The "News" thread.

[Unorthodox]

As the fat slow shy asthmatic kid who was always an early target, we're just going to have to disagree on dodgeball 

I can see where it could BECOME such a thing, but no more than any other sport. 

Now, the 3rd grade teacher who believed he could cure asthma by making me run laps instead of normal recess, we can talk about cruel and no place in school. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Well, it all comes down to the teachers, doesn't it?  It's sure to be a cruel game without some agressive refereeing - obviously some difference in the cultures we grew up in, or at least a ball that couldn't be thrown very hard out that way.

[Unorthodox]

Probably more just that a ball couldn't possibly hurt as much as whatever item my mom was likely to grab.  What's that from the movie?  "If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball." 

How bout a pallete cleanser.

Unicorns are real.  And apparently live in caves?   

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/north-korea-claims-proof-of-unicorns

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.

[Unorthodox]

http://io9.com/5967027/archaeologist-suing-makes-of-indiana-jones-because-their-crystal-skull-is-too-accurate

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.)

WTF? 


I'm struggling to remember if Indiana Jones showed any likeness of the Hedge's skull.  I KNOW they referenced it (being the most famous of the 'real' skulls), but don't remember if there was a likeness shown. 

[Unorthodox]

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000072387&story_title=Cash-strapped-Swaziland-urged-to-hike-witch-doctor-tax

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

Taxing Witchdoctors? 

[Buster's Uncle]

I don't see why not.

New Zealand Dogs Pass Driving Test
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.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/zealand-dogs-pass-driving-test-152931917--abc-news-topstories.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Utah College Students Rents Out Abandoned Puppies by the Hour
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.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/utah-college-students-rents-abandoned-puppies-hour-130619217--abc-news-topstories.html

[Unorthodox]

I don't agree with the 'renting', really, but can really see the value of a try before you adopt type system.  Heading over to a shelter to look at pets for 5 minutes isn't the best means of selecting a member of the family. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Texas boy with pentagram carved back discharged
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.

http://news.yahoo.com/texas-boy-pentagram-carved-back-discharged-125205834.html

[Buster's Uncle]

A few words about dodgeball (by Will Wheaton of TNG Westley Crusher fame) I just coincidentally happened to stumble over:

February, 1984
 
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.

http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/page/10/
Scroll down to the entry about Gary Gygax.

[Unorthodox]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2258148/I-killed-unborn-babys-fingernail-Mother-left-coma-needed-22-blood-transfusions.html

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
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flashbacks of "It's Alive". 

[Buster's Uncle]

This version wouldn't have made a very exciting movie.

[Unorthodox]

No, just popped into my head on reading the headline. 

Too bad they weren't the Davis family.  Still one of the better tag lines of all time:  "The only thing wrong with the Davis baby....It's Alive." 

[Dale]

A few words about dodgeball (by Will Wheaton of TNG Westley Crusher fame) I just coincidentally happened to stumble over:

Isn't Will Wheaton of Big Bang Theory Will Wheaton fame?   

[Buster's Uncle]

I know where I first heard of him.