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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: Amos Date: 23 Dec 07 - 01:42 AM Bobad, The Board of Directors has asked me to express to you their deep gratitude for bringing this important scientific work to our attention, as it is of great importance in our ongoing work of transforming the place of boob-meditation from the secular to the divine in every walk of life. Humbly and gratefully yours, Fr. Tacitus Perfectus, Director of Advanced Study Temple of the Golden Globes |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: bobad Date: 22 Dec 07 - 10:23 PM 10 Minutes Of Staring at Boobs Daily Prolongs Man's Life by 5 Years... - The beneficial starlets By: Stefan Anitei, Science Editor Listen, guys, now we know why Pamela Anderson made her transplants: to make us healthier. "Angels of mercy" like Jordan just prolong our life and Hugh Hefner knows it. A German research published in New England Journal of Medicine and Weekly World News said that men staring at women's breasts in fact prolong their lives with years. "Just 10 minutes of staring at the charms of a well-endowed female such as Baywatch actress Pamela Lee is equivalent to a 30-minute aerobics work-out," said author Dr. Karen Weatherby, a gerontologist. The team led by Weatherby was made up of researchers at three hospitals in Frankfurt, Germany, and found this results after monitoring for 5 years the health of 200 male subjects, half of whom were asked to look at busty females daily, while the other half had to abstain from doing so. For five years, the boob oglers presented a lower blood pressure, slower resting pulse rates and decreased risk of coronary artery disease. "Sexual excitement gets the heart pumping and improves blood circulation. There's no question: Gazing at large breasts makes men healthier. Our study indicates that engaging in this activity a few minutes daily cuts the risk of stroke and heart attack in half." said Weatherby, who even recommended that men aged over 40 should spend at least 10 minutes daily admiring breasts sized "D-cup" or larger. She said that this was as healthy as going to the gym for 30 minutes daily and prolonged a man's life by five years. "We believe that by doing so consistently, the average man can extend his life four to five years." said Weatherby. This is indeed a very serious reason for men to enjoy without shame those midnight TV shows, download low-budget women-in-prison movies and collect such instructive and health beneficial magazines like Playboy and Hustler. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 18 Dec 07 - 09:25 PM Navy Saves Gravely Ill Girl on Cruise December 18, 2007 SAN DIEGO - A teenager whose appendix ruptured at sea, hundreds of miles from help, got safely to shore Tuesday after an unusual rescue in which the Navy airlifted her from a cruise ship for emergency surgery. Laura Montero, 14, fell ill aboard the Dawn Princess cruise ship off the coast of Baja California. The Bahamian-registered ship sent out a distress call Friday that was answered by the USS Ronald Reagan, which was on training maneuvers about 500 miles away. Montero, a fair-haired girl with bright blue eyes, appeared to be doing well as she gave a brief interview with reporters at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. "I'd like to thank the captain of the Dawn Princess, the surgeon and the crew and everyone on the USS Ronald Reagan," she said quietly, then flashed a shy grin. She said she was usually "a tiny bit" scared of heights but hadn't been nervous when she was hoisted on a flat stretcher into the helicopter that came to fetch her. "I was in pain," she said. The Reagan, a nuclear carrier, was the closest ship with a hospital facility, according to a news release from the Navy. It steamed overnight toward the cruise ship, which was about 250 miles northwest of Cabo San Lucas when the call went out. A helicopter took off from the Reagan around 5 a.m. Saturday to close the final 175-mile gap between the ships. The crew arrived after a 45-minute flight and lowered a medic onto the cruise ship deck in a basket because there wasn't space to land, said Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Leland, the pilot. Montero, who was on an antibiotic drip, was loaded into a litter basket, lifted into the helicopter and flown back to the Reagan for an appendectomy. Her mother stayed aboard the cruise ship. "We practice this all the time, but this is the first time I've pulled a civilian off a cruise ship," Leland said. A spokeswoman for Princess Cruises, which operates the Dawn Princess, said the ship's captain called the Coast Guard for help because he felt that would be faster than diverting to the nearest Mexican port. "Where the ship was, where the land was and the fact that the Ronald Reagan had (a surgical facility) on board were all factors that came into play," said Julie Benson. "The option is to go to the nearest medical facility that can treat the patient." The Dawn Princess returned to its home port of San Diego over the weekend from its regular weeklong run along the Baja California coast to the resorts of Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The Reagan, which carries as many as 6,000 crew members and costs about $2.5 million a day to operate while under way, returned Tuesday morning, its scheduled return from the training tour. Montero, of Albion, Ill., is expected to make a full recovery. A doctor at the children's hospital said he anticipated she would be back home by Christmas. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 18 Dec 07 - 10:46 AM Zipit Wi-Fi Device Adds Text Messaging December 18, 2007 NEW YORK - A small South Carolina company says it has a cure for the modern plague of budget-busting cell-phone charges racked up by teenagers: a gadget for text-messaging that isn't a cell phone. Zipit Wireless Inc. plans to announce Tuesday that it will make available a text-messaging plan for its Zipit Wireless Messenger 2, a device the size of fat wallet that uses Wi-Fi hotspots to do free instant messaging with AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger. Zipit users who sign up for a text-messaging plan will now be able to contact cell-phone users, as well as communicate by instant message. The plan will cost $4.99 for up to 3,000 messages per month when it formally launches in February. Between Dec. 20 and the launch, text messaging is free on the device. Cell-phone carriers typically charge 10 or 15 cents per text message, or $15 a month to add 1,500 or "unlimited" text messages to a calling plan. The service costs almost nothing to provide, making it "one of the most profitable applications known to man," according to Morgan Stanley's telecommunications analyst, Simon Flannery. The Zipit 2 itself costs $149.99. It has a color screen and launched in November as a follow-up to the monochrome original Zipit, which came out in 2004. The Zipit 2 will be able to receive as well as send text messages. But unlike a cell phone, the Zipit won't accept text messages from numbers that haven't been added to an approved list by the user, which should make it immune to spam sent as text messages. Also unlike a cell phone, it won't be able to send text messages to more than one recipient at a time. The Zipit belongs to a small category of devices that have attempted to capitalize on the craze for instant messaging by making it available off the computer. Sony Corp.'s Mylo device, which was aimed at the college-aged, is another example. Neither the Zipit nor the Mylo has found audiences as big as instant messaging has generally. Frank Greer, chief executive of Greenville, S.C.-based Zipit Wireless, said "tens of thousands" of the original Zipit have sold, though he would not give sales figures. The relatively slow pace of sales probably is due to the difficulty of marketing a wireless messaging device to people who already have one - the cell phone. Both the Zipit and the Mylo also need to be in a Wi-Fi hotspot to function. But Zipit 2's text-messaging feature - which can be added through a downloaded software update - will help close the gap with cell phones. The original Zipit is not upgradeable. The PC version of AOL Instant Messenger already allows text messaging to cell-phone users, who can also reply to the AIM user. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 11 Dec 07 - 03:27 PM Canada.com Selection Spurred Recent Evolution, Researchers Say New York Times - 16 hours ago By NICHOLAS WADE Researchers analyzing variation in the human genome have concluded that human evolution accelerated enormously in the last 40000 years under the force of natural selection. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 04 Dec 07 - 09:47 PM ...the police and Humber Coastguard searched the area to no avail. Humber, huh? That would be the Humber Estuary, I suppose. Isn't that where Hull is? Mystery solved. The guy met some of the Mudcatters who live there and has been on a five-year drunk. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 04 Dec 07 - 08:03 PM Police attempt to solve mystery of the canoeist who came back from the dead By Terri Judd Published: 04 December 2007 John Darwin, the Hartlepool canoeist who went missing five years ago and reappeared at the weekend to declare himself a missing person, was due to face questioning by detectives today as speculation mounted over the circumstances of his disappearance. Mr Darwin, 57, who was last seen preparing to set out to sea in his canoe in March 2002, walked into West Central police station in London on Saturday, telling officers: "I think I am a missing person." His family remained behind closed doors yesterday at the home of his son Anthony in Hampshire. Cleveland Police said they remained as baffled as anyone else and would be looking for an explanation when they started interviewing the former prison officer today. All avenues of inquiry would be explored, the force said. Mr Darwin's elderly father, Ronald, said he had always believed that his son would turn up one day. Blaming a head injury that his son had suffered when he was knocked down by a car in his youth, Mr Darwin Snr, 91, from Blackhall Colliery, County Durham, said he was convinced that John had suffered some form of amnesia. "Now he's got his memory back," he said. " When I speak to him, I will ask him where he has been these last few years and I'll ask 'Why didn't you make arrangements to see me before now?' I'll tell him a lot more too, but I'm extremely happy now." His brother David, 54, added: "It is the best Christmas present any family could wish for." Mr Darwin was last seen preparing his canoe for the water near his home in Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, at 9am on 21 March 2002. He had appeared in high spirits only the day before, according to a friend, Bill Rodriguez, who had lived near Mr Darwin and his wife Anne since they moved from the Durham area two years earlier. Just weeks before he vanished the former science teacher wrote on the Friends Reunited website: "Taught in Derwentside for 18 years before leaving teaching to join Barclays Bank. At present work for Prison Service and have portfolio of properties. Married to a convent girl Anne Stephenson, we have two grown-up sons and two dogs. Recently moved to Seaton Carew where I hope to retire soon." An oar believed to belong to Mr Darwin's canoe was washed up just off Seal Sands a day after he vanished. Weeks later, the smashed remains of his canoe were found. His wife of 28 years watched from her living-room window as the police and Humber Coastguard searched the area to no avail. They described it as "looking for a needle in a haystack". Meanwhile, this poor bloke's wife, apparently giving him up for dead, sold off their houses and moved away, address unknown, possibly to Panama or some such. He's been reunited with his two sons, now in their late 20's. A most bizarre story. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 04 Dec 07 - 04:50 PM Divorce pains the planet Posted by Elsa Wenzel CJNet News As if the burden of divorce weren't bad enough, people with failed marriages can be blamed for global warming, according to a study by Michigan State University. Divorced couples use up more space in their respective homes, which amounts to to 38 million more rooms worldwide to light, heat and cool, noted the report. And people who divorced used 73 billion kilowatt-hours more of electricity and 627 billion gallons of water than they would otherwise in 2005. Dissolving a marriage also means doubling possessions, from the lowly can opener to the SUV. The report, however, did not estimate how many more natural resources the children of shared-custody parents consume by getting birthday and holiday gifts twice. Nor did it count the greenhouse gases spent to shuttle kids between their pair of energy-hogging households. (Tip for carbon offsetting services: the domain name OffsetMyDivorce.com is available.). The research suggests that singletons who shack up with someone again can undo the ecological damage. Although it might be inferred that "living in sin" is also eco-friendly, the findings did not necessarily endorse the practice of unmarried couples living together. Rates of divorce are rising around the world, while dropping in North America along with those of marriage, according to the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University. Divorce ends 46 percent of marriages in the United States, the seventh highest rate in the world, according to Divorce Magazine. The top world record is held by Sweden, where 55 percent of marriages end by divorce. On the other end is Guatemala, with a mere .13 percent divorce rate. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and funded partly by the National Institutes of Health. The moral is plain: SAVE THE PLANET!! SHACK UP WITH SOMEONE! A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 04 Dec 07 - 02:52 PM Dear Gawd, that is scary in some deep way. I can understand when maps and territory get confused in honest language, and forgive it. But when cartoon characters start getting called up as witnesses to the wrongs done to their artists, the world is definitely sliding off its center. The mind boggles... A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 Dec 07 - 02:49 PM Tweety, Donald Duck Summoned to Court From Associated Press December 04, 2007 ROME - Tweety may get a chance to take the witness stand and sing like a canary. An Italian court ordered the animated bird, along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy, to testify in a counterfeiting case. In what lawyers believe was a clerical error worthy of a Looney Tunes cartoon, a court in Naples sent a summons to the characters ordering them to appear Friday in a trial in the southern Italian city, officials said. The court summons cites Titti, Paperino, Paperina, Topolino - the Italian names for the characters - as damaged parties in the criminal trial of a Chinese man accused of counterfeiting products of Disney and Warner Bros. Instead of naming only the companies and their legal representatives, clerks also wrote in the witness list the names of the cartoons that decorated the toys and gadgets the man had reproduced, said Fiorenza Sorotto, vice president of Disney Company Italia. "Unfortunately they cannot show up, as they are residents of Disneyland," Sorotto joked in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It certainly pleased us that the characters were considered real, because that's what we try to do." The Naples court will have to rewrite the summons, although this will probably delay the trial, said Disney lawyer Cristina Ravelli. "Let's hope the characters will not be prosecuted for failing to appear," Ravelli quipped. Calls seeking comment from Warner Bros. in Milan were not immediately returned. Phones at the Naples court were not answered Tuesday. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Donuel Date: 03 Dec 07 - 11:01 PM They found some of the missing UK bank data and pin codes http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2988471.ece |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 03 Dec 07 - 02:06 AM Actually Stilly I thought the third article was more interesting; but the one at the top fits the thread better. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 Dec 07 - 12:51 AM . . . deer called Slambi Clever, John! Sounds like something that will go to the (sick) gag gifts department, not the stuffed-toys-for-kiddoes dept. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 02 Dec 07 - 10:44 PM Toy firm debuts cuddly critter corpses Shocking stocking stuffer By Brian Tracey Associate editor Look into any child's toy box and you'll usually find at least one stuffed animal that has seen better days — a teddy bear with an eye missing or an arm nearly torn off. Now a British company wants to give you that look right out of the box with its line of "roadkill" plush toys. The first to be launched is Twitch the Raccoon which comes with its own body bag, reports U.K newspaper Metro. Twitch also has an identity tag revealing it was "run over over by a milk [delivery truck] last Thursday." A zipper on each side of the toy allows the owner to remove Twitch's internal organs and stuff them back in again. A truck-tire print runs across its back. The product's creators, Compost Communications, call themselves "toy terrorists." "We squash and burn and bludgeon and maim," the company was quoted as saying on its Web site. "But we're also toy fanatics like you. We love toys." Toy creator Adam Arber, 33, said: "I got the idea from looking at my mother-in-law's dog which is quite ugly and I thought it would make a great toy. A friend of mine had taken some pictures of road kill and the two things gelled into one idea." He said he thought the toys, which cost $50, would appeal to people with a sense of humor and "probably not anyone easily upset". Twitch is set to go on sale starting in December at London's Play Lounge toy store and online at roadkilltoys.com. Coming soon are other characters including Grind the rabbit, Splodge the hedgehog and Pop the weasel. What, no baby deer called Slambi? [The link is to a blog page with multiple articles. Read on down and enjoy(?)] John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Wesley S Date: 30 Nov 07 - 09:13 AM The thief will just piss it all way - just watch. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 30 Nov 07 - 06:00 AM So is Shane in Dublin? Dublin thief seizes 180 Guinness kegs Lone robber seizes nearly $100,000 worth of Ireland's trademark beer Reuters updated 10:51 a.m. CT, Thurs., Nov. 29, 2007 DUBLIN, Ireland - A thief made off with 180 kegs of Guinness beer after smoothly driving into the Dublin brewery, which makes the black stout and snatching a trailer load of drink, police said Thursday. The incident took place Wednesday at the Guinness brewery on the banks of Dublin's River Liffey where Ireland's trademark tipple has been brewed for almost 250 years. The lone raider's haul also contained 180 kegs of Budweiser and 90 barrels of Carlsberg lager, police said. "A man drove into the yard in a truck and took a trailer containing the drink which has an estimated value of 64,000 euros ($94,770)," a police spokesman said. Copyright 2007 Reuters. (But if it was Shane he was probably after the Bud.) John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 29 Nov 07 - 11:43 PM Wow! Amazing. He finally got his identity back after twenty-five years!! Maybe this means back wages due from Unemployment, huh? A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Janie Date: 29 Nov 07 - 09:52 PM Man reunited with ID bracelet after 25 years. It was found in a chicken gizzard. I knew there was some reason you are not supposed to eat that part! |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 29 Nov 07 - 06:08 PM As gambling goes, Lotto and scratch-off cards are pretty low key. It strikes me that if it's legal in the state for everyone else and doesn't contribute to crime, they ought to think twice about sanctioning him. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 29 Nov 07 - 01:38 PM Perhaps they could send him back to jail for the parole violation, but put the $50,000/year payout in the bank for when he gets out. It might make "rehabilitation" a lot easier if he had something to look forward to. It's actually not that unusual a situation, as people in states where lotteries are/were illegal frequently buy/bought tickets "across the border" in states where they are legal. There surely is precedent - although probably not precedent that's gonna make this guy very happy. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 29 Nov 07 - 11:22 AM Man...can't win, can't break even, and can't even walk away from the table!! Talk about tough luck!! So..lessee..if it WAS a parole violation, that would invalidate his right to his winnings? This could go way too far. For example, if I parked illegally while buying a lotto ticket, and it won, would I have to surrender the winnings because I was out of grace, legally speaking, at the time of purchase? Oh, tempora, oh, mores! A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 29 Nov 07 - 11:02 AM Sometimes a guy just can't break even? Lottery ticket unlucky for winner Bank robber faces hearing over whether he violated his probation terms The Associated Press updated 4:00 a.m. CT, Thurs., Nov. 29, 2007 BOSTON - The winner of a $1 million lottery scratch ticket may not be so lucky after all: He's a convicted bank robber who isn't supposed to gamble. Timothy Elliott faces a Dec. 7 court hearing over whether he violated his probation when he bought the $10 ticket for the $800 Million Spectacular game at a supermarket in Hyannis. Elliott was placed on five years' probation after pleading guilty in October 2006 to unarmed robbery for a January 2006 heist at a bank on Cape Cod. Under terms of his probation, he "may not gamble, purchase lottery tickets or visit an establishment where gaming is conducted, including restaurants where Keno may be played." Elliott, 55, has collected the first of 20 annual $50,000 checks from the Massachusetts lottery commission. A picture of Elliott, holding his first check, was posted on the lottery's Web site Monday, though it was removed by Wednesday. As part of his sentence, Elliott was put under the care of the state Mental Health Department and sent to a hospital for treatment, and state officials refused Wednesday to say whether he was still being treated. A telephone number for Elliott could not immediately be located Wednesday, and it was not clear whether he had a lawyer. The lottery routinely cross references the names of winners with the state Revenue Department to see if they owe back taxes or child support, lottery spokesman Dan Rosenfeld said. In those cases, winnings go straight to the Revenue Department. But in this case, it will be up to the court to determine what will happen with Elliott's winnings. "This is kind of new territory," he said. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 28 Nov 07 - 05:37 PM What a grisly and intriguing slice -- pardon the expression -- of history!! Shades of the WW2 Volkswagen! A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Wesley S Date: 28 Nov 07 - 04:11 PM Ewww.... From that paragon of truth - Fox News - a story of an auction for a skin covered book with a Guy Fawkes connection. Human skin covered book |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Donuel Date: 26 Nov 07 - 12:16 PM http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7426 my interpretation: It looks like China freezing all credit for the next 40 days is what is keeping the biggest economic bubble from bursting before Christmas. China's gas bills are going way up due to the US dollar as well as peak oil supply on the near horizon. Panic sell off of US notes, T bills, money market funds and other Wall street instruments can be delayed but soon US stock market computer program sell offs will be triggered at the 12,000 mark. Some will call it the WW Depression and others will call it the biggest transfer of wealth to the wealthy in history. OF all of Dick Cheney's lies the one that may go down in history is "deficits don't matter" Within 4 years many experts see the perfect storm in full blow. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 26 Nov 07 - 10:43 AM Dear me...this is beginning to get into the Jesuitical range of cross referencing fantasies and myths therefrom derived. I suppose we will have to have a 'cyclopedia (e-n-c-y-c-l-o-p-E-d-i-a....) next, and then perhaps a battery of bishops to refine interpretative standards. Who's the leader of the band that's made for you and me? That's what I want to know... A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 25 Nov 07 - 01:29 PM I don't want to start a separate thread for this, but this is a story on Reuters. This may allow for some academic discussions, now that one can use the word "intertextuality" in the same sentence as "Disney." Enchanted pays homage to other Disney films Nov 23, 2007 LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Enchanted" is a loving homage to many classic Disney princess movies of yore. The movie, which opened Wednesday, starts out in a traditional 2-D animated world, where a fairy-tale princess (voiced by Amy Adams) about to marry her prince is thrust into the real world by an evil queen. The real world is represented by New York, and once there, the princess (now a flesh-and-blood Adams) begins to change her views on life and love when she meets a cynical divorce lawyer (Patrick Dempsey). The movie references many Disney movies in obvious and subtle ways, but many of the references weren't in the initial script. "That was all (director) Kevin Lima's doing," producer Barry Josephson said. Lima, a veteran Disney animator who also co-directed the company's 1999 feature "Tarzan," came on board the project two years ago, and from the first meeting with screenwriter Bill Kelly began peppering the script with homages. "I have a lifetime of references running through my head," Lima said. "From the time I was 5 years old and I saw 'Jungle Book,' and my mom swears by this story, I turned to her and said, 'Mom I'm going to be a Disney animator when I grow up."' The most obvious references involve slippers and poison apples, dragons and little people. But throwaways and background activities go beyond readily recognizable symbols and images. A seedy motel is named the Grand Duke, which is the name of a character from "Cinderella." A restaurant is called Bella Note, a nod to "Lady and the Tramp." A woman Adams encounters in Central Park asks her if she wants to feed the birds, "just a dollar a bag." That's dialogue from "Mary Poppins," subbing out the word "tuppins." Going a bit deeper, you'll find that Mary Ilene Caselotti, the reporter on TV, is named after the actresses who voiced Princess Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty" (Mary Costa), Cinderella (Ilene Woods) and Snow White (Adriana Caselotti). The Banks, a couple getting divorced in the movie, are named after the family in "Mary Poppins." And Churchill, Harline and Smith, the name of Dempsey's law firm, is named after the songwriters from "Snow White": Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline and Paul Smith. In the law firm sequence, Giselle looks at a fish tank while the Muzak in the background plays "Part of Your World," a song from "The Little Mermaid." A couple of the new songs in the movie -- from Disney's Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, who between them have worked on many Disney animated films from the '90s -- hark back to songs in "Snow White" and "Beauty and the Beast." To give the 2-D animated scenes the Disney feel, Lima turned to the James Baxter Studio, whose president James Baxter did the animated work on Rafiki in "The Lion King," Belle in "Beauty and the Beast," and Quasimodo in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." "I'm not embarrassed by the source material," Lima said, "which makes it really easy to embrace it." |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 22 Nov 07 - 01:46 AM Jellyfish wipe out salmon farm More than $2 million in fish destroyed in 'unprecedented' N. Ireland attack The Associated Press updated 8:55 p.m. CT, Wed., Nov. 21, 2007 DUBLIN, Ireland - The only salmon farm in Northern Ireland has lost its entire population of more than 100,000 fish, worth some $2 million, to a spectacular jellyfish attack, its owners said Wednesday. The Northern Salmon Co. Ltd. said billions of jellyfish — in a dense pack of about 10 square miles and 35 feet deep — overwhelmed the fish last week in two net pens about a mile off the coast of the Glens of Antrim, north of Belfast. Managing director John Russell said the company's dozen workers tried to rescue the salmon, but their three boats struggled for hours to push their way through the mass of jellyfish. All the fish were dead or dying from stings and stress by the time the boats reached the pens, he said. Russell, who previously worked at Scottish salmon farms and took the Northern Ireland job just three days before the attack, said he had never seen anything like it in 30 years in the business. "It was unprecedented, absolutely amazing. The sea was red with these jellyfish and there was nothing we could do about it, absolutely nothing," he said. The species of jellyfish responsible, Pelagia nocticula — popularly known as the mauve stinger — is noted for its purplish night-time glow and its propensity for terrorizing bathers in the warmer Mediterranean Sea. Until the past decade, the mauve stinger has rarely been spotted so far north in British or Irish waters, and scientists cite this as evidence of global warming. Russell said the company, which bills its salmon as organic and exports to France, Belgium, Germany and the United States, faces likely closure unless it receives emergency aid from the British government. "It's a disaster," he said. © 2007 The Associated Press. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 21 Nov 07 - 09:43 AM Hey, she came to get her hair done. Right? Right. I like a person with focus. Too bad she couldn't focus on finding the damn brake pedal. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 21 Nov 07 - 09:36 AM Getting a 'do in Alaska Woman crashes into hair salon Alaskan loses control of vehicle, crashes into salon's front window The Associated Press updated 11:12 p.m. CT, Fri., Nov. 16, 2007 SOLDOTNA, Alaska - A woman on her way to hair appointment crashed her car through the hair salon. Della Miller, 73, crashed into Tina's Hair Pros' windows Wednesday, knocking one customer six feet across the room, Soldotna police officer Marvin Towle said. The parking area in front of the salon was snow-covered. Miranda Nelson, a stylist, said she was in the back room when she heard the crash. "I thought a bomb had gone off," Nelson said. Two large plate-glass windows were destroyed, walls were damaged, and the stonework front outside the salon was smashed, police said. Towle estimated damage to the building to be at least $15,000, and the car at $2,500 more. Miller, who was not injured, was not cited for the crash. She proceeded with her hair appointment. © 2007 The Associated Press Well now, what would you have done? Picture at link. Bystanders look mostly bored. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 20 Nov 07 - 11:07 PM Corn Bin Collapses, Burying Iowa Family November 20, 2007 DES MOINES, Iowa - A grain bin collapsed and sent a tidal wave of corn into a home, sweeping it off its foundation, trapping a family of four and shaking the ground for miles. One man was taken to a hospital after being buried for hours in grain and debris in Hillsboro in southeast Iowa. The bin - about 100 feet in diameter, 90 feet high and containing more than 500,000 bushels of corn - collapsed Monday evening. The force of the grain broke the walls of Jesse and Jennifer Kellett's home and sent the roof crashing down. "The force actually took the house with the corn and shoved it and crushed it," Dan Wesely, Henry County chief sheriff's deputy, said Tuesday. The Kelletts and their children, Jordan Walter, 11, and Sheyanne Walter, 9, were trapped. Jennifer Kellett and her daughter crawled out, but her husband and son - pinned by walls, wood and corn - had to be rescued. Many residents of the town of 200 said they could hear the bin's rivets giving way, sounding like machine-gun fire. Farmers miles away reported feeling the ground shake. The bin was about 20 feet away from the house, authorities said. The grain bin is owned by Chem Gro. The bin was new, Wesely said, and officials are investigating the cause of the collapse. A telephone message left with the company Tuesday was not immediately returned. Emergency crews reached Jesse and Jordan Walters and supplied them with oxygen lines. "The thing was they had to move this corn, and it kept rolling in. They had to move a lot of corn back before they could get down and find out what was holding them in. That would be the lumber, walls and different things," Wesely said. Once free, Jordan Walters walked to an ambulance, where he was found to be uninjured. His father, rescued after about four hours, was taken to a hospital, which declined to release information about his condition. "When it happened, my house shook, and I'm clear on the other end of this town," Hillsboro resident Naomi Sanderson told the Hawk Eye newspaper of Burlington. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Janie Date: 18 Nov 07 - 09:12 PM Chesapeake Bay's crab population ebbs By DAVID A. FAHRENTHOLD The Washington Post WASHINGTON | The Chesapeake Bay's famous blue crabs — feisty crustaceans that are both a regional symbol and a multimillion-dollar catch — are hovering at historically low population levels, scientists say, as pollution, climate change and overfishing threaten the bay's ultimate survivor. This fall, a committee of federal and state scientists found that the crab's population was at its second-lowest level in the past 17 years, having fallen to about one-third the population of 1993. They forecast that the current crabbing season, which ends Dec. 15 in Maryland, will produce one of the lowest harvests since 1945. This year's numbers are particularly distressing, scientists say, because they signal that a baywide effort to save the crab begun in 2001 is falling short. Governments promised to clean the Chesapeake's waters by 2010. But that effort is far off track, leaving "dead zones" where crabs can't breathe. Maryland and Virginia have changed their laws to cut back the bay's crab harvest. But watermen have repeatedly been allowed to take too many of the valuable shellfish, scientists say. The watermen, meanwhile, say they're being unfairly blamed. "Now it appears that even the hardy blue crab is approaching its breaking point," said Howard Ernst, a professor at the U.S. Naval Academy and a critic of government efforts to protect the Chesapeake. If the crab's population drops further, Ernst said, "what we ultimately lose is not only a resource, but a unique and irreplaceable cultural heritage." Continued at http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/366124.html |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 16 Nov 07 - 12:53 AM Washington Post article about grazing dinosaurs: The Dinosaur That Peacefully Grazed Perfectly Adapted Creature Kept Its Head Down, Got New Teeth Once a Month Friday, November 16, 2007; Page A15 Could an elephant-size dinosaur with a skull so thin that a karate chop would have split it in two, teeth it shed once a month and a brain that, yes, was the size of a walnut, ever be considered one of evolution's success stories? Paul C. Sereno thinks so. The University of Chicago paleontologist yesterday unveiled Nigersaurus taqueti, a strange creature that is helping rewrite theories about how long-necked, plant-eating dinosaurs looked and behaved. Nigersaurus appears to have spent a lifetime with its head in a hangdog position. Using a broad, tooth-filled mouth, it grazed on ferns and horsetails growing at most a couple of feet high. It couldn't even raise its head to horizontal. Getting at trees was out of the question. Many other dinosaurs -- including the more famous and less bizarre Diplodocus -- probably behaved similarly, using their long necks as ground-mowing booms, not treetop cherry pickers, Sereno believes. "It took an extreme dinosaur to open our eyes to this cow-like behavior," he said yesterday at the National Geographic Society's headquarters in the District, where a reconstruction of Nigersaurus was mounted. "It is sort of silly to think that something wasn't doing this. But we had missed the cows of the Mesozoic." Other paleontologists agreed that the new dinosaur will further dispel the notion that long-necked dinosaurs were the prehistoric equivalent of giraffes, holding their heads high overhead. "It would be hard to imagine a more compelling argument against" that view, said Kent A. Stevens, a computer scientist at the University of Oregon who has done extensive research on dinosaur posture. (see the rest by following the link) There is a major argument against a dinosaur that kept its head down to graze on grass. GRASS is a quite modern plant, and hadn't evolved at the time of the dinos. Maybe this dino ate sphagnum moss or ferns, but it wasn't grazing on grass. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Donuel Date: 15 Nov 07 - 08:56 PM old news that will never go away Chernobyl http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essays/chernobyl.aspx |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 15 Nov 07 - 08:17 PM Mel Brooks Starts Nonprofit Foundation To Save Word 'Schmuck'November 2, 2007 | NEW YORK—Saying he could no longer stand idly by while a vital part of American culture is lost forever, activist and Broadway producer Mel Brooks has founded a private nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the word "schmuck." An emotional Brooks stopped short of kvetching at a schmuck fundraiser Monday. "Schmuck is dying," a sobe r Brooks said during a 2,000-person rally held in his hometown of Williamsburg, Brooklyn Monday. "For many of us, saying 'schmuck' is a way of life. Yet when I walk down the street and see people behaving in foolish, pathetic, or otherwise schmucky ways, I hear only the words 'prick' and 'douche bag.' I just shake my head and think, 'I don't want to live in a world like this.'" The nonprofit, Schmucks For Schmuck, has compiled schmuck-related data from the past 80 years and conducted its own independent research on contemporary "schmuck" usage. According to Brooks, the statistics are frightening: Utterances of the word "schmuck" have declined every year since its peak in 1951, and in 2006, the word was spoken a mere 28 times—17 of these times by Brooks himself. The study indicates that today, when faced with a situation in which one can use a targeted or self-deprecating insult to convey a general feeling of disgust, people are 50 times more likely to use the word "jerk" tha n "schmuck," 100 times more likely to use "dick," and 15,000 times more likely to use "fucking asshole." Perhaps more startling, only 23 percent of men know what schmuck means, and only 1.2 percent of these men are under the age of 78. If such trends continue, Brooks estimates that by 2011, such lesser-used terms as "imbecile," "dummy," "schlub," and "contemptible ne'er-do-well" will all surpass schmuck, which is projected to completely disappear by the year 2020 or whenever Brooks dies. "We must save this word!" Brooks said to thunderous applause as those in attendance began chanting "Schmuck! Schmuck! Schmuck!" "How will we be able to charmingly describe someone who acts in an inappropriate manner? Especially given the tragic loss of the word 'schmegeggie' in 2001. So I urge you: Tonight, when you get home, please, call up your family, your friends, your loved ones, and tell them they're a bunch of schmucks." |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 15 Nov 07 - 06:08 PM MOSCOW (Reuters) - At least 30 members of a Russian doomsday cult have barricaded themselves in a remote cave to await the end of the world and are threatening to commit suicide if police intervene, officials and media said Thursday. "They have covered the entrance and refuse to come out and are threatening to blow themselves up," an official in the local prosecutor's office told Reuters by telephone. "They threaten to detonate a gas tank and blow themselves up." The cult members, who include 29 adults and four children, are hidden inside a snow-covered hillside in the Penza region of central Russia. A Penza police spokeswoman said they had moved into the dug-out on November 7. "No one wants to take on the responsibility of provoking them ... because our information is that there are children among them," said the official. They are thought to have taken food and fuel supplies in with them and Russian television pictures from the scene showed smoke or steam coming out of a hole in the snow-covered ravine where it was built. A police patrol was guarding the area to prevent anyone provoking them. "They are simple Christians," a local priest, Father Georgy, told NTV television station. "They say: 'The church is doing a bad job, the end of the world is coming soon and we are all saving ourselves'." Media reports said the cult members believed the world would end sometime in May next year. Police expected them to emerge when their supplies ran out |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 13 Nov 07 - 06:54 AM Is that you, Shane? Man uses shotgun to loosen lug nut Wash. state man uses shotgun to loosen lug nut; effort does not go well MSNBC staff and news service reports updated 2:44 p.m. CT, Mon., Nov. 12, 2007 SOUTHWORTH, Wash. - A man trying to loosen a stubborn lug nut blasted the wheel with a 12-gauge shotgun, injuring himself badly in both legs, sheriff's deputies said. The 66-year-old man had been repairing a Lincoln Continental for two weeks at his home in Kitsap County northwest of Southworth, about 10 miles southwest of Seattle, and had gotten all but one of the lug nuts off the right rear wheel by Saturday afternoon, Kitsap County Deputy Scott Wilson said. "He's bound and determined to get that lug nut off," Wilson said. From about arm's length, the man fired the shotgun at the wheel and was "peppered" in both legs with buckshot and debris, with some injuries as high as his chin, according to a sheriff's office report. "Nobody else was there, and he wasn't intoxicated," Wilson said. The man was taken to Tacoma General Hospital with injuries Wilson described as severe but not life-threatening. The deputies did not take a statement from the man beyond what they were able to gather while he was being treated by medics, The Kitsap Sun reported on its Web site. "I don't think he was in any condition to say anything," Wilson said, according to The Sun. "The pain was so severe, and the shock." It was not immediately clear whether the shotgun blast loosened the lug nut. The Associated Press contributed to this report. [I'd bet on that nut (on the lug) still bein' quite firmly attached, although the nut with the shotgun maybe shouldn't be runnin' 'round loose.] John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 09 Nov 07 - 01:09 PM <3>Blair 'converting to Catholicism' Press Association Friday November 9, 2007 5:48 PM Tony Blair is to convert to Roman Catholicism within weeks, it has been claimed. The former prime minister, whose wife Cherie and four children are Catholic, has long been expected to join the church after quitting Downing Street. According to The Tablet, a Catholic magazine, he is to be received into the church shortly by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster. Mr Blair is thought to have delayed converting until after leaving Number 10 because of the potential constitutional complications of a Catholic prime minister. He was also advised to avoid religion in public by his former chief spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who famously commented: "We don't do God." |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Nov 07 - 12:53 PM I referred to this story in another thread, but I don't want to hijack that obit, so I'll post the whole story here. The Star-Telegram shifts stories over to a fee status after a little while. Starmaker on Center Street By DAVID CASSTEVENS Star-Telegram Marvin Blum's spirits sank when he drove up to the Arlington Music Hall. Johnnie High's Country Music Revue was staging an open audition that weekend morning, eight years ago, and hundreds of hopeful performers -- many of them youngsters, in Western costume -- formed a line that snaked around the building. The Fort Worth tax attorney turned to his 13-year-old. Elizabeth Blum wasn't a country singer. She knew Tchaikovsky, not Tammy Wynette. Twice monthly she and her parents and grandparents attended the Fort Worth Symphony. At home her dad listened to classical music and Broadway show tunes. But the child desperately wanted to sing -- to entertain -- and her father had told Elizabeth, promised, that once she completed her Hebrew studies in preparation for her bat mitzvah he would help her pursue her dream. Even so, the elder Blum knew this was a bad idea. "Lizzie, this isn't your world," he said as they sat in the car. "You don't belong here ... Let's go home." "Dad, we're already here," she replied. "Let me try." And so, reluctantly, he parked among the pickups and trailers, some with performers' names spelled out on the sides. Father and daughter took their place at the end of the line. Inside the hall, Marvin Blum's apprehension grew as he listened to the voices, a roll call of talented, accomplished singers belting out country songs. The sound of a steel guitar was as foreign to him as cowboy boots. At noon, Elizabeth still was waiting her turn, so they went to a fast-food restaurant, where over lunch Blum again tried to dissuade his child. "I just don't want you to be hurt ... You're going to leave in tears." Finally, late in the day, the determined child stood nervously before the judges. She sang one of her favorites, Tomorrow, from the musical Annie, with a taped accompaniment. After the final note, she waited to hear what every performer before her had heard, a polite "Thank you, we'll be back in touch." Instead, Johnnie High wanted to hear the song again, without accompaniment. The founder and host of the weekly show -- now in its 34th consecutive year -- is blessed with an eye and ear for talent. He put LeAnn Rimes onstage when she was 6. High's 21-year-old granddaughter, Ashley Smith, sang You Are My Sunshine on the show at age 4. She still performs and now co-hosts the show. High is a people person, gracious, generous, empathetic, nurturing. He can't watch American Idol. "They tear 'em down for entertainment purposes," he said of the harsh judging. "There's no way of knowing how many kids' lives [Simon Cowell] has screwed up." High won't berate auditioners. He offers words of encouragement, and his show has opened doors to future stars, such as Rimes, Lee Ann Womack, Linda Davis, Gary Morris and Steve Holy. Gutsiness and perseverance are qualities High admires. That afternoon Johnnie smiled at Elizabeth and asked, "Do you know any country songs?" "No," she told him, "but I can learn one." High gave her the title of a number to practice and, to her surprise, invited her to return and appear on his show. The protective father was right about Lizzie's tears. "I was crying," his daughter, now 22, said, reliving what she calls the happiest and most important day in her life. A month later, the teen walked out and bravely faced an audience in the 1,200-seat music hall. As the closing act, she sang an old Brenda Lee song, Sweet Nothin's. As she turned to leave the stage, washed in applause, High pulled her back and together they stepped forward, hand in hand, and happily told the crowd goodnight. Blum regularly appeared on High's show until she finished high school. Now a senior at New York University, she studies music and sings country music, and jazz, at Manhattan nightclubs. Part of her heart remains in Texas and belongs to the person who provided her a safe training ground and helped her believe in herself. "There's no one better," she said. "Johnnie High changed my life. And I'm just one of many stories." Country to the core In his mind he can see Lizzie Blum's debut, as clearly as if May 1999 were yesterday. "It's amazing -- he remembers everything,"marveled his daughter, Luanne Dorman. "Except what I had for breakfast," High joked and flashed his bright smile. A child of the Depression, High grew up in the 1930s in rural Central Texas, near McGregor. His family, High is fond of saying, was what the poor people called poor. Their home had no electricity. For entertainment Johnnie sat next to a battery-operated radio on Saturday nights and drew a mental picture of Bill Monroe and Roy Acuff and the "fiddle bands" of that era as they performed live from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. The lively, heartfelt music -- such as Acuff's songs The Wabash Cannonball and The Great Speckled Bird -- became part of the common bond that united rural folks across the country. When High was about 12, he spotted a used guitar at a Waco pawn shop. Price: $6.50. The boy had $6 cash, earned the hard way, in the farmland fields chopping cotton for $1 a day. "You really want that guitar, don't you?" his dad said, after they had left the shop. His father fished into his pocket and loaned Johnnie 50 cents. At 14, High began singing and picking as host of a 15-minute morning radio show in Waco, earning $25 a week. After an Army stint, he worked two decades as a sales manager for a hand-lotion company, but country music remained as dear to him as his teenage sweetheart, Wanda. The couple has been married 60 years. In 1974 he started his country show in Grapevine, thanks largely to the generosity of a benefactor, Susie Slaughter (known as "Aunt" Susie). High's revue, which showcases local talent of all ages and offers an evening of family entertainment, moved to Fort Worth's Will Rogers Auditorium and later to Haltom City before reopening in 1995 at its current location, a remodeled 1950s-era movie theater in downtown Arlington, near Center and Division streets. Many years, High lost money producing the show. To stay afloat, he sold his home. He sold his office space. He sold his stocks -- "Exxon, would you believe." The singer/musician/songwriter and businessman could have quit, but determination and resiliency are part of his DNA. High never considered giving up, not even after he received a phone call on the morning of a scheduled Friday-night show informing him that Will Rogers had closed. A worker, he was told, had discovered asbestos in the building. After leasing the venue for 15 years, High was given no warning. When he drove to the auditorium, he grew angry. All his sound equipment had been dumped in the parking lot. High set up chairs next door, at the coliseum. Staff members telephoned every season-ticket holder informing them of the venue change. A way of life High's life and career are testimony to the old theatrical credo that the show must go on. In 1983, High was introducing an act when he felt a burning sensation in his chest. After he left the stage, High's doctor, seated in the audience, was summoned. The host was having a heart attack and needed hospital care. Dressed in a rhinestone-crusted, Western-cut suit, his lanky 6-foot-3 frame stretched out atop a grand piano backstage, High said he didn't want the ambulance to pull away with lights flashing and siren wailing. Don't tell the crowd, he insisted. Ticket holders weren't informed of the medical emergency until the end of the performance. The outpouring of concern from audience members helped High recognize that his wealth far exceeds his bank account. He considers himself blessed by the incalculable riches of friendship, people like Patsy Seeton of Arlington, who has attended every show. "I just loved it from the start," Seeton said. "Getting to know Johnnie and Wanda, going to the show every week, has become part of my life. I can't imagine Saturday night without Johnnie High. It's like family." That family includes the host's seven-member band and a popular cast of regulars. Singer Mike Stewart joined High's group 20 years ago and can't say enough about his friend's selflessness. "People have walked up and said, 'Johnnie, I sure like your shirt,'" Stewart said. "I've seen him take it off and give it to them." After an evening show at Six Flags Over Texas, High and some of his cast met at a restaurant for a late dinner. The place was packed. Stewart stuck a fake set of buck teeth into his mouth, buttoned his collar and put on a ball cap. High asked to speak with the maitre d'. "I want you to meet someone," High told the headwaiter. Keeping a straight face, he turned toward Stewart. "This here is ... Earl," High said, picking a name. "He only gets out twice a year, for his birthday and Christmas. This is his birthday, and he's gotta be back in by midnight." "They felt real sorry for me," Stewart recalled. The restaurant set up tables for the group, tied party balloons to Earl's chair and brought him dessert. That's how Stewart's comic persona -- Earl makes a brief appearance during most shows -- was created. The jokes, with High as straight man, are hokey but in keeping with the host's pledge to provide G-rated entertainment. "You've got to set boundaries and stick to 'em, or your reputation and credibility aren't worth a flip," High said. "I have a ground rule. I tell [first-time performers], 'As best I know, my grandmother never said 'hell' in her life. She certainly never said 'damn.' I want you to assume my little grandmother is sittin' in the audience. Keep that in mind. Don't embarrass me.'" Lecil Martin, performing as hobo singer Boxcar Willie, once told an off-color joke onstage. High interrupted the act. "Nobody apologizes for me," Boxcar told High. "Well, I do," the host shot back. High's close friend didn't speak to him for two years. In the 1980s, High booked singer Engelbert Humperdinck and a 40-piece orchestra for a sold-out show at the Tarrant County Convention Center. Beforehand, he issued a very clear warning to the 1960s pop-music star and his manager. This wasn't to be a Las Vegas act. No alcohol onstage. No women onstage. No offensive language. "I guess he decided he was going to show me something," High said, picking up the story. "He started telling off-color jokes. He had someone bring him a glass of whatever it was. Then he got a lady onstage. He put a scarf in his pants and asked her to take it out. That's when I stopped the show." From the wings, High walked out, apologized to the audience and restated his commitment to offering a clean show. Humperdinck left town -- that night. "Madder," High said, "than two wet hens." Big plans At age 78, he has survived three heart surgeries. Four years ago he was flown to Houston and underwent a life-saving operation to repair an aneurysm. High opened a show last month by informing his audience that he had been to his doctor. A severe pain in his big toe was a new ailment. "I got the gout," he announced. Ashley Smith knows her grandfather doesn't feel good some nights, but no one would know it by his cheerfulness. On Saturdays, he arrives at the music hall hours before the 5 p.m. rehearsal, as high-spirited as the show's mascot, a tiny white Maltese dog, Sammy, that prances along the building's hallways behind him. High says he wants to keep working for as long as he is able, and he has never felt more optimistic, more enthusiastic, about the show's future. As a teenager in the 1940s, he thought anyone who owned a Cadillac was rich. He often introduced himself to people who drove the luxury sedans and asked them for a moment of their time. He wanted to know what made them successful. What he learned -- the importance of persistence and determination -- finally is paying off in his own life. "The worm," High said, "is starting to turn." This fall, High's country show is being telecast nationally on RFD, a 24-hour satellite and cable network. He also is partnering with longtime friend Burk Collins, a commercial real-estate developer and country-music fan. Collins is planning a $30 million project that includes remodeling the downtown music hall and enlarging the stage to accommodate Symphony Arlington. A Babe's Chicken Dinner House restaurant will open next door and is expected to help attract showgoers. "I'm really proud for him," said Ashley, who one day will assume High's role and host the show that, she says, will continue to bear her grandfather's name. On this evening, as 7:30 neared, the master of ceremonies changed shirts and slipped into a white sports coat. He headed down a flight of stairs, past a row of autographed photos of Rimes. On one, the Grammy-winning star had written, "You will forever hold a special place in my heart!" The band members were seated, the technicians and singers in place. "Are we ready?" he asked backstage. Parting a red velvet curtain, High and his granddaughter stepped into the circular spotlight, all smiles. Ashley gazed admiringly at her "Pa-Paw" as he turned on his charm and primed the audience, telling the folks, "Y'all please be enthusiastic tonight, 'cause that's what we thrive on!" If you go Johnnie High's Country Music Revue 224 N. Center St., Arlington 817-226-4400 or 888-544-2686 Tickets $13-$16, $8 for children 11 and younger Christmas show tickets $20 for adults, $10 for children 11 and younger Memorable performances Joey Floyd -- "He was about 5 years old. His grandpa brought him in for an audition. I asked to hear something, and he started singing, 'This old highway she's hotter'n nine kinds of hell ...' I stopped him and told him he can't use that word on our show. We're like church. He said, 'What's wrong with hail? It's just ice.' He thought 'hell' was 'hail.' "Joey later played Willie Nelson's son in Honeysuckle Rose. Now he's a guitar player and backup singer for Toby Keith." Merle Travis -- "Merle had a stroke. They said he'd never play again. I said, 'Merle, make me a promise. When you think you can do it, and I know you're going to, I want to be the first one to book you.' We were at Tarrant County Convention Center theater that night. It was incredible to see him perform again. He died later of a heart attack." Danny Cooksey -- "A guy from Oklahoma I knew and trusted called me and said there's a boy he wanted to have sing on the show. I asked how old he was. He said 4. I said, 'You gotta be kidding?' He was a little red-headed turkey. I've been doing this 34 years, and no one has gotten the ovation Danny Cooksey did that night. He sang Old Chunk of Coal. The audience just exploded. Next thing you know he was making commercials and got the part of Sam on the TV show Diff'rent Strokes." LeAnn Rimes -- "To me, on a scale of 1 to 10, she was an 8 1/2. I didn't realize how good she was until she'd been on four or five times. I realized then the kid had something special. When she was 7 or 8 we lined up in the lobby to greet people after the show. A little old lady patted LeAnn on the head and said, 'Honey, what you want be when you grow up?' LeAnn looked shocked. She said, 'I'm gonna be a star.' She knew it from dadgum day one. That's the attitude you've got to have." Boxcar Willie -- "His name was Lecil Martin. I first met him in Nashville. He said he lived in Grand Prairie. I told him we had a show in Grapevine. I told him I only could pay him $30. He said, 'I don't care, I just want to sing.' He did train songs. I had him on pretty regularly. I got him a gig singing and playing in England for 30 days, making $100 a night. He was an immediate success. Later he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry and bought his own theater in Branson [Missouri]. So I guess I had a little bit to do with his success." Shoji Tabuchi -- "He's a Japanese fiddler. Shoji had a pickup with a camper. He would pull up behind our building and ask, 'Johnnie, can I plug in?' I told him, 'No, you come and sleep at my house.' He had $500 in his pocket and was living off hot dogs. We had him on and he was incredible. Absolutely magic. To give you an idea of where he stands today, he's doing 100 Christmas shows in Branson. Every one is sold out, at $47 a ticket. He's by far the biggest success there." Johnnie High's advice for young performers 1. "If you really want to do it, don't listen to anybody else. You're going to get put down, maybe by your own parents, I'm sorry to say. You've got to have tunnel vision, like a racehorse with blinders on. That's LeAnn Rimes exactly. She never gave up." 2. "Practice. Say you're a banjo player. While you're practicing an hour a day, remember there's someone in Kansas practicing two hours a day. You've got to consider that. This ain't a little circle here. It's the whole country. You've got to get better than they are. Nothing comes easily." 3. "If you're hired to sing some place, whether you're paid or not, ask some questions first. No. 1, who are the people I'm singing for? What age are they? What percentage are women? What percentage are men? If they're all over 50, you can't go wrong singing Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, people like that. It's very, very important to know your audience." |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Nov 07 - 10:00 AM Couple Rescues Driver From Train Tracks November 09, 2007 MINEOLA, N.Y. - An off-duty police officer and her husband, a volunteer fire chief, rescued a woman from her stalled car seconds before a train smashed into it, police said. The 63-year-old driver apparently mistook the Long Island Rail Road tracks for a road Thursday evening, authorities said. Her car became stuck on the rails with a train fast approaching. She screamed that she couldn't get out of the car and needed help, said witness Jennifer Freiermuth, 28. Randi LoCicero, off duty from her job at the New York Police Department, and Anthony LoCicero ran to the car as the crossing gates came down, Randi LoCicero said. As the train's horn blared, the couple yanked open the door and pulled out the driver, who needed crutches to walk, Randi LoCicero said. Moments later, a train plowed into the car, overturning it and dragging it a short distance. Neither the woman nor anyone on the train was hurt, authorities said. "She was a little mad we didn't get her pocketbook, but you know, that's life," Randi LoCicero said. The driver wasn't identified. LoCicero, 34, has been a New York police officer for nearly 10 years, the NYPD said. Her husband, 33, is a chief in the volunteer fire department in Franklin Square on Long Island. "We are very grateful for the quick thinking and fast actions of these two heroes," LIRR spokeswoman Susan McGowan said. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 08 Nov 07 - 12:12 AM So it's not just the LEAD any more? Toys linked to date-rape drug recalled Chinese-made beads for children metabolize into GHB when ingested The Associated Press updated 5:47 p.m. CT, Wed., Nov. 7, 2007 WASHINGTON - Millions of Chinese-made children's toys have been pulled from shelves in North America and Australia after scientists found it contained a chemical that converts into a powerful "date rape" drug when ingested. Two children in the U.S. and three in Australia were hospitalized after swallowing the beads. In the United States, the toy goes by the name Aqua Dots, which are distributed by Spin Master Toys based in Toronto. The beads are sold in general merchandise stores for use in arts and crafts projects. They can be arranged into designs and fuse together when sprayed with water. Scientists say the beads contain a chemical that the human body metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate. When eaten, the compound — made from common and easily available ingredients — can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death. The recall was announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Friday several hours after it was announced in Australia. © 2007 The Associated Press |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 07 Nov 07 - 07:26 PM LOS ANGELES — A pregnant woman was killed and two others injured after a brawl broke out involving as many as 30 young women, authorities said. The fight began about 2:30 p.m. Monday in South Los Angeles. Police said one of the women jumped into her car and struck the three victims. The woman killed was eight months pregnant and another victim was in critical condition and expected to lose her leg, authorities said. None of the victims' identities were released. Unique Bishop, 21, fled but turned herself into authorities and was booked for investigation of murder, police said. She is being held on $1 million bail. Police said the cause of the dispute is unclear, but was part of a planned confrontation between two groups of women in their early 20s. Witnesses told police they saw women shout at each other and fighting at a parking lot for a discount store. The fight then moved its way onto the street and into a gas station. Dozens gathered at the gas station and watched as Bishop get into her convertible vehicle and drive it into the group. One of the victims was pinned against another car, police said. "It was totally an intentional act to kill the woman. It was the driver's way of settling the dispute. It was a horrific act," said LAPD Deputy Chief Charlie Beck. Police believe the fight involved only women, which was "very unusual," said police Cmdr. Pat Gannon. "We have seen women around gangs before, but we haven't seen anything like this event before," he said. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 Nov 07 - 03:07 PM Posted on Tue, Nov. 06, 2007 Flier appears to be attempt to lower Hispanic turnout Star-Telegram link A bogus election flier that gives the wrong day for Election Day raised alarm bells among local officials Monday. Featuring the county logo and the county Elections Office "Tarrant Votes" logo, the flier urges voters in English and Spanish to vote on Saturday, Nov. 10. Election Day is today. The flier is marked "Official Notice" across the top and specifically mentions the state's constitutional amendments and the Fort Worth City Council District 9 race. The flier has been distributed to voters in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods of Rosemont and Worth Heights in south Fort Worth, county officials said. Both neighborhoods are in District 9. Six candidates are running to represent District 9 in a special election. Councilwoman Wendy Davis resigned over the summer to pursue a state Senate seat. The Tarrant County district attorney's office has assigned two investigators to collect information on who distributed the flier, said Marvin Collins, chief of the office's civil division. So far, county officials have very little information. "If the intent was to confuse people, then that was a despicable thing to do," Tarrant County Elections Administrator Steve Raborn said. The city of Fort Worth is contacting the neighborhoods' homeowners associations and encouraging them to notify voters that Election Day is today. For years, reports of the use of fliers with inaccurate information to suppress voter turnout have cropped up around the country. In 2002, a flier distributed in African-American neighborhoods in Baltimore reportedly gave the wrong Election Day date and said voters must pay any parking tickets and overdue rent before voting. "To my knowledge, this is a first in Tarrant County," Raborn said. Alonzo Aguilar of Worth Heights found the flier in his yard Sunday morning. He was instantly confused by what he read, he said, and wondered whether it was possible that the election date had changed. Collins urged anyone with information on who made or distributed the flier to call the economic crimes section of the district attorney's office at 817-884-1661. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 04 Nov 07 - 02:16 PM Prairie Dog Problem Deliciously Resolved- Prairie Dog Guinea Pig Kebabs Editorial in the Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the Dept. Transportation has delayed work on the Rail Runner commuter route until a colony of Gunnison's prairie dogs comes out of hibernation. At that time they will be removed to another loation. The Rail Runner project cost is in the hundreds of millions. One way Secretary of Transportation Faught planned to make up her department's shortfall was the sale of prairie-dog kebabs to train passengers. Objections to the sale of the cuddly critters caused her to come up with a solution that is a combination of civil, social and genetic engineering. Her solution- a cuy (guinea pig)- prairie dog hybrid; "easily fitted on a bamboo skewer, yet far more al gusto" than the rather stringy (and ratty) pure Prairie dog. "They will be bred and raised in the comfort of southern New Mexico, and prepared for the palate by chefs famed for Santa Fe dining. And they'll command premium prices from train customers bored out of their minds by the snail pace of a conveyance that's anything but the bullet train former Gov. Anaya envisioned,..." Editorial from the always reliable Santa Fe New Mexican (Nov. 3, 2007). |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 31 Oct 07 - 02:02 PM Apologies for my speeding. The last post above failed due to a "collision" on first attempt. I had to clear the wreckage and repost. And I'm not really "all that Irish." John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 31 Oct 07 - 02:00 PM Judge: Speeding not 'as bad' in miles Court lowers sentence for driver going 180 kph — it was only 112 mph The Associated Press updated 9:24 a.m. CT, Wed., Oct. 31, 2007 DUBLIN, Ireland - When police caught driver David Clarke flying down a road at 180 kilometers per hour this month, he looked likely to lose his license. But a country judge reduced the charge and let the 31-year-old information technology worker stay on the road after concluding the speed did not look as bad when converted into miles, or 112 mph. "I am not excusing his driving. He should not have been traveling at that speed," District Court Judge Denis McLoughlin said in his verdict, delivered Tuesday in County Donegal, northwest Ireland. McLoughlin suggested it was relatively safe to have shattered the legal road limit at the time, citing good weather, light traffic and the road's unusual straightness. McLoughlin was quoted as saying the speed seemed "very excessive," but did not look "as bad" when converted into miles. He lowered the charge from to driving carelessly, and fined him 1,000 euros ($1,450); if convicted of the tougher charge of driving dangerously, Clarke would have lost his license. The episode underscored Ireland's slow mental conversion to metric. Ireland switched its speed limits from miles to kilometers in January 2005, but most cars still display speeds principally in miles. Clarke, a Dubliner, had been traveling to a Donegal wedding Oct. 13 when he was clocked by a police checkpoint going 180 kph (112 mph) in a 100 kph (62 mph) zone. Law enforcement on Ireland's roads is notoriously lax, and judges frequently acquit offending drivers because of loopholes and vagaries in the law. Over the past week, the government has been forced into an embarrassing U-turn over its plan to close the biggest loophole of all — a law that allows people to fail a first driving test but still receive a license and drive unsupervised. The government had made Tuesday a deadline for police to begin citing some 150,000 people for driving alone despite failing the test, but pushed the deadline back to mid-2008 after test-flunkers complained they would lose their jobs if barred from the roads. One in six Irish drivers has never passed an on-the-road test, according to Transport Department statistics. © 2007 The Associated Press ????? John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 31 Oct 07 - 01:52 PM Couple dead serious about selling house Fed up with no offers, will refund entire purchase price upon their deaths The Associated Press updated 2:53 p.m. CT, Tues., Oct. 30, 2007 WEXFORD, Pa. - It could be the deal of a lifetime. A Pittsburgh-area couple, Bob and Ricki Husick, are offering anyone who buys their home full cash-back upon their death and even their full inheritance, currently worth at least $500,000. The Husicks have been trying to sell their home for almost a year, but have failed to do so in the current shaky market. Bob Husick said he's asking $399,900 for the four-bedroom, three and a half bath home about 20 miles north of Pittsburgh. According to the Husicks' offer, the buyer would get the money back when the couple dies. And if the buyer agrees to care for them in old age, they could also inherit their retirement home in Arizona, bringing the estate's current value to about $500,000. © 2007 The Associated Press [Doesn't say how old they are?] John |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 30 Oct 07 - 01:07 PM British cop says pack of vicious cows almost killed him |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 29 Oct 07 - 11:19 PM Many Teens Don't Know the Law About Sex link October 29, 2007 ATLANTA - The tough Georgia law that sent Genarlow Wilson to prison for having oral sex with a fellow teenager has been watered down. But in Georgia - and in many other states - it's still a crime for teenagers to have sex, even if they're close in age. Legal experts say it's rare for prosecutors to seek charges. But, as the Wilson case illustrates, they can and sometimes do. And the rising popularity of sex offender registries can often mean that a teen nabbed for nonviolent contact with someone a year or two younger might face the same public stigma as a dangerous sexual predator. "It's ludicrous," Wilson's lawyer B.J. Bernstein said. "In order to look tough on crime they (lawmakers) are criminalizing teen sex." Wilson was freed Friday after the Georgia Supreme Court found that the 10-year mandatory sentence he received for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl at a New Year's Eve party in 2003 when he was 17 was cruel and unusual punishment. He had served almost three years in prison. Georgia's law has since been rewritten to make the same act a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison. Across the country, ages of consent range from 14 to 18. Lawyers and health educators say most teens - and even many parents - are unaware that even consensual teenage sex is often a crime. The patchwork of laws and ages from state to state leaves many confused and critics say more education is badly needed. "We do a disgraceful job of educating kids about the very real consequences that they face," said J. Tom Morgan, a former DeKalb County district attorney who has a new book coming out called Ignorance Is No Defense: A Teenagers Guide to Georgia Law. "If society is going to punish them as adults," said Morgan, "then society ought to educate them." What schools teach in sex-education classes varies from district to district, but Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, said those that receive federal funds for abstinence-from-sex education programs are encouraged to teach age of consent laws as part of their classes. Trudy Higgins-Edison is one such teacher. She began asking a police officer to teach a class on sex and the law to high schoolers at her Sugar Land, Texas, school two years ago. She said it's probably her most popular class. "The kids are really engaged and ask a lot of questions," Higgins-Edison said. "And most of them are completely amazed that they could actually be arrested." Some states have moved in recent months to craft so-called Romeo and Juliet exceptions to prevent sexually active teenagers from being lumped together with child molesters. Indiana changed its law so that teens in "dating relationships" would not be prosecuted. Exactly what that means is unclear, said Larry Landis, executive director of the Indiana Public Defender Council. "I think there is a view now that 'hey, maybe we overdid it on the sex offender registry,'" Landis said. Connecticut changed its law to stop prosecuting teens if the age gap is three years or less. And Texas has changed the way it classifies sex offenders so that some low-risk teens will no longer have to register. Wilson said in an interview Monday that he hopes to use his newfound celebrity to raise awareness among high school and college students. He said sex education classes are lacking. "Most of the time they just tell kids, 'Use condoms,'" Wilson told The Associated Press. "That's not the only thing they need to know about sex. They need to know that they can actually go to jail." Wilson will appear on behalf of an organization set up by his lawyer to help teens learn their rights. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: JohnInKansas Date: 27 Oct 07 - 03:34 AM FEMA can't even fake it right? FEMA workers masquerade as reporters Employees asked questions at last-minute California wildfire briefing The Associated Press Updated: 5:00 p.m. CT Oct 26, 2007 WASHINGTON - The White House scolded the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday for staging a phony news conference about assistance to victims of wildfires in southern California. The agency — much maligned for its sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina over two years ago — arranged to have FEMA employees play the part of independent reporters Tuesday and ask questions of Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson, the agency's deputy director. The questions were predictably soft and gratuitous. "I'm very happy with FEMA's response," Johnson said in reply to one query from an agency employee. White House press secretary Dana Perino said it was not appropriate that the questions were posed by agency staffers instead of reporters. FEMA was responsible for the "error in judgment," she said, adding that the White House did not know about it beforehand and did not condone it. "FEMA has issued an apology, saying that they had an error in judgment when they were attempting to get out a lot of information to reporters, who were asking for answers to a variety of questions in regard to the wildfires in California," Perino said. "It's not something I would have condoned. And they — I'm sure — will not do it again." She said the agency was just trying to provide information to the public, through the press, because there were so many questions. "I don't think that there was any mal-intent," Perino said "It was just a bad way to handle it, and they know that." FEMA gave real reporters only 15 minutes notice about Tuesday's news conference . But because there was so little advance notice, the agency made available an 800 number so reporters could call in. And many did, although it was a listen-only arrangement. On Tuesday, FEMA employees had played the part of reporters. Johnson issued a statement Friday, saying that FEMA's goal was "to get information out as soon as possible, and in trying to do so we made an error in judgment." "Our intent was to provide useful information and be responsive to the many questions we have received," he said. "We can and must do better." Officials at the Homeland Security Department, which includes FEMA, expressed their concern. "This is simply inexcusable and offensive to the secretary that such a mistake could be made," Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said Friday, referring to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff. "Stunts such as this will not be tolerated or repeated." Keehner said senior leadership is considering whether a punishment is necessary. © 2007 The Associated Press ???????? John John |
