industry is highly regulated and new technology is subject to rigorous vetting.
"Some of that inherent caution and conservatism is why airplanes are so safe," Hayden says.
The cost factor
While there is widespread approval of a live-streamed black box system, most airlines see the cost of integrating it prohibitive, says Bill Norwood, vice-president of products and technology for JDA Aviation Technology Solutions, a Maryland-based consultancy firm.
Norwood says that the airline industry is reluctant to add costs that will further erode the bottom line. This is an industry with notoriously low profit margins, he says.
According to The Economist magazine, airlines have average profit margins of just one per cent, and in 2012, "they made profits of only $4 for every passenger carried." This is largely due to the cost of fuel and government fees.
Norwood says the chief cost in using a live-streamed black box system is transmitting the data through satellites, which will have a direct bearing on the cost of every flight.
"In the realm of making the flight profitable or not profitable, if they start [live-streaming black box data], the flight is no longer profitable," he says.
That view reflects a lack of understanding about what the technology is capable of, says Hayden, who adds that FLYHT has sold 350 units of its AFIRS system and has orders for 250 more.
He says the AFIRS system doesn't stream black box data for every hour of every flight. It only begins streaming data once an irregular event has occurred, which reduces the satellite transmission costs significantly.
Hayden says that based on Iridium's pricing, it would cost about $5 to $7 US per minute to transmit black box data via their satellites to the ground.
He estimates that if this technology had been on board the missing Malaysian Airlines flight and live-streaming for the estimated seven hours after the flight first experienced a problem, it would have cost about $3,000.
Given how much time, money and effort has been expended on the luckless search for MH370's black box, the cost of operating a live-streaming version seems like a trifle, says U of T's Perovic.
"I don't think it's a prohibitive cost, particularly with something where the risk factors are high."
Power Plants Put at Risk by Security Bugs
By Mark Ward
Technology correspondent
BBC News | Technology
4 April 2014 Last updated at 05:50 ET
The discovery of bugs in software used to run oil rigs, refineries and power plants has prompted a global push to patch the widely used control system.
The bugs were found by security researchers and, if exploited, could give attackers remote access to control systems for the installations.
The US Department of Homeland Security said an attacker with "low skill" would be able to exploit the bugs.
About 7,600 plants around the world are using the vulnerable software.
"We went from zero to total compromise," said Juan Vazquez, a researcher at security firm Rapid7 who, with colleague Julian Diaz, found several holes in Yokogawa's Centum CS 3000 software.
Critical Path
First released to run on Windows 98, the Centum CS 3000 software is used to monitor and control machinery in many large industrial installations.
"If you are able to exploit the vulnerabilities we have identified you get control of the Human Interface Station," said Mr Diaz. "That's where the operator sits or stands and monitors operational details."
"If you have control of that station as an attacker you have the same level of control as someone standing on the plant floor wearing a security badge," he said.
Rapid7's work prompted the Computer Emergency Response Team of the US Department of Homeland Security that deals with critical infrastructure to issue an alert about the vulnerabilities.
In its alert, ICS-Cert said companies using Centum CS 3000 should evaluate whether they were at risk and apply a patch if it was needed.
"An attacker with a low skill would be able to exploit these vulnerabilities," it said in its alert.
The Rapid7 researchers alerted Yokogawa about their findings before publicising their work to give the company time to produce a patch that can close the loopholes.
"Not all Centum CS 3000 users need to apply this patch immediately," said Yokogawa in a statement. "This depends on how their systems are connected to external networks and on the security measures that are in place."
Yokogawa said it was in the process of contacting customers who might be vulnerable and urging those who were at risk to apply its patch.
Computer Emergency Response Teams (Cert) in several other nations have helped to spread the word about the findings. The UK's newly formed Cert declined to comment on the issue.
However, the BBC understands that an alert has been communicated to organisations in the UK running the parts of the UK's critical national infrastructure that might be at risk. Such alerts are believed to be relatively common and many companies have policies and practices in place to handle updates and changes.
Bug Bonanza
Mr Vazquez said the threat the bugs posed had been proven in the lab but there was no evidence that attackers were seeking to abuse them. He added that anyone who did use them to get access to a control system could still be thwarted because they lacked the specialised knowledge to understand how the power plant, refinery or oil rig worked.
Mark O'Neill, a spokesman for data management firm Axway, said the need for specialised knowledge was no real defence.
"Security through obscurity is really no security at all," he said.
He added that some firms often struggled to update and patch software because of the age of the code and that of the equipment it was helping to keep running. Many were now turning to software "wrappers" that cocooned the old code in another program that was easier to maintain and monitor.
Mr Diaz said the pair chose the Yokogawa control system because it was "emblematic" of the state of software used to control large industrial installations. Such software, called Scada (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) has attracted the attention of security researchers recently worried about its defensibility.
"Unfortunately for the control systems industries, these type of exploits are becoming more and more common," said Billy Rios, a security researcher at Qualys.
The poor security of such software was revealed by a project Mr Rios and a colleague undertook in which they sought to find 100 Scada bugs in 100 days.
"We ended up finding over 1,000 bugs in 100 days," he said. "Scada software security simply hasn't kept up with modern times. The security of software like iTunes is much more robust than the software supporting our critical infrastructure."
Space Daily
Eclipses
A Tetrad of Lunar Eclipses
by Dr. Tony Phillips for NASA Science News
Huntsville AL (SPX) Mar 31, 2014
(http://www.spxdaily.com/images-lg/lunar-ranging-laser-surface-eclipsed-moon-lg.jpg)
A new ScienceCast video explains the lunar eclipse tetrad of 2014-2015.
For people in the United States, an extraordinary series of lunar eclipses is about to begin. The action starts on April 15th when the full Moon passes through the amber shadow of Earth, producing a midnight eclipse visible across North America. So begins a lunar eclipse tetrad-a series of 4 consecutive total eclipses occurring at approximately six month intervals.
The total eclipse of April 15, 2014, will be followed by another on Oct. 8, 2014, and another on April 4, 2015, and another on Sept. 28 2015. "The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA," says longtime NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak.
On average, lunar eclipses occur about twice a year, but not all of them are total. There are three types:
1. A penumbral eclipse is when the Moon passes through the pale outskirts of Earth's shadow. It's so subtle, sky watchers often don't notice an eclipse is underway.
2. A partial eclipse is more dramatic. The Moon dips into the core of Earth's shadow, but not all the way, so only a fraction of Moon is darkened.
3. A total eclipse, when the entire Moon is shadowed, is best of all. The face of the Moon turns sunset-red for up to an hour or more as the eclipse slowly unfolds.
Usually, lunar eclipses come in no particular order. A partial can be followed by a total, followed by a penumbral, and so on. Anything goes. Occasionally, though, the sequence is more orderly. When four consecutive lunar eclipses are all total, the series is called a tetrad.
"During the 21st century, there are 9 sets of tetrads, so I would describe tetrads as a frequent occurrence in the current pattern of lunar eclipses," says Espenak. "But this has not always been the case. During the three hundred year interval from 1600 to 1900, for instance, there were no tetrads at all."
The April 15th eclipse begins at 2 AM Eastern time when the edge of the Moon first enters the amber core of Earth's shadow. Totality occurs during a 78 minute interval beginning around 3 o'clock in the morning on the east coast, midnight on the west coast. Weather permitting, the red Moon will be easy to see across the entirety of North America.
Why Red?
A quick trip to the Moon provides the answer: Imagine yourself standing on a dusty lunar plain looking up at the sky. Overhead hangs Earth, nightside down, completely hiding the sun behind it. The eclipse is underway.
You might expect Earth seen in this way to be utterly dark, but it's not. The rim of the planet is on fire! As you scan your eye around Earth's circumference, you're seeing every sunrise and every sunset in the world, all of them, all at once. This incredible light beams into the heart of Earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the Moon into a great red orb.
Mark your calendar for April 15th and let the tetrad begin.
It BETTER not turn out to suck like ciV...
PLEASANT GROVE, Utah - Police arrested a 39-year-old woman Sunday after the bodies of seven infants were found in a home where she used to live.
Megan Huntsman was booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of six counts of murder, CBS affiliate KUTV in Salt Lake City reported.
pleasantgriove-map.jpg
CBS NEWS
Hunstman's ex-husband alerted police after finding the body of an infant inside a Pleasant Grove home where the woman had lived untll 2011, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Pleasant Grove is located about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Police went to the home and found the body of a newborn who appeared to have been full-term. Executing a search warrant, they then discovered the bodies of six additional infants, KUTV reported.
The six tiny bodies were found in separate cardboard boxes inside the garage, police Capt. Michael Roberts told the Tribune.
Police believe that over a 10-year period, from 1996 to 2006, Huntsman gave birth to the infants and then killed them.
Her ex-husband is believed to be the father but investigators are still working on DNA tests, Roberts said.
Police are not pursuing charges against the ex-husband at this point, Roberts said.
The ranch-style home, which is split into two apartments, is owned by the ex-husband's parents, the Tribune said.
Longtime neighbor Sharon Chipman told the newspaper Huntman's three daughters still live in the house. She said the two eldest daughters are around 18 to 20 years old, while the youngest is about 13.
Black Hole Pair Caught in Feeding Frenzy
By Matthew R. Francis
1 hour ago
The Daily Beast
In the deep forest of stars that lies at the center of galaxies, a voracious monster lives: a black hole millions or billions of times more massive than the Sun. These cosmic beasts are more ambush predators than hunters, though: they only feed on hapless stars and other objects that get too close. Otherwise, they are content to sit quietly if they can’t get any prey for long times.
Sometimes a quiet black hole will wake up in a dramatic way, when a star, gas cloud, or even a rogue planet comes within gravitational reach. When that happens, forces similar to those that raise tides on Earth shred the unlucky object, eating some of its mass, and spewing the rest back into space. The stuff that doesn’t fall in can emit a lot of light, turning the black hole—perhaps briefly—into a tiger burning bright in the forest of the night.
Now, astronomers F. K. Liu, Shuo Li, and S. Komossa identified a pair of black holes in the act of cooperatively dismantling a defenseless star. Such pairs of black holes are rare, and a star drifting close enough to get shredded is rarer. Not least, this feeding frenzy could provide insight into the way the biggest black holes in the Universe form.
The size of the central black hole is correlated to the size of its galaxy. (More properly, it’s related to the mass of the central region of the galaxy, but that’s a detail.) Big galaxies tend to have huge black holes, just as a larger forest can support larger predators. One extremely massive black hole we know is nearly 7 billion times the mass of the Sun, and the galaxy hosting it—a huge blob of stars known as M87—is one of the biggest we’ve observed. (For comparison, the Milky Way’s black hole is about 4 million times the Sun’s mass.)
Did supermassive black holes like the one in M87 get that way by eating stars? (Lower-mass black holes, such as Cygnus X-1, are the remnants of very massive stars; those are a story for another day.) The answer is no: despite the stereotype, black holes don’t suck everything in around them. Just like anything else, their gravity is strongest close by, and diminishes approximately with the square of the distance. That means twice as far from the black hole, the gravitational force is roughly four times as weak. The Sun doesn’t feel a significant gravitational pull from the Milky Way’s black hole, which is more than 25,000 light-years away. Most any galaxy’s stars are far out of reach.
So could M87’s black hole have been born that way, like Lady Gaga sang? Supermassive black holes have been around for as long as their galaxies: those are the quasars used by BOSS to measure the acceleration of the Universe, as I described in my earlier column. However, early galaxies and their black holes were smaller than their modern cousins, so being born large is only part of the story.
We can learn the rest by studying their host galaxies. Like many others, our Milky Way contains traces of smaller, weaker galaxies it has devoured, and it currently is in the process of stripping material away from the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. And that’s how it seems to work: two smaller galaxies merge, or a big galaxy munches a smaller one. The same principle appears to hold for supermassive black holes too.
Unlike a forest sustaining a small population of predators, most galaxies have only one supermassive black hole. If there is more than one, they tend to merge into a single larger black hole, a trick animals can’t do. (Territorial predators sometimes kill each other, of course, but the result of two lions fighting isn’t a single lion twice as large—though it’s a funny mental image.)
So there we have it: as smaller galaxies merge, so do their black holes. But how can we see that in action? Most galaxies in the nearby Universe, like the Milky Way, have “quiet” black holes: they aren’t actively feeding, so they aren’t bright like quasars. However, astronomers have spotted a few luminous black hole pairs, mostly in chaotic galaxies in the early stages of a merger.
That brings us back to the observation of a pair of black holes in the process of dismembering a star in a distant galaxy. This is the first time astronomers have identified a pair of black holes in a quiet galaxy, but even more excitingly, they are only separated by a distance about the width of the Solar System—much closer together than any other black hole pair we’ve ever seen. The researchers estimate it’s only about 2 million years (a mere cosmic moment!) before they merge entirely.
A pair of black holes in a single quiet galaxy isn’t enough. If we want to understand how the biggest black holes came to be, we need to see pairs at all stages: from separate galaxies, to the point where they are locked in orbit, to the final moments before they become a single black hole.
Like animal predators, these monsters may be rare, but they have their own beauty.
BBC News | Science & Environment
12 May 2014 Last updated at 06:16 ET
Nereus Deep Sea Sub 'Implodes' 10km-Down
By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News
(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/74788000/jpg/_74788920_74788919.jpg)
One of the world's most capable deep-sea research subs has been lost.
The robotic vehicle Nereus went missing while exploring one of the ocean's deepest spots: the Kermadec Trench, which lies north east of New Zealand.
Surface debris was found, suggesting the vessel suffered a catastrophic implosion as a result of the immense pressures where it was operating some 10km (6.2 miles) down.
Nereus was a flagship ocean explorer for the US science community.
"Nereus helped us explore places we've never seen before and ask questions we never thought to ask," said Timothy Shank, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), which managed the sub's activities.
"It was a one-of-a-kind vehicle that even during its brief life brought us amazing insights into the unexplored deep ocean, addressing some of the most fundamental scientific problems of our time about life on Earth."
The $8m (£4.7m) robot was built in 2008 and could operate in an autonomous mode or remotely controlled via a tether to a support ship to explore the Earth's deepest oceanic trenches.
It used a lot of innovative technologies that allowed it to do things and go places that were off-limits to other research submersibles.
These technologies included rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, similar to those used in laptop computers, for extended power, and single-hair's-width fibre-optic cables - borrowed from torpedoes - for control and telemetry.
Leading British oceanographer Jonathan Copley, from the University of Southampton, said the loss of an underwater vehicle was an ever-present risk.
"To obtain some kinds of knowledge - particularly when physical samples are required for analysis - there is no alternative to sending equipment into the deep ocean, because the ocean's watery veil masks its depths from many forms of 'remote sensing'", he wrote on a University of Southampton blog this weekend.
"And although we have learned a lot from a century or so of largely 'blind sampling' by equipment such as trawls and seabed corers (which are still fine for answering some questions in some areas), we now often require more detailed sampling and surveying, using deep-sea vehicles, to answer further questions."
BBC News | Health
25 February 2013
Last updated at 19:28 ET
Bad sleep 'dramatically' alters body
By James Gallagher
Health and science reporter, BBC News
A run of poor sleep can have a potentially profound effect on the internal workings of the human body, say UK researchers.
The activity of hundreds of genes was altered when people's sleep was cut to less than six hours a day for a week.
Writing in the journal PNAS#, the researchers said the results helped explain how poor sleep damaged health.
Heart disease, diabetes, obesity and poor brain function have all been linked to substandard sleep.
What missing hours in bed actually does to alter health, however, is unknown.
So researchers at the University of Surrey analysed the blood of 26 people after they had had plenty of sleep, up to 10 hours each night for a week, and compared the results with samples after a week of fewer than six hours a night.
More than 700 genes were altered by the shift. Each contains the instructions for building a protein, so those that became more active produced more proteins - changing the chemistry of the body.
Meanwhile the natural body clock was disturbed - some genes naturally wax and wane in activity through the day, but this effect was dulled by sleep deprivation.
Prof Colin Smith, from the University of Surrey, told the BBC: "There was quite a dramatic change in activity in many different kinds of genes."
Areas such as the immune system and how the body responds to damage and stress were affected.
Prof Smith added: "Clearly sleep is critical to rebuilding the body and maintaining a functional state, all kinds of damage appear to occur - hinting at what may lead to ill health.
"If we can't actually replenish and replace new cells, then that's going to lead to degenerative diseases."
He said many people may be even more sleep deprived in their daily lives than those in the study - suggesting these changes may be common.
Dr Akhilesh Reddy, a specialist in the body clock at the University of Cambridge, said the study was "interesting".
He said the key findings were the effects on inflammation and the immune system as it was possible to see a link between those effects and health problems such as diabetes.
The findings also tie into research attempting to do away with sleep, such as by finding a drug that could eliminate the effects of sleep deprivation.
Dr Reddy said: "We don't know what the switch is that causes all these changes, but theoretically if you could switch it on or off, you might be able to get away without sleep.
"But my feeling is that sleep is fundamentally important to regenerating all cells."
Nuclear testing 1945 - 1998 complete video HD
If you haven't seen this .. it's well worth your time. "2053." This is the number of nuclear explosions conducted in various parts of the globe. Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto created this beautiful, undeniably scary time-lapse map of the 2053 nuclear explosions that took place between 1945 and 1998, beginning with the Manhattan Project's "Trinity" test near Los Alamos and concluding with Pakistan's nuclear tests in May of 1998. This leaves out North Korea's two alleged nuclear tests in this past decade. Each nation gets a blip and a flashing dot on the map whenever they detonate a nuclear weapon, with a running tally kept on the top and bottom bars of the screen.
Thanks for the reminder, Timothy Boocock.
Death of Utah beekeeper called ‘rare occurrence’
Safety » The insects were not the Africanized variety.
By Kathy Stephenson | The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published May 20 2014 07:52 am • Last Updated May 20 2014 09:09 pm
The recent death of a female beekeeper who was stung more than 30 times should not deter Utahns from participating in the hobby, professional beekeepers and agriculture officials said Tuesday.
But the death of 31-year-old April Taylor of Willard demonstrates the importance of being educated about the possible risks of keeping bees in the backyard.
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(Scott Bauer | The Associated Press)
A beekeeper in Box Elder County died after being stung by bees 30 to 40 times.
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"Beekeeping is still encouraged," said Larry Lewis, spokesman for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF). "The bee population in Utah is down and we need all the bees we can get to help pollinate trees and plants."
Lewis called Taylor’s death "unfortunate" and a "rare occurrence."
On Tuesday, May 13, Taylor was taking care of a beehive in the backyard of her home, when she was stung 30 to 40 times. Her husband Zak Taylor said she had been wearing proper beekeeping gloves and veil and initially seemed fine after being stung.
She went back outside, and when her husband went to check on her, he found her passed out on the ground. She was taken to Ogden Regional Medical Center where she died on Friday, May 16.
Family members believe Taylor may have developed a previously unknown allergic reaction to bee stings.
A graduate of Box Elder High School, Taylor had worked as a licensed hairdresser and was the mother of a young son, according to her obituary. A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, May 21, at Gillies Funeral Chapel, in Brigham City.
Initially, there was concern that the bees that stung Taylor were the aggressive Africanized honey bees. But Lewis said the agriculture department is fairly certain that is these "killer" bees are not in northern Utah.
"Our entomologist is taking samples and will send them to a lab for a definitive answer," he said.
CNN) -- Popular literature would have it that the vampire's preferred habitat is Transylvania (or, if you're under 15, the slightly less glamorous Forks, Washington).
But modern day vampire hunters might better focus their attention on a little-known area of northwestern Poland, where earlier this month a suspected vampire grave was exhumed.
New mystery at Richard III burial site Workers unearth lost cemetery
Slawomir Gorka, who led the dig at a marketplace in the small West Pomeranian town of Kamien Pomorski, told local website kamienskie.info that several unusual aspects of the burial "indicate that it is a vampire burial".
Teeth had been removed, a fragment of rock was inserted in the mouth, and a leg had been staked (presumably to prevent the body rising from the grave).
And this isn't the first time an interment in Poland has been deemed vampiric. Last July, archaeologists uncovered four decapitated skeletons, their heads placed between their legs, at a construction site in Gliwice, southern Poland. Both the Gliwice and Kamien Pomorski graves are estimated to date back to the 16th century.
The burials may sound gruesome, but they are befitting of early medieval Polish folklore's particularly grisly interpretation of the vampire myth.
The stone in the mouth might be to make a supernatural barrier between the worlds of the dead and the living.
Kamil Kajkowski, archaeologist
"Specific to Polish vampires is that they are known for eating their own flesh and burial garments when they rise from the dead," says Titus Hjelm, who convenes a course on vampires for the School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies at University College London. He adds that this may explain the stone placed in the mouth of the skeleton.
Fear of vampires was strong among Eastern Europeans in the medieval period.
Professor Martyn Rady, a colleague of Hjelm's, posits the folk tales spread from Serbia to surrounding countries following a report sent by Austrian military authorities to their superiors in Vienna. It told of a mercenary soldier who had been turned into a vampire and infected his victims, who when exhumed from their own graves were found to have fresh blood in their cavities. The report was intercepted before reaching the Austrian capital and published in newspapers.
The Polish had particular reason to fear vampires rising from their graves, Hjelm explains.
"According to some sources, Poles thought that vampires were born, rather than 'made'," he says. "They were normal people who could live normal lives, not aristocrats living in distant castles. The problems only started when these people died. They could come back to live with their families and even impregnate their wives."
A myth that will not die: Archaeologists examine the skeleton in Kamien Pomorski.
This may account for the precautions taken during burial. Hjelm adds the notion of vampires being creatures of the night only appeared relatively recently in the 1922 film "Nosferatu".
However, some experts warn against presuming all such unconventional burials were because of a fear of vampires.
Kamil Kajkowski, an archaeologist with the West-Cassubian Museum in Bytów, northern Poland, admits a number of strange medieval mortuary practices have been discovered during digs in Poland, the most common being those where the body is in the prone position, decapitated, or covered with stones. But the idea is these burials may just as well represent punishment for criminals rather than suspected vampires.
Specific to Polish vampires is that they are known for eating their own flesh and burial garments when they rise from the dead.
Titus Hjelm, University College London
That said, Kajkowski concedes the most recent discovery "is certainly unusual".
"The pierced thigh-bone and a stone inside the mouth clearly indicate that a range of atypical practices with ritual undertones were performed," he says. "(The stone) might reflect the desire to create some kind of supernatural 'barrier' between the dead and the world of the living."
Such peculiar last rites are not confined to medieval Poland. Kajkowski says the last recorded instance of this kind of deviant burial was in 1913. As with the skeletons found in Gliwice last year, the head had been cut off and placed by the legs. "Perhaps such a placement of the head ensured the dead would not be able to 'reach it' and put it back on his neck," he suggests.
Vampiric or not, the strange range of historical graves in Poland indicate the country held deep beliefs around the ritualistic burial of certain citizens. Leszek Gardela, from the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Rzeszów, is currently working on a research project into the phenomenon.
"Unusual mortuary practices have fascinated Polish scholars since the 1950s (when the first were discovered)," she says. "But so far they remain unknown to a wider international audience. It is high time to change this."
(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/79185000/jpg/_79185881_186436196.jpg)
Finnish students will no longer be taught handwriting at school, with typing lessons taking its place, it's reported.
Learning joined-up writing, often in fountain pen in the UK, is almost a rite of passage for primary school students. But Finland is moving into the digital age by ditching the ink in favour of keyboards, the Savon Sanomat newspaper reports. From autumn 2016, students won't have to learn cursive handwriting or calligraphy, but will instead be taught typing skills, the report says. "Fluent typing skills are an important national competence," says Minna Harmanen from the National Board of Education. The switch will be a major cultural change, Ms Harmanen says, but typing is more relevant to everyday life.
There are some concerns that the move could disadvantage children who don't have a computer at home, or schools where there aren't enough computers to go around. But many people have welcomed the move. "For most teachers it's sufficient that upper case and lower case letters can be distinguished," says Susanna Huhta, deputy chairwoman of the Association of Native Language Teachers. However, she points out that handwriting helps children to develop fine motor skills and brain function, and suggests handwriting classes could be replaced by handicrafts and drawing. Social media users also see the positives, with one user on the Etela-Saimaa website saying: "Handwriting is a totally useless skill. Maybe not as useless as compulsory Swedish, but coming pretty close to it."
The University of Texas at Austin is missing about 100 brains — about half of the specimens the university had in a collection preserved in jars of formaldehyde.
One of the missing brains is believed to have come from clock tower sniper Charles Whitman.
“We think somebody may have taken the brains but we don’t know at all for sure,” psychology Professor Tim Schallert, co-curator of the collection, told the Austin American-Statesman.
His co-curator, psychology Professor Lawrence Cormack, said: “It’s entirely possible word got around among undergraduates and people started swiping them for living rooms or Halloween pranks.”
The Austin State Hospital had transferred the brains to the university about 28 years ago under a “temporary possession” agreement. Schallert said his psychology lab had room for only 100 brains, so the rest were moved to the basement of the university’s Animal Resources Center.
“They are no longer in the basement,” Cormack said.
The university said in a statement that it would investigate “the circumstances surrounding this collection since it came here nearly 30 years ago” and that it was “committed to treating the brain specimens with respect”. It says the remaining brain specimens on campus are used “as a teaching tool and carefully curated by faculty”.
The university’s agreement with the hospital required the school to remove any data that might identify the person from whom the brain came. However Schallert said Whitman’s brain likely was part of the collection.
“It would make sense it would be in this group. We can’t find that brain,” he said.
Whitman’s 1966 rampage, which culminated at the University of Texas, killed 16 people, including his mother and wife. Eleven of the victims were fatally shot by Whitman who had barricaded himself on the observation deck of the University of Texas Tower before he was killed by police.
The 100 remaining brains at the school had been moved to the Norman Hackerman Building, where they were being scanned with high-resolution resonance imaging equipment, Cormack said.
“These MRI images will be both useful teaching and research tools. It keeps the brains intact,” he told the newspaper.
For many residents of China’s southern town of Yulin, the peak of summer is the perfect time to get together with family and friends – and consume copious amounts of dog meat.
Yulin restaurateurs held an annual dog-meat festival Monday despite international criticism of the event as cruel and unhygienic. The Yulin government distanced itself from the festival and announced new restrictions, but eateries reached by telephone reported brisk business during the event.
(Read more: Rage against Yulin, but let's be honest about our animal cruelty)
(Watch: Tensions mount over dog-meat festival)
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What happens to the dogs?
As many as 10,000 dogs, many of them stolen pets, are slaughtered for the festival – which ostensibly marks the summer solstice – held deep inside the largely rural and poor Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Dogs for sale are kept in a cage in Dashichang dog market. (Kim Kyung-hoon/Reuters)
Cooked dogs are displayed at a vendor’s stall in Yulin on June 22. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)
A boy looks at a bowl of dog meat as his family has a gathering to eat dog meat and lychees. (Kim Kyung-hoon/Reuters)
A group of friends toast over a dog meat dish, shown at middle. (Kim Kyung-hoon/Reuters)
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China’s dog debate
Dog is eaten in some parts of China but is not a common dish. Owning dogs as pets, once looked down upon as a decadent bourgeois habit, was discouraged under early Communist Party rule. Eating dog meat, however, is traditional during the summer and good for your health at the hottest time of the year, supporters say. “It’s healthy, just like raising pigs or chickens, it’s fine,” said Teng Jianyi, as he tucked into a dog dish with some friends.
But dog ownership has become increasingly popular among the Chinese public, especially the urban middle class, which has started to fight what it sees as barbarous abuse of man’s best friend. Animal-rights activists say the Yulin festival has no cultural value and was merely invented to drum up business.
While many Chinese have signed online petitions seeking a ban on the festival, others take a more direct approach. Last year, Yang Xiaoyun made the headlines after spending 150,000 yuan ($29,544 Canadian) to rescue about 350 dogs. Yang, who comes from northern China, has returned this year with funds raised from around the country, but she would not say exactly how much. She hoped to set up a home for the rescued dogs near Yulin, she said, undeterred by the prospect of any hostility there.
Yang Xiaoyun, left, sits next to a cage of dogs that she purchased from dog vendors to rescue them from meat dealers ahead of the Yulin festival on June 21. (Kim Kyung-hoon/Reuters)
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What the government says
Apparently concerned about the adverse publicity, the local government disavows any ties to the event, issuing a statement saying it did not officially sponsor or promote the festival. It said authorities would tightly control public order and punish any incidents of stealing or poisoning dogs. Traders would no longer be permitted to slaughter dogs in public, place carcasses on display or serve meals outdoors, it said.
Despite such restrictions, restaurant owners said the festival continued to attract enthusiasts for the dish. “Eating dog meat is a local tradition, it has nothing to do with the local government,” said a receptionist at the Longmen Dog Meat Restaurant reached by phone.
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What critics say
Celebrities such as British comedian Ricky Gervais and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen have called for an end to the festival, and more than three million people have signed petitions protesting it, according to Shareeza Bhola, communications manager for change.org.
Dear Morons, stopping the #YulinDogMeatFestival is less to do with them being dogs & more to do with them being tortured and skinned alive.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) June 17, 2015
On Monday, a group of about 25 animal rights activists briefly unfurled banners in front of the city government office, demanding an end to the festival, but they were quickly hustled away by unidentified men.
IDAHO FALLS — Some people think old, abandoned buildings have ghosts haunting the halls.
But for the old brick building on the corner of 13th Street and Lee Avenue in Idaho Falls, those who have haunted it have been solid flesh and blood.
When Idaho Falls business owner Tyler Price first toured the building, evidence of vandalism was rampant. Graffiti, broken windows, shattered light fixtures and singed carpet from fires set inside were apparent all over the building.
Price, who owns the Austin Kade Academy cosmetology schools in both Idaho Falls and Pocatello, is looking to purchase the building to open a culinary arts school, but the structure requires extensive repairs.
"As it stands, it works perfectly for the culinary academy," Price said. "There isn't anything I want to change. I just want to restore."
To fund the renovation, Price came up with the idea of turning the building into a haunted attraction. The profits generated from the attraction would fund the creation of the culinary school.
He is seeking a three-year conditional use permit to make it a haunted attraction.
Price also wants to ensure the history of the building is preserved. The structure is already listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Price's goal is to preserve the original architecture and repair materials damaged from neglect and abuse, while meeting current building safety codes. Contractor estimates say it will take about $1 million to bring the building back to its historic condition, Price said.
The efforts are already gaining some ground in city government. On July 7 the Idaho Falls Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that City Council approve rezoning the building. The three-year conditional use permit was also recommended by a 4-3 vote.
Related Story
Historic LDS church to become high-end apartments
When Greg Soter drove past a historic church in the heart of downtown Provo and saw a "for sale" sign on the lawn, he realized it was his opportunity to save a historical property from becoming just another relic from the past.
Generally, dissenting board members are in favor of the culinary school, but are concerned about any negative impacts to the neighborhood existing for the three years granted by the permit, said Brad Cramer, community development services director for the city of Idaho Falls.
The proposal now goes to the City Council for consideration at the August 27 meeting.
A number of residents attended the July 7 meeting both in support and in opposition of the proposed zoning change.
Yon Scott, who lives on 14th Street, is concerned about the potential increases in traffic, noise and trash that could occur during the five weeks the haunted attraction would operate each year.
I think the building is going downhill fast, and I think it's pulling that section of the neighborhood down with it. It's like a sinking ship.
–Stephanie Rose, local historical preservationist
"I want to know what is going to protect us," Scott said at the meeting. "I would love to see this church be restored, but I want some reassurance that my quiet street stays quiet."
Others have raised concerns about parking, since the building's small parking lot provides fewer than half the stalls the new zoning requires. For the haunted attraction to open, the conditional use permit must also include a parking variance.
Some proposed solutions to the parking shortage could include a shuttle between public parking near the railroad tracks, or using on-street parking on nearby streets.
Local historical preservationist Stephanie Rose has lived in the neighborhood for 31 years, owning several homes, which she and her husband Bill Bauer have rehabilitated in that time. Rose supports Price's vision.
EASTIDAHONEWS
"I think the building is going downhill fast, and I think it's pulling that section of the neighborhood down with it," Rose said. "It's like a sinking ship."
Rose sees Idaho Falls' numbered streets as having the potential to mirror the successfully revitalized Hyde Park neighborhood in Boise.
"I'm strongly in favor of the mixed-use traditional neighborhood. I think they are vibrant, and they are my favorite places to visit when we go to other cities," Rose said. "We need stores — little markets, cafes, cool bookstores. This city is ripe for all those things to happen."
The building was originally built as a chapel for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1920s.
Afterwards, the building housed a dance studio, and the Cornerstone Assembly of God congregation. Most recently, Odyssey Charter School petitioned to move into the building, but that proposal was abandoned in March 2013.
Longtime 12th Street resident Betty Conrad said the proposed culinary arts school is a much better fit.
"For any of the neighbors I've talked to, the concept is great and there's a lot of enthusiasm for it," Conrad said. "Having somebody in there and having it renovated is better than having it empty and vandalized."
La Entrada, Honduras — A family in Honduras apparently smashed the tomb of their pregnant 16-year-old daughter after she reportedly woke up screaming and banging inside her coffin one day after she was buried.
A day after Neysi Perez’s funeral, her husband was visiting the gravesite when he heard banging and screams from inside the coffin. He spoke to Primer Impacto:
“As I put my hand on her grave, I could hear noises inside. I heard banging, then I heard her voice. She was screaming for help. It had already been a day since we buried her. I couldn’t believe it. I was ecstatic, full of hope.”
A cemetery worker also said he heard screams coming from inside the coffin.
Video shows Perez’s family using a hammer to break the concrete tomb holding the teen’s coffin in an attempt to save the girl.
Relatives told Primer Impacto the tips of Perez’s fingers were bruised and the viewing window on her coffin had been smashed.
Perez, still inside her coffin, was taken to a local hospital where she was declared clinically dead.
Perez mysteriously collapsed inside her Honduras home. The teen began foaming at the mouth, leading her religious parents to believe she was “possessed,” according to Primer Impacto. After a priest attempted to perform an exorcism, her body became “lifeless” and she was declared dead.
Doctors said Perez may have suffered a panic attack after hearing gunfire near her home, which could have temporarily stopped her heart, according to AOL.
Haunted house as a get money quick scheme is BAD NEWS.
Haunted house as a get money quick scheme is BAD NEWS.
I would think so. Start up and overhead costs and getting your audience to find you.
Apparently a pop-up Halloween costume store is a better business model from what I can see. Is this true?
Sales of freeze-dried food, flashlights, blankets and tents have soared in Utah in recent weeks as some Mormons have begun to prepare for the end of the world. The so-called preppers believe the world is ending this month based on biblical prophecies, the Hebrew calendar, an unstable economy, world politics and astronomical occurrences, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Sunday.
“There is a sense of urgency, like something is up. A lot of people are mentioning things about September, like a financial collapse," said customer service representative Ricardo Aranda at American Fork’s Thrive Life, which sells mostly freeze-dried food.
The Mormon apocalypse believers claim the Jewish High Holy Days that began this week will trigger a financial crisis based on the United States’ “wickedness.” They predict the full moon Sept. 28 is the next sign the world is ending.
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Some of these speculations stem from Julie Rowe’s books, “A Greater Tomorrow: My Journey Beyond the Veil” and “The Time Is Now.” Rowe, a Mormon mother of three, published the books in 2014 to detail a “near-death experience." Her two books have sold more than 20,000 copies each.
Officials with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said they do not endorse the books or their teachings. The late Mormon apostle Boyd K. Packer said in a 2011 LDS General Conference that the end was not near and called on young Mormons to plan for long, productive lives.
“You can look forward to doing it right,” Packer said, "getting married, having a family, seeing your children and grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren.”
Officials have had to debunk end-of-days predictions in the past. Last month, NASA confirmed the world would not end in September because of an imminent asteroid strike.
“There is no scientific basis – not one shred of evidence – that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates,” said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA’s near-Earth object office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, at the time. “If there were any object large enough to do that type of destruction in September, we would have seen something of it by now.”
SALT LAKE CITY – Mixing a brew of biblical prophecies, the Hebrew calendar, a volatile economy, world politics, and astronomical occurrences, hordes of Utahns have become convinced that calamitous events are imminent — maybe by month’s end — and are taking every precaution.
They are called “preppers” and are buying up food-storage kits, flashlights, blankets and tents. Some are even bracing to leave their homes, if need be.
At American Fork’s Thrive Life, which sells mostly freeze-dried food, sales have shot up by “500 percent or more in the past couple of months,” says customer-service representative Ricardo Aranda. “There is a sense of urgency, like something is up. A lot of people are mentioning things about September, like a financial collapse.”
Jordan Jensen, a salesman at Emergency Essentials, said his Bountiful store has been “crazy busy, sales up by definitely a large amount.”
Those 72-hour emergency kits are “almost impossible to keep on the shelves,” Jensen says, “and we get a shipment every day.”
A lot of customers, he says, believe “this is the month it will all happen — with a ‘blood moon’ and a currency collapse and everything.”
Here’s how the doomsday scenario plays out: History, some preppers believe, is divided into seven-year periods — like the Hebrew notion of “shemitah” or Sabbath. In 2008, seven years after 9/11, the stock market crashed, a harbinger of a devastating recession. It’s been seven years since then and Wall Street has been fluctuating wildly in recent weeks in the wake of China devaluing its currency.
Thus, they believe, starting Sept. 13, the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days, there will be another, even larger financial crisis, based on the United States’ “wickedness.” That will launch the “days of tribulation” — as described in the Bible.
Sept. 28 will see a full, red or “blood moon” and a major earthquake in or near Utah. Some anticipate an invasion by U.N. troops, technological disruptions and decline, chaos and hysteria.
Some of these speculations stem from Julie Rowe’s books, “A Greater Tomorrow: My Journey Beyond the Veil” and “The Time Is Now.”
Rowe, a Mormon mother of three, published the books in 2014 to detail a “near-death experience” in 2004, when the author says she visited the afterlife and was shown visions of the past and future.
Though Rowe rarely gives specific dates for predicted events, she did describe in a Fox News Radio interview “cities of light,” including scores of white tents where people will live in the mountains and sometimes be fed heavenly “manna.” She she saw a “bomb from Libya landing in Israel, but Iran will take credit.”
And “Gadianton robbers” of Book of Mormon infamy, meaning secret and corrupt leaders, are “already here.”
Her purpose in speaking out, Rowe told interviewer Kate Dalley, was “to wake more of us up. … We need each other as we unify in righteousness and continue to build a righteous army. When we need to defend the [U.S.] Constitution, we will be ready.”
For the past year, the popular writer has been sharing her experience and visions at Mormon venues nationwide, drawing crowds of eager — and worried — listeners. Her two books have sold more than 20,000 copies apiece.
In a rare move, officials with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent a memo to administrators and teachers in the Church Educational System, saying, that although Sister Rowe is an active member of the LDS Church, “her book is not endorsed by the church and should not be recommended to students or used as a resource in teaching them. The experiences … do not necessarily reflect church doctrine or they may distort doctrine.”
The late Mormon apostle Boyd K. Packer said in a 2011 LDS General Conference that the “end” was not near and urged young Latter-day Saints to plan to live long, productive lives.
“You can look forward to doing it right.” Packer said, ” — getting married, having a family, seeing your children and grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren.”
"We encourage members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings. We ask that you be wise, and do not go to extremes. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve." (See All Is Safely Gathered In.)
MARION CENTER, Pa. —State police say the 16-year-old western Pennsylvania girl, who reported finding a razor blade in her Halloween candy, admitted to lying about the incident.
Troopers from the Indiana, Pennsylvania, barracks say the girl was treated Monday for cuts in her mouth.
VIDEO: Watch Ashlie Hardway's report
Trooper Mark McMahan said Tuesday the girl reported receiving the razor in a piece of bubble gum she received during a community event in the Marion Center area. That's about 60 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
She later told officials the injuries were self-inflicted and that no one else was involved in the incident.
The event called 'Trunk-or-Treat' involved 22 people who registered to hand out Halloween treats out of their vehicles at a school parking lot in East Mahoning Township.
More than 300 children received treats, and nobody else reported that anything was tainted.
The teen said the candy she received from the even was safe and the incident happened at her home.
A township man was charged with making a false police report for allegedly putting needles in Halloween candy himself, according to police.
Township police were called to a home on Hillcrest Avenue in Blackwood Sunday by a resident who said he found sewing needles in four separate pieces of Halloween candy.
During their investigation, police said they found out that the man — identified as Robert Ledrew, 37 — posted comments about the alleged tampering along with a picture of a needle on Facebook the day before he reported it to police.
ALSO: Woman's body found in A.C. hotel's laundry
Police said Ledrew made up the story and placed the needles in the candy bars himself. He was charged with making a false report and released on a summons.
Authorities have been investigating incidents of tampered Halloween candy in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Sewing needles were found in Twix bars in Chester County, Pa., and a Woodbury Heights woman reported that she found a pin in a Snickers Almond bar that her children received while trick-or-treating.
hey drift into seas near Japan by the dozens every year, ghostly wrecked ships thought to come from impoverished North Korea.
Japanese authorities said Tuesday they are investigating nearly a dozen wooden boats carrying decomposing bodies that were found off the country's northwestern coast over the past month.
In most cases, the bodies are in such bad shape after being at sea for weeks that it's been impossible to determine the cause of death, officials say.
On Nov. 20, officials found 10 bodies in three boats off the coast of Ishikawa prefecture. Two days later, another wooden boat was found off nearby Fukui prefecture with six skulls, one nearly intact body with a head, and various other bones and remains, coast guard official Yuka Amao told the Associated Press.
Coast guard officials said at least 11 shoddy fishing boats carrying the bodies have arrived since late October. Most are carrying equipment, nets and signs written in Korean, including one carrying a sign saying “Korean People's Army,” the North Korean army.
ò
The officials said they could not say for certain, but the poor condition and small size of the 33-foot- to 40-foot-long vessels are not typical of South Korea or Japan, said coast guard spokesman Yoshiaki Hiroto. He said evidence suggests the boats are from the Korean Peninsula, though he declined to identify the country.
The recent spate of arrivals has drawn attention, though such discoveries are not out of the ordinary: Dozens of such wrecked boats drift toward Japan every year.
So far this year, 34 mystery boats have drifted over, including the 11 found between late October and November. Last year, Japan found 65 of them. In 2013, there were 80, according to the coast guard.
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The number tends to rise during the fall and winter season because of prevailing winds from the northwest, Hiroto said.
In recent years, fishermen from food-short North Korea have increasingly forayed into Japanese waters hunting squid, and some of the boats found adrift have been carrying squid-catching equipment. They are usually ordered away when caught by the Japanese coast guard since the two countries lack a fishing agreement.
Sometimes disabled North Korean vessels are rescued with their crews and repatriated. In other cases, fishermen have used their ships to defect to South Korea.
Such drifting arrivals have occurred for centuries, according to historical accounts.
n Ohio man is under fire from local authorities for setting up a zombie nativity scene against town wishes, Fox 19 reports.
For the second year in a row, Jasen Dixon, who manages the “13 Rooms of Doom” haunted house, set up a manger featuring the undead honoring a zombie baby Jesus — despite being ordered to take it down last year.
According to Sycamore Township officials, Dixon needed a permit for the macabre display this year. But when he applied he was turned down, and now he faces a fine of $500 per day for every day he leaves it up.
Having gone through the same situation last year before dismantling it, Dixon began soliciting donations earlier this year to cover the expected financial sanctions.
Friday night on his Facebook page, Dixon wrote: “We were going to take it down, decided to leave it up, all the lights are re-hooked and open for business just no roof. Let’s see what happens.”
According to Dixon, his request for a permit was denied because local authorities said his display violated the town’s zoning code by taking up more than 35 percent of his front yard.
“I got all the paperwork and how it was wrote out, and it says as long as it’s not over 200-square -foot that I can have it without a permit, and it’s about 65 square foot,” he explained, adding that he thinks the council hates the zombie theme.
“I think it’s the theme,” he explained. “It just rubs people the wrong way. That’s why they’re coming down so hard on me.”
Dixon was already slapped with a $500 fine on Friday, but claims his neighbors are perfectly fine with the display.
“My father hates it. The other neighbors, they drive by and give me a thumbs-up,” he said. However, he noted that Christian protesters handed out pamphlets Sunday in front of his display reading “God frowns upon this manger display,” accompanied by Biblical verses.
Yeah, you say voodoo, and people think New Orleans (thank you Hollywood), which has very little in common with the Haitian practices. I could point you down some very deep rabbit holes along those lines, as you might suspect. Don't remember what context I suggested it under, but glad you are finding it interesting.
CLINTON - Some residents in Clinton are demanding action over a disturbing situation at the Hickory Hut cemetery.
Several graves at the cemetery are in bad shape but not as bad as one that shows exposed bones.
Frederick Boyd enjoys taking walks through the Hickory Nut cemetery. He's lived in Clinton for most of his life. It's the peacefulness and serenity here that keeps him coming back, but recently that peace has been interrupted.
"I just happened to be in this area visiting a couple of people that I know and to my surprise I stumbled upon this and I wish it was something I never saw," said Frederick Boyd.
About a month ago, Boyd came across one of the most disturbing, shocking images he's ever seen. A human skull exposed. The skull is surrounded by what appears to be an old, wooden coffin.
The concrete that encased it is crumbling from years of weather and nothing has been done to cover it up.
"This is someone's loved one, what if it was your loved one," said Boyd. "What if it was you."
So we went searching for answers. We found a number associated with the cemetery on the Lousiana Cemetery Board's website.
Jerrlyn McCray answered the phone when we called. According to her, she helps maintain the cemetery with her mother. McCray claims the grave belongs to a woman who was buried more than 40 years ago.
"When they come tell her about the cemetery, she tries to help and get it straight and talk to the families," said McCray as she speaks on behalf of her mother. "Many families have came and reset the vault when the vault fell in."
She claims when they notified a family member a month ago they didn't do anything about it.
"That's not our responsibility," said McCray.
With no one taking responsibility to fix it, people like Boyd want to see something done and he's hoping this story will help bring some dignity and respect to the person in this cemetery to finally rest in peace.
Residents said people have been buried there since the 1800's.
Mummified captain found in 'ghost ship' he sailed in for seven years after death
A MUMMIFIED captain was found in a mystery boat drifting 40 miles from the shore...still sat in the seat where he is believed to have died.
By Jon Austin
PUBLISHED: 00:00, Tue, Mar 1, 2016 | UPDATED: 09:54, Tue, Mar 1, 2016
26K
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The man, who appears to have been trying to make a desperate mayday call, has been identified as German adventurer manfred Fritz Bajorat.
He was found by two fishermen at the weekend in the seas off Surigao del Sur province, about 50 miles off Philippines.
The grey corpse, which was preserved by dry ocean winds, hot temperatures and the salty air, was still sat at a desk near radio equipment on the 40ft yacht called Sayo, which was partially submerged.
His decomposing body was found by photographs and a haunting letter to his wife, Claudia, who died from cancer in 2010.
It is not year clear when he died, but no one has reported seeing him since 2009.
Local officials remain puzzled by the death and have yet to completely rule out foul play as some of his personal items could have been "damaged by force".
The explorer before he died (left) and how he was foundEPA•POLICE
The explorer before he died (left) and how he was found
Mayday: Manfred Bajorat is believed to have been trying to radio for helpBaroboPolice
Mayday: Manfred Bajorat is believed to have been trying to radio for help
Two fishermen spotted the drifting "ghost ship" and climbed on board before finding the body and photo albums, clothes and tins of food strewn all over.
Paperwork on board identified him, but the cause of death is unknown.
The mast of the boat was broken, but it is not clear if this happened before or after his death.
One theory is he could have suffered a heart attack.
A year before what appears to have been his last voyage, in 2008, he broke up with his wife who used to venture with him.
However, she has since died of cancer so can shed no more light on his movements.
SPRINGFIELD, Mich. (AP) — A murder of crows? Dozens of dead birds have been found along railroad tracks in southern Michigan, and wildlife officials are trying to figure out what happened to them.
Some area residents estimated there could be as many as 300 carcasses stretching at least 200 yards along the tracks, the Battle Creek Enquirer reported (http://bcene.ws/1pmmige (http://bcene.ws/1pmmige) ). They were discovered Tuesday in Springfield, southeast of Grand Rapids.
A Calhoun County official found 57 dead crows along the tracks Tuesday, Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Tom Cooley told The Associated Press. Two birds were found to have fractures and may have been struck by a train, Cooley said.
Several dozen crows were found dead near tracks in the same general area last month. About half a dozen were looked at and determined to have been killed by a passing train, he said.
Birds are susceptible to the weather, especially windy or stormy conditions, according to Cooley.
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"With these, there's got to be something in that general area that makes them prone to be struck," he said.
The livers of the two birds brought to Lansing on Tuesday will be tested to see if pesticides played a role in their deaths.
A flurry of chalk scrawls supporting Donald [Sleezebag] on the Emory University campus sparked a demonstration by students who demanded and were granted a meeting with the president, saying the messages made them feel concerned and frightened. At least one of them said he got death threats after the protest.
The students viewed the messages as intimidation, and they voiced "genuine concern and pain" as a result, Emory President Jim Wagner wrote Tuesday, one day after meeting with 40 to 50 student demonstrators.
The Atlanta university on Wednesday provided The Associated Press with a copy of Wagner's letter, in which he said students confronted by [Sleezebag]'s name in chalk "heard a message about values regarding diversity and respect that clash with Emory's own."
Students at Monday's protest chanted, "You are not listening! Come speak to us, we are in pain!" shortly before Wagner agreed to meet with them, Emory's student newspaper, The Wheel, reported.
Slogans such as "[Sleezebag] 2016" were written in chalk on campus sidewalks and some buildings sometime during the weekend. At least one of the chalk messages stated "Build a wall," said one of the students at the protest, Jonathan Peraza, 19, who said he is of Latino heritage and went to high school in suburban Atlanta.
"That is a direct reference to brown people on campus," Peraza told The Associated Press Wednesday, adding that "we feel unsafe on our campus."
"It was an intentional way to rile students up and intimidate those of us who feel we are in danger with this presidential candidate," Peraza said. "We do feel that our lives are in danger with his campaign and the violence that he's been inciting."
Peraza said that since the demonstration, he's received death threats on social media, including a picture of a gravestone with his name on it. He's forwarded the threats to Emory administrators, he said.
Peraza said he was not the leader the protest, but was one of many demonstrators.
"We're getting targets put on our backs because we're speaking out for the things that we need," he said. "I'm literally watching my back all over campus."
Another student protester, Lolade Oshin, 20, said no one is trying to take away anyone's First Amendment right to free speech.
"Nobody ever told anybody that they can't vote for Donald [Sleezebag]," Oshin said.
She and other students are frustrated, she said, at what they perceive as rhetoric from university officials and not enough concrete actions to promote tolerance.
"If there were pro-Hitler things around the campus or swastikas, Emory would have taken a stance on it," she said. In October 2014, Emory University officials said the FBI had joined an investigation into swastikas that were painted on the exterior of a historically Jewish fraternity house.
Oshin said she's meeting Friday with Emory administrators, who have been working for months on several policy changes, which Wagner outlined in his letter to students.
The changes include refinements to the school's "bias incident reporting and response procedure," Wagner wrote. Emory is also taking steps to have regular opportunities for "difficult dialogues," he wrote.
BRICK, NJ -- (Updated, 1:45 p.m.) Authorities are seeking the public's help and information in connection with the skull found Tuesday in the Lake Riviera section of Brick Township.
Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's office, said the skull was discovered about 3 p.m. on Tuesday, confirming information that was given to the Brick Patch by a resident who lives in the part of Lake Riviera where the skull was found.
Della Fave supplied photos of the skull.
The skull was lying just off the road at the edge of a wooded area in the area of Arizona Drive and Old Toms River Road, according to a photo supplied by the resident.
Old Toms River Road/Arizona Drive was closed Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday between Beaverson Boulevard and Emerald Drive while authorities searched the woods for anything related to the skull, Brick police said.
An initial statement referred to it as a head, but was later clarified as a skull.
For years, kids who lived in Lake Riviera rode bicycles in those wooded areas that border Old Toms River Road and behind homes that sit on Arizona Drive, cutting through those woods on their way to Lake Riviera Middle School, which is across Beaverson Boulevard.
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Old Toms River Road intersects with Beaverson Boulevard at the bend where Beaverson becomes Shorrock Street; once an almost 90-degree turn, the road was reconfigured and the angle widened and a traffic signal was installed at the Old Toms River Road-Beaverson intersection.
As of this school year, however, students are no longer permitted to ride bicycles to the middle school because of the volume of traffic along Beaverson, which becomes Shorrock as it turns the corner right near where the search is being conducted. That increased traffic is due in part to the fact that Shorrock now connects directly to the Garden State Parkway at the western end of the road, where it crosses Route 70 by Home Depot.
Another resident said there were rumors that a homeless man had been living in one of the wooded spots.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation should call the Brick Township Police Department at 732-262-1143 or the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office at 732-929-2027.
http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2016/03/24/atlanta--emory-univ.-students-traumatized-after-seeing-T rump-2016-chalk-signs.html (http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2016/03/24/atlanta--emory-univ.-students-traumatized-after-seeing-T rump-2016-chalk-signs.html)I sense disapproval...QuoteA flurry of chalk scrawls supporting Donald T rump on the Emory University campus sparked a demonstration by students who demanded and were granted a meeting with the president, saying the messages made them feel concerned and frightened. At least one of them said he got death threats after the protest.
The students viewed the messages as intimidation, and they voiced "genuine concern and pain" as a result, Emory President Jim Wagner wrote Tuesday, one day after meeting with 40 to 50 student demonstrators.
The Atlanta university on Wednesday provided The Associated Press with a copy of Wagner's letter, in which he said students confronted by T rump's name in chalk "heard a message about values regarding diversity and respect that clash with Emory's own."
Students at Monday's protest chanted, "You are not listening! Come speak to us, we are in pain!" shortly before Wagner agreed to meet with them, Emory's student newspaper, The Wheel, reported.
Slogans such as "T rump 2016" were written in chalk on campus sidewalks and some buildings sometime during the weekend. At least one of the chalk messages stated "Build a wall," said one of the students at the protest, Jonathan Peraza, 19, who said he is of Latino heritage and went to high school in suburban Atlanta.
"That is a direct reference to brown people on campus," Peraza told The Associated Press Wednesday, adding that "we feel unsafe on our campus."
"It was an intentional way to rile students up and intimidate those of us who feel we are in danger with this presidential candidate," Peraza said. "We do feel that our lives are in danger with his campaign and the violence that he's been inciting."
Peraza said that since the demonstration, he's received death threats on social media, including a picture of a gravestone with his name on it. He's forwarded the threats to Emory administrators, he said.
Peraza said he was not the leader the protest, but was one of many demonstrators.
"We're getting targets put on our backs because we're speaking out for the things that we need," he said. "I'm literally watching my back all over campus."
Another student protester, Lolade Oshin, 20, said no one is trying to take away anyone's First Amendment right to free speech.
"Nobody ever told anybody that they can't vote for Donald T rump," Oshin said.
She and other students are frustrated, she said, at what they perceive as rhetoric from university officials and not enough concrete actions to promote tolerance.
"If there were pro-Hitler things around the campus or swastikas, Emory would have taken a stance on it," she said. In October 2014, Emory University officials said the FBI had joined an investigation into swastikas that were painted on the exterior of a historically Jewish fraternity house.
Oshin said she's meeting Friday with Emory administrators, who have been working for months on several policy changes, which Wagner outlined in his letter to students.
The changes include refinements to the school's "bias incident reporting and response procedure," Wagner wrote. Emory is also taking steps to have regular opportunities for "difficult dialogues," he wrote.
. . . .
A woman in Utah is allowed to have an abortion at 20 weeks. But does she have to give her fetus painkillers in the process?
Yes, the state said Monday, when it became the only state in the nation to require doctors to give anesthesia to women undergoing abortions at 20 weeks or later.
Advocates of the law say that the regulation prevents fetuses from suffering during abortions. But doctors in Utah and elsewhere say there’s no proof that fetuses are able to feel anything at that point in pregnancy, and that sedating women during the procedure puts them at risk of complications.
“You’re now mandating [women] take that risk, based on inconclusive and biased evidence. You don’t understand what you’re legislating,” Dr. Sean Esplin, a doctor with Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, testified at committee hearing on the bill earlier this month.
The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Curt Bramble (R-Provo), said he initially hoped to ban abortions after 20 weeks, but he was told that such a law would probably challenged on constitutional grounds. This measure was next best option, he told the Salt Lake Tribune; it requires doctors to take steps to “eliminate or alleviate organic pain to the unborn child” except for in cases when the abortion is necessary to prevent the health of the mother, when the fetus suffers from a deadly congenital defect, or when the administration of anesthetic might put the mother at risk.
“In this quote ‘medical procedure,’ let’s call it what it is. It’s killing babies. And if we’re going to kill that baby, we ought to protect it from pain,” Bramble said.
This is a new twist on an old argument: For years, antiabortion advocates have used the fetal pain argument to justify bans on abortion 20 weeks after conception. According to the National Right to Life Committee, “pain-capable unborn protection” laws are currently on the books in 12 states (though they’re being challenged in two).
But the idea that 20-week-old fetuses can feel anything is disputed; a 2005 review of more than 300 studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester (28 weeks).
Utah generally does not allow abortions after the point of viability, around 22 to 24 weeks.
Esplin told the Associated Press that the new law means that any anesthetic or analgesic will have to be administered to the mother; women having abortions will either be placed under general anesthesia — meaning they’re unconscious and hooked up to a breathing tube — or sedated with a heavy dose of narcotics. Previously, women were given a choice to be anesthetized.
General anesthesia carries its own side effects and risks, and doctors say they try to avoid it except in cases where it’s absolutely necessary.
“You never give those medicines if you don’t have to,” David Turok of the University of Utah’s obstetrics and gynecology department told the AP.
Turok and some lawmakers have expressed concern that the rule could be interpreted as mandating that pregnant women be anesthetized for all procedures that happen after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Utah law defines abortions as “the intentional termination or attempted termination of human pregnancy” through a medical procedure carried out by or ordered by a physician — loosely interpreted, that could include instances of induced labor, such as when a woman is past her due date.
State Sen. Brian Shiozawa (R-Cottonwood Heights), who is also an emergency room doctor, told the Deseret News earlier this month that if the law was passed, “you can forget natural birth and labor” because there’s probably pain to a fetus coming down the birth canal as well.
In an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune, Shiozawa said he is “all for” changing the statutes on abortion. But this bill, he added, was “cumbersome” for women and their doctors.
The new law makes Utah the only state in the country where women must undergo anesthesia to have an abortion. The Montana legislature passed a similar law last year, but it was vetoed by the state’s democratic governor Steve Bullock.
Utah’s governor, Gary Herbert (R), who signed the bill into law Monday, said last month that rather than get into a debate about abortion, he just wanted to address the question: “If we’re going to have abortion, what is the most humane way to do it?”
“Fetuses have a heartbeat after about five weeks. And the idea of just being callous about that should cause all of humanity concern” regardless of their stance on abortion, he continued.
Though the new law is controversial, its impact will likely be limited, Karrie Galloway, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Utah, told the Salt Lake Tribune. In 2014, the last year for which data is available, only 17 Utah women had abortions after 20 weeks. Planned Parenthood is the only provider in the state that provides abortions during the window covered by the law.
But Galloway said the idea that lawmakers with no medical knowledge are dictating what women and their doctors can do “is what’s infuriating.”
“I mean, we have fetal medical specialists speaking and they were discounted by a citizen who said, ‘I read it on the Internet and therefore it must be true,'” she said. “That’s how we do policy here in Utah.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/29/utah-plays-doctor-legislates-anesthesia-for-abortions-at-20-weeks-and-beyond/ (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/29/utah-plays-doctor-legislates-anesthesia-for-abortions-at-20-weeks-and-beyond/)Why do people allow such restrictions in the form of laws? The whole concept appears unduly influenced from the morally conservative right that believe abortions are sinful and evil.QuoteA woman in Utah is allowed to have an abortion at 20 weeks. But does she have to give her fetus painkillers in the process?
Yes, the state said Monday, when it became the only state in the nation to require doctors to give anesthesia to women undergoing abortions at 20 weeks or later.
Advocates of the law say that the regulation prevents fetuses from suffering during abortions. But doctors in Utah and elsewhere say there’s no proof that fetuses are able to feel anything at that point in pregnancy, and that sedating women during the procedure puts them at risk of complications.
“You’re now mandating [women] take that risk, based on inconclusive and biased evidence. You don’t understand what you’re legislating,” Dr. Sean Esplin, a doctor with Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, testified at committee hearing on the bill earlier this month.
The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Curt Bramble (R-Provo), said he initially hoped to ban abortions after 20 weeks, but he was told that such a law would probably challenged on constitutional grounds. This measure was next best option, he told the Salt Lake Tribune; it requires doctors to take steps to “eliminate or alleviate organic pain to the unborn child” except for in cases when the abortion is necessary to prevent the health of the mother, when the fetus suffers from a deadly congenital defect, or when the administration of anesthetic might put the mother at risk.
“In this quote ‘medical procedure,’ let’s call it what it is. It’s killing babies. And if we’re going to kill that baby, we ought to protect it from pain,” Bramble said.
This is a new twist on an old argument: For years, antiabortion advocates have used the fetal pain argument to justify bans on abortion 20 weeks after conception. According to the National Right to Life Committee, “pain-capable unborn protection” laws are currently on the books in 12 states (though they’re being challenged in two).
But the idea that 20-week-old fetuses can feel anything is disputed; a 2005 review of more than 300 studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester (28 weeks).
Utah generally does not allow abortions after the point of viability, around 22 to 24 weeks.
Esplin told the Associated Press that the new law means that any anesthetic or analgesic will have to be administered to the mother; women having abortions will either be placed under general anesthesia — meaning they’re unconscious and hooked up to a breathing tube — or sedated with a heavy dose of narcotics. Previously, women were given a choice to be anesthetized.
General anesthesia carries its own side effects and risks, and doctors say they try to avoid it except in cases where it’s absolutely necessary.
“You never give those medicines if you don’t have to,” David Turok of the University of Utah’s obstetrics and gynecology department told the AP.
Turok and some lawmakers have expressed concern that the rule could be interpreted as mandating that pregnant women be anesthetized for all procedures that happen after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Utah law defines abortions as “the intentional termination or attempted termination of human pregnancy” through a medical procedure carried out by or ordered by a physician — loosely interpreted, that could include instances of induced labor, such as when a woman is past her due date.
State Sen. Brian Shiozawa (R-Cottonwood Heights), who is also an emergency room doctor, told the Deseret News earlier this month that if the law was passed, “you can forget natural birth and labor” because there’s probably pain to a fetus coming down the birth canal as well.
In an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune, Shiozawa said he is “all for” changing the statutes on abortion. But this bill, he added, was “cumbersome” for women and their doctors.
The new law makes Utah the only state in the country where women must undergo anesthesia to have an abortion. The Montana legislature passed a similar law last year, but it was vetoed by the state’s democratic governor Steve Bullock.
Utah’s governor, Gary Herbert (R), who signed the bill into law Monday, said last month that rather than get into a debate about abortion, he just wanted to address the question: “If we’re going to have abortion, what is the most humane way to do it?”
“Fetuses have a heartbeat after about five weeks. And the idea of just being callous about that should cause all of humanity concern” regardless of their stance on abortion, he continued.
Though the new law is controversial, its impact will likely be limited, Karrie Galloway, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Utah, told the Salt Lake Tribune. In 2014, the last year for which data is available, only 17 Utah women had abortions after 20 weeks. Planned Parenthood is the only provider in the state that provides abortions during the window covered by the law.
But Galloway said the idea that lawmakers with no medical knowledge are dictating what women and their doctors can do “is what’s infuriating.”
“I mean, we have fetal medical specialists speaking and they were discounted by a citizen who said, ‘I read it on the Internet and therefore it must be true,'” she said. “That’s how we do policy here in Utah.”
Director Tom Six made a name for himself with 2011's bizarre cult classic The Human Centipede, which he followed up with 2012's The Human Centipede 2 and last year's The Human Centipede 3. The films weren't exactly box office hits, with all three grossing less than $350,000 combined at the domestic box office. But they certainly garnered their fair share of controversy, with a story following a bizarre doctor (Dieter Laser) and his disgusting, yet, supposedly "100% medically accurate" experiments. The second movie, The Human Centipede 2, is making headlines once again, four years after its release, as students in a Tennessee high school were forced to watch the movie in class.
While no details were given as to why the unnamed teacher made students watch this grotesque movie, superintendent Verna Ruffin confirmed to The Jackson Sun, via USA Today, that the film was shown to students at Jackson Central-Merry High School. An unnamed parent reported the incident to the local newspaper, but Verna Ruffin wouldn't say why the movie was shown to students, or if the teacher who showed the movie was disciplined. The superintendent would only say that the matter has been "addressed," calling the incident "inappropriate." Here's an excerpt from a letter sent by the school's principal to the student's parents after the incident occurred.
"I understand that on Wednesday, April 20, 2016, your student may have inadvertently viewed inappropriate content in a JCM classroom. This occurrence is inconsistent with our Mission and Vision at Jackson Central Merry. I have investigated the situation and talked to those involved. Immediate action has been taken to assure that there will be no further occurrences."
2011's The Human Centipede (First Sequence) follows Dieter Laser's Dr. Heiter, who abducts two young women (Ashley C. Williams and Ashlynn Yennie) and a Japanese man (Akihiro Kitamura), surgically joining them together, connecting them through their gastric systems to see if they can survive. The sequel The Human Centipede 2 took a meta approach, following a distraught man (Laurence R. Harvey) who becomes obsessed with the first movie, attempting to create his own version of The Human Centipede. The final installment, The Human Centipede 3, takes the concept to another depraved level, with over 500 prison inmates being turned into one massive "centipede."
Verna Ruffin added that she didn't know how many students were present for this strange screening, or how much of the movie they actually saw. The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) was released theatrically in the U.S., but it only played in 24 theaters, grossing $122,880 through its five-week run. The movie was originally banned in the U.K., Australia and New Zealanda. The movie eventually received a release in the U.K. after the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) demanded extensive cuts to the movie, after which it received an 18 certificate, which is the equivalent of an NC-17 rating in the U.S.
"Update one' is free, but I'm not signing up to watch the others.
If it's a fake, they either include fake cat scans and xrays, or it's a skilled gaff by a taxidermist. My guess would be sloth based for that possibility.
But it's not terribly far away from my former work on mummies of the area.
My first thoughts on it were of McGinty, though. But then, he's never far from my mind working on these types of things.
http://www.sideshowworld.com/110-Mummy/2014/McGinty-Smith/Soapy-2.html (http://www.sideshowworld.com/110-Mummy/2014/McGinty-Smith/Soapy-2.html)
McGinty was at least partially mummified by the addition of concrete. Makes me wonder if the plaster couldn't produce similar effects.
He believes the creatures are a hybrid of a canine and a marsupial, like a kangaroo, and has dubbed them “canis marsupius.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3509198/The-Devil-s-Image-rib-steak-goes-viral-Mexico-horns-face-Satan-spotted-meat.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3509198/The-Devil-s-Image-rib-steak-goes-viral-Mexico-horns-face-Satan-spotted-meat.html)
(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/03/25/10/328BA31A00000578-3509198-image-a-18_1458901827317.jpg)
About time Lucifer got into the appearing on random things gig.
A jury found body broker Arthur Rathburn guilty on Monday of illegally renting out diseased human body parts and heads to unwitting doctors. He faces up to 20 years in prison for eight crimes, including wire fraud and illegally transporting hazardous materials.