The Weird News Thread

[1vegan]

Link (http://www.kansascity.com/286/story/127383.html)

Can you explain why you have 1,500 pairs of girls’ shoes?

WAUKESHA, Wis. — Police seized more than 1,500 pairs of girls’ shoes from the home and storage unit of a man arrested for breaking into a high school, police said Tuesday.

“He liked to smell them,” said Lt. William H. Graham.

Police said the recovered shoes may be related to the burglaries of three Waukesha public high schools and a middle school over the past two years.

The 27-year-old Kenosha man, who was not identified because had yet to be formally charged, worked for a cable company and collected keys to the schools as he responded to calls, Graham said. The same man was convicted in 2005 for stealing shoes from Kenosha Tremper High School.

Police arrested him after a security video showed him entering North High School on May 20 and leaving with some items, authorities said.

Officers searched the man’s home and a rented storage unit on Thursday, recovering the shoes along with school yearbooks, keys, a bolt cutter and other items.

The man was expected to be charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court Tuesday, Capt. Mike Babe said.

:lol:

[Oracl]

“He liked to smell them,” said Lt. William H. Graham.
:blecch: :laugh:

[1vegan]

SF Gate (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/06/01/entertainment/e214028D62.DTL)

Kidney Transplant TV Show Is a Hoax

A television show in which a woman would donate a kidney to a contestants was revealed as a hoax Friday, with presenters saying they were trying to pressure the government into reforming organ donation laws.

Shortly before the controversial program was to air, Patrick Lodiers of the "Big Donor Show" said the woman was not actually dying of a brain tumor and the entire exercise was intended to put pressure on the government and raise awareness of the need for organs.

The information in the SF gate is not correct, the show is a hoax, but it was revealed at the end of the show.

They sure got the attention they were looking for :)

[thevegantwins]

That's sick. Imagine if you were a Dutch person waiting for a transplant and thinking that someone from a tv show was getting one before you. That must have been devastating for those people.

[1vegan]

That's sick. Imagine if you were a Dutch person waiting for a transplant and thinking that someone from a tv show was getting one before you. That must have been devastating for those people.

I don't know how it must feel, but the three people who supposedly were "competing" for the kidney, were real kidney patients.
They said that the show made 30,000 people ask for a donor registry form.

[paul]

the 3 people needing a kidney knew it was a hoax before going on the programe.

[Enchantress]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6734469.stm

[paul]

stop[ the world i want to get off

[Gliondrach]

Curses! It was his birthday yesterday and I forgot to send a card. Again. Will he and Liz ever forgive me?

[thevegantwins]

He once advised British students not to stay too long in China for fear of becoming "slitty-eyed".

And he asked a group of stunned aborigines if they still threw spears at each other.

:thumbsup: Yup, he sounds like a God. :covereyes:

[1vegan]

BBC news (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/6741167.stm)

Owner's appeal over cat's 26 toes
They say cats have nine lives - so meet Des, who has 26 toes.

While most pet cats have 18 - five on their front paws and four on their rear - the 10-year-old boasts seven on his front and six on his back paws.

The extra digits have left owner Alison Thomas, of Felindre, near Swansea, pondering whether it is a UK record.

There are unconfirmed reports in north America of cats with up to 28 toes - but Mrs Thomas cannot find records closer to home.

A cat with too many toes is called a Polydactyl.

Mother-of-three Mrs Thomas said: "He came to us when he was about six months old - he just turned up on the doorstep and it was even more noticeable then because his paws were so big.

"The first thing people say when they see him even now is 'look at his paws'.

"He is a bit temperamental - if you know him you are okay but Des can be quite quick with his paws and leave a nasty scratch because he has so many claws.

"He did have a problem with his paws a while back - nothing to do with the number of the toes - and the vet said he could amputate the extra ones.

"But they don't cause him any problems - he does not scratch the furniture - the children know and they say 'don't go near Des's claws'."

She said she had read it was common for a Polydactyl to have 24 toes - but she said 26 was 'very rare'.

The world record might belong to a cat called Mickey Mouse who was owned by Renee Delgade of Westlake Village, California, in 1974.

It had 32 toes, but there are doubts about the record as Mickey may have had "double paw" condition and may not have been a pure Polydactyl.

There is speculation the real record holder for a Polydactyl is Bobbi, owned by Kathy Williams of Stone Creek in British Columbia. The Canadian press reported in 2002 it had 28 toes.

"We would be interested to find out what the record is the UK," added Mrs Thomas.

Maybe not really weird news, but it's a bit out of the ordinary :)
Nice picture on the article too.

[Charmagne]

stop[ the world i want to get off

:rofl: :laugh: :rofl:

Me too!

[thevegantwins]

That's a cute cat, 1V. I wonder if they cut the cat's nails themselves or have a vet do it.

I cut Felíne's nails this weekend. I slipped and gave her a boo-boo. I felt horrible. :crying: I gave her extra kibble to make up for my mistake.

[Gliondrach]

Des the feline lives in Felindre.

His large feet will help him to walk on snow without sinking in.

[1vegan]

That's a cute cat, 1V. I wonder if they cut the cat's nails themselves or have a vet do it.

I cut Felíne's nails this weekend. I slipped and gave her a boo-boo. I felt horrible. :crying: I gave her extra kibble to make up for my mistake.

If a cat is enough outside the house, you don't have to clip nails :)

[1vegan]

BBC news (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6751777.stm)

US town set to ban saggy trousers

A mayor in the US state of Louisiana says he will sign into law a proposal to make wearing saggy trousers an act of indecent exposure.

Delcambre town council unanimously passed the ordinance earlier this week making it a crime to wear trousers that show underwear.

"If you expose your private parts, you'll get a fine" of US$500 (£254) Mayor Carol Broussard said.

Offenders will also risk up to six months in jail.

Fashionable

Speaking of people who wear saggy trousers, Mr Broussard told the Associated Press news agency: "They're better off taking the pants off and just wearing a dress."

Town attorney Ted Ayo said the ordinance expands on the existing state indecent exposure law by adding underwear to the list of forbidden exposures.

"This is a new ordinance that deals specifically with sagging pants," Mr Ayo said. "It's about showing off your underwear in public."

Some residents say the ordinance targets blacks, as low-slung trousers are fashionable among hip hop fans.

Mr Broussard denied it was racially motivated.

"White people wear sagging pants, too," he said.

:lol:

[thevegantwins]

If a cat is enough outside the house, you don't have to clip nails :)
Felíne doesn't go outside. Cats who go outdoors have much shorter lifespans.

[1vegan]

I know feline can't go outside :)

My mum lived in a small town, where she could have the cats outside (if the cat wanted), and they got 12 to 14 year old iirc.

[Bowwowmeow]

A mayor in the US state of Louisiana says he will sign into law a proposal to make wearing saggy trousers an act of indecent exposure.
Boooo! One less thing to laugh at in Louisiana! I knew a kid once (he was white too) working in the grocery store. He was running back to the store with the empty shopping cart, and his baggy pants, already down to his knees normally, fell right down! :laugh: We all teased him something awful, and he had to go get a clothesline from the laundry department to tie his pants up, or they would have sent him home to change. It wasn't indecent exposure, it was hilarious exposure, though I expect some young men wouldn't appreciate being laughed at, since its a style adopted to represent having to wear outsized hand-me-downs, because your family was too poor to buy you your own, properly sized clothes.

[Charmagne]

Is that the reason for this foolishness? I always wondered what the heck was wrong with these baggy pant people!!:rolleyes:

[Bowwowmeow]

Yes. It starts off as a cultural thing, but then savvy capitalists turn it into a trend, and make it meaningless for the people who actually suffered from poverty, and had no choice in how they dressed as children.

[my3labs]

Yes. It starts off as a cultural thing, but then savvy capitalists turn it into a trend, and make it meaningless for the people who actually suffered from poverty, and had no choice in how they dressed as children.

That's interesting BWM. I thought it was a "gansta" thing. I don't know that we should be banning how people dress but I sure would like to see that style go away. Same with baseball hats on sideways...that's a really dorky look. On the other hand, the right guy with his baseball hat on backwards really floats my boat.:dribble:

[Bowwowmeow]

Hopefully the gangstas understand where that style comes from. I hate to see young people unaware of and disrespectful to what their elders went through. As bad as it still is for many minorities, it was way worse for their grandparents.

[1vegan]

talking about pants; they seem very important and missing a pair of pants can cause serious mental disstress......

Link (http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070615/NEWS0301/706150332)

A nation of immigrants' greatness rests with having more people like Jin Chung, Soo Chung and Ki Chung bringing their timeless virtues of hard work and self-reliance to remind some of the rest of us where we come up short.

Conversely, it requires fewer people like Washington, D.C., administrative law judge Roy L. Pearson, acting as his own counsel in a $54 million lawsuit against the Chungs and their Custom Cleaners laundry business.


Over a pair of pants.

Sadly, only in America, or what America apparently has become, would this laughable legal action receive the serious attention it is getting.

Yet Pearson, without shame, actually proclaims that he is acting in the interest of all citizens against poor business practices.

Specifically, Pearson, citing the District of Columbia's Consumer Protection Act and the Chung's store sign promising "Satisfaction Guaranteed," is arguing that he won't be satisfied with anything short of $54 million, arguably about 5 million times the value of the pants, presuming they were actually lost, which is hardly clear at all.

But Pearson, perhaps aware that his action is making a distant memory of an early mockery (the $2.9 successful judgment against McDonalds for serving coffee too hot), says he wants only $2 million in damages for himself, for his mental anguish and for his inconvenience, plus $500,000 in attorney's fees for representing himself.

Anything more than that reward, he says, would go into a fund "to educate people of their rights under the Consumer Protection Act," he said.

It is hard to decide which is more outrageous: Pearson's greed and arrogance or Judge Judith Bartnoff who, also without embarrassment, says she is taking the issues in this case seriously.

She has promised a ruling by the end of next week.

I'm very curious what the judge's ruling will be :agree:

[Oracl]

Me too! :agree:

[1vegan]

Maybe not real weird news, but it's "weird" to me ....

BBC business news (http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6752143.stm)

The New York Times reports that JP Morgan Chase will receive hundreds of millions of dollars to build a 42-story skyscraper in downtown Manhattan.

The deal follows threats by the company to move its headquarters to Connecticut from its location in mid-town New York.

New York City officials have already paid Goldman Sachs $650m (£330m) to build new offices in Battery Park City.

That deal was criticised at the time as most outrageous example of corporate welfare in city history, according to the New York Times.

But the paper says that JP Morgan Chase will receive an even better deal, with tax breaks, discounted electric power and rent subsidies worth $100m from city and state authorities.

And it says that rent subsidies will amount to $50m per year for 15 years, or $750m.

JP Morgan Chase is a huge, and very profitable company.

It has assets of $1.4 trillion, annual revenues of $100bn and profits of $14bn in 2006, and ranks 11th on the Fortune 500 list of the biggest US companies.

But city and state officials fear that without the subsidies, key financial institutions would desert New York City, and particularly the Wall Street area

:sigh:

[thevegantwins]

Corporations are the biggest recipients of welfare in this country. :devil2:

[1vegan]

update on the 54 million USD pants lawsuit :Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062500443.html?hpid=topnews)

Court Rules for Cleaners In $54 Million Pants Suit

The D.C. administrative law judge who sued his neighborhood dry cleaners for $54 million over a pair of lost pants found out yesterday what he's going to get.

Nothing.

Hardly a surprise, the verdict was nonetheless a media spectacle of the first order.

Journalists from around the world descended on a strip mall in far Northeast Washington for one more news conference and a last look at the place where it all began between the proprietors of Custom Cleaners, Soo and Jin Chung, and a judge named Roy Pearson.

It was the case that people couldn't stop talking about, and yesterday, the judge who heard it, Judith Bartnoff, finally had her say, rejecting Pearson's claim that he was defrauded by the Chungs and their "Satisfaction Guaranteed" sign.

"A reasonable consumer would not interpret 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' to mean that a merchant is required to satisfy a customer's unreasonable demands or to accede to demands that the merchant has reasonable grounds to dispute," Bartnoff wrote in a 23-page ruling, adding that Pearson "is not entitled to any relief whatsoever."

There's more info on the page I linked to, I hope the Chungs will see some of their $ 100,000 legal defense costs back from Pearson.

[Oracl]

Good verdict! :agree:

[Gliondrach]

Is that the reason for this foolishness? I always wondered what the heck was wrong with these baggy pant people!!:rolleyes:

I meant to ask this days ago but forgot. Is it the fashion elsewhere to wear jeans that are torn? Shops sell them already torn. They cost a small fortune. What's the point?

[dreamer]

Actually, the dry cleaning verdict was that the plaintiff had to pay court costs...which is the LEAST he could do!

[1vegan]

I meant to ask this days ago but forgot. Is it the fashion elsewhere to wear jeans that are torn? Shops sell them already torn. They cost a small fortune. What's the point?

Being fashionable, being part of the group and peer pressure?

An attempt to show you don't want to live up to "old people's standards" / looking rebelious?

[Gliondrach]

But wouldn't a really rebellious-type buy nice jeans and then rip them?

[1vegan]

that's the point, they don't want to be really rebelious and have to face all that can come with that.

It's about looking that way, not being that way ;)

[1vegan]

Link (http://www.thenewstribune.com/887/story/96911.html)

Court: Vasectomy 'gift' not recoverable

The Associated Press
Published: June 26th, 2007 08:10 PM


Lost love carries no refund, even if you have a receipt. The Utah Court of Appeals rejected an ex-fiance's request to recover thousands of dollars spent during his engagement on a vasectomy, a cruise to Alaska, a trip to France and other purchases.

Layne D. Hess sued Jody Johnston after she returned an engagement ring to him in April 2005 and called off a wedding planned for that summer.

Hess accused her of unjust enrichment and breach of contract, claiming he spent the money because of their upcoming marriage.

"Hess urges this court to adopt the position that any gift given during the engagement period carries an implied condition of marriage. We decline to do so," the appeals court said last week in upholding a lower court's ruling.

"If we were to imply a condition on all gifts given during the engagement period, every gift would be recoverable regardless of the size, cost, significance or nature of the gift," the court said.

Hess' expenses included $2,400 to help Johnston's son buy a car.

An engagement, the court noted, is a "test period" for people to test their feelings for each other.

"We see no benefit in discouraging or penalizing persons who realize ... for whatever reason they are unprepared to take such an important step," the court said of marriage.

The court found Hess didn't lose everything: Johnston at least returned the ring.

darn.... breach of contract.....

I know people sometimes see marriage as a contract, but Jeezz..... (me watches too much Dr.Phil sometimes :o )

But at least he got to keep the vasectomy :D

[Oracl]

But at least he got to keep the vasectomy :D
:lol:

[1vegan]

Link (http://www.thenewstribune.com/887/story/100628.html)
Illinois man files suit over lost love

Stealing someone's heart can cost you: Just ask German Blinov.
A Cook County jury ordered Blinov to shell out $4,802 last week after he was sued by a husband from a Chicago suburb for stealing the affections of the man's wife.

Arthur Friedman used a little-known state law to mount the legal attack against Blinov. The alienation of affection law, one of eight across the country, lets spouses seek damages for the loss of love.

But Natalie Friedman, the woman at the center of it all, claims her husband asked her to have sex with other men and women - including Blinov - to spice up their relationship. She supposedly began having feelings for Blinov, prompting her husband to file the lawsuit.

"This guy ruined my life - he backstabbed me," Arthur Friedman told the Chicago Sun-Times. "What he did was wrong. And I did what I had to do to get my point across."

Blinov doesn't deny having a relationship with Natalie Friedman while she was married, but he was surprised to learn he could be sued for it. His attorney also said Natalie Friedman was unhappy with her marriage before the relationship started.

"German was not a pirate of her affections," attorney Enrico Mirabelli said. "Her affections were already adrift."

:rolleyes:

[Bowwowmeow]

:rofl:
They made a movie about suing for alienation of affection. A woman whose husband left her sued the Jezebel who stole him, and I think she proved her case too, because her marriage was a good one until this other woman set out to take the husband away.

[Gliondrach]

$4,802 for lost love? That's not much. A second-hand car would cost more.

[Oracl]

$4,802 for lost love? That's not much. A second-hand car would cost more.
:lol:

[1vegan]

$4,802 for lost love? That's not much. A second-hand car would cost more.

you're kidding me, mine cost me 650 usd ;)

[Gliondrach]

But do you love your car?

[1vegan]

But do you love your car?

No, I don't love cars anymore, that's cause:

1- I've grown up/matured
2- It's front wheel drive, and I've got a thing for rear wheel drive :o

It's just the most economical thing I could find, My car (http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z230/2vegan/corsa.jpg)

[Oracl]

It's just the most economical thing I could find, My car (http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z230/2vegan/corsa.jpg)
Very practical. :agree:

[1vegan]

Very practical. :agree:

17 years old and does 40 mpg average ;)
(partly due to how I drive :D )

[1vegan]

ok, this isn't realy weird news, but shocking news :( :

Msnbc (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19586738/)

WICHITA, Kan. - As a stabbing victim lay dying on the floor of a Kansas convenience store, five shoppers, including one who stopped to take a picture of her with a cell phone, stepped over the woman, police said.

The June 23 incident, captured on a store surveillance video, received scant news coverage until a columnist for The Wichita Eagle first disclosed Tuesday the existence of the video and its contents.

Police have repeatedly refused to release the video, saying it is part of their investigation.

"It was tragic to watch," police spokesman Gordon Bassham said Tuesday. "The fact that people were more interested in taking a picture with a cell phone and shopping for snacks rather than helping this innocent young woman is, frankly, revolting."

The person who took a pic with their cellphone should definitely be prosecuted imho

[Gliondrach]

I'll lay odds that she's a meat eater.

[1vegan]

BBC news (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/dorset/6281910.stm)

Students worried by cows rescued
A full-scale rescue operation was launched after seven college students on a night-time orienteering trek became worried by a herd of cows.

Emergency services were called out on Monday night after the teenagers became stuck on a hill near Swanage, Dorset.

The girls from St Albans had been tasked with using map reading skills to find their way to the nearby adventure centre they were staying in.

A Loreto College spokeswoman said the task was run by an "experienced team".

Coastguard contacted

The teenagers, aged 14 and 15, were on the residential field trip as part of their geography coursework.

On Monday night, they were dropped off about three miles (4.8km) from the centre and asked to find their way back.

They were given mobile phones and emergency numbers in case they got into difficulty.

They contacted the centre when they came across the field of cows and coastguard, police and ambulance crews were sent to the scene, a Hertfordshire County Council spokeswoman said.

Hospital check-up

"They got to the field and realised they needed to be on the other side of it and did not want to go through it," she explained.

Maire Lynch, the head teacher of the college, said: "One group of seven girls became concerned and used their phones to call for help from the centre, as instructed.

"The centre began to direct the girls home and a member of centre staff went out to join them.

"Last night's activity was run by an experienced and established team. "

No-one was injured but one teenager who complained of feeling cold was taken to hospital to be checked over by medical staff.

:lol:

*though some cows are the types you don't want to argue with about who's grass it is
Like these : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_cattle
In my country we have some of these in nature parks, as a kind of lawn mower alternative

[Gliondrach]

The youth of today! Eh?

[Bowwowmeow]

Well if they're a bunch of beef eating milk drinkers they should be scared. The cows can tell. That's one of the reasons why I'm not frightened of large prey animals, because I don't prey on them.

My fellow geologists used to be easily frightened by cattle too. It seems that in geology and geography you often find yourself hopping over barbed wire fences and mingling with lots of cattle. :smallheart: :cow2: :cow2: :cow2:

[Charmagne]

Not scared of cows but scared of lizards ........ go figure!:rolleyes:

[Bowwowmeow]

talking about pants; they seem very important and missing a pair of pants can cause serious mental disstress......
I'm very curious what the judge's ruling will be :agree:
Judge Continues to Press Pants Suit

http://my.eimg.net/harvest_xml/NEWS/img/20070711/469455c0_3ca7_1552720070711-1126955772.jpg (http://enews.earthlink.net/article/pho?guid=20070711/469455c0_3ca7_1552720070711-1126955772&article_path=/article/str&article_guid=20070711/469455c0_3ca6_1552620070711-545089254)

Administrative law judge Roy Pearson leaves court in this June 13 file photo in Washington. Pearson, who lost a $54 million lawsuit against a dry cleaner over a missing pair of pants on Wednesday asked a judge to reconsider the verdict. Jacquelyn Martin

From Associated Press
July 11, 2007 3:39 PM EST

WASHINGTON - A customer who lost a $54 million lawsuit against a dry cleaner over a missing pair of pants on Wednesday asked a judge to reconsider the verdict.

Roy L. Pearson, a local administrative law judge, argued that District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff failed to address his legal claims when she ruled that the business owners did not violate the city's consumer protection law by failing to live up to his expectations of a "Satisfaction Guaranteed" sign once displayed in the store.

"The court effectively substituted a guarantee of satisfaction with 'reasonable' limits and preconditions for the unconditional and unambigious guarantee of satisfaction the defendant-merchant chose to advertise for seven years," Pearson wrote. "That was a fundamental legal error."

The suit originally asked for $67 million.

The motion comes less than a week after the South Korean immigrant owners of Custom Cleaners asked the judge to order Pearson to cover $83,000 in legal fees.

"(The) Plaintiff's motives have been clear - quite simply, to harass Defendants and to attempt to utterly destroy their lives," attorney Christopher Manning wrote.

The case, which drew international attention, began in 2005 when Pearson became an administrative law judge and brought several suits for alterations to Custom Cleaners.

A pair of pants from one suit was missing when he requested it two days later. A week later, the Chungs said the pants had been found, but Pearson denied that they were his and decided to sue.

Pearson's suit was based on a strict interpretation of the city's consumer protection law. It also included damages for inconvenience, mental anguish and attorney's fees for representing himself.

[1vegan]

Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071202356_pf.html)

A Gate-Crasher's Change of Heart
The Guests Were Enjoying French Wine and Cheese on a Capitol Hill Patio. When a Gunman Burst In, the Would-Be Robbery Took an Unusual Turn.

A grand feast of marinated steaks and jumbo shrimp was winding down, and a group of friends was sitting on the back patio of a Capitol Hill home, sipping red wine. Suddenly, a hooded man slid in through an open gate and put the barrel of a handgun to the head of a 14-year-old guest.

"Give me your money, or I'll start shooting," he demanded, according to D.C. police and witness accounts.

The five other guests, including the girls' parents, froze -- and then one spoke.

"We were just finishing dinner," Cristina "Cha Cha" Rowan, 43, blurted out. "Why don't you have a glass of wine with us?"

The intruder took a sip of their Chateau Malescot St-Exupéry and said, "Damn, that's good wine."

The girl's father, Michael Rabdau, 51, who described the harrowing evening in an interview, told the intruder, described as being in his 20s, to take the whole glass. Rowan offered him the bottle. The would-be robber, his hood now down, took another sip and had a bite of Camembert cheese that was on the table.

Then he tucked the gun into the pocket of his nylon sweatpants.

"I think I may have come to the wrong house," he said, looking around the patio of the home in the 1300 block of Constitution Avenue NE.

"I'm sorry," he told the group. "Can I get a hug?"

Rowan, who lives in Falls Church and works part time at her children's school, stood up and wrapped her arms around him. Then it was Rabdau's turn. Then his wife's. The other two guests complied.

"That's really good wine," the man said, taking another sip. He had a final request: "Can we have a group hug?"

The five adults surrounded him, arms out.

With that, the man walked out with a crystal wine glass in hand, filled with Chateau Malescot. No one was hurt, and nothing was stolen.

The homeowner, Xavier Cervera, 45, had gone out to walk his dog at the end of the party and missed the incident, which happened about midnight June 16. Police classified the case as strange but true and said they had not located a suspect.

"We believe it is a true robbery," said Cmdr. Diane Groomes, who is in charge of patrols in the Capitol Hill area. But it's one-of-a-kind, she said, adding, "I've never heard of a robber joining a party and then walking out to the sunset."

The hug, she said, was especially unusual. "They should have squeezed him and held onto him for us," she said.

Rabdau said he hasn't been able to figure out what happened.

"I was definitely expecting there would be some kind of casualty," Rabdau said this week. "He was very aggressive at first; then it turned into a love fest. I don't know what it was."

Rabdau, a federal government worker who lives in Anne Arundel County with his family and lived on Capitol Hill with his wife in the 1980s, said that the episode lasted about 10 minutes but seemed like an hour. He believes the guests were spared because they kept a positive attitude during the exchange.

"There was this degree of disbelief and terror at the same time," Rabdau said. "Then it miraculously just changed. His whole emotional tone turned -- like, we're one big happy family now. I thought: Was it the wine? Was it the cheese?"

After the intruder left, the guests walked inside the house, locked the door and stared at each other. They didn't say a word. Rabdau dialed 911. Police arrived quickly and took a report. They also dusted for fingerprints -- so far, to no avail.

In the alley behind the home, investigators found the intruder's empty crystal wine glass on the ground, unbroken.

:D

[Gliondrach]

You get a better class of criminal in Washington.

[Oracl]

:rofl:

[Gliondrach]

Proof that aliens are trying to take over the Earth. And they are using chemical weapons against us:


Mon Sep 17, 11:23 PM ET


LIMA (AFP) - Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.


Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.

Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.

Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.

Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene, where the meteorite left a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) and 20-foot-deep (six-meter-deep) crater, said local official Marco Limache.

"Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned," he said.

news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070918/sc_afp/peruhealthoffbeat

[1vegan]

Drunk man gets trapped in ex's chimney

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Firefighters had to tear though a wall to rescue an intoxicated man who became stuck while trying to climb down a chimney into the residence of his former girlfriend.

Alejandro Valencio said he was drunk when he got into the chimney about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"Everyone do stupid things sometimes when they're drunk," he said.

Firefighters requested assistance from police after arriving because they said Connie Deweese was hampering the rescue effort by blocking the fireplace.

"I told them to leave him in the chimney and let him die," said Deweese, who received misdemeanor citations for disorderly conduct and interfering with a firefighter.

Deweese said she had known Valencio for about eight months but had told him to stay away from her residence. She said she locked the doors but "somehow he got to the roof."

"I've dated a lot of psychos in my life, but nobody like that," Deweese said.

Valencio returned to the residence after being treated at a hospital and was filmed by a local TV station as Deweese hit him with a garbage can and pelted him with bottles.

"Get off my porch, and don't you ever come back here," she yelled.

Valencio said he had a job and would help pay for the damages incurred from his rescue.

From thenewstribune....

"
"I've dated a lot of psychos in my life, but nobody like that," ........

after you dated a few psychos.... shouldn't that be a lesson or a warning? ;)

[Gliondrach]

When he was in the chimney she should have lit a fire. He would have got out sharpish.

[dreamer]

Parents say lab technician bit their son
6 minutes ago



A laboratory technician has been fired after the parents of a 3-year-old boy claimed she bit his shoulder while drawing blood from his arm, a hospital spokesman said.

Faith Buntin took her son Victor to St. Vincent Hospital on Friday for a blood test because of recent recalls of toys involving lead. She said she saw the worker put her mouth on Victor's shoulder.

"I looked at her like that was the craziest thing that I'd ever seen," Faith Buntin told television station WRTV. "She looked at me and smiled and said, 'Oh, it was just a play bite. He's not hurt.'"

After they returned home, the boy's mother said, she saw teeth marks on his left shoulder, and her husband drove the child back to the hospital, where he was prescribed antibiotics.

"Taking a bite out of him like he's an apple, this is heinous," said James Buntin, the boy's father.

St. Vincent fired the technician after the incident was reported and is "reviewing the capabilities" of the employees of the subcontractor that does blood work for the hospital, spokesman Johnny Smith said.

"We're tying to determine the best approach," he said. "It's just an unfortunate and sad situation and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family."

No charges have been filed.

[Gliondrach]

I heard on the radio the other day that a children's author who used the word 'olympics' in the title of his book received a threatening e-mail from the London 2012 Olympics KGestapoB. They said that he must not publish the book with the offending word in the title. It seems that a word that has been used in this country for 400 years now belongs to big business and no one can use it in any money making activity without paying a licensing fee. Apparently, there have been two Acts of Parliament to make this law.

The book is set in 2012 and is something about the 'Mind Olympics' and an alien from another planet.

He had 300 copies printed and received another e-mail telling him that, as so few copies had been printed, they probably won't prosecute him.

Who do these people think they are? What gives them the right to make people pay money to use a word? It's like the drug companies trying to patent herbal extracts. Damned Nazi/KGB scum!

[Oracl]

:grumble:

[thevegantwins]

October 17, 2007
A Normal Lesson in Vocabulary, Until a Deer Bursts Through a School Window
By JONATHAN MILLER
It had the makings of a B horror movie: Crazed deer crashes through window and, bloodied but undeterred, careers though the halls terrorizing a school in a quiet New Jersey suburb.

But that is exactly what happened yesterday at the Lloyd Road Elementary School in Aberdeen when a 200-pound buck raced through a class of fifth graders and wandered the halls the way a gaggle of errant students would — ducking into the nurse’s office and some other rooms — before being shepherded out a back door.

It was just before 10 a.m., and Bonnie McCullough and Brenda Adelson were immersed in a vocabulary lesson with their class of 18 fifth graders.

“We heard this crash; I didn’t know what to make of it,” Ms. McCullough said. “It sounded like glass breaking, and I didn’t have time to look too much, and there was this brown blur.”

She saw the buck dash through her classroom and out the door. “I think I screamed,” she said. She overcame her shock long enough to herd the sobbing and stunned children to the back of the class and close the door.

With that, Ms. McCullough said, she and her colleague called the principal, Patricia O’Keefe, who quickly announced that everyone needed to close their doors.

But it was too late. The buck was already on to its next target.

Rosalie Preuss, the school nurse, said that when she heard Ms. O’Keefe’s announcement she raced to the door of the infirmary, and was met face-to-face with the bloodied buck.

What happened next amazed her.

“When he saw me, he started climbing in,” Ms. Preuss said. “I thought he’d back up, but he started coming forward, so I shut the door and went, ‘Eek! Eek!’”

The buck, a large, four-point antlered adult, took about a 10-minute tour through the front lobby, the nurse’s office and the teachers’ lounge. It struggled to run and mostly slid over the school’s bloodied terrazzo flooring, Ms. O’Keefe said.

She said the deer did not try to attack anyone. Indeed, she said, it seemed to be “afraid and a little bit disoriented.”

By this time, four Aberdeen police officers had arrived, and they joined a custodian and a school security officer in the chase down a hallway, finally corralling the buck into the empty cafeteria. They slid lunch tables toward the deer to corner it, and let it out a back door. It ran into a small wooded area behind the school — but not before trying to butt against the window a couple of times.

Why a buck would want to crash through a school window remains a mystery, at least to the students who are usually pushing in the other direction. But James Armstrong, a professor of wildlife science at Auburn University in Alabama, said the buck might have confused the image in the window with a rival.

“It may be seeing its reflection somehow,” Mr. Armstrong said. “It’s getting toward breeding season, and bucks can become a lot more aggressive and they’re trying to compete for does out there. They’re trying to establish their dominance. Or it just wants to go to school.”

Richard A. Derechailo, the deputy chief of police in Aberdeen, said that there had been a substantial increase in the number of deer roaming the area in the past few years. “Unfortunately, the area is so built up now that deer don’t have much place to go,” Mr. Derechailo said.

As for Ms. O’Keefe, she said she was just relieved that nothing more than a window was harmed. “I think you have to be prepared for the unexpected,” she said. “We are trained for all kinds of responses. We are not trained for a deer coming through a window.”

This is right down the road from me. I'm glad the principal mentioned the deer didn't hurt anyone and seemed scared. I bet some asshole was chasing the poor deer. I hope he wasn't injured too badly. It's a very congested, suburban neighborhood.

[Gliondrach]

More human encroachment on wildlife areas.

[Bowwowmeow]

Horror movie?!? Gimme a break. Horror would have been some asshole with a bow crashing through the window after the deer. :rolleyes:

Maybe someone made Jonathan Miller watch "Night of the Lepus" when he was little, and now he is terrified of rampaging herbivores. :whistle:

[dreamer]

Well, you don't see something like this every day
Wed Oct 24, 11:30 AM ET

An Australian barmaid has been fined for crushing beer cans between her bare breasts while an off-duty colleague has been fined for hanging spoons from her friend's nipples, police said Wednesday.

Police in Western Australia said the 31-year old barmaid pleaded guilty in the local magistrate's court to twice exposing her breasts to patrons at the Premier Hotel in Pinjarra, south of the state capital, Perth.

The woman "is alleged to have also crushed beer cans between her breasts during one of the offences," in breach of hotel licensing laws, police from the Peel district of Western Australia said in a statement.

The barmaid and the hotel manager were both fined A$1,000 ($900), while an off-duty barmaid was fined A$500 for helping to hang spoons from the woman's nipples, police said.

"It sends a clear message to all licensees in Peel that we will not tolerate this type of behavior in our licensed premises," local police superintendent David Parkinson said.

Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

How in the world did she crush beer cans "between her bare breasts"? I'm trying to picture this:rubchin:

[Oracl]

How in the world did she crush beer cans "between her bare breasts"? I'm trying to picture this:rubchin:
I'm assuming they were empty beer cans?! :eek: :D

[dreamer]

I assumed that too...but still:updn:

[Gliondrach]

If they'd killed birds or fish they wouldn't have been fined - as long as they had any necessary permits.

[1vegan]

From the BBC News site:
Sex lessons for 'cranky' miners
Australian coal miners are being given lessons in foreplay and the menopause in an attempt to boost productivity.

Managers at the Bulga pit, north of Sydney, say the so-called toolbox talks help workers to understand their wives, making them happier and healthier.

Mining firm Xstrata says the scheme has been so successful that it wants to extend it to other pits.

The briefings are on a different topic each month and have included advice on fatigue, nutrition and heart disease.

'Extremely attentive'

Company bosses say giving their predominantly male employees lessons on the menopause and foreplay gives them a healthy sex life, which in turn makes them happy, productive workers.

"We have to look at the lifestyles of our employees, making sure they are fit and healthy at work, but also fit, healthy and happy at home," Xstrata spokesman James Rickards told Reuters.

"Sex is an important part of any relationship, and it's important to address sex for an individual that is going through menopause."

Course co-ordinator Tammy Farrell, from Core Health Consulting, told the BBC that she was trying to promote communication and make the miners more aware of their health.

She added that the miners were taking the classes seriously and sharing their own experiences.

"If one man is game enough to put up their hand, you'll slowly notice three or four nods in the room," she said.

"If we can get two people out of all that who can change their lives, then that's fantastic."

Earlier, she told the Sydney Morning Herald that the miners had been "extremely attentive" when she advised them to "start exploring their wives like they did when they were 18".

"They snapped up all the flyers after the talk so we've obviously got some cranky men with cranky wives out there who want some help," she told the paper.

Other classes have covered nutrition, heart disease, prostate cancer and fatigue management.

[veggiesosage]

Well, you couldn't make this one up. Paris Hilton campaigning on behalf of drunk elephants

Conservationists hail Hilton drunk elephants appeal

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 13 November 2007 14.10 GMT

Conservationists today hailed the socialite Paris Hilton, who was convicted of drink driving earlier this year, for apparently trying to highlight the problem of binge-drinking elephants in north-eastern India.
Activists said the celebrity endorsement would raise awareness of the plight of pachyderms that got drunk on farmers' homemade rice beer and went on the rampage.

Last month, six wild elephants that broke into a farm in the state of Meghalaya were electrocuted after discovering and drinking the potent brew before uprooting an electricity pylon.

"There would have been more casualties if the villagers hadn't chased them away," Hilton was quoted as saying in Tokyo last week according to a report posted on the World Entertainment News Network website. "And four elephants died in a similar way three years ago. It is just so sad.

"The elephants get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them."

Sangeeta Goswami, who heads the animal rights group People for Animals, said:"I am indeed happy Hilton has taken note of recent incidents of wild elephants in north-east India going berserk after drinking homemade rice beer and getting killed.

"As part of her global elephant campaign, Hilton should, in fact, think of visiting this region [which is] literally infested with elephants."

While welcoming Hilton's interest, another conservationist said elephant alcohol abuse was just a symptom of a larger problem.

"Elephants appear on human settlements ... because they have no habitat left due to wanton destruction of forests," Soumyadeep Dutta, who heads Nature's Beckon, a regional conservation group, said. "A celebrity like Hilton must focus her attention on this fact."

Hilton's publicist could not be reached for comment. The heiress promised to improve her bad girl image when she completed a three-week jail sentence in June for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

She announced plans to do charity work in Rwanda for the Playing for Good Foundation, but the trip was postponed until next year.

guardian.co.uk/world/2007/nov/13/usa.india

[thevegantwins]

Well, you couldn't make this one up. Paris Hilton campaigning on behalf of drunk elephants



:zip::skeptical:

[Gliondrach]

Poor elephants who were killed.

Someone said that the region is 'infested with elephants'. No, it is infested with humans.

One of the Cockney rhyming slang terms for being drunk is 'elephants'!

[my3labs]

Someone said that the region is 'infested with elephants'. No, it is infested with humans.


I agree. We need to take responsibility to taking over the planet and forcing animals out of their natural surroundings.

[Oracl]

:zip: :skeptical:
:agree: :s:igh:

[1vegan]

Man with $1M bill busted at bank
/ The Associated Press
Published: November 28th, 2007 06:27 AM

AIKEN, S.C. -- A bank teller had a million reasons to deny this transaction.

Police say a man tried to open an account with a $1 million bill, which does not exist. The teller refused and called police while the man started to curse at bank workers, said Aiken County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Michael Frank.

Alexander D. Smith, 31, of Augusta, Ga., was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of forgery, Frank said.

The second forgery charge came after investigators learned Smith bought several cartons of cigarettes from a nearby grocery store with a stolen check, Frank said.

Smith has a bail hearing scheduled Wednesday, but Deputy Angela Shunn of the Aiken County Detention Center did not know if he had an attorney. An off-hours call to the public defender's office went unanswered.

:rolleyes:

[Gliondrach]

He must be an idiot.

[Oracl]

:crazy: :bhead:

[dreamer]

Man sentenced in bizarre diagnosing scam
Wed Dec 5, 9:54 PM ET

A man was sentenced to more than four years in prison for bilking friends and family out of more than $800,000 by convincing them that his wife was a government agent who could arrange to have their medical problems diagnosed by satellite imaging.

Brent Eric Finley, 38, of Rayville, was sentenced in federal court in Monroe to serve 51 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. His wife, Stacey Finley, was sentenced in August to spend 63 months in prison and both are ordered to jointly pay restitution in the amount of $873,786.94.

The Finleys pleaded guilty in August to wire fraud, according to court records.

U.S. Attorney Donald W. Washington said in a news release following Monday's sentencing of Brent Finley that the couple convinced numerous people that Stacey Finley was a CIA agent and with her contacts she could schedule a medical scan of the victims' bodies by satellite imaging that would detect any hidden medical problems.

The Finley's convinced their victims that, if any medical problems were found, secret agents would administer medicine to them as they slept in exchange for payment, according to a bill of information filed when the Finleys were charged in May.

"These audacious criminals should remind all of us that scam artists will go to great lengths to take our life's savings," Washington said.

Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

I'm just trying to think how easily scammed the victims were. Just think about how many completely ridiculous things they had to believe to be scammed. I mean, not only did they have to believe that satellites could have medical scans, but these scans are magically able to find any health problems. Then they'd have to believe that secret agents would sneak into their houses and give them curative treatment--apparenlty they miraculously have cures for everything?--w/o waking them up!:rolleyes:

[Gliondrach]

It sounds good to me. Where do I send the money and how much does it cost?

[Oracl]

:rofl:

[thevegantwins]

January 10, 2008
A Corpse, a Check, a Bizarre NYC Crime
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 8:05 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- Detective Travis Rapp has seen his share of corpses, but this was new: two men wheeling a rigid, pale body down a Manhattan street in a red office chair, drawing a crowd of suspicious onlookers.

Looking out the window of the restaurant where he was having lunch, Rapp initially assumed ''it was a mannequin or a dummy,'' he said. ''I thought it was a joke, honestly.''

A closer inspection showed that it wasn't. The man was dead, and two of his friends had hauled his corpse to a store to cash his $355 Social Security check, police said. They were arrested before they could get the money.

The bedraggled suspects, David J. Dalaia and James O'Hare, were scheduled to appear in court Wednesday night. Police said the men, both 65, were petty criminals with long histories of heroin addiction and arrests dating to the 1960s.

The trouble began Tuesday when Dalaia and O'Hare tried to cash Virgilio Cintron's check at a store in Hell's Kitchen on their own, police said. The man at the counter told them that Cintron had to be present to cash the check, so they went back to his apartment, which one of the suspects shared with the dead man.

Cintron was apparently undressed when he died, sometime within the previous 24 hours. Police said Dalaia and O'Hare proceeded to dress him in a faded T-shirt, pants they could only get up part way, and a pair of Velcro sneakers. They threw a coat over his waist to conceal what the pants couldn't cover, police said.

They then put him on the office chair and wheeled the corpse over to the check-cashing store.

The men left Cintron's body outside, went inside and tried to cash his check, authorities said. The store's clerk, who knew Cintron, asked the men where he was, and O'Hare told the clerk they would go and get him.

At about the same time, Rapp spotted the men and confronted them as they were trying to haul the body into the store. He said that even after he identified himself as a police officer, O'Hare told him, ''I have to get my friend in here. I have to cash his check.''

He ordered the men to back away from the victim. They feigned surprise when paramedics declared him dead, Rapp said.

''When they said, 'Your friend is dead,' they said, 'Oh my God, he's gone?'''

The scene played out on a busy Manhattan street as several people watched.

''I saw this guy sitting in this chair with his head back. He looked very dead,'' said Victor Rodriguez, 38, who was working at a nearby restaurant when he saw the commotion outside. ''He looked very sick. His eyes were closed. He wasn't moving.''

Little is known about Cintron, 66, who apparently died of natural causes. An autopsy proved inconclusive, the medical examiner's office said, and his body hadn't been positively identified as of Wednesday afternoon.

Relatives told police that he had recently been hospitalized for Parkinson's disease. Police said his rap sheet was long, with arrests for burglary, assault and drugs. Locals said that Cintron and O'Hare often frequented a food pantry down the street.

A telephone number listed for Cintron at the apartment he shared with O'Hare went unanswered. Police said they didn't have an address for Dalaia or attorney information for him or O'Hare.

Regardless of what happens to the defendants, they can take solace in the fact that they fooled one onlooker with the dead man disguise.

''He went in regular clothes. I didn't even know he was dead. I thought he was alive,'' said Gerit Ahemed, a clerk at a nearby deli.

That neighborhood, south of Port Authority, used to be pretty mangy and it has improved alot though obviously, there are still some interesting characters around. :crazy 2: :zip:

[Gliondrach]

I didn't know Hell's Kitchen was in Manhattan.

[Gliondrach]

By Sky News SkyNews - Monday, February 4 08:37 amBritons are losing a grip on fact and fiction - with nearly one in four believing Winston Churchill and Florence Nightingale are myths and more than half thinking Sherlock Holmes actually existed.


In a new survey, 47% of people thought that Richard the Lionheart, the 12th-century English king, was a myth.

They were also under the impression that Charles Dickens, one of the most famous writers in English literature, was a fictional character himself.

Indian political leader Gandhi; Cleopatra, ruler of ancient Egypt; adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh; British military leader Bernard Montgomery; and Boudica, famous for leading a major uprising against occupying Roman forces, were all thought to be characters dreamt up for films and books.

Britons thought fictional characters like Sherlock Holmes and pilot Biggles were real, according to the survey of 3,000 people commissioned to celebrate UKTV Gold's forthcoming Robin Hood season.

Over half of those questioned (58%) believe that the detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for his novels of the late 1880s actually lived in Baker Street, with sidekick Watson.

:: Historical figures and the percentage of Britons who believe they are myths:1. Richard the Lionheart (47%)2. Winston Churchill (23%)3. Florence Nightingale (23%)4. Bernard Montgomery (6%)5. Boudica (5%)6. Sir Walter Raleigh (4%)7. Duke of Wellington (4%)8. Cleopatra (4%)9. Gandhi (3%)10. Charles Dickens (3%)

:: Fictional figures and the percentage of Britons who believe they are real:Sherlock Holmes (58%)Biggles (33%)

h ttp://uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/20080204/tuk-brits-think-churchill-didn-t-exist-45dbed5.html

Well, they are wrong about Biggles. He is a real person. The character was based on Fuzzy. So was Sherlock - based on Fuzzy.

[Oracl]

Well, I knew Sir Walter Raleigh was real. :agree: I am descended from his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert! :p

[Tails4wagging]

Well, I knew Sir Walter Raleigh was real. :agree: I am descended from his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert! :p


Wow!!!!.

[thevegantwins]

Well, I knew Sir Walter Raleigh was real. :agree: I am descended from his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert! :p

:master: :princess:

[Gliondrach]

Fuzzy says that Humphrey was much nicer than Wally. His motto was Mutare vel timere sperno.

[Bowwowmeow]

Fuzzy says that Humphrey was much nicer than Wally. His motto was Mustard vel timere sperno.
I prefer ketchup with my sperno. :ketchup:

[Gliondrach]

:shakehead:

I hate these people who tamper with other people's posts. Humphrey would not have been amused. Nor good Queen Bess.

[Bowwowmeow]

:nahnah:

[Enchantress]

I read "sperno" as "spermo" :rolleyes2:.

[Gliondrach]

:shakehead:

[Oracl]

His motto was Mutare vel timere sperno.
Which is "I scorn to change or to fear", the motto of the Boys' Division of Bolton School. :professor:

Did you attend that school, Gliondrach? :rubchin:

[Gliondrach]

Which is "I scorn to change or to fear", the motto of the Boys' Division of Bolton School. :professor:

Did you attend that school, Gliondrach? :rubchin:


No. I went to a very good school. It was approved.

I see that you, too, are a Latin scholar.

[Oracl]

No. I went to a very good school. It was approved.
:rofl:

I see that you, too, are a Latin scholar.
I was, in my youth. :agree: Now I'm a keen Googler. ;)

[Tails4wagging]

Pax de bixcum

[Oracl]

Computer says 'No' to that one! :shakehead: :confused:

[Gliondrach]

It's been like Spring here for the past few days.

[Gliondrach]

Pax de bixcum

I know what you mean, having been brought up as a good Catholic boy. Did you intentionally misspell it? You were probably brought up as some sort of Prod, and can be forgiven.

[thevegantwins]

March 25, 2008
Race in Heels Trips Man on Workers Comp
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:52 p.m. ET

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Prosecutors say a video shows a Connecticut correction officer running a 40-yard-dash in women's clothing and high heels -- at a time he had claimed he was too injured to work.

Garrett A. Dalton of Naugatuck has been charged with workers compensation fraud. He's accused of taking part in a radio station's contest for Hannah Montana concert tickets last year. Not only did he have to dress in drag but he had to carry an egg on a spoon.

Authorities were alerted after someone saw Dalton in a TV news report. Prosecutors say the 41-year-old collected more than $5,000 in workers' compensation after he reported a work-related injury in June.

Court documents do not list an attorney for Dalton, and his phone number is unlisted. And no, he didn't win the contest.

[SinnerCal]

Man sentenced over wombat rape claim

A New Zealand man has been sentenced to community service after telling police he had been raped by a wombat and the experience had caused him to start speaking "Australian".

Arthur Cradock, a 48-year-old orchard worker from Motueka on South Island, rang police on February 11 to say he was being raped by the slow-moving Australian marsupial at his home, The Nelson Mail reported.

He rang back soon afterwards to say he was withdrawing his complaint against the wombat, a court was told.

"Apart from speaking Australian now, I'm pretty all right you know," he told police in the second call.

Cradock pleaded guilty to using a phone for a fictitious purpose and was sentenced to 75 hours community work.

Prosecutors said alcohol played a large part in Cradock's life, although his defence lawyer said he was not drunk on the afternoon of the phone calls.

- AFP

:dunce: :rolleyes2:

[Gliondrach]

Using a 'phone for a fictitious purpose!? What a stupid law.

[thevegantwins]

June 10, 2008
McDonald’s Halts Use of Tomatoes
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OAK BROOK, Ill. (AP) — McDonald’s said Monday that it had stopped serving sliced tomatoes in its restaurants over concerns about salmonella food poisoning linked to uncooked tomatoes.

Danya Proud, a McDonald’s spokeswoman, said the company gad stopped serving sliced tomatoes on all of its sandwiches in the United States as a precaution until the source of the salmonella is known.

A statement from Ms. Proud said McDonald’s would continue to serve grape tomatoes in its salads because no problems have been linked to that variety.

The source of the tomatoes responsible for the illnesses in at least 16 states has not been pinpointed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said at least 23 people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

So, tomatoes are off-limits because they might contain salmonella but serving tortured, murdered, e-coli laden cow is still fine. :confused:

[thevegantwins]

June 17, 2008
Man orders pet python to attack police officers
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:21 a.m. ET

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) -- Bridgeport police say they arrested a city man after he ordered his pet to attack two officers. Lucky for them that 9-foot-long pythons aren't very obedient.

Police Lt. James Viadero says 21-year-old Victor Rodriguez was charged with threatening police and disorderly conduct after Monday's incident. No one was hurt.

Officers were called to Rodriguez's apartment on a report that he was threatening his girlfriend with the pet reptile.

Viadero says that when the building superintendent opened the apartment door for the officers, Rodriguez allegedly threatened them with the snake and told it to ''Get them!''

Rodriguez and his pet were both taken away: Rodriguez to jail on a $10,000 bond, and the albino python to the city's animal control shelter.


:rofl:

I hope they don't harm the snake.

[thevegantwins]

June 17, 2008
Chase turns sour for lemonade stand robber
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:31 p.m. ET

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) -- Call it a lemonade standoff. A young girl whose lemonade stand was robbed of $17.50 chased the suspect into a nearby home and called police, who spent nearly an hour trying to coax the man into surrendering.

''The guy came up and was, like, 'Give me your money,''' said Dominique Morefield, who was running the lemonade stand with a group of friends. ''I was shocked. It was just my immediate reaction to chase after him.''

Dominique dashed after the man who ran into a house, and then she called police. Officers eventually persuaded Steve Tryon, 18, to come outside after 45 minutes and arrested him on a preliminary felony charge of robbery.

Tryon was jailed and was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. The Vigo County prosecutor's office did not immediately know if he had an attorney.

''I didn't think anyone would come up to a lemonade stand and steal, that's really low,'' 12-year-old Fred Erstine said.

The kids said they would continue to sell lemonade, but with an adult's supervision.

:lemon: :attica!:

[Gliondrach]

No longer new news but very weird. And very sinister.


As George Monbiot said:

'The harassment act has been used many times against peaceful campaigners. In 2001, for example, protesters outside the US intelligence base at Menwith Hill were prosecuted for distressing American servicemen - by holding up a placard reading “George W Bush? Oh dear!”(3). In the same year, a protestor in Hull was arrested for harassment, on the grounds that he had been “staring at a building”(4). In 2004, police in Kent arrested a woman who had sent two polite emails to an executive at a drugs company, begging him not to test his products on animals(5). This year, the residents of a village in Oxfordshire were banned from protesting against RWE npower’s plan to turn their beautiful Thrupp Lake into a dump for fly ash. The stated purpose of the injunction is to prevent them from causing alarm or distress to the burly security guards the company has employed(6). No protest, however polite, is now safe from prosecution under this monstrous act.'

monbiot.com/archives/2007/08/07/this-is-now-a-protest-for-democracy/




CRAP ARREST OF THE WEEK

A pensioner, a schoolboy, a care worker and a middle aged housewife were arrested and charged with harassment of B & K Universal Ltd, a company based in Hull, who breed animals for vivisection. The charges included - and we’re not making this up - “holding a placard, making obscene gestures with an inflatable champagne bottle, sending a birthday card”, and the best one “staring at a building!”

schnews.org.uk/archive/news293.htm

And, don't forget the similar law that resulted in a woman (who happened to be vegan) being arrested for reading out the names of the British soldiers killed in Iraq at The Cenotaph without police permission. The Cenotaph was erected to commemorate the war dead.


All this reminds me of the Not The Nine O' Clock News sketch in which a KGB-type British copper is called in by his inspector. The inspector says something like: 'You have arrested this man 33 times in the last month. Amongst the charges were "having thick lips", "wearing a loud jacket in public" and "looking at me funny" '.

The bloke who was always being arrested was black.

We laughed at it then, never suspecting that such things would ever become crimes.

[thevegantwins]

July 10, 2008
Man sues Tenn. church over spiritual fall
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:46 p.m. ET

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A man says he was so consumed by the spirit of God that he fell and hit his head while worshipping.

Now he wants Lakewind Church to pay $2.5 million for medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering.

Matt Lincoln says he is suing after the church's insurance company denied his claim for medical bills.

The 57-year-old has had two surgeries since the June 2007 injury but still feels pain in his back and legs.

He says he was asking God to have ''a real experience'' while praying.

Lincoln says he has fallen from the force of the spirit before but has always been caught by someone.

Lawyers for the church say other congregants saw him on the floor laughing after his fall. They say he failed to look out for his own safety

:laugh::rofl::lol:

[Gliondrach]

Surely he should be suing God, not the church.

[Oracl]

:agree: :laugh:

[Gliondrach]

Here's a photograph I took of a jet fighter at the moment it broke the sound barrier. I didn't know before this that there is a visible effect as well as the sound of the barrier being broken.
ht tp://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010221.html

And here are some others I took:
ht tp://wilk4.com/misc/soundbreak.htm

[Gliondrach]

I wonder if this is a hoax?

By Yoko KubotaPosted 2008/12/17 at 10:26 am EST
TOKYO, Dec. 17, 2008 (Reuters) — Japanese researchers have reproduced images of things people were looking at by analyzing brain scans, opening the way for people to communicate directly from their mind.

They hope their study, published in the U.S. journal Neuron, will lead to helping people with speech problems or doctors studying mental disorders, although there are privacy issues if it gets to the stage where someone can read a sleeping person's dreams.

"When we want to convey a message, we need to move our body, for example by speaking or by tapping a keyboard," said Yukiyasu Kamitani, the project's head researcher from the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, a private institute based in Kyoto, Japan.

"But if we can get information directly from the brain, it will be possible to communicate directly by imagining what we want to say, without having to move," Kamitani said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

Such technology might one day open the way to communication for people who cannot speak or help visualize hallucinations to assist doctors diagnosing mental disorders, Kamitani added.

When we see, light is converted into electric signals by the retina, at the back of the eye, then processed by the brain's visual cortex.

Researchers from the five institutions involved in the research used a medical brain scanner to look at activity patterns in the visual cortex.

Kamitani's team calibrated a computer program by scanning two volunteers staring at over 400 different still images in black, white and grey.

Then, the volunteers were shown different black-and-white geometric figures and letters of the alphabet.

Their computer program was able to reproduce the figures and letters that the volunteers had seen, although more blurry than the originals.

"In this experiment, we reconstructed images of what people actually saw, but the brain's visual cortex is said to be active even when just imagining something," Kamitani said.

The next step for the team is to study how to visualize images inside people's minds, he said.

"We want to know how our subjective experiences and dreams are expressed inside our brains," Kamitani said, adding that the study might lead to producing images of dreams.

If the team does manage that there were potential privacy issues and strong safeguards would be needed, he said.

"As accuracy rises, it is possible that information that people want to keep private could also be visualized while they are sleeping."

newsdaily.com/stories/tre4bg2wk-us-japan-brain/

[Oracl]

A bit scary! :eek:

[thevegantwins]

January 23, 2009

No Snickering: That Road Sign Means Something Else
By SARAH LYALL

CRAPSTONE, England — When ordering things by telephone, Stewart Pearce tends to take a proactive approach to the inevitable question “What is your address?”

He lays it out straight, so there is no room for unpleasant confusion. “I say, ‘It’s spelled “crap,” as in crap,’ ” said Mr. Pearce, 61, who has lived in Crapstone, a one-shop country village in Devon, for decades.

Disappointingly, Mr. Pearce has so far been unable to parlay such delicate encounters into material gain, as a neighbor once did.

“Crapstone,” the neighbor said forthrightly, Mr. Pearce related, whereupon the person on the other end of the telephone repeated it to his co-workers and burst out laughing. “They said, ‘Oh, we thought it didn’t really exist,’ ” Mr. Pearce said, “and then they gave him a free something.”

In the scale of embarrassing place names, Crapstone ranks pretty high. But Britain is full of them. Some are mostly amusing, like Ugley, Essex; East Breast, in western Scotland; North Piddle, in Worcestershire; and Spanker Lane, in Derbyshire.

Others evoke images that may conflict with residents’ efforts to appear dignified when, for example, applying for jobs.

These include Crotch Crescent, Oxford; Titty Ho, Northamptonshire; Wetwang, East Yorkshire; Slutshole Lane, Norfolk; and Thong, Kent. And, in a country that delights in lavatory humor, particularly if the word “bottom” is involved, there is Pratts Bottom, in Kent, doubly cursed because “prat” is slang for buffoon.

As for Penistone, a thriving South Yorkshire town, just stop that sophomoric snickering.

“It’s pronounced ‘PENNIS-tun,’ ” Fiona Moran, manager of the Old Vicarage Hotel in Penistone, said over the telephone, rather sharply. When forced to spell her address for outsiders, she uses misdirection, separating the tricky section into two blameless parts: “p-e-n” — pause — “i-s-t-o-n-e.”

Several months ago, Lewes District Council in East Sussex tried to address the problem of inadvertent place-name titillation by saying that “street names which could give offense” would no longer be allowed on new roads.

“Avoid aesthetically unsuitable names,” like Gaswork Road, the council decreed. Also, avoid “names capable of deliberate misinterpretation,” like Hoare Road, Typple Avenue, Quare Street and Corfe Close.

(What is wrong with Corfe Close, you might ask? The guidelines mention the hypothetical residents of No. 4, with their unfortunate hypothetical address, “4 Corfe Close.” To find the naughty meaning, you have to repeat the first two words rapidly many times, preferably in the presence of your fifth-grade classmates.)

The council explained that it was only following national guidelines and that it did not intend to change any existing lewd names.

Still, news of the revised policy raised an outcry.

“Sniggering at double entendres is a loved and time-honored tradition in this country,” Carol Midgley wrote in The Times of London. Ed Hurst, a co-author, with Rob Bailey, of “Rude Britain” and “Rude UK,” which list arguably offensive place names — some so arguably offensive that, unfortunately, they cannot be printed here — said that many such communities were established hundreds of years ago and that their names were not rude at the time.

“Place names and street names are full of history and culture, and it’s only because language has evolved over the centuries that they’ve wound up sounding rude,” Mr. Hurst said in an interview.

Mr. Bailey, who grew up on Tumbledown Dick Road in Oxfordshire, and Mr. Hurst got the idea for the books when they read about a couple who bought a house on Butt Hole Road, in South Yorkshire.

The name most likely has to do with the spot’s historic function as a source of water, a water butt being a container for collecting water. But it proved to be prohibitively hilarious.

“If they ordered a pizza, the pizza company wouldn’t deliver it, because they thought it was a made-up name,” Mr. Hurst said. “People would stand in front of the sign, pull down their trousers and take pictures of each other’s naked buttocks.”

The couple moved away.

The people in Crapstone have not had similar problems, although their sign is periodically stolen by word-loving merrymakers. And their village became a stock joke a few years ago, when a television ad featuring a prone-to-swearing soccer player named Vinnie Jones showed Mr. Jones’s car breaking down just under the Crapstone sign.

In the commercial, Mr. Jones tries to alert the towing company to his location while covering the sign and trying not to say “crap” in front of his young daughter.

The consensus in the village is that there is a perfectly innocent reason for the name “Crapstone,” though it is unclear what that is. Theories put forth by various residents the other day included “place of the rocks,” “a kind of twisting of the original word,” “something to do with the soil” and “something to do with Sir Francis Drake,” who lived nearby.

Jacqui Anderson, a doctor in Crapstone who used to live in a village called Horrabridge, which has its own issues, said that she no longer thought about the “crap” in “Crapstone.”

Still, when strangers ask where she’s from, she admitted, “I just say I live near Plymouth.”

[Gliondrach]

:rofl:

Well, those of us who are scholars of Old English and Middle English, know that 'crap' can mean 'chaff', or 'remains of beer' Or it could be from Old French, by way of the Normans. It means a toad.

[thevegantwins]

January 27, 2009
Blowfish Poisoning Sends 7 to Hospital in Japan
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:49 p.m. ET

TOKYO (AP) -- Blowfish testicles prepared by an unauthorized chef sickened seven diners in northern Japan and three remained hospitalized Tuesday after eating the poisonous delicacy.

The owner of the restaurant in Tsuruoka city, who is also the chef, had no license to serve blowfish and was being questioned on suspicion of professional negligence, police official Yoshihito Iwase said.

Blowfish, while extremely poisonous if not prepared properly, is considered a delicacy in Japan and is consumed by thrill-seeking gourmets.

Iwase said the seven men ordered sashimi and grilled blowfish testicles at the restaurant Monday night.

Shortly after, they developed limb paralysis and breathing trouble and started to lose consciousness -- typical signs of blowfish poisoning -- and were rushed to a hospital for treatment, Iwase said.

A 68-year-old diner remained hospitalized in critical condition with respiratory failure and two others, aged 55 and 69, were in serious condition, he said.

''It's scary. If you go to a decent-looking restaurant that serves fugu, you would assume a cook has a proper fugu license,'' Iwase said, using the Japanese term for blowfish.

Blowfish poison, called tetrodotoxin, is nearly 100 times more poisonous than potassium cyanide, according to the Ishikawa Health Service Association. It can cause death within an hour and a half after consumption.

Three people died and 44 others were sickened by blowfish poisoning in 2007 -- most of them after catching the fish and cooking it at home -- according to the Health Ministry.

:pufferfish: Anyone who eats animals certainly deserves to be sickened but it is especially funny when they are eating something as vile as blowfish testicles. :blecch:

[Gliondrach]

They have only themselves to blame.

[Gliondrach]

If they do start using it instead of botox, I hope they don't test it on non-humans.


Ancient Death-Smile Potion Decoded?

James Owen
for National Geographic News
June 2, 2009

Thousands of years before the Joker gassed comic book victims into a grinning death, Phoenician colonists on the island of Sardinia (map) were forcing smiles on the faces of the dead.

Now scientists say they know just how the ancient seafaring traders created the gruesome smiles some 2,800 years ago—not with a toxic gas like Batman's nemesis but with a plant-based potion.

And someday that plant might be used to Botox-like effect, perhaps reducing rather than adding smile lines, the researchers speculate.

Ancient Death Grins

By the eighth century B.C., Homer had coined the term "sardonic grin"—"sardonic" having its roots in "Sardinia"—in writings referring to the island's ritual killings via grimace-inducing potion.

Elderly people who could no longer care for themselves and criminals "were intoxicated with the sardonic herb and then killed by dropping from a high rock or by beating to death," according to the new study.

For centuries the herb's identity has been a mystery, but study leader Giovanni Appendino and colleagues say they have discovered a sardonic grin-inducing compound in a plant called hemlock water-dropwort.

The white-flowered plant grows on celery-like stalks along ponds and rivers on the island, now part of Italy.

Modern Suicide, Ancient Mystery

About a decade ago, a Sardinian shepherd committed suicide by eating a hemlock water-dropwort, leaving a corpse with a striking grin.

The death spurred study co-author Mauro Ballero, a botanist at the University of Cagliari in Sardinia, to study every dropwort-related fatality on the island in recent decades.

For the new study, Ballero and colleagues detailed the molecular structure of the plant's toxin and determined how it affects the human body.

Study leader Appendino, an organic chemist from the Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale in Italy, said, "The compound is highly toxic and causes symptoms similar to those described by the ancients for the sardonic smile, including facial paralysis."

(See pictures of the Phoenicians' enduring legacy around the Mediterranean.)

Hemlock water-dropwort "was already known to contain neurotoxins and was the most likely candidate for the sardonic herb," Appendino said.

The hairy buttercup (aka the Sardinian buttercup) was also a candidate, but that plant doesn't grow in the damp places mentioned in ancient texts, nor does it make sense in terms of its toxic properties, Appendino said.

"Besides, Sardinia is the only place all over the Mediterranean where [hemlock water-dropwort] grows," he added.

A Better Botox?

A member of the deadly hemlock family, the herb is especially dangerous because of its fragrant smell and sweet-tasting roots.

"Generally poisonous plants are bitter or in some way repel people," Appendino said.

Hemlock water-dropwort "is only the second case I know of a toxic plant that is actually attractive to our senses. People might easily eat it in a potion," he added—or perhaps apply it in a lotion.

Appendino speculates that the plant may prove to have a cosmetic application.

"It relaxes the muscles," he said, "so it removes wrinkles."

Findings published in the Journal of Natural Products.

news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090602-smiling-death-potion.html

[Gliondrach]

I wonder what the real reason is? :beanie:

MoD to destroy future UFO reports

The Ministry of Defence will destroy all future UFO reports it receives so it does not have to make them public, a previously secret memo reveals. Skip related content

Britain's official UFO investigation unit and hotline were closed down at the start of December.

Since then reports of strange sights in the skies sent to the MoD have been kept for 30 days before being thrown out, the newly released policy document shows.

This stance was adopted so defence officials would not have to publish the information in response to freedom of information (FoI) requests or pass it to the National Archives.

The memo, dated November 11, 2009, sets out the MoD's reasons for shutting its UFO unit and ceasing to invite the public to send in details of sightings.

It notes that the number of reports the department received soared last year, taking up extra resources and diverting staff from "more valuable" defence-related activities.

The MoD recorded 634 UFO sightings in 2009, the second highest annual total after 1978, when there were 750, according to UFO expert Dr David Clarke.

This compares with an average of about 150 reports a year over the past decade.

The memo states: "The dedicated UFO hotline answer phone service and e-mail address serve no defence purpose, and merely encourage the generation of correspondence of no defence value.

"Accordingly these facilities should be withdrawn as soon as possible."

ht-tp://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100228/tuk-mod-to-destroy-future-ufo-reports-6323e80.html

[Gliondrach]

Clinically Dead Boy 'Saw Granny In Heaven'

Thursday, April 8

A three-year-old boy brought back from the dead after his heart stopped beating for three hours has told how he saw his great-grandmother in Heaven.

The youngster - who is named only as Paul - claimed he met his relative and she sent him back to Earth.

Paul was playing on his own when he fell into a lake near his grandparents' house in the town of Lychen, north of Berlin, Germany.

The child's grandfather later found him lifeless in the water.

Paul was quickly dragged to the shore but the youngster remained unconscious.

His father, who had had first aid training in the past, tried to resuscitate his son by giving him mouth to mouth and heart massage.

A helicopter took him to Helios hospital in Buch and doctors also tried to resuscitate him but he was unresponsive.

They were about to stop because the boy had been clinically dead for three hours and 18 minutes - but then a miracle happened.

The team managed to get his heart beating again, defying the laws of medicine.

The water in the lake was cold and the boy's core temperature was just 28C - it should normally be 37C.

If the temperature had been higher, the team would have stopped trying to resuscitate after 40 minutes because the boy would definitely have been brain dead.

Cold temperatures means the metabolism slows so body can survive with little oxygen.

Professor of Paediatrics, Lothar Schweigerer, is from the Helios hospital in Buch.

He told Sky News: "My doctors were close to saying 'we can do no more' after two hours of thorax compression.

He said this was "because the chances of survival had gone and the little lad must have been brain dead".

The professor added: "But then suddenly his heart started to beat again ... it was a fantastic miracle.

"I've been doing this job for 30 years and have never seen anything like this.

"It goes to show the human body is a very resilient organism and you should never give up. The boy is happy and healthy. It's a wonderful thing."

He told daily newspaper Bild: "Paul said to his parents, 'I was with Oma (granny) Emmi in Heaven. She told me to go back really quickly.'"

ht-tp://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100408/twl-clinically-dead-boy-saw-granny-in-he-3fd0ae9.html

[Vinnie]

'Starving yogi' astounds Indian scientists

An 83-year-old Indian holy man who says he has spent seven decades without food or water has astounded a team of military doctors who studied him during a two-week observation period. Skip related content

Prahlad Jani spent a fortnight in a hospital in the western India state of Gujarat under constant surveillance from a team of 30 medics equipped with cameras and closed circuit television.

During the period, he neither ate nor drank and did not go to the toilet.

"We still do not know how he survives," neurologist Sudhir Shah told reporters after the end of the experiment. "It is still a mystery what kind of phenomenon this is."

The long-haired and bearded yogi was sealed in a hospital in the city of Ahmedabad in a study initiated by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the state defence and military research institute.

The DRDO hopes that the findings, set to be released in greater detail in several months, could help soldiers survive without food and drink, assist astronauts or even save the lives of people trapped in natural disasters.

"(Jani's) only contact with any kind of fluid was during gargling and bathing periodically during the period," G. Ilavazahagan, director of India's Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), said in a statement.

Jani has since returned to his village near Ambaji in northern Gujarat where he will resume his routine of yoga and meditation. He says that he was blessed by a goddess at a young age, which gave him special powers.

During the 15-day observation, which ended on Thursday, the doctors took scans of Jani's organs, brain, and blood vessels, as well as doing tests on his heart, lungs and memory capacity.

"The reports were all in the pre-determined safety range through the observation period," Shah told reporters at a press conference last week.

Other results from DNA analysis, molecular biological studies and tests on his hormones, enzymes, energy metabolism and genes will take months to come through.

"If Jani does not derive energy from food and water, he must be doing that from energy sources around him, sunlight being one," said Shah.

"As medical practitioners we cannot shut our eyes to possibilities, to a source of energy other than calories."

uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100510/tod-starving-yogi-astounds-indian-scient-451ab4f.html

[Gliondrach]

That's strange. There must be some trickery.

[Gliondrach]

Six Held After Mass Water Fight In London

Six people were arrested, another was taken to hospital and one of London's busiest shopping areas was closed after a mass water fight got out of hand. Skip related content

Officers believe around 1,500 revellers took part in the event, which is thought to have been organised through social networking websites.

Police told Sky News Online that one man was detained on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. He is still being questioned.

The other five people have now been released on bail. They were held over various offences including affray, possession of an offensive weapon, two Section 5 public order offences and theft.

One person was treated in hospital after receiving facial injuries. The reveller is thought to have now left hospital.

The fight began at 1pm on Friday and high temperatures throughout the afternoon swelled numbers.

It began as good-natured fun but then soon descended into a police incident.

Revellers spilled out to Oxford Street, temporarily closing part of the shopping district whilst police tried to bring it under control.

Scotland Yard was forced to issue a Section 60 order allowing officers to search revellers in the area.

Officers managed to disperse crowds eight hours after the fight started.

The water fight eventually petered out at around 9pm, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said.

A posting on the internet advertising the event said: "As soon as the clock strikes 1pm, let battle commence - get as many other people wet without getting wet yourself! Last one with a dry T-shirt wins!!!"

Speaking about the water fight, a police spokesman told Sky News Online: "It is thought to have been organised in good faith and then escalated."

h-ttp://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100605/tuk-six-held-after-mass-water-fight-in-l-45dbed5.html

[Gliondrach]

Never heard of him.

Pattinson related to Dracula

It seems it was always in Robert Pattinson's blood to play a vampire – he is related to Dracula.

The 'Twilight' heartthrob is distantly related to Vlad III Dracula – the 15th century ruler who inspired Bram Stoker's enduring bloodsucking character, according to Ancestry.com.

One of the site's genealogists, Anastasia Tyler, said, “Tracing Pattinson's family back to Vlad was difficult research, but the pieces that unraveled created the perfect accompaniment to 'The Twilight Saga.'

Pattinson is also a distant cousin to Prince William and Harry – and it's this bloodline that links him to Vlad.

Tyler added, “Without any myth or magic, we find royalty and vampires lurking in Pattinson's life - making his story just as supernatural as the one he is playing on screen.”

It's not the first time Ancesty.com have managed to find a film star's link to their screen persona.

Last year, they discovered that 'Harry Potter' actress Emma Watson is related to a woman accused of witchcraft in the 16th century.

h-ttp://uk.movies.ya-h-oo.com/24062010/5/pattinson-related-dracula-0.html

:witch:

I watched Who Do You Think You Are? a couple of weeks ago. The subject was Sarah Jessica Parker. She is descended from a woman who was accused and arrested during the Salem Witch trials. Luckily for her, the court that tried her was found to be in breach of something and was disbanded before she was executed.

[Gliondrach]

I don't know if this has any reliable evidence behind it. I haven't checked the references. But I will be better prepared than most if civilisation comes to an end.

There are some clickable links in the original article.

Doomsday: How BP Gulf disaster may have triggered a 'world-killing' event

by Terrence Aym

Ominous reports are leaking past the BP Gulf salvage operation news blackout that the disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico may be about to reach biblical proportions.

251 million years ago a mammoth undersea methane bubble caused massive explosions, poisoned the atmosphere and destroyed more than 96 percent of all life on Earth. [1] Experts agree that what is known as the Permian extinction event was the greatest mass extinction event in the history of the world. [2]

55 million years later another methane bubble ruptured causing more mass extinctions during the Late Paleocene Thermal Maximum (LPTM).

The LPTM lasted 100,000 years. [3]

Those subterranean seas of methane virtually reshaped the planet when they explosively blew from deep beneath the waters of what is today called the Gulf of Mexico.

Now, worried scientists are increasingly concerned the same series of catastrophic events that led to worldwide death back then may be happening again-and no known technology can stop it.

The bottom line: BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling operation may have triggered an irreversible, cascading geological Apocalypse that will culminate with the first mass extinction of life on Earth in many millions of years.

The oil giant drilled down miles into a geologically unstable region and may have set the stage for the eventual premature release of a methane mega-bubble.

Ryskin’s methane extinction theory

Northwestern University's Gregory Ryskin, a bio-chemical engineer, has a theory: The oceans periodically produce massive eruptions of explosive methane gas. He has documented the scientific evidence that such an event was directly responsible for the mass extinctions that occurred 55 million years ago. [4]

Many geologists concur: "The consequences of a methane-driven oceanic eruption for marine and terrestrial life are likely to be catastrophic. Figuratively speaking, the erupting region "boils over," ejecting a large amount of methane and other gases (e.g., CO2, H2S) into the atmosphere, and flooding large areas of land. Whereas pure methane is lighter than air, methane loaded with water droplets is much heavier, and thus spreads over the land, mixing with air in the process (and losing water as rain). The air-methane mixture is explosive at methane concentrations between 5% and 15%; as such mixtures form in different locations near the ground and are ignited by lightning, explosions and conflagrations destroy most of the terrestrial life, and also produce great amounts of smoke and of carbon dioxide..." [5]

The warning signs of an impending planetary catastrophe—of such great magnitude that the human mind has difficulty grasping it-would be the appearance of large fissures or rifts splitting open the ocean floor, a rise in the elevation of the seabed, and the massive venting of methane and other gases into the surrounding water.

Such occurrences can lead to the rupture of the methane bubble containment—it can then permit the methane to breach the subterranean depths and undergo an explosive decompression as it catapults into the Gulf waters. [6]

All three warning signs are documented to be occurring in the Gulf.

Ground zero: The Gulf Coast

The people and property located on the greater expanse of the Gulf Coast are sitting at Ground Zero. They will be the first exposed to poisonous, cancer causing chemical gases. They will be the ones that initially experience the full fury of a methane bubble exploding from the ruptured seabed.

The media has been kept away from the emergency salvage measures being taken to forestall the biggest catastrophe in human history. The federal government has warned them away from the epicenter of operations with the threat of a $40,000 fine for each infraction and the possibility of felony arrests.

Why is the press being kept away? Word is that the disaster is escalating.

Cracks and bulges

Methane is now streaming through the porous, rocky seabed at an accelerated rate and gushing from the borehole of the first relief well. The EPA is on record that Rig #1 is releasing methane, benzene, hydrogen sulfide and other toxic gases. Workers there now wear advanced protection including state-of-the-art, military-issued gas masks.

Reports, filtering through from oceanologists and salvage workers in the region, state that the upper level strata of the ocean floor is succumbing to greater and greater pressure. That pressure is causing a huge expanse of the seabed-estimated by some as spreading over thousands of square miles surrounding the BP wellhead-to bulge. Some claim the seabed in the region has risen an astounding 30 feet.

The fractured BP wellhead, site of the former Deepwater Horizon, has become the epicenter of frenetic attempts to quell the monstrous flow of methane.

The subterranean methane is pressurized at 100,000 pounds psi. According to Matt Simmons, an oil industry expert, the methane pressure at the wellhead has now skyrocketed to a terrifying 40,000 pounds psi.

Another well-respected expert, Dr. John Kessler of Texas A&M University has calculated that the ruptured well is spewing 60 percent oil and 40 percent methane. The normal methane amount that escapes from a compromised well is about 5 percent.

More evidence? A huge gash on the ocean floor—like a ragged wound hundreds of feet long—has been reported by the NOAA research ship, Thomas Jefferson. Before the curtain of the government enforced news blackout again descended abruptly, scientists aboard the ship voiced their concerns that the widening rift may go down miles into the earth.

That gash too is hemorrhaging oil and methane. It’s 10 miles away from the BP epicenter. Other, new fissures, have been spotted as far as 30 miles distant.

Measurements of the multiple oil plumes now appearing miles from the wellhead indicate that as much as a total of 124,000 barrels of oil are erupting into the Gulf waters daily-that’s about 5,208,000 gallons of oil per day.

Most disturbing of all: Methane levels in the water are now calculated as being almost one million times higher than normal. [7]

Mass death on the water

If the methane bubble—a bubble that could be as big as 20 miles wide—erupts with titanic force from the seabed into the Gulf, every ship, drilling rig and structure within the region of the bubble will immediately sink. All the workers, engineers, Coast Guard personnel and marine biologists participating in the salvage operation will die instantly.

Next, the ocean bottom will collapse, instantaneously displacing up to a trillion cubic feet of water or more and creating a towering supersonic tsunami annihilating everything along the coast and well inland. Like a thermonuclear blast, a high pressure atmospheric wave could precede the tidal wave flattening everything in its path before the water arrives.

When the roaring tsunami does arrive it will scrub away all that is left.

A chemical cocktail of poisons

Some environmentalist experts are calling what’s pouring into the land, sea and air from the seabed breach ’a chemical cocktail of poisons.’

Areas of dead zones devoid of oxygen are driving species of fish into foreign waters, killing plankton and other tiny sea life that are the foundation for the entire food chain, and polluting the air with cancer-causing chemicals and poisonous rainfalls.

A report from one observer in South Carolina documents oily residue left behind after a recent thunderstorm. And before the news blackout fully descended the EPA released data that benzene levels in New Orleans had rocketed to 3,000 parts per billion.

Benzene is extremely toxic and even short term exposure can cause agonizing death from cancerous lesions years later.

The people of Louisiana have been exposed for more than two months—and the benzene levels may be much higher now. The EPA measurement was taken in early May. [8]

Doomsday

While some say it can’t happen because the bulk of the methane is frozen into crystalline form, others point out that the underground methane sea is gradually melting from the nearby surging oil that’s estimated to be as hot as 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Most experts in the know, however, agree that if the world-changing event does occur it will happen suddenly and within the next 6 months.

So, if events go against Mankind and the bubble bursts in the coming months, Gregory Ryskin may become one of the most famous people in the world. Of course, he won't have long to enjoy his new found fame because very shortly after the methane eruption civilization will collapse.

Perhaps if humanity is very, very lucky, some may find a way to avoid the mass extinction that follows and carry on the human race.

Perhaps.
…………

Sources

[1] The Permian extinction event, when 96% of all marine species became extinct 251 million years ago.

[2] “The Day The Earth Nearly Died,” BBC Horizon, 2002

[3] Report about the Late Paleocene Thermal Maximum (LPTM), which occurred around 55 million years ago and lasted about 100,000 years. Large undersea methane caused explosions and mass extinctions.

[4] Ryskin Theory
Huge combustible clouds produced by methane gas trapped under the seas and explosively released could have killed off the majority of marine life, land animals, and plants at the end of the Permian era—long before the dinosaurs arrived.

[5] James P. Kennett, Kevin G. Cannariato, Ingrid L. Hendy, Richard J. Behl (2000), "Carbon Isotopic Evidence for Methane Hydrate Instability During Quaternary Interstadials," Science 288.

[6] “An awesome mix of fire and water may lie behind mass extinctions”

[7] “Methane in Gulf 'astonishingly high'-US scientist”

[8] Report: “Air Quality - Oil Spill” TV 4WWL video

Links

“BP engineer called doomed rig a 'nightmare well’”

History Channel Mega Disasters - Methane Explosion

“BP Official Admits to Damage Beneath the Sea Floor"

h---ttp://ww---w.helium.com/items/1882339-doomsday-how-bp-gulf-disaster-may-have-triggered-a-world-killing-event

[Gliondrach]

I wonder why Kiko is under observation?


Dog Saves Drunk Man's Life By Eating His Toe

A dog who chewed off his owner's big toe when he passed out after a day of drinking has been hailed a lifesaver.

'Have-a-toe-hero' Kiko, a Jack Russell terrier, apparently sensed an infection in Jerry Douthett's right big toe.

And he munched on it while his master was asleep at home in Rockford, Michigan.

A trip to the hospital confirmed Douthett's digit needed amputation and alerted doctors to the fact that he had been suffering from undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes.

Mr Douthett, 48, had been refusing to seek medical treatment for his infected toe for several weeks when the incident happened.

He said he had been working up the courage to see a doctor when he downed several alcoholic drinks during a night out and passed out on his bed.

He woke up to find the dog beside him and a pool of blood near his foot.

"The toe was gone," said Mr Douthett.

"He ate it. I mean, he must have eaten it, because we couldn't find it anywhere else in the house. I look down, there's blood all over, and my toe is gone."

Doctors later discovered that the infection had reached the bone and were forced to amputate what was left of the toe.

Before the surgery, Mr Douthett asked a nurse, "Is there any chance I can get whatever's left of my toe, so I can give it to Kiko as a treat?"

"He's a hero. He pretty much just ate the infection. He saved my life," Mr Douthett told Wood TV, adding he has since sworn off alcohol.

Kiko is still with the family but under observation by authorities.

ht---tp://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100804/tod-dog-saves-drunk-man-s-life-by-eating-870a197.html

[Gliondrach]

I hope this is true. The filthy scum would have be furious if he had read it.

DNA tests reveal 'Hitler was descended from the Jews and Africans he hated'

By Allan Hall
24th August 2010

Adolf Hitler is likely to have been descended from both Jews and Africans, according to DNA tests.

Samples taken from relatives of the Nazi leader show that he is biologically linked to the 'sub-human' races he sought to exterminate.

Journalist Jean-Paul Mulders and historian Marc Vermeeren used DNA to track down 39 of the Fuhrer's relatives earlier this year.

They included an Austrian farmer revealed only as a cousin called Norbert H.

A Belgian news magazine has reported that samples of saliva taken from these people strongly suggest Hitler had antecedents he certainly would not have cared for.

A chromosome called Haplopgroup E1b1b (Y-DNA) in their samples is rare in Germany and indeed Western Europe.

'It is most commonly found in the Berbers of Morocco, in Algeria, Libya and Tunisia as well as among Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews,' Mr Vermeeren said.
'One can from this postulate that Hitler was related to people whom he despised,' adds Mr Mulders in the magazine, Knack.

Haplogroup E1b1b1, which accounts for approximately 18 to 20 per cent of Ashkenazi and 8.6 per cent to 30 per cent of Sephardic Y-chromosomes, appears to be one of the major founding lineages of the Jewish population.

'This is a surprising result,' said Ronny Decorte, a genetic specialist who agreed that Hitler probably did have some roots in North Africa

'It is difficult to predict, what happens with this information, both to opponents and supporters of Hitler,' he added.

The magazine says the DNA was tested under stringent laboratory conditions to obtain the results.

It is not the first time that historians have suggested Hitler had Jewish ancestry.

His father, Alois, is thought to have been the illegitimate offspring of a maid called Maria Schickelgruber and a 19-year-old Jewish man called Frankenberger.

This would have made the man who inspired the Holocaust one-quarter Jewish

Reports have suggested that Hitler's nephew, Patrick, tried to blackmail his uncle over the issue of Alois Hitler's parentage. Hitler asked his lawyer, Hans Frank, to investigate the claims and he announced just before the outbreak of the Second World War that they were 'without any foundation'.

'Hitler would not have been pleased about this,' added Mr Decorte, of the Catholic University of Leuven.

'The affair is fascinating if one compares it with the conception of the world of the Nazis, in which race and blood was central.

'Hitler's concern over his descent was not unjustified. He was apparently not "pure" or "Ayran".'

DNA was also taken from American Alexander Stuart-Houston, 61, a grand-nephew of Hitler.

He was trailed for seven days before he dropped a used serviette which Mulders said led him to the cousin in Austria - and the link with Hitler's sworn enemies.

ht--tp://ww--w.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1305414/Hitler-descended-Jews-Africans-DNA-tests-reveal.html#

[Fauxmage]

'This is a surprising result,' said Ronny Decorte, a genetic specialist who agreed that Hitler probably did have some roots in North Africa

'It is difficult to predict, what happens with this information, both to opponents and supporters of Hitler,' he added.
I can't think why. Since when did hatred ever need a rational basis?

[Gliondrach]

Queen 'sought heating bills grant'

24 September 2010

The Queen was reportedly refused an anti-poverty grant to help heat her palaces because Whitehall officials feared it would cause a public relations backlash.

In an effort to cut the Royal Household's soaring electricity and gas bills, a senior aide wrote to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2004 to ask if the Queen would be eligible for a handout from a £60m energy-saving fund.

He complained that the cost of royal utilities, which doubled in 2004, stood at £1m a year and had become "untenable" and that the £15m Government grant to maintain the Queen's palaces was inadequate.

The request for a grant to replace four combined heat and power (CHP) units at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle was turned down in August 2004, according to documents obtained by The Independent under the Freedom of Information Act.

In an apologetic email sent to the Palace, it was explained that the handouts were aimed at schools, hospitals, councils and housing associations for heating programmes which benefit low-income families.

The official also expressed concern that if Buckingham Palace was given money from the fund it would lead to "probable adverse press coverage".

The email said: "I think this is where the Community Energy Funding is directed and ties in with most allocations going to community heating schemes run by local authorities, housing associations, universities etc.

"I also feel a bit uneasy about the probable adverse press coverage if the Palace were given a grant at the expense of say a hospital. Sorry this doesn't sound more positive."

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman declined to comment on the disclosures.

h--ttp://news.aol.co.uk/main-news/story/queen-sought-heating-bills-grant/

[Bowwowmeow]

Wind could have parted Red Sea for Moses: report

Tuesday, September 21 05:23 pm

Moses might not have parted the Red Sea, but a strong east wind that blew through the night could have pushed the waters back in the way described in biblical writings and the Koran, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.


http://d.yimg.com/i/ng/ne/rtrs/20100921/16/2814837019-illustration-showing-strong-wind-push-waters-ancient-basins-lagoon.jpg?x=310&y=130&q=75&sig=yxUda3_882.SlL.VsuKQoQ--#310,130 (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100921/img/pot-an-illustration-showing-1fe6181d20d2.html)


Computer simulations, part of a larger study on how winds affect water, show wind could push water back at a point where a river bent to merge with a coastal lagoon, the team at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado at Boulder said.

"The simulations match fairly closely with the account in Exodus," Carl Drews of NCAR, who led the study, said in a statement.

"The parting of the waters can be understood through fluid dynamics. The wind moves the water in a way that's in accordance with physical laws, creating a safe passage with water on two sides and then abruptly allowing the water to rush back in."

Religious texts differ a little in the tale, but all describe Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt ahead of a pharaoh's armies around 3,000 years ago. The Red Sea parts to let Moses and his followers pass safely, then crashes back onto the pursuers, drowning them.

Drews and colleagues are studying how Pacific Ocean typhoons can drive storm surges and other effects of strong and sustained winds on deep water.

His team pinpointed a possible site south of the Mediterranean Sea for the legendary crossing, and modeled different land formations that could have existed then and perhaps led to the accounts of the sea appearing to part.

The model requires a U-shaped formation of the Nile River and a shallow lagoon along the shoreline. It shows that a wind of 63 miles per hour, blowing steadily for 12 hours, could have pushed back waters 6 feet deep.

"This land bridge is 3-4 km (2 to 2.5 miles) long and 5 km (3 miles) wide, and it remains open for 4 hours," they wrote in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE.

"People have always been fascinated by this Exodus story, wondering if it comes from historical facts," Drews said. "What this study shows is that the description of the waters parting indeed has a basis in physical laws."


Details of the model described can be seen at https://www2.ucar.edu/news/parting-waters-computer-modeling-applies-physics-red-sea-escape-route and http://www.plosone.org/article (http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0012481)/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0012481 (http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0012481).



I know that was always my absolute favorite scene from "The Ten Commandments". :agree:

[Gliondrach]

Angry Lions Turn On 'Tamer' During Circus Act

Perhaps he'll get a proper job now that doesn't involve abusing lions. There's a longer version on yahoo.

bSJFgOJgRLY

[Harley_Quinn]

The Lion didn't go crazy
The Lion went Lion
(Similar joke said by Chris Rock)

[nagev]

:(

[Gliondrach]

Poor lion. That message about one of the lions having been killed following the attack has only just appeared.

So the stupid scum think they can keep lions in cages, cart them all around the country, abuse and intimidate them, and expect them to behave like kittens?

[Gliondrach]

Bacterium Lives Without Phosphorus; May Alter Thinking On Life

by Mark Memmott

There's lots of chatter on the cable channels and on the Web today about the news from NASA that researchers found a bacterium that can live without phosphorus — something scientists didn't think life forms, at least those we know about, can do.

What's more, it's able to survive on a diet heavy in arsenic, which we all know isn't good for you.

Among the feverish headlines is FoxNews.com's "Are Aliens Among Us? Sort Of, NASA Says."

We've turned to NPR's Science Desk for an explainer. Here's what Jon Hamilton has filed for the next newcast:

"One of the truisms of science is that life isn't possible without six elements, one of which is phosphorus.

"But a young scientist at NASA wondered whether that truism was really true. She thought arsenic, which is chemically very similar to phosphorous, might work as a substitute.

"So she and other researchers began studying tiny organisms taken from the mud of Mono Lake in California. That mud contains a lot of arsenic. And they found at least one bacterium that was able to adapt to a diet that included lots of arsenic, but no phosphorus.

"What's more, the bacterium appeared to be using arsenic instead of phosphorus in its DNA. Scientists say that suggests organisms could exist in places on earth, or elsewhere in the universe, that were previously thought incapable of sustaining life."
NASA sums up news this way: "This finding of an alternative biochemistry makeup will alter biology textbooks and expand the scope of the search for life beyond Earth. The research is published in this week's edition of Science Express."

ht--tp://ww--w.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/12/02/131758918/bacterium-lives-without-phosphorous-may-alter-thinking-on-life?ps=rs

[Gliondrach]

MoD shows 'close encounter' files

04 March 2011

Military sightings of UFOs, an "alien abduction" in London and an unidentified aircraft shadowing a Lancaster Bomber feature among thousands of close-encounter documents released by the National Archives.

The extra-terrestrial files reveal how the phenomenon was discussed at the highest level of government and security services worldwide, including at the United Nations (UN), the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and was even the subject of a debate in the House of Lords.

The previously-classified records show that in January 1979 - during the peak of the Winter of Discontent - in addition to discussions on trade union strikes, the House of Lords held a debate of the subject of UFOs - the only full debate on UFOs ever held in British Parliament.

The files reveal that in December 1977 the government used its influence to talk down a call by Grenada president, Sir Eric Gairy, for a UN agency to conduct research into UFO sightings. Gairy eventually withdrew his proposal but continued his campaign for a full UN debate on UFOs - calling on the UN General Assembly to make 1978 "the year of the UFO".

One of the 35 newly-released files shows 15 unidentified aircraft were detected on radar approaching the UK between January and July 2001 in the months leading up to 9/11. The MoD received just one UFO report (with no radar corroboration) on September 11 itself.

Other highlights include claims the Home Office had emergency procedures for dealing with landed and crashed satellites and UFOs; US policy files on UFOs, including CIA papers discussing the use of UFO reports for "psychological warfare"; an alleged UFO sighting by crew of HMS Manchester off the coast of Norway and how the logbook recording the incident could not be recovered.

Also included in the documents was a man who believed he may have been abducted by aliens after seeing an unusual aircraft one evening and experiencing a period of missing time; and one report describing a War of the Worlds incident in 1967 that, for a few hours at least, was treated as a potentially real "alien invasion" of the UK.

Dr David Clarke, author of the book The UFO Files and senior lecturer in journalism at Sheffield Hallam University, said: "Before the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, we had to wait 30 years or more before we could see files on UFOs. Following its introduction, questions on UFOs ranked in the top-three most popular FOI requests received by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

"I was one of the MoD's most 'persistent correspondents' and eventually persuaded MoD and other government departments to release their information on this perplexing and controversial subject. You can see from the files that I wasn't the only one interested in the subject, with the phenomenon discussed at the highest level of government right across the globe."

The release is the largest disclosure of documents so far by The National Archives. The files contain over 8,500 pages of UFO sightings and reports, colour photographs and drawings, RAF investigations, unusual radar detections, parliamentary briefings and - for the first time - documents on the government's policy on UFOs.

news.aol.co.uk/weird-news/story/mod-shows-close-encounter-files/1630908/

[Gliondrach]

Scientists make teleportation breakthrough

Boffins from Japan and Australia have made a huge scientific breakthrough by successfully teleporting packets of light from one area to another.

Related photos / videos Scientists make teleportation breakthrough Enlarge photo The mind-bending project, led by Noriyuki Lee at the University of Tokyo, could lead to the creation of super-powerful quantum computers and revolutionise the telecommunications industry.

The team managed to teleport wave packets of light by destroying them in one place and re-creating them in another.

It's an incredible process that means transmitting large volumes of complex quantum information could be quicker than is currently possible.

The quantum physics term behind this experiment is 'entanglement'. It means that two particles can be bonded in such a way that even when separated by large distances, they are still linked. So what happens to one affects the other.

The team linked packets of light to half a pair of entangled particles. They destroyed one of the particles and the light itself, leaving just one remaining particle. This particle still contained detailed information about the light which they could then use to rebuild the original particle.

'Schrodinger's cat'

The process involves 'Schrodinger's cat'. Unfortunately it's not a real feline, but a hypothetical experiment first carried out in the 1935.

Schrödinger envisioned in a cat in a sealed box with a small amount of radioactive material and a Geiger counter measuring radiation. If the atom decayed the counter would release cyanide into the box and kill the cat.

According to quantum mechanics, the cat is neither dead nor alive. Until someone opens the box both possibilities exist. It's supposed to illustrate how in quantum mechanics particles can exist in suspended states of multiple possibilities.

The team at the University of Tokyo were able to put the light wave in a 'Schrödinger's cat' state with the help of a machine simply called 'The Teleporter', and make it have two opposite phases at the same time.

Professor Elanor Huntington, who was part of the research team, told ABC News: "What we've done is take a macroscopic beam of light and put it into a quantum superposition, which is extremely fragile, and teleported that from one place to another."

Doing this demonstrates that - for the first time - blocks of complex quantum information can now be carried by light.

"If we can do this, we can do just about any form of communication needed for any quantum technology," she said.

Unfortunately the breakthrough doesn't mean we'll ever be able to transport human beings, Star Trek style. At present even bacteria is far too complex to be transported.

Written by Orlando Parfitt
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/38/20110415/tsc-scientists-make-teleportation-breakt-98fda55.html

[nagev]

Interesting.

Though for those reading this article:

The process involves 'Schrodinger's cat'. Unfortunately it's not a real feline, but a hypothetical experiment first carried out in the 1935.

Schrödinger envisioned in a cat in a sealed box with a small amount of radioactive material and a Geiger counter measuring radiation. If the atom decayed the counter would release cyanide into the box and kill the cat.

According to quantum mechanics, the cat is neither dead nor alive. Until someone opens the box both possibilities exist. It's supposed to illustrate how in quantum mechanics particles can exist in suspended states of multiple possibilities.

The bolded part makes it sounds like QM (quantum mechanics) makes a claim on such a thing. It does not. The entire Schrödinger's Cat thought experiment was to show an apparent paradox and make a point about when macroscopic vs microscopic objects.

The thought experiment wasn't "supposed to illustrate how in quantum mechanics particles can exist in suspended states of multiple possibilities."

:)

[Bowwowmeow]

Oh darn. I thought they'd be able to put a fly's head on a man's body.

Interesting.

Though for those reading this article:


The bolded part makes it sounds like QM (quantum mechanics) makes a claim on such a thing. It does not. The entire Schrödinger's Cat thought experiment was to show an apparent paradox and make a point about when macroscopic vs microscopic objects.

The thought experiment wasn't "supposed to illustrate how in quantum mechanics particles can exist in suspended states of multiple possibilities."

:)
Oh thanks for explaining that. That has always bothered me, but I've never been able to put it into words.

[Gliondrach]

They also thought it unfortunate that the cat wasn't real. I think it was fortunate because if it had been a real experiment a real cat would have faced death.

If they ever do the experiment, they should use a vivisector.

[nagev]

They also thought it unfortunate that the cat wasn't real. I think it was fortunate because if it had been a real experiment a real cat would have faced death.

Yeah, the only outcome if this ever does (or did :() become a real experiment is that the cat will die.

If they ever do the experiment, they should use a vivisector.

Possibly, or perhaps just the person who actually tries to set up the experiment. I like the concept of reaping what one sows.

[Gliondrach]

I saw on the telly news yesterday (Wednesday) that hundreds -if not thousands - of people are camping out in the streets of London Town to make sure they get a good view of the wedding procession of Kate Middleton and William Windsor on Friday. :beanie: They are queuing up two days early to watch something they could watch on telly. Wherever they stand, they will see just a few seconds of the happy couple as they drive by. If they watched it on telly at home, they would see everything from start to finish - including the traditional punch up at the reception.

[Gliondrach]

But they didn't cause chaos 11 years ago.

Solar storms 'to wreak havoc around the world'
By Ruth Doherty, May 18, 2011

Massive solar storms could have 'devastating effects' on human technology and cause a global Hurricane Katrina-style disaster when they hit a peak in two years' time, leading experts have said.

The storms are a growing threat to worldwide infrastructures like satellite communications, navigation systems, and electrical transmission equipment, says Kathryn Sullivan, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration assistant secretary.

Solar storms are caused by massive explosions on the sun, and release particles that can destroy computer circuits.

A massive eruption of the sun would send waves of radiation and charged particles to Earth, damaging the satellite systems used for synchronising computers, airline navigation and phone networks.

If the storm is powerful enough it could even crash stock markets and cause power cuts that last weeks or months, experts told the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The explosions release waves of X rays and ultraviolet radiation that smash into the Earth's atmosphere within minutes, disrupting radio signals and damaging the electronics of satellites.

They are followed 10 to 20 minutes later by a burst of energetic particles that cause even more havoc with satellites - and then 15 to 30 hours later by supercharged plasma, which collides with Earth's magnetic field.

According to the Daily Mail, Dr Sullivan, a former NASA astronaut, told a UN weather conference in Geneva that 'it is not a question of if, but really a matter of when a major solar event could hit our planet'.

And she's not the only scientist warning of the threats of solar storms.

In February, astronomers warned that we are more vulnerable now than ever before - and that the planet should prepare for a global Hurricane Katrina-style disaster.

The chances of a disruption from space are getting stronger because the sun is entering the most active period of its 11 to 12-year natural cycle.

The supercharged plasma create the aurora - or Northern Lights - and can induce electrical currents in power lines and cables.

The last solar maximum occurred in 2001.

h--ttp://travel.aol.co.uk/2011/05/18/

[Gliondrach]

This is a good idea.

CDC Warns Public to Prepare for 'Zombie Apocalypse'

By Joshua Rhett Miller

Published May 18, 2011

Are you prepared for the impending zombie invasion?

That's the question posed by the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention in a Monday blog posting gruesomely titled, "Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse." And while it's no joke, CDC officials say it's all about emergency preparation.

"There are all kinds of emergencies out there that we can prepare for," the posting reads. "Take a zombie apocalypse for example. That's right, I said z-o-m-b-i-e a-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e. You may laugh now, but when it happens you'll be happy you read this, and hey, maybe you'll even learn a thing or two about how to prepare for a real emergency."

The post, written by Assistant Surgeon General Ali Khan, instructs readers how to prepare for "flesh-eating zombies" much like how they appeared in Hollywood hits like "Night of the Living Dead" and video games like Resident Evil. Perhaps surprisingly, the same steps you'd take in preparation for an onslaught of ravenous monsters are similar to those suggested in advance of a hurricane or pandemic.

"First of all, you should have an emergency kit in your house," the posting continues. "This includes things like water, food, and other supplies to get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp (or in the event of a natural disaster, it will buy you some time until you are able to make your way to an evacuation shelter or utility lines are restored)."

Related Links
Best Car to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
A Zombie-Proof House to Survive the Undead Apocalypse Other items to be stashed in such a kit include medications, duct tape, a battery-powered radio, clothes, copies of important documents and first aid supplies.

"Once you've made your emergency kit, you should sit down with your family and come up with an emergency plan," the posting continues. "This includes where you would go and who you would call if zombies started appearing outside your doorstep. You can also implement this plan if there is a flood, earthquake or other emergency."

The idea behind the campaign stemmed from concerns of radiation fears following the earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan in March. CDC spokesman Dave Daigle told FoxNews.com that someone had asked CDC officials if zombies would be a concern due to radiation fears in Japan and traffic spiked following that mention.

"It's kind of a tongue-in-cheek campaign," Daigle said Wednesday. "We were talking about hurricane preparedness and someone bemoaned that we kept putting out the same messages."

While metrics for the post are not yet available, Daigle said it has become the most popular CDC blog entry in just two days.

"People are so tuned into zombies," he said. "People are really dialed in on zombies. The idea is we're reaching an audience or a segment we'd never reach with typical messages."

Click here to read more on the "Zombie Apocalypse" at CDC.gov.

Related Links
Best Car to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
A Zombie-Proof House to Survive the Undead Apocalypse

ht--tp://w--ww.foxnews.com/health/2011/05/18/cdc-warns-public-prepare-zombie-apocalypse/

[Bowwowmeow]

Well I guess I am just a miserable pedant, but these are not zombies. These are ghouls. Zombies are people who are killed in a certain way using secret voodoo rituals, who are then revived after death to become slave laborers on sugar plantations in the West Indies. They don't need to eat anything. This is why they make ideal slaves. They also have mad drumming skillz.

[Gliondrach]

Spoil sport.:rollingpin: A good zombie film (although not zombies for the pedants out there) is Shaun of the Dead.

[Bowwowmeow]

No. If you want to watch a classic, real zombie movie, watch White Zombie with Bela Lugosi.
*is a zombie movie snob*

[Bowwowmeow]

In other weird news Glenn Beck has stopped eating a raw plant based diet after 20 days. This isn't what's weird though. What's weird was everyone saying he'd gone vegan. Someone made a comment that I want to post here because I really appreciated what they had to say:

From http://vegansaurus.com/post/5579380708/glenn-beck-returns-to-douchery-no-one-is-surprised

"For me, veganism is rooted in anti-oppression, in struggles
for justice – I specifically went vegan because I realized how similar the
logic of speciesism is to the logic of sexism, racism, and so forth. I know it’s
not that way for everyone, but I’d argue that at its core, veganism is an
oppositional political position (if you disagree entirely, think on all those
defensive omnis eager to debate you at the dinner table before you’ve said a
word, or when you’ve bent over backwards to be “non-threatening” and “non-judgmental”
… I think they’re defensive for a reason, and not just because they’re assholes,
even if they are). So, when some hateful ideologue espouses or “embraces”
veganism (which Beck never did or would or could, anyways), that’s a problem
for all of us. Sure, more vegans = yay! But which vegans? What are they saying?
Does it matter?



I think it does. I think *everyone* thinks it does, actually
– there has to be upper threshold on this. I’m not suggesting some sort of “political/ideological
litmus test” to be a “real vegan” … people obviously come from different places
and are motivated by different things, and hopefully there’s common ground
there. But would we embrace and celebrate the announcement of a vegan Aryan
Nation wing, since we can now count more vegans in our ranks? Or some random
homophobes going vegan, arguing that meat consumption reduces virility (like
PeTA always reminds us) and makes us more likely to be influenced by the gayz?
Or … etcetcetc.



I don’t know – veganism totally divorced from
anti-oppressive politics is just a consumer strategy, and vegans are just
omnivores on a diet. I hope that’s not what we want."

[Gliondrach]

I hadn't heard of Beck until a week or two ago. If famous-ish people like Beck and Billy Clinton think that a vegan diet is healthy it could help to convince some people who are holding back for fear of it being unhealthy. Of course, Beck and Clinton aren't vegans if it is only a dietary thing for them.

[Bowwowmeow]

Well he called it vomitous, so he did it no favors. Having Glenn Beck identified as even a temporary vegan is about as beneficial as having Hitler identified as a vegetarian.

[Gliondrach]

I take it he's not one of your favourite people. :shipinbottle:

[Bowwowmeow]

No I suppose not, but I am not too familiar with him, as I don't watch TV. An awful lot of people find him contemptuous though. I'd have to agree after seeing him attempt to make a joke out of veganism. But then I always seem to find it is way less than an occasion for celebration whenever some brainless celeb associates themselves with veganism. It never lasts, and while it might cause their hordes of mindless fans to consider veganism temporarily, once the celeb goes off it because they just can't live without ice cream or hamburgers, the mindless hordes will follow suit, and invent a whole bunch of stupid reasons for why veganism is a bad idea.

[Gliondrach]

I always wash my hands as soon as I arrive home. You never know what you've been touching that filthy hands have touched before you.

Now wash your hands - and your mobile

It is the sort of news story that will have left many feeling queasy over their breakfast cereal - a study which suggests one in six mobile phones is contaminated with faecal matter.

Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary, University of London took nearly 400 samples from mobile phones and hands in 12 British cities.

They found 16% of phones and 16% of hands harboured E. coli (Escherichia coli), bacteria which inhabit the human intestines.

The largest proportion of contaminated phones was in Birmingham (41%) while Londoners were caught with the highest proportion of E. coli present on hands (28%).

But the sample size in each city was small, so the variations between them could be a statistical anomaly.

However Dr Val Curtis, from the London School of Hygiene says the study showed clear differences between north and south.

"We found the further north we went the more hands and phones were likely to be contaminated. It could be the bugs survive better in colder and wetter conditions or it might be that people wash their hands less."

I explained to Dr Curtis that such comments were unlikely to win her friends in Glasgow and Liverpool - two of the cities where samples were taken.

But she brushed this aside explaining that after a similar survey three years ago she was advised not to hang around Newcastle.

Archers warning

Most strains of E. coli found on the hands and phones are not likely to cause major ill-health, although listeners of "The Archers" will know that Clarrie Grundy became an unwitting carrier of the bacteria, leading to a number of children being hospitalised in the fictional county of Borsetshire.

Dr Curtis explained that they were using E. coli as a marker for the presence of faecal matter.

She said: "Campylobacter and Salmonella bacteria are much more likely to cause a gastric infection and could easily be passed on through faecal contamination."

So we are talking about poo, excrement - on mobile phones and fingers.

Hand washing technique

Why do so many people clearly not wash their hands with soap after a visit to the toilet? Perhaps they do, but are simply doing it wrong.

I remember having correct hand-washing technique described to me by the virologist Professor John Oxford.

He thought people didn't wash thoroughly enough, or long enough - two verses of Happy Birthday to you were suggested.

Perhaps there is also a confusion in some people's minds about dirt and germs. After all, there is plenty of research suggesting dirt can be good for you.

Since the late 1980s the "hygiene hypothesis" has argued that the lack of early childhood exposure to some germs may be linked to the rise in allergic diseases, by suppressing the development of the immune system. It's a much-debated theory.

But while letting your children - or your husband - play in the dirt may well be ok, they still need to wash their hands after the toilet. Or after handling raw meat and poultry.

Big killer

You simply have to look to the developing world to see the devastating effects of poor hygiene. Diarrhoeal disease remains one of the world's biggest killers.

While hand-washing may help prevent a nasty stomach bug here, in poorer countries it can save lives.

The survey from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is timed to publicise Global Handwashing Day on 15 October.

It is an annual event which promotes hand-hygiene, the cheapest and most effective way of preventing infection by bacteria and viruses.

h--ttp://ww--w.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15284501

[Gliondrach]

You might have heard about the experiment some boffins did which seemed to show that neutrinos could travel faster than light. Especially when the light was going uphill against a head wind. Another experiment has been done which confirms the original findings.

New test finds neutrinos still faster than light

By Kate Kelland
London, Fri 18th Nov, 2011 10:13am GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - A new experiment appears to provide further evidence that Einstein may have been wrong when he laid down that nothing could go faster than the speed of light, a theory that underpins modern thinking on how the universe works.

The new evidence, challenging a dogma of science that has stood since Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity in 1905, appeared to confirm that sub-atomic particles called neutrinos could travel fractions of a second faster.

A new experiment at the Gran Sasso laboratory, using a neutrino beam from CERN in Switzerland, 450 miles away, was held to check similar findings last September by a team of scientists which were greeted with some scepticism.

Scientists at the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) said in a statement that their new tests aimed to exclude one potential systematic effect that may have affected the original measurement.

"A measurement so delicate and carrying a profound implication on physics requires an extraordinary level of scrutiny," said Fernando Ferroni, president of the INFN.

"The positive outcome of the test makes us more confident in the result, although a final word can only be said by analogous measurements performed elsewhere in the world."

An international team of scientists shocked the scientific world with the original findings in September.

That first finding was recorded when 15,000 neutrino beams were pumped over three years from CERN to Gran Sasso, an underground Italian laboratory near Rome.

Physicists on the experiment, called OPERA after the initials of its formal scientific title, said they had checked and rechecked over many months anything that could have produced a misreading before announcing what they had found.

If confirmed, scientists say the findings could show that Einstein -- father of modern physics -- was wrong when he laid down in his theory of special relativity that the speed of light was a "cosmic constant", and nothing could go faster.

This would force a major rethink of theories about how the cosmos works and even mean it would be possible in theory to send information into the past.

The Italian scientists, whose second set of results were published in online science journal ArXiv at arxiv.org/abs/1109.4897v2, said one potential source of error in the first results was that the pulses of neutrinos sent by CERN were relatively long at around 10 microseconds each, so measuring their exact arrival time at Gran Sasso could have had relatively large errors.

To account for this, the beams sent by CERN in this latest experiment were around three nanoseconds shorter, with large gaps of 524 nanoseconds between them, meaning the scientists at Gran Sasso would time their arrival more accurately.

"In this way, compared to the previous measurement, the neutrinos bunches are narrower and more spaced from each other," the scientists said. "This permits to make a more accurate measure of their velocity at the price of a much lower beam intensity."

Jacques Martino, director of the French National Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics, who worked on the second experiment said that while this test was not a full confirmation, it did remove some of the potential systematic errors that may have occurred in the first one.

"The search is not over," he said in a statement. "There are more checks of systematics currently under discussion."

(Editing by Richard Balmforth)

uk.reuters.com/article/2011/11/18/uk-science-neutrinos-light-idUKTRE7AH0T120111118

The really interesting bit is about sending information back into the past. It's strange that I saw this today because I watched the film 'The Butterfly Effect' yesterday. This is about a bloke who alters his past, which alters his present. He kept making a mess of it.

[gabbles]

The idea of sending information back to the past is spooky.

Time is weird. What is it?

[Gliondrach]

Time is weird. What is it?

I don't know what time is but they are messing about with it again. Samoa is changing time zones. They are changing to be in line with countries they trade with. They are going straight from the 29th of December to the 31st. Missing the 30th out. This is outrageous. Samoans will be losing a day of their lives. The only people who will benefit are those in gaol who will get out one day earlier.

And what about people whose birthday is the 30th? They will miss their birthday but they will also benefit because they will still be the same age next year on the 30th. Most Samoans will lose a day of their lives but those whose birthday should be today will gain an extra year.

[vepurusg]

The really interesting bit is about sending information back into the past.

This "Kate Kelland" who wrote the article is apparently a scientifically illiterate rube :beanie:


This would force a major rethink of theories about how the cosmos works and even mean it would be possible in theory to send information into the past.

That's completely false. Violation of causality isn't even a consideration in theory.

Non-scientists shouldn't be allowed to write science articles. :no:

But, of course, time travel, "virgin Mary"s on sandwiches, homeopathy, vaccine conspiracies, plant "intelligence", and bat-boys sell papers.

There's hardly any stopping the media from making up random sensationalist clap-trap since that's what they're paid to do (dollar forbid they have an ounce of journalistic integrity).


If I have some time in the next couple days, I'll try to make a post explaining some of the potential consequences.

[Gliondrach]

Does that mean the film, Back to the Future, wasn't based on real events?

[vepurusg]

Does that mean the film, Back to the Future, wasn't based on real events?

I'm afraid so.

[Gliondrach]

:rubchin:

[Gliondrach]

Neanderthals, Humans Interbred—First Solid DNA Evidence

Most of us have some Neanderthal genes, study finds.

Ker Than

for National Geographic News

Published May 6, 2010

The next time you're tempted to call some oaf a Neanderthal, you might want to take a look in the mirror.

According to a new DNA study, most humans have a little Neanderthal in them—at least 1 to 4 percent of a person's genetic makeup.

The study uncovered the first solid genetic evidence that "modern" humans—or Homo sapiens—interbred with their Neanderthal neighbors, who mysteriously died out about 30,000 years ago.

What's more, the Neanderthal-modern human mating apparently took place in the Middle East, shortly after modern humans had left Africa, not in Europe—as has long been suspected.

"We can now say that, in all probability, there was gene flow from Neanderthals to modern humans," lead study author Ed Green of the University of California, Santa Cruz, said in a prepared statement.

That's no surprise to anthropologist Erik Trinkhaus, whose skeleton-based claims of Neanderthal-modern human interbreeding—previously contradicted with DNA evidence—appear to have been vindicated by the new gene study, to be published tomorrow in the journal Science.

"They've finally seen the light ... because it's been obvious to many us that this happened," said Trinkaus, of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, who wasn't part of the new study.

Trinkhaus adds that most living humans probably have much more Neanderthal DNA than the new study suggests.

"One to 4 percent is truly a minimum," Trinkaus added. "But is it 10 percent? Twenty percent? I have no idea."

(Also see "Neanderthals, Modern Humans Interbred, Bone Study Suggests.")

Surprising Spot for Neanderthal-Human Mating

The genetic study team reached their conclusion after comparing the genomes of five living humans—from China, France, Papua New Guinea, southern Africa, and western Africa—against the available "rough draft" of the Neanderthal genome. (Get the basics on genetics.)

The results showed that Neanderthal DNA is 99.7 percent identical to modern human DNA, versus, for example, 98.8 percent for modern humans and chimps, according to the study. (Related: "Neanderthals Had Same 'Language Gene' as Modern Humans.")

In addition, all modern ethnic groups, other than Africans, carry traces of Neanderthal DNA in their genomes, the study says—which at first puzzled the scientists. Though no fossil evidence has been found for Neanderthals and modern humans coexisting in Africa, Neanderthals, like modern humans, are thought to have arisen on the continent.

"If you told an archaeologist that you'd found evidence of gene exchange between Neanderthals and modern humans and asked them to guess which [living] population it was found in, most would say Europeans, because there's well documented archaeological evidence that they lived side by side for several thousand years," said study team member David Reich.

For another thing, Neanderthals never lived in China or Papua New Guinea, in the Pacific region of Melanesia, according to the archaeological record. (See "Neanderthals Ranged Much Farther East Than Thought.")

"But the fact is that Chinese and Melanesians are as closely related to Neanderthals" as Europeans, said Reich, a population geneticist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University.

(See pictures of a reconstructed Neanderthal and take a Neanderthals quiz.)

Neanderthal-Human One-Night Stand?

So how did modern humans with Neanderthal DNA end up in Asia and Melanesia?

Neanderthals, the study team says, probably mixed with early Homo sapiens just after they'd left Africa but before Homo sapiens split into different ethnic groups and scattered around the globe.

The first opportunity for interbreeding probably occurred about 60,000 years ago in Middle Eastern regions adjacent to Africa, where archaeological evidence shows the two species overlapped for a time, the team says.

And it wouldn't have taken much mating to make an impact, according to study co-author Reich. The results could stem from a Neanderthal-modern human one-night stand or from thousands of interspecies assignations, he said.

(Related: "Neanderthals Grew Fast, but Sexual Maturity Came Late.")

More DNA Evidence for Neanderthal-Human Mating

The new study isn't alone in finding genetic hints of Homo sapiens-Homo neanderthalensis interbreeding.

Genetic anthropologist Jeffrey Long, who calls the Science study "very exciting," co-authored a new, not yet published study that found DNA evidence of interbreeding between early modern humans and an "archaic human" species, though it's not clear which. He presented his team's findings at a meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Albuquerque, New Mexico, last month.

Long's team reached its conclusions after searching the genomes of hundreds of modern humans for "signatures of different evolutionary processes in DNA variation."

Like the new Science paper, Long's study speculates that interbreeding occurred just after our species had left Africa, but Long's study didn't include analysis of the Neanderthal genome.

"At the time we started the project, I never imagined I'd ever see an empirical confirmation of it," said Long, referring to the Science team's Neanderthal-DNA evidence, "so I'm pretty happy to see it."
ht--tp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100506-science-neanderthals-humans-mated-interbred-dna-gene/

[nwsailorgirl]

Actually that's kind of reassuring on some level, lol. It validates what some of us have long suspected... ;)

[Gliondrach]

Well, I think it's rather weird. What about tinned corn? Isn't it the same thing?

Popcorn Has 'More Antioxidants Than Fruit And Vegetables'

The Huffington Post UK | By Georgia James
Posted: 26/03/2012

Served by the bucket-load, dripping in butter, popcorn was once seen as little more than junk food for peckish cinemagoers.

But lately the snack has undergone a radical makeover, forging a name for itself as the low-calorie alternative to crisps for weight-conscious office workers.

And now scientists have discovered that popcorn is not only good for the waist – it’s brimming with more antioxidants than your average serving of fruit and vegetables.

New research has revealed that popcorn is made up of just 4% water so the antioxidants are less diluted than in fruit and vegetables, which can be made up of up to 90% water.

The study found that one serving of popcorn contains up to 300mg of antioxidants - known as polyphenols – nearly double the 160mg found in a serving of fruit.

The researchers also found the crunchy hulls of popcorn (those bits that have an annoying habit of sticking in your throat) have the highest concentration of antioxidants and fibre.

Researcher Jo Vinson said: “Those hulls deserve more respect. They are nutritional gold nuggets.”

Describing popcorn as “the perfect snack food”, he added: “It's the only snack that is 100 per cent unprocessed whole grain.

“All other grains are processed and diluted with other ingredients, and although cereals are called 'whole grain', this simply means that over 51% of the weight of the product is whole grain.

“One serving of popcorn will provide more than 70% of the daily intake of whole grain.

“The average person only gets about half a serving of whole grains a day, and popcorn could fill that gap in a very pleasant way.”

He added: “Air-popped popcorn has the lowest number of calories while microwave popcorn has twice as many calories as air-popped."

The findings were revealed by scientists from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego.

But the researchers warned that popcorn should be seen as a supplement to your five-a-day, not an alternative, as it doesn’t contain the vital vitamins and nutrients found in fruit and vegetables.

h--ttp://w--ww.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/03/26/popcorn-more-antioxidants-than-fruit-vegetables_n_1379460.html?ref=uk-lifestyle&icid=maing-grid7%7Cuk-ws-bb%7Cdl5%7Csec1_lnk1%26pLid%3D102411