The "News" thread.

[Unorthodox]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2267389/Qantas-passenger-wearing-shirt-Princess-Bride-Prepare-Die-quote-told-change-message-intimating.html?ICO=most_read_module

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
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Inconceivable!

[Unorthodox]

That there is some bad ju-ju.

Follow up.

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

And the Gob-l-ins'll git ya if you don't watch out!

[Unorthodox]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2269094/North-Korean-parents-eat-children-driven-mad-hunger-famine-hit-pariah-state.html?ICO=most_read_module

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
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Cannibal :the Musical ... Trailer

(good show)

[Unorthodox]

Pregnant man fighting for divorce.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/9pm-extra/Pregnant-Man-Fighting-for-Divorce-in-Arizona-Court-188716751.html

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.

[Unorthodox]

http://www.kgun9.com/news/local/189113371.html

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.

Pics at link. 

[Unorthodox]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271440/Burger-King-admits-selling-beef-burgers-Whoppers-containing-horse-meat.html

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.
 More...Now Asda and Co-op are dragged into horsemeat-contaminated beef burger scandal as they admit to DNA discoveries in products
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
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

I've always advocated getting the vegetarian whopper there.  Scary thing is it tastes the same as one with the patty. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Canada Kills the Penny
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.

http://news.yahoo.com/canada-kills-penny-152828366.html

[Unorthodox]

About time.  We should follow suit.  As well as doing a dollar coin.  Don't give me the "it's been tried" line.  Just STOP making the dollar bill, the coin will catch on fine. 

[gwillybj]

Stop using cash at all and use debit cards with direct deposit.

[Unorthodox]

Stop using cash at all and use debit cards with direct deposit.

If there's a mandate to use the technology, the govt might become responsible to provide the technology to merchants.  It's not cheap to run credit cards, I know a number of cash only businesses because of that. 

[Unorthodox]

Full - Homeless Hitchhiker(Kai) Saves Woman From Jesus Attack W Hatchet. FUNNIEST NEWS REPORT EVER

[Buster's Uncle]

This fellow tends to disqualify himself as a credible witness...

[Unorthodox]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/02/08/accused-witch-burned-alive-in-papua-new-guinea/1901067/

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."

[gwillybj]

'Bionic man' goes on show at British musuem
by Staff Writers
London Feb 05, 2013

http://www.robodaily.com/reports/Bionic_man_goes_on_show_at_British_musuem_999.html
 
A "bionic man" costing one million dollars went on display on Tuesday at Britain's Science Museum, complete with artificial organs, synthetic blood and robot limbs.

Named Rex, which is short for "Robotic Exoskeleton", the six foot six inch (two metre) humanoid with its uncannily life-like face was assembled by leading roboticists for a television programme.

Although cheaper than the "Six Million Dollar Man" made famous by the cult 1970s television series starring Lee Majors, the technology is far advanced from the fictional bionics on show back then.

The creation includes key advances in prosthetic technology, as well as an artificial pancreas, kidney, spleen and trachea and a functional blood circulatory system.

Welcoming Rex to the museum in London on Tuesday was Swiss social psychologist Bertolt Meyer, who was himself born without a left hand and has a sophisticated bionic replacement.

"I've looked around for new bionic technologies, out of personal interest, for a very long time and I think that until five or six years ago nothing much was happening," Meyer said.

"Then suddenly we are now at a point where we can build a body that is great and beautiful in its own special way."

The museum exhibit, which opens to the public on Thursday, will explore changing perceptions of human identity against the background of rapid progress in bionics -- although Rex is not strictly bionic as he does not include living tissue.

[Unorthodox]

Did the pope piss off god?

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/world/a-sign-from-god-lightning-hits-vatican-as-pope-benedict-announces-resignation/story-fnd12peo-1226576196463

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."