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BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 24 Jan 08 - 07:16 AM Rogue trader to cost bank $7 billion Country's second-largest bank says it plans to seek $8 billion in new capital The Associated Press updated 5:03 a.m. CT, Thurs., Jan. 24, 2008 PARIS - French bank Societe Generale said Thursday it has uncovered a $7.14 billion fraud — one of history's biggest — by a single futures trader who fooled investors and overstepped his authority. The fraud destabilized a major bank already exposed to the subprime crisis. France's second- largest bank by market value said it would be forced to seek $8.02 billion in new capital. Trading in Societe Generale's shares, which have lost nearly half their value over the past six months, was suspended on the Paris bourse. It was unclear when trading would resume. Single weekend of fraud The bank said it detected the fraud at its French markets division the weekend of Jan. 19-20. In a statement announcing the discovery, it called the fraud "exceptional in its size and nature." It said a trader at the futures desk had misled investors in 2007 and 2008 through a "scheme of elaborate fictitious transactions." The trader, who was not named, used his knowledge of the group's security systems to conceal his fraudulent positions, a statement from the bank said. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 23 Jan 08 - 01:00 PM Great!! LOL!!! Suitcase!!! This guy has a sense of humor. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 23 Jan 08 - 11:51 AM Airport security being what it is, you'd think someone was comparing the checked tag with the luggage tag. And this guy thought they might keep the cat--because it didn't have a home? Sheesh. Fort Worth schools have turned out at least one guy who isn't a deep thinker (even if he did finally do the right thing and call the owner). Cat Stowaway Makes It Home Again (AP) January 23, 2008 PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Some kitty math: How many lives did little tabby Gracie Mae use up when she crawled into her owner's suitcase, went through an airport X-ray machine, got loaded onto a plane, thrown onto a baggage belt and mistakenly picked up by a stranger far from home? "She's got to be at four or five now," Seth Levy said after his 10-month-old pet was returned Sunday night by a kind stranger who went home to Fort Worth, Texas, with the wrong bag and Gracie inside to boot. The last time Levy's wife, Kelly, saw Gracie was before she took her husband to the airport. The 24-year-old went back to her house in Palm Beach Gardens late Friday to find the bottom step, where Gracie would usually be waiting, empty. She tore the house apart looking for the cat, who had been spayed just days before. She and her dad took out bathroom tiles and part of a cabinet to check a crawl space and papered the neighborhood with "lost cat" signs. Then she got a phone call. "Hi, you're not going to believe this, but I am calling from Fort Worth, Texas, and I accidentally picked up your husband's luggage. And when I opened the luggage, a cat jumped out," Kelly Levy quoted the caller saying. Rob Carter said he made it home with the suitcase before realizing it wasn't his - and there was a big surprise inside. "I went to unpack and saw some of the clothes and saw it wasn't my suitcase," he said. "I was going to close it, and a kitten jumped out and ran under the bed. I screamed like a little girl." Carter said that he eventually was able to get the cat to come out from under the bed. "In the morning, I got close enough to see its collar and the phone number on it," he said. "So I called the number and got a hold of the crying wife of the traveler." The tabby made the 1,300-mile trip home on an $80 plane ticket. Carter said he considered keeping the cat before he knew she had a home. "We were going to name it Suitcase," he said. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Bert Date: 23 Jan 08 - 09:57 AM Today's headline... "Study: Bush issued false statements" Or maybe this should be in the "jokes" thread. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 22 Jan 08 - 07:37 PM Twins Unwittingly Got Married in Britain |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: GUEST Date: 22 Jan 08 - 06:13 PM Trust me, that lady lives two doors down from me. Alcohol may have been involved, but she's like that on a regular basis. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 20 Jan 08 - 07:31 PM Stilly - A crime is committed if the accused derives undeserved "benefit" from something in which there's "participation." Withdrawing the interest would be a "participation" and any interest would be a "benefit." IF HE HAD all the money and the interest he might have significant "negotiating power" for a plea bargain or for a waiver of prosecution. He might even be able to say "I didn't know what to do with it. How much is the reward?" John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 20 Jan 08 - 07:13 PM She should be glad they didn't charge her extra for the specialty treat! :D A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 20 Jan 08 - 05:45 PM I heard that one about the man being paid all of that money. I wonder, if he had simply saved it in an otherwise unused account, could he have legally kept the interest? |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 20 Jan 08 - 04:48 PM Three short articles from the same news blog: COMMENTARY By Brian Tracey Associate editor MSNBC updated 5:29 p.m. CT, Thurs., Jan. 17, 2008 NUMBER 1: We've encountered the occasional mistake on our paychecks, but this really boggles the mind: A man was arrested this week after he allegedly received $469,000 in electronic payroll deposits from a company he never worked for. Anthony Armatys of Palatine, Ill., was arrested Wednesday on theft charges after officials at Avaya Inc., a telecommunications provider located in Basking Ridge, N.J., discovered checks had been mistakenly direct deposited into his account for nearly five years, according to the Somerset County prosecutor's office. Armatys, 34, had accepted a position with Avaya years ago, authorities said, but he rescinded the acceptance before he ever started working. However, a system error resulted in checks being deposited into Armatys' bank account from the fall of 2002 to March of 2007, when the company discovered the error, officials said. During that time, Armatys collected the more than nearly half million dollars in "pay" and even withdrew approximately $1,900 from an Avaya-sponsored retirement account administered by Fidelity Investments, authorities said. Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest said it took investigators 11 months to do a thorough investigation, which resulted in the time gap between the discovery of the error and Armatys' arrest. NUMBER 2: Here's some more banking buffoonery: Britain's Barclays sheepishly admitted last week it had inadvertently issued a credit card to a con man posing as the lender's chairman of the board. Several British newspapers reported that an account held by the top executive, Marcus Agius, was pilfered of nearly $20,000 after a man called Barclays' customer service center claiming to be the banker after apparently finding some of his personal information online. Agius played down the theft and sought to reassure customers who may have been alarmed at the notion that a chairman of a bank could become prey to identity theft. "Credit card fraud is an issue which our industry continues to confront," he was quoted as saying. "Barclays is resolved to do everything possible on behalf of our customers, to minimize its impact." The bank added that every client, not just the chairman, are fully reimbursed if these types of thefts occur. NUMBER 3: Mmm, mouse foot A woman living in Slovenia who found a mouse foot in a jar of pickles was shocked to be told, in effect, that it was perfectly good to eat. Lenka Komparova contacted the Health Ministry as she prepared to sue the company producing the food, according to the Ananova Web portal. But instead of backing her claim, officials said she should consider the rodent appendage as a "special additive." Ministry spokeswoman Vivijan Potocnik said: "It is completely normal in big factories to have mice wandering around, and yes, every now and then they get caught amongst the machines and do get bottled, seasoned, preserved and even make it in one piece to consumers. "Although not very pleasant to see, however, they pose no health threat at all," Potocnik was quoted as saying. "During the preservation process, even traces of any salmonella bacteria are eliminated in food. A [mouse foot] therefore could be classified as a special additive to the pickles." Komparova said: "I couldn't believe it. I don't know what they eat at the ministry — but finding dead animals in jars of food isn't normal." Yes, it's a delicacy! Do we need a vote on which is the most ridiculous? John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 20 Jan 08 - 12:26 PM A Silicon Valley firm has developed a new nanotechnology process that permanently inscribes high-resolution photos on any diamond or other gemstone. The unique process used by Gemory LLC, does not harm the diamond in any way, preserving its original quality and customers' memories forever. Immortalize the treasured moments of your life - any event or occasion can be preserved forever with high-resolution photo inscription from Gemoryª. Events and the emotions tied to them are only temporary, but now you can maintain memories of them forever by inscribing photos on your diamond. Even inscribe family photos side by side in a perpetual family album. Future generations can add their own photos and create a lasting record of family lineage. Diamonds are forever, and now, with Gemoryª, so are memories. The patent-pending PureDiamondª process from Gemory uses nanotechnology to inscribe photos in high resolution on the surface of any diamond, pearl or other gem. Although microscopic and invisible to the naked eye, the photos can be viewed at any time using GemmaViewª, Gemory's proprietary portable viewing device. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 20 Jan 08 - 12:55 AM 6:51 18 January 2008 NewScientist.com news service Michael Day A "smart" dashboard that reduces the amount of information displayed to drivers during stressful periods on the road could be available in just five years, say German engineers. A team from the Technical University of Berlin found they could improve reaction times in real driving conditions by monitoring drivers' brains and reducing distractions during periods of high brain activity. They were able to speed up driver's reactions by as much as 100 milliseconds. It might not sound much, but this is enough to reduce breaking distance by nearly 3 metres when travelling at 100 kilometres per hour, says team leader Klaus-Robert MŸller. "In a real life situation this could be enough to prevent an accident or stop someone being injured, or worse," he says. "We now have the brain-interface technology to make this a reality." Squirrels 'fake it' to fool would-be thieves 19 January 2008 Magazine issue 2639 Squirrels seem to realise that the trees have eyes. To protect their food from would-be thieves, the rodents put on a great show of "hiding" non-existent nuts. When squirrels have spare morsels they bury them, digging a separate hole for each tasty titbit. But up to 20 per cent of the time they are merely faking it, says Michael Steele of Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The squirrels act as if they are thrusting something into the pit, and the deception even extends to covering the fake cache with soil and leaves (Animal Behaviour, DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.07.026). Squirrels show fake-cacheing behaviour when they are being watched, even by humans, so Steele recruited a group of undergraduates who did their best to see where the squirrels actually deposited their food. Fake burials increased after the squirrels saw team members raiding their caches, suggesting, Steele says, an understanding of the intention . |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: wysiwyg Date: 19 Jan 08 - 04:12 PM And she was complaining that her sister wouldn't LEAVE? Called cops for help, knowing she had outstanding warrants of her own, pending?[shaking head] :~) Alcohol MUST have been involved: Sister beaten with prosthetic leg, police say By Patti Dobranski (Pittsburgh) TRIBUNE-REVIEW Saturday, January 19, 2008 A North Huntingdon woman is accused of taking the prosthetic leg of her older sister and beating her on the head with it at their township home. Donna Sturkie-Anthony, 41, of 13489 Route 30, Lincoln Mobile Home Trailer Park, is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and harassment for allegedly striking her 43-year-old sister, Sherrie Lynn Gibson, in the head and face several times early Wednesday morning. A township police dispatcher received a request for an ambulance at the suspect's mobile home at 12:36 a.m. Wednesday, but the caller refused to describe the emergency, according to the criminal complaint. Police said they found Sturkie-Anthony standing outside the home complaining about her sister and asking police to remove her. Sturkie-Anthony gave police permission to enter the mobile home. Police said they found blood on the floor and around a couch where Gibson was lying, still conscious and bleeding from wounds on her head and face. Gibson told police her sister had beaten her with her prosthetic leg, and police said Sturkie-Anthony then repeatedly admitted doing so. Police said Gibson was taken to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh for treatment. A hospital spokesman said Friday there was no information about Gibson's condition because she may already have been released. Sturkie-Anthony was taken to the township police station and then transported by sheriff's deputies to Westmoreland County Prison on previous warrants. She was jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail and faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Douglas Weimer on Jan. 25. ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 19 Jan 08 - 03:22 PM The Congress of the United States could do us all a big favor and make it illegal for any media outlet to broadcast winner projections in any political contest or issue until all relevant voting has ended. Say with fines of $1,000,000 for each minute before the polls close for a first offense and loss of FCC license for the second one. Yeah, it would mean no presidential projections until Hawaiians had finished voting, So what? We're gonna have to put up with whomever wins for at least four years. We can't wait a few hours? Of course, there's no telling how many of the current congressional crop skated in to office by virtue of voters jumping on the bandwagon after having been projected winners. They aren't going to bite the hand that feeds 'em. (Damn, I'm feeling cynical today! Must be the rain.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 19 Jan 08 - 01:42 PM It looks like FOX is up to its old tricks. Since about 1030 this morning, PST, they have had a story posted asserting that Romney won the Nevada primaries on the Republican side. This while no other news source has predicted any win because the caucusing is still going on. This is rampantly unethical. Unless my facts are wrong it constitutes messing with the democratic process, blatantly and manipulatively by disseminating false information. Are my facts off here? WTF? Over. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 19 Jan 08 - 01:17 PM Now that's a close call! (pardon the pun. . .) |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 19 Jan 08 - 01:09 PM A young woman heard burglars breaking in, ran and hid in the upstairs closet, and called 911 from her cellphone. When the cops started to close in, one of the burglars hid in the same closet within kissing distance of the frightened woman and never even saw her. When the cops entered the room she called out and told them he was in the closet, and the young thug was dumfounded to discover there had been someone in the closet with im!! The 911 operator who talked her through her ordeal was a champ. Details here. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 18 Jan 08 - 02:50 PM Here's another story about Fred Weisz. Looks like he ought to have a thread of his own. I published a long story about him (also from the Herald) some months ago. To friends, he's still the famous fiddler Street musician Fred Weisz relives his time in the spotlight Friday, January 18, 2008 link to the Herald (Everett) EVERETT -- Bluegrass fiddler and folk legend Fred Weisz bowed deeply to the standing ovation and roar of applause. "Welcome to a night to honor Fred Weisz! Let's hear it for Fred!" With that, longtime musician Flyin' Fred was airborne again. About 85 of his friends and fellow musicians from around the region packed Temple Beth Or. They all came to cheer Weisz and see him in two rare television clips from "Hootenanny" in 1964 and "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1970. People at Saturday's gathering were excited to see how famous Weisz had been long before he started playing for spare change outside the Snohomish County Courthouse. "Wow! That's our Fred," said Ron Green, head of membership at Temple Beth Or. Weisz was about 20 years old when he appeared with the Even Dozen Jug Band on "Hootenanny." A camera zoomed in for a black and white close-up of a fiddle solo played by Weisz. "He was so handsome!" a woman yelled. By 1970, Weisz was playing with Goose Creek Symphony, and they backed up country star Bobbie Gentry on Sullivan's show. In bib overalls, plaid shirt and black-rimmed glasses, Weisz played during a medley of songs with the long-legged, bare-midriffed Gentry. The Everett audience leapt to their feet after Weisz finished his fiddle solo, a challenging classic called "Fire on the Mountain." For years, Weisz, 63, yearned to see the old clip. He got his wish when amateur filmmaker Adam Martin of Athens, Tenn., last August read a story on Weisz on Heraldnet.com. Martin, a lifelong fan of Goose Creek Symphony, knew he could help. In October, Martin mailed a copy of "The Ed Sullivan Show" he had purchased for a documentary he's making about the band. Supporters at the Everett synagogue started work on a celebration and agreed to film Weisz's reaction for Martin's documentary. Weisz waited patiently for those months, promising not to peek at the 10 minutes of footage he'd long wanted to see. On Saturday, his satisfaction was clear. "It was great!" Weisz said after seeing the clip. "To me, it was the biggest accomplishment of my career as a musician, playing on the same stage as The Beatles." His memory of the event had clouded with the passage of time, he said. "I was so surprised when I saw that clip," Weisz said. After the show was recorded, Weisz and bandmate Charlie Gearhart ran into Ed Sullivan in a stairway. He told them "You boys are mighty fine," Weisz said. Martin has already received a call and thanks from Weisz. "He called me Sunday morning and he was on cloud nine," said Martin, who hopes to finish his documentary this summer. "I'm tickled to death to provide something that brings some happiness to his life." Weisz played fiddle, bass, banjo and guitar professionally starting in the 1960s. He's slowed down in recent years but still plays outside the courthouse when the weather is nice and travels to Burlington on Tuesdays for a regular bluegrass jam. Weisz takes medication for bipolar manic depression. A recent change in his dosage helped reduce the tremors that had slowed his playing. He says he's playing faster than he has in years. He also plays regular lunchtime gigs at Compass Health on Broadway. Weisz comes across as a regular guy who doesn't brag about his past, Green said. Everyone agreed Weisz deserves the praise. Old friends came into town to surprise him for the showing. "He's got such a great crowd of friends," said Les Peterson of Lake Stevens. "He taught me a lot about musicianship." Paul Vexler of Machias brought to the celebration a copy of the Even Dozen Jug Band album he bought in Freehold, NJ, in the 1960s. He was a fan of Fred decades before the two met at temple. "It's amazing how paths cross," he said. The event celebrated Weisz's contribution to the world of music and the local community, he said. For the celebration, Weisz traded his trademark jeans, suspenders and sneakers for a white dress shirt, sport coat and slacks. At Weisz's request, the crowd dined on cheesecake, pineapple and chocolate milk as part of a friendly potluck organized by Carolyn Wexler. "He's just a wonderful guy who has a wonderful talent," said Barb Ingrain of Edmonds. "It's nice to see him honored." After the accolades, more than a dozen bluegrass musicians from the Tuesday night jams pulled out their guitars, mandolins and a banjo and played in the temple for more than an hour. Fred's fiddle rang through on foot-stomping reels. Marc Daniel of Mount Vernon has known Weisz since about 1980, when he used to book concerts. "It's good to see him still playing," he said Saturday. "Everybody adores Fred," said Steve Stolpe of Mount Vernon, a friend of Weisz for 30 years. "They like Fred's authenticity. He's real down-home." Weisz basked in the adulation and said he was grateful. "I'm just delighted to see everyone," Weisz said. "All my friends are above average in a lot of ways. I value every friend I have." |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 18 Jan 08 - 10:36 AM Puget Sound a rising threat, UW study says Water levels may rise as much as 4 feet this century, according to a climate change study. Friday, January 18, 2008 Much of the Snohomish and Stillaguamish river deltas could be awash in water and the coastline along western Snohomish County could shift inland slightly by the end of this century, according to a new University of Washington study. Climate change modeling by scientists at the university suggests the sea level in Puget Sound could rise by 4 feet by the year 2100, according to the study released on Thursday. The scientists put together a "worst case" model to help emergency responders and planners prepare for the potential impacts of climate change. A more moderate -- and likely -- scenario suggests sea levels will rise by about 2 feet by 2100. "Some people may want a worse case scenario for planning," said Philip Mote, a UW research scientist. "This is the worst-case scenario. We can't rule out higher rates of sea-level rise, but given what we know now, they seem improbable." Local emergency planners intend to review the new projections, especially along the Snohomish River, which is affected by the regular ebb and flow of tides all the way up to Snohomish. "We'll take a look at it and see if we can incorporate it into our own decision making process," said Steve Thomsen, the county's public works director. County officials will pass their findings along to the diking districts that manage levees along the Snohomish River. There's a possibility those levees would have to be raised, Thomsen said. Local emergency responders say they worry that higher sea levels could be a problem when flooding occurs at high tide. Snohomish County officials this year plan to figure out what they need to do to prepare for the effects of climate change. "The executive and the County Council set aside some money for a climate change vulnerability assessment," said Christopher Schwarzen, spokesman for County Executive Aaron Reardon. "We would use the UW report as one of our baselines of information to then go out and do this assessment." The report was put together by the UW's climate impact group and the state Department of Ecology. Looking at the near future -- 2050 -- the report suggests that sea levels could climb between 6 and 22 inches by 2050, and between 14 and 50 inches by 2100. Local leaders will have to sort out finer details of the effects of a rising sea, said Sascha Petersen, a costal research scientist at the UW Pacific Northwest Climate Impacts Group. In Snohomish County, they might want to estimate how the shoreline would recede, whose property would be inundated and how much damage would be caused -- and what it would cost. The study found that "the middle of the road" climate change model, which is used by most around the world, suggests that sea levels will rise 23 inches by 2100, Mote said. The "most likely scenario" doesn't account for the possibility of things going as badly as possible, he said. The UW scientists got to their "50 inch" number by assuming that nothing is done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are blamed for trapping heat in the atmosphere. That, climate experts project, is contributing to a fast rise in global temperatures. The researchers also added in other factors that a commonly used international climate model left out, such as the continued melting of glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica and the geologic uplift of plate tectonics displacing ocean water, Mote said. And it's the worst-case scenario that emergency planners worry about. "If you have a high-value project and a low risk tolerance, then you want to plan for the worst-case scenario," he said. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 12 Jan 08 - 04:52 AM FBI wiretaps cut off due to unpaid bills Half of 990 FBI bills were not paid on time; one bill totaled $66,000 The Associated Press updated 12:16 p.m. CT, Thurs., Jan. 10, 2008 WASHINGTON - Telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau's repeated failures to pay phone bills on time. A Justice Department audit released Thursday blamed the lost connections on the FBI's lax oversight of money used in undercover investigations. Poor supervision of the program also allowed one agent to steal $25,000, the audit said. In at least one case, a wiretap used in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act investigation "was halted due to untimely payment," the audit found. FISA wiretaps are used in the government's most sensitive and secretive criminal investigations, and allow eavesdropping on suspected terrorists or spies. "We also found that late payments have resulted in telecommunications carriers actually disconnecting phone lines established to deliver surveillance results to the FBI, resulting in lost evidence," according to the audit by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine. More than half of 990 bills to pay for telecommunication surveillance in five unidentified FBI field offices were not paid on time, the report shows. In one office alone, unpaid costs for wiretaps from one phone company totaled $66,000. The FBI did not have an immediate comment. [End quote] There is a bit more at the link. My local rag added a comment not at the link, to the effect that the action by the phone companies raises questions about their conduct in releasing records to the FBI - to the effect of: "They're willing to believe the FBI that "The warrant's in the mail" but don't believe "The check's in the mail." John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 11 Jan 08 - 01:18 PM A farmer in Kenya writes in the NY TImes: "The world knows of Kenya's vote-rigging scandal — of the rioting in Nairobi; the police assaults on the supporters of the opposition leader, Raila Odinga; the pogroms against traders and farmers of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe. But we've watched it unfold in real time in our corner of central Kenya. When the Kikuyus fled the village up the road from us, local food supplies quickly dried up, hunger set in among the mob and rioting flared again. Then a Samburu witch doctor announced that it was time for his warriors, supporters of Mr. Odinga, to advance on the Pokot tribesmen, who had backed Mr. Kibaki. He said he had found a way to turn Pokot bullets into rain — a promise that evidently precipitated the clashes erupting around me. (EMphasis added.) Over the last two weeks, we've stuck to our daily routines, as if it somehow might make the nightmare of what was unfolding over the horizon recede. Still, I devised an evacuation plan for our workers who were from the "wrong" tribes. We dug up the lawn to plant extra vegetables, not knowing how much livestock we'll have down the road ..." I find it mind boggling that such a medieval stunt is still succeeding today. Oh, ye of little faith! A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 10 Jan 08 - 02:45 PM As a patron of a place of that kind, he's quite probably one who considers it "honest work." He was probably just put off by the obvious(?) conclusion that she was making more money than she was telling him about(?). [please note: extreme level of sarcastic content.] (and chalk one up in the "disappearing posts" column, as my first "Submit" for this comment vaporised completely. Trying again.) John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 10 Jan 08 - 02:22 PM No, ma'am, neither I nor my wife have ever entered such a place, upon my honor. But I know the costs and benefits of married life! :D A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 Jan 08 - 01:01 PM I guess you'd know about that. . . |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 10 Jan 08 - 11:04 AM Glad to help. That poor Polish guy -- here he thought he was cheating on his wife, and blam!!. He's lucky it wasn't Random Draw night at the house or he might have ended up paying her double! :D A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Jan 08 - 07:05 PM Amos, your story about the check cashers fills in some gaps--thanks. I read a short version of that this morning. And the guy in the brothel--oy! |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 09 Jan 08 - 06:57 PM 'I was dumbfounded. I thought I was dreaming,' updated 9:01 a.m. CT, Wed., Jan. 9, 2008 WARSAW, Poland - A Polish man got the shock of his life when he visited a brothel and spotted his wife among the establishment's employees. Polish tabloid Super Express said the woman had been making some extra money on the side while telling her husband she worked at a store in a nearby town. "I was dumbfounded. I thought I was dreaming," the husband told the newspaper on Wednesday. The couple, married for 14 years, are now divorcing, the newspaper reported. Copyright 2008 Reuters [A number of comments come to mind, but I guess I'll refrain.] John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 09 Jan 08 - 10:44 AM Corpse Wheeled to Check-Cashing Store Leads to 2 ArrestsPrint By BRUCE LAMBERT and CHRISTINE HAUSER Published: January 9, 2008 Even for the once-notorious Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, it may have been a first: Two men were arrested on Tuesday after pushing a corpse, seated in an office chair, along the sidewalk to a check-cashing store to cash the dead man's Social Security check, the police said. When Virgilio Cintron, 66, died at his apartment at 436 West 52nd Street recently, his roommate and a friend saw an opportunity to cash his $355 check, the police said. They did not go about it the easy way, the police said, choosing a ruse that resembled the plot of "Weekend at Bernie's," a film about two young men who prop up their dead employer to pretend that he is alive. "Hell's Kitchen has a rich history," said Paul J. Browne, a police spokesman, "but this is one for the books." There was no sign of foul play in Mr. Cintron's death, he added. The roommate, James P. O'Hare, and his friend, David J. Dalaia, both 65 and unemployed, placed Mr. Cintron's body in the chair and wheeled it around the corner, south along Ninth Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, the police said. The men parked the chair with the corpse in front of Pay-O-Matic at 763 Ninth Avenue, a check-cashing business that Mr. Cintron had patronized. They went inside to present the check, but a clerk said Mr. Cintron would have to cash it himself, and asked where he was, the police said. "He is outside," Mr. O'Hare said, indicating the body in the chair, according to Mr. Browne. The two men started to bring the chair inside, but it was too late. Their sidewalk procession had already attracted the stares of passers-by who were startled by the sight of the body flopping from side to side as the two men tried to prop it up, the police said. The late Mr. Cintron was dressed in a faded black T-shirt and blue-and-white sneakers. His pants were pulled up part of the way, and his midsection was covered by a jacket, the police said. While the two men were inside the check-cashing office, a small crowd had gathered around the chair. A detective, Travis Rapp, eating a late lunch at a nearby Empanada Mama saw the crowd and notified the Midtown North station house. Police officers and an ambulance arrived as the two men were trying to maneuver the corpse and chair into the check-cashing office. The two men were taken into custody and questioned. The police said they were considering charging them with check-cashing fraud. Mr. Cintron's body was taken to a hospital morgue. The medical examiner's office said its preliminary assessment was that he had died of natural causes within the past 24 hours. Al Baker contributed reporting. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Jan 08 - 04:47 PM Man With Knives in Pants Stabs Himself From Associated Press January 08, 2008 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A man who hid hunting knives in his pants to try to steal them from a western Michigan store tripped while fleeing and stabbed himself in the abdomen, police say. The suspect was hospitalized after Monday night's attempted theft from a Meijer Inc. superstore in Grand Rapids and is expected to face a misdemeanor shoplifting charge, police say. The wounds did not appear to be life-threatening, The Grand Rapids Press reported. The man had put about $300 worth of hunting knives in his waistband, police told WZZM-TV. Police say he tried to leave the store, but Meijer employees confronted him and a scuffle followed. The man then fell and was stabbed by the knives he had hidden in his clothing, police said. They said it happened about 5:40 p.m. "The man was taken to the hospital," said Meijer spokesman Frank Giuliano. "We are cooperating with the investigation by police." Police said the suspect has a record of retail fraud. "I saw a man laying down on the mat by the carts, a knife by him with blood on the full blade of the knife," shopper Heather Dodd told WOOD-TV. "It was not a dull kitchen knife or a sharp butcher's knife, it was somewhere in between. "Someone was holding him down so I just walked around him, grabbed my cart, made sure everything was OK and got out of the way." |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Jan 08 - 11:10 AM Boy Scout Saves Maldives Leader AP story COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The president of Maldives was saved from assassination Tuesday when a boy scout grabbed the knife of an attacker who had jumped out of a crowd greeting the leader, an official said. President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was not hurt, but his shirt was ripped when the attacker tried to stab him before the boy and security guards intervened during the event on the small island of Horafushi, said government spokesman Mohammad Shareef. "This fellow in the crowd with a knife in his hand attempted to stab the president in his stomach," Shareef said by telephone from Male, the capital of Maldives. "But a 15-year-old boy came in the way, and grabbed the knife. One brave boy saved the president's life." The scout was identified as Mohamed Jaisham Ibrahim, who had lined up to welcome Gayoom, according to the Web site of the Maldives president. The boy was injured in the hand by the knife. "His wound was stitched but later he complained that he could not move some of his fingers, so he was flown by a sea plane to Male," Shareef said. "There was blood on the president's shirt, but it was not his but the boy's. Still we got a physician to examine him," Shareef said. A photograph of the boy on the Web site of the Haveeru daily showed him wearing a blue scouting uniform with a blue kerchief around his neck waiting in line to greet the president. Boy scouts in Maldives are similar to their U.S. counterparts, receiving training in first aid and participating in activities such as camping. Like in the U.S., their motto is "Be prepared." The attacker had wrapped the knife in a Maldives national flag as he stood among a crowd waiting for Gayoom, 70. Shareef did not identify a suspect. After the attack, Gayoom addressed the nation by radio, thanking the teenager and calling for calm, according to the Web site of the Minivan newspaper. "We should not resort to violence even if we have differences between the parties," Gayoom was quoted as saying. Gayoom has ruled this Indian Ocean atoll of 1,190 coral islands since 1978 and helped turn it into a major destination for tourists seeking a quiet vacation on virgin beaches surrounded by crystal blue waters. However, the country of 350,000 people has also had its share of turmoil in recent months. On Sept. 29, a homemade bomb blamed on Islamic militants exploded in a Male park, wounding 12 tourists. A week later, police and soldiers raided an island that was a reputed insurgent stronghold, sparking a battle with masked men armed with clubs and fishing spears that wounded more than 30 security officers. Gayoom has also faced opposition protests to his previously unchallenged rule in recent years. Under the pressure, he legalized opposition parties and agreed to hold the nation's first truly democratic election later this year. Meanwhile, New Maldives Movement, a new opposition coalition formed to challenge Gayoom's three decades of rule in upcoming elections, condemned the attempted assassination. "The NMM calls for an independent and speedy investigation into the attack and stresses the importance of making the results of the investigation public," the group said. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Donuel Date: 31 Dec 07 - 12:00 AM Amos what a great way for terrorists to blow up airport check points... by setting off the dreaded dangerous dastardly confiscation barrels ;-} of course we all know the shampoo and toothpaste are phoney balogna confiscations in the first place. So was my beloved yet confiscated 1 inch nail file that my mother gave me 2 years before she passed. But the stupid confiscations do help train us to obey idiocy in the name of authority and security. I recall... They refused to allow a medal of honor winner to board a United flight unless he surrender the medal of honor that he unfortunatly chose to wear that day. When things of value are checked they are more easily stolen. Lost luggage is up 22% over the last 2 years. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Donuel Date: 30 Dec 07 - 11:33 PM Pat Robertson supports forced Abortions http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=507 ----------------- not that I would want to encourage the fundamentalist evangelicals in the US to become more frenzied over the choice issue, but I wonder how they reconcile their Walmart China purchases. Perhaps they just don't know, and if they do know then they must value a 15% discount on socks and toys more than the abortion issue. npr has some good articles on this issue as well. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 30 Dec 07 - 10:16 PM The Times carries an interesting rundown on the folly of airport security practices. for your reading enjoyment. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 30 Dec 07 - 09:52 PM We just stopped at a nice restaurant in San Luis Obispo, which is attached to an inn. The management posted an announcement in the restrooms that they were operating an experimental wastewater system by means of which their graywater from dishwashers and sinks was routed through a filtration and purifying system and then used to flush the toilets throughout the restaurant and hotel. It saved them millions of gallons a year. One small local innovation. Made me proud! A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Doug Chadwick Date: 30 Dec 07 - 09:25 PM Members of rival Christian orders have traded blows at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, with four people reported wounded in the fray. Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic priests were sweeping up at the church following the Christmas rites of the Western churches earlier in the week. Reports say some Orthodox faithful encroached on the Armenian section, prompting pitched battles with brooms. Peace and goodwill to all men DC |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 29 Dec 07 - 11:53 AM Here's one that makes me ecstatic: I can finally go eat out on Fort Worth without developing a headache and smelling the stink of cigarettes. Even places that had "non-smoking" sections really didn't seem like non-smoking sections, you could smell the smoke. Smokers put out by new city law Star-Telegram FORT WORTH -- Puffing away on a cigarette between bites of hash browns, Ed Hillers gripes about a new city ordinance that will ban smoking in most public places, including his beloved Ol' South Pancake House on South University Drive near Interstate 30. "I've been coming here since 1984," said Hillers, 39, a musician from Fort Worth. "If they want to take away our freedom of choice, I'll have to find some diner in another city where I can eat and smoke." On the other hand, Maria Perez, who asked for a seat as far from the smoking section as possible, is eager for the rules to take effect. "I just want to eat pancakes, not pancakes that taste like cigarettes," said Perez, 28, of Fort Worth. "I guess the smokers will just have to wait until they leave to light up." Paulet Lowery, who has worked at Ol' South for 18 years, said many of the iconic breakfast joint's older customers are upset about the ordinance, which was passed by the Fort Worth City Council in August after a series of public meetings and extensive debate. "The younger generation seems pretty happy about it, but our longtime customers come here to eat and then smoke and drink coffee," said Lowery, a smoker herself. "The sad thing is that many of our regular customers say they won't be coming back. They said they'll find some place in Burleson or White Settlement." Other changes in Fort Worth for 2008 The new year will also bring water rates designed to promote conservation and a requirement for rental properties with three or more units to register with the city. Water rates: The new rates are expected to raise the average residential bill by $1.78 a month -- 96 cents for water and 82 cents for wastewater, according to the Fort Worth Water Department. But because the rates include a new tier for large-volume users, the increase will probably be much bigger for customers who use lots of water. Rental registration: Owners of rental properties with three or more units will be required to fill out a registration form and pay an annual fee of $24 for the first unit and $8 for each additional unit. The ordinance spares owners of single-family homes and duplexes, unless they have two or more obvious code violations. New smoking ordinance The smoking ban in Fort Worth will take effect Tuesday for most public places including restaurants, and within 20 feet of the doors of businesses. There are exceptions for bars, restaurants with outdoor patios, private clubs, private meeting rooms, designated smoking rooms in hotels and motels, and bingo halls that bar people under 18. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 29 Dec 07 - 12:44 AM I haven't seen "news article" on it, but an MSNBC video newsbroadcast(?) describes a change in UK laws. (A link was copied, but they apparently change the news at that link at least hourly, and I can't find the original at the site.) The undated video says that "being distracted by GPS, texting, or cell phone use would be an aggravating offense under a charge of "distracted driving" in the UK. Addition of the aggravating offense would permit ugrading a "distracted driving offense" (a $100? - $200? fine?) to "dangerous driving" with up to a 2-year prison sentence. "Causing a death while distracted" could result in a life sentence, apparently without ruling whether the distraction was a contributing factor in the accident. Note: It appeared that nearly all the "distracted drivers" flashed on-screen during the report were driving "US Branded" SUVs. I thought everybody in the UK drove Morris Minors or smaller, from opinions expressed at the 'cat. I would assume(?) that there have been more complete reports in UK news(?). John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 26 Dec 07 - 11:44 AM Christmas came a day late for astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) with the successful Wednesday arrival of a Russian cargo ship bearing gifts and fresh supplies. The unmanned Progress 27 space freighter arrived at the station's Russian-built Pirs docking compartment after a three-day chase to catch up to the high-flying orbital laboratory. "Everything is nominal," said veteran cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, an Expedition 16 flight engineer aboard the ISS, as the cargo ship neared the outpost. "Okay, we feel the contact." Malenchenko stood ready to take remote control of Progress 27 should its automated systems fail during today's docking. But the cargo ship smoothly moored itself to its Pirs port at 3:14 a.m. EST (0814 GMT) as both spacecraft flew about 200 miles (321 kilometers) above southern Europe. Tucked aboard the Progress 27 are about 2.5 tons of propellant, oxygen, fresh fruit, equipment and other vital supplies for the station's three-astronaut crew. Included in that cargo are Christmas presents for Expedition 16 commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Dan Tani, as well as birthday gifts for Malenchenko, who turned 46 on Saturday. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 25 Dec 07 - 08:33 PM The more detailed reports of the "Japanese incident" relate that "a politician" has demanded an investigation of the "thousands of reports from Japanese military and airline pilots" of UFOs. The government spokesman replied that there have been NO OFFICIAL REPORTS BY ANY JAPANESE MILITARY OR CIVILIAN PILOTS OF ANY UFOs IN JAPANESE AIRSPACE for several years, by way of implying that there really was nothing to investigate. A "tag" to the comment was in the sense of, as I read it: "But yessiree, by golly you betcha I for shore do really by gosh believe that them things are really by gosh out there fer sure." In other words, sarcasm - as clearly and plainly as it is permissible for an "official spokesman" to convey "BULLSHIT" in "politically correct" diplomatese referring to another politician. Translations of what actually was said do vary slightly depending on the source; but from all sources in which an apparently "literal" description of the event are given, the clear appearance - to me at least - was the intention to clearly imply an "absence of actual belief" on the part of the official who has been widely MISQUOTED. Of course I could be misinterpreting the translations I've seen; but despite strong evidence to the contrary for the general population, I have met one or two Japanese who do seem to have at least a rudimentary, if a bit puerile, sense of humor. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 25 Dec 07 - 07:35 PM TOKYO (Reuters) - A debate over flying saucers has kept Japanese politicians occupied for much of this week, ensnaring top officials and drawing a promise from the defense minister to send out the army if Godzilla goes on a rampage. "There are debates over what makes UFOs fly, but it would be difficult to say it's an encroachment of air space," Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a news conference Thursday. "If Godzilla were to show up, it would be a dispatch for disaster relief." His remarks came after the top government spokesman was asked Tuesday about an opposition politician's demand that the government confirm the existence of unidentified flying objects. "Personally, I definitely believe they exist," chief cabinet secretary Nobutaka Machimura said, drawing laughter from reporters. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda took a more guarded stance later in the day, saying he has yet to confirm their existence. The debate started Tuesday when the cabinet issued a statement in response to the opposition lawmaker's question, saying it could not confirm any cases of UFO sightings. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 25 Dec 07 - 04:30 PM Jet Crash Survivors Honor Airboat Hero December 25, 2007 HOMESTEAD, Fla. - An airboat speeding across the sawgrass and mud. A ringing in the ears when the engine was cut. Moaning. Screams for help. Desperate gasps at the water's surface. Helicopters in the distance. Christmas carols. These are the sounds Bud Marquis heard in the black swamp that night. Then, for more than three decades, there was mostly silence about the Dec. 29, 1972, crash of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 in the Everglades. Investigators and reporters stopped calling. His airboat rusted in the yard. A rubber boot that had squished through swampwater and jet fuel deteriorated on the back porch, right where he took it off. Marquis sat alone on his front porch in Homestead, on the Florida peninsula's southern tip. Acquaintances described a prickly old man in failing health. Sudden interest in the 35-year-old crash disturbed his quiet. He had saved lives, but he wasn't used to people asking about it. But admirers and some of the 77 people who survived the crash wanted to rebuild his airboat and make sure he finally heard thanks. "I didn't feel it was any great, heroic thing," Marquis said. "I accept the award because they said I deserved it. I figure I didn't do anything that anybody else wouldn't have done." Even today, as metropolitan Miami swallows more of the Everglades, getting to the Flight 401 crash site is a half-hour airboat ride over sharp sawgrass. No road stretches that deep into the alligator-infested swamp. On that moonless night, Marquis was teaching a friend how to gig frogs from his airboat. Miami was just a distant pinpoint of light. All Marquis saw were the stars and the frogs' silver eyes before his headlamp. Above him, Capt. Robert Loft, First Officer Albert Stockstill and Second Officer Donald Repo steered Flight 401 toward Miami International Airport after an uneventful flight from New York. The jumbo jet carried 163 passengers and 13 crew members. As they began their approach just after 11:30 p.m., the pilots informed the tower they would have to circle - the light indicating whether the plane's nose gear was down hadn't illuminated. Controllers gave their OK and told the crew to maintain an altitude of 2,000 feet. The pilots engaged the autopilot, and Repo went below the cockpit to inspect the gear. No one noticed when one of them bumped a steering column, disengaging the autopilot and sending Flight 401 into a slow descent. A half-second chime indicating a change in altitude went unnoticed. About 20 miles west of the airport, the crew received permission to turn back and make another approach. It was then the pilots realized they were just feet above the Everglades. Seven seconds later, the plane's left wing dug into the swamp at 227 mph, sending it pinwheeling. From 10 miles away, Marquis and his friend saw a fiery orange flash and speeded toward it. Marquis had recently turned to commercial frogging after years as a state game officer. He knew how to pick out island silhouettes in the dark, to feel the changing terrain beneath his boat. Fifteen minutes later, he reached a levee where he'd thought he'd seen the flash. Marquis heard a voice: "I can't hold my head up anymore!" Jet fuel seeped into his boots when he jumped into the water to yank the man up. All around, he could see people still strapped in their seats, some turned face down in the water. "I'm one person in the midst of all this," Marquis said. "I'm no doctor. I didn't know what to do." Flight attendant Beverly Raposa was gathering survivors around her when she heard the airboat. She started singing Christmas carols, so rescuers would hear them. "I knew they would find us," said Raposa, now 60 and living in Sunrise. Helicopters swooped just south of the wreckage. The pilots couldn't see the site - the fire extinguished in the swamp. Marquis turned his headlamp skyward, waving them toward a nearby levee. Petty Officer 2nd Class Don Schneck was aboard a Coast Guard helicopter that followed Marquis' light. He dashed to the airboat, carrying only a flashlight, a radio and a hatchet. Marquis ferried him deeper into the wreckage, as far as he could go without running over victims. Schneck waded out alone toward the cockpit; he was the last person to see Loft alive. "I couldn't even see the crash. It was pitch dark," Schneck said from his Arkansas home. Marquis pulled survivors from the water and ferried rescuers. At one point, he stopped near Raposa, who had found fellow flight attendant Mercedes "Mercy" Ruiz still strapped into her seat. "We could see the tail of the airplane, white in the darkness. I said, 'It looks like a ghost,'" said Ruiz, who still bears a faint scar above her right eyebrow. Ruiz had serious back and pelvic injuries, but she refused to be airlifted - she was done with flying. To calm her screams, the rescuers carried her to Marquis' airboat. She begged Marquis not to let the alligators eat her. Marquis chuckled at the memory. Any gator would have been frightened away by the crash and the jet fuel's stench. Ninety-four passengers, the three pilots and two flight attendants were dead. Investigators marveled that anyone, let alone 77, survived. Marquis, now age 78, greets visitors with a firm handshake and twinkling eyes. Hardly anyone has stopped by in 35 years to discuss the crash. One survivor, certain Marquis carried him to safety, once showed up with a $1,000 check. Eastern Airlines, mistakenly believing they'd hired Marquis for the rescue, sent him $125. Marquis went to the now-defunct airline's Miami headquarters to return it. "I was angry about the form letter," Marquis said. "They thought they hired me. They should have gotten my name as the first one that was there." News clippings Marquis had kept flew out his broken windows when Hurricane Andrew blew through Homestead in 1992, but he is lucky: the storm destroyed the five houses across the street. Hurricane Wilma brought back the crash. Talking to a roofer fixing his home after the 2005 storm, their conversation turned to the crash. The roofer posted an online message in June 2006 about Marquis' plight to a Flight 401 crash forum. Another forum for airboat enthusiasts picked up the discussion and rallied to raise funds for Marquis and restore his airboat. Meanwhile, separate efforts began to recognize the rescuers and bring the survivors together with victims' families. Marquis met Ruiz, Raposa and other survivors for the first time at a Dec. 3 ceremony. The man he heard struggling to stay above water thanked him. "Had it not been for Bud, there would not have been a grandpa for the children, there would not have been a grandpa to share the good times in life with," said David Kaplan, now 71 and living in Delray Beach. On Saturday, 60 airboats will carry survivors and victims' relatives to the crash site. Marquis, in his reconditioned craft, will lead. The survivors hope to build a memorial near the site. "Hopefully this will help the people that haven't been there" since 1972, Marquis said. "They can see what a vast area it is." Passenger Ron Infantino will join him. He remembers the sound of Marquis' engine. He strained to hear his wife's voice, but she never answered his cries. She had died, 20 days after they married. "I need to do it. I never was able to see my wife. I need to go back there," said Infantino, a 61-year-old Miami insurance agent. "I always said to myself, 'I don't know where to go.' I've always wanted some kind of recognition for the people who've lost their lives." --- On the Net: Eastern Flight 401 crash information and discussion: http://eastern401.googlepages.com/ |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 24 Dec 07 - 05:36 PM Los Angeles is on track to end the year with fewer than 400 homicides for the first time in nearly four decades -- a hopeful milestone for a city so long associated with gangs, drive-by shootings and sometimes random violence. With 386 killings recorded as of this morning, the city has experienced one-third the number of homicides it did in 1992. The last year with a comparably low figure was 1970, when Los Angeles had a million fewer residents, guns were far less prevalent and street gangs were a much smaller part of life in urban neighborhoods. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 24 Dec 07 - 01:27 PM The last time they tried that experiment, the monkeys had been at it for fourteen years, when finally the chief researcher stopped by one of the typewriters and yelled out, "HEY!! I think we've got some thing here....!!!" He read from the monkey's output page in trembling tones, "To be, or not to be, that is GRYldyterwquibbbbmmmm". Those who thus discard the acheivement of evolutionary theory do not understand its mechanisms. They ignore selection, they ignore how modifications get preserved, they ignore the math, they ignore the evidence. Sheesh. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Dec 07 - 01:18 PM It's because the creationist argument. How many monkeys in a room with typewriters created the complete works of Shakespeare. . . they want something from god's head to someone's fingerprint, apparently. It doesn't seem to have been argued that those self-same monkeys could have typed the bible. Monkeys/bible--a bad combination. Or not. I'm fuzzy. Terribly busy, but stopping in for a quick mudcat break. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 24 Dec 07 - 09:44 AM Hmm .... why not "The Descent of Man" or the works of Shakespeare? A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 24 Dec 07 - 04:47 AM A picture at the link shows the "Bible" on a disk that just about matches a single "fingerprint ridge" on the finger that's holding it. One hopes the finger is clean so it doesn't smudge the print. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Dec 07 - 03:01 AM It'll still take more than a pair of bifocals to be able to read the thing. . . |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 24 Dec 07 - 01:27 AM Scientists inscribe Bible on pinhead Israelis use particle beam to make what could be smallest Old Testament The Associated Press updated 5:44 p.m. CT, Sun., Dec. 23, 2007 JERUSALEM - Israeli scientists have inscribed the entire Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible onto a space less than half the size of grain of sugar. The nanotechnology experts at the Technion institute in Haifa say the text measures less than 0.01 square inch surface. They chose the Jewish Bible to highlight how vast quantities of information can be stored in minimum amounts of space. "It took us about an hour to etch the 300,000 words of the Bible onto a tiny silicon surface," Ohad Zohar, the university's scientific adviser for educational programs, told the Associated Press. The Technion's microscopic bible was created by blasting tiny particles called gallium ions at an object that then rebounded, causing an etching affect. "When a particle beam is directed toward a point on the surface, the gold atoms bounce off and expose the silicon layer underneath just like a hammer and chisel," Zohar said. Zohar said the technology will in the future be used as a way to store vast amounts of data on bio-molecules and DNA. The tiny Bible appears to be the world's smallest. The previous smallest known copy of the Bible measured 1.1 x 1.3 x 0.4 inches, weighing 0.4 ounces and containing 1,514 pages, according to Guinness World Records spokeswoman Amarilis Espinoza. The tiny text, obtained by an Indian professor in November 2001, is believed to have originated in Australia. © 2007 The Associated Press. But isn't it kind of cheating to pick a language that leaves out all the vowels? It seems like an old latin text with all the "uminums" and "ominariums" would have been more impressive - as a "scientific demonstration." John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 23 Dec 07 - 01:12 PM Here's an AP story: GI Saves Iraqi Boy in Unlikely Adoption December 23, 2007 MAUSTON, Wis. - Capt. Scott Southworth knew he'd face violence, political strife and blistering heat when he was deployed to one of Baghdad's most dangerous areas. But he didn't expect Ala'a Eddeen. Ala'a was 9 years old, strong of will but weak of body - he suffered from cerebral palsy and weighed just 55 pounds. He lived among about 20 kids with physical or mental disabilities at the Mother Teresa orphanage, under the care of nuns who preserved this small oasis in a dangerous place. On Sept. 6, 2003, halfway through his 13-month deployment, Southworth and his military police unit paid a visit to the orphanage. They played and chatted with the children; Southworth was talking with one little girl when Ala'a dragged his body to the soldier's side. Black haired and brown eyed, Ala'a spoke to the 31-year-old American in the limited English he had learned from the sisters. He recalled the bombs that struck government buildings across the Tigris River. "Bomb-Bing! Bomb-Bing!" Ala'a said, raising and lowering his fist. "I'm here now. You're fine," the captain said. Over the next 10 months, the unit returned to the orphanage again and again. The soldiers would race kids in their wheelchairs, sit them in Humvees and help the sisters feed them. To Southworth, Ala'a was like a little brother. But Ala'a - who had longed for a soldier to rescue him - secretly began referring to Southworth as "Baba," Arabic for "Daddy." Then, around Christmas, a sister told Southworth that Ala'a was getting too big. He would have to move to a government-run facility within a year. "Best case scenario was that he would stare at a blank wall for the rest of his life," Southworth said. To this day, he recalls the moment when he resolved that that would not happen. "I'll adopt him," he said. --- Before Southworth left for Iraq, he was chief of staff for a state representative. He was single, worked long days and squeezed in his service as a national guardsman - military service was a family tradition. His great-great-greatgrandfather served in the Civil War, his grandfather in World War II, his father in Vietnam. The family had lived in the tiny central Wisconsin city of New Lisbon for 150 years. Scott was raised as an evangelical Christian; he attended law school with a goal of public service, running unsuccessfully for state Assembly at the age of 25. There were so many reasons why he couldn't bring a handicapped Iraqi boy into his world. He had no wife or home; he knew nothing of raising a disabled child; he had little money and planned to run for district attorney in his home county. Just as important, Iraqi law prohibits foreigners from adopting Iraqi children. Southworth prayed and talked with family and friends. His mother, who had cared for many disabled children, explained the difficulty. She also told him to take one step at a time and let God work. Southworth's decision was cemented in spring 2004, while he and his comrades watched Mel Gibson's film, "The Passion of the Christ." Jesus Christ's sacrifice moved him. He imagined meeting Christ and Ala'a in heaven, where Ala'a asked: "Baba, why didn't you ever come back to get me?" "Everything that I came up with as a response I felt ashamed. I wouldn't want to stand in the presence of Jesus and Ala'a and say those things to him." And so, in his last weeks in Iraq, Southworth got approval from Iraq's Minister of Labor to take Ala'a to the United States for medical care. --- His parents had filed signatures so he wouldn't miss the cutoff to run for district attorney. He knocked on doors, telling people he wanted to be tough on criminals who committed injustices against children. He never mentioned his intention to adopt Ala'a. He won office - securing a job and an income. Everything seemed to be in place. But when Southworth contacted an immigration attorney, he was told it would be nearly impossible to bring Ala'a to the United States. Undaunted, Southworth and the attorney started the paperwork to bring Ala'a over on humanitarian parole, used for urgent reasons or significant public benefit. A local doctor, a cerebral palsy expert, a Minneapolis hospital, all said they would provide Ala'a free care. Other letters of support came from a minister, the school district, the lieutenant governor, a congressman, chaplain, a sister at the orphanage and an Iraqi doctor. "We crossed political boundaries. We crossed religious boundaries. There was just a massive effort - all on behalf of this little boy who desperately needed people to actually take some action and not just feel sorry for him," Southworth says. He mailed the packet on Dec. 16, 2004, to the Department of Homeland Security. On New Year's Eve, his cell phone rang. It was Ala'a. "What are you doing?" Scott asked him. "I was praying,'" Ala'a responded. "Well, what were you praying for?" "I prayed that you would come to take me to America," Ala'a said. Southworth almost dropped the phone. Ala'a knew nothing of his efforts, and he couldn't tell him yet for fear that the boy might inadvertently tell the wrong person, upending the delicate process. By mid-January, Homeland Security called Southworth's attorney to say it had approved humanitarian parole. Within three hours, Southworth had plane tickets. He hardly slept as he worked the phones to make arrangements, calling the American embassy, hotels and the orphanage. His Iraqi translator agreed to risk his life to get Ala'a to the embassy to obtain documentation. Like a dream, all the pieces fell into place. Southworth returned to Iraq for the first time since a deployment that left him emotionally, physically and spiritually exhausted. His unit had trained Iraqi police from sunup to sundown; he saw the devastation wrought by two car bombings, and counted dead bodies. Mortar and rocket attacks were routine. Some 20 in his unit were wounded, and one died. He knew that nothing could be taken for granted in Baghdad. So when he saw Ala'a in the airport for the first time since leaving Iraq, he was relieved. "He was in my custody then. I could hug him. I could hold him. I could protect him. "And forever started." They made it to Wisconsin late Jan. 20, 2005. The next morning, Ala'a awoke to his first sight of snow. He closed his eyes and grimaced. "Baba! Baba! The water is getting all over me!" "It's not water, it's snooooow," Southworth told him. --- Police found Ala'a abandoned on a Baghdad street at around 3 years old. No one knows where he came from. In all his life in Iraq, Ala'a saw a doctor 10 times. He surpassed that in his first six months in the United States. Ala'a's cerebral palsy causes low muscle tone, spastic muscles in the legs, arms and face. It hinders him when he tries to crawl, walk or grasping objects. He needs a wheelchair to get around, often rests his head on his shoulder and can't easily sit up. Physical therapy has helped him control his head and other muscles. He can now maneuver his way out of his van seat and stabilize his legs on the ground. "I'm not the same guy I used to be," he says. He clearly has thrived. At 13, he's doubled his weight to 111 pounds. Ala'a's condition doesn't affect his mind, although he's still childlike - he wants to be a Spiderman when he grows up. Ala'a's English has improved and he loves music and school, math and reading especially. He gets mad when snow keeps him home, even though it's his second favorite thing, after his father. At first, he didn't want to talk about Iraq; he would grow angry when someone tried to talk to him in Arabic. But in the fall of 2006, Scott showed Ala'a's classmates an Arabic version of "Sesame Street" and boasted how Ala'a knew two languages and could teach them. Soon he was teaching his aide and his grandmother, LaVone. LaVone is a fixture in Ala'a's life, supporting her son as he juggles his career and fatherhood. One day, she asked Ala'a if he missed his friends in Iraq. Would he like to visit them? Big tears filled his eyes. "Well, honey, what's the matter?" asked LaVone. "Oh, no, Grandma. No. Baba says that I can come to live with him forever," he pleaded. "Oh, no, no," he grandmother said, crying as well. "We would never take you back and leave you there forever. We want you to be Baba's boy forever." --- Southworth knew once he got Ala'a out of Iraq, the hardest part would be over. Iraq had bigger problems to deal with than the whereabouts of a single orphan. On June 4, Ala'a officially became Southworth's son. Though he was born in the spring of 1994, they decided to celebrate his birthday as the day they met - Sept. 6. Life has settled into a routine. Father and son have moved into a new house with an intercom system, a chair lift to the basement and toilet handles. Southworth showers him, brushes his teeth and washes his hands. He has traded in his Chrysler Concorde for a minivan - it was too hard to lift his son out of the car. In October, the Wisconsin's deputy adjunct general gave Southworth, now a major, permission to change units because of Ala'a. His former unit was going to Guantanamo Bay for a one-year deployment, and he didn't want to leave his son behind, at least for now. He hopes one day to marry to his longtime girlfriend and have more children. He may run for Congress or governor someday - he's already won re-election once, and plans to run again next fall. Not everything is perfect. Ala'a never encountered thunderstorms in Baghdad, and the flash-boom reminds him of bombs. He is starting to get over it, although he still weeps during violent storms. But Ala'a - who picked out his own name, which means to be near God - knows he's where he belongs. Southworth always says Ala'a picked him, not the other way around. They were brought together, Southworth believes, by a "web of miracles." Ala'a likes to sing Sarah McLachlan's song, "Ordinary Miracle," from "Charlotte's Web," one of his favorite movies. His head and body lean to one side as he sings off-key. "It's just another ordinary miracle today. Life is like a gift they say. Wrapped up for you everyday." |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 23 Dec 07 - 02:21 AM The article is at FAKE COMPANIES STEAL BILLIONS FROM MEDICARE and you're welcome to read it and several related ones it links to (it's part of a multipart series). The "newsworthy" part though: [in quotes] A short while ago, while reporting on Medicare fraud – an outrageous $60 billion a year pilferage of America's social safety net for 43 million seniors and the disabled – I took one of those phone calls that stop you right in your tracks. The caller was a federal law enforcement official who has spent much of his career fighting health care theft. He said a man that he and other authorities had been chasing for allegedly running a crooked medical supply company and bilking Medicare had just had an unfortunate run-in with police near Miami. He and another man were confronted by officers who suspected them of breaking into cars outside a gaming resort. The other man was arrested, but, according to authorities, the one suspected of Medicare theft ran and dove into a lake, where he was promptly attacked and killed by an alligator! What?? Of course, upon hearing this I thought it was a joke and shouted, "You've got to be kidding!" He wasn't. It was true – the sort of morality tale, it seems, you can only hear in Florida. [end quotes] Another article in the same series of reports indicates that: [quote] Federal law enforcement officials investigating in Miami-Dade and Broward counties found that from 2002 to present Medicare paid for 89,803 artificial limbs. ... ... ... Sadly, the situation could be even worse. Although $95 million in taxpayer dollars was the amount paid to the people making those outlandish claims, the amount they actually submitted to Medicare in hopes of payment was a stunning $615 million (for a total of 305,935 limbs). In other words, more than $500 million in claims were rejected. A lot of people must have really worked overtime to come up with that many phony bills. [endquote] I wonder what the population of Florida is now. Maybe all those missing limbs have something to do with the alligators? John |
