BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 07 Aug 10 - 12:11 AM

Some good news for a change:

Court Rejects Warrantless GPS Tracking

http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/08/06-0

EFF-ACLU Arguments Against Always-On Surveillance Win The Day

Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today firmly rejected government claims that federal agents have an unfettered right to install Global Positioning System (GPS) location-tracking devices on anyone's car without a search warrant.

In United States v. Maynard, FBI agents planted a GPS device on a car while it was on private property and then used it to track the position of the automobile every ten seconds for a full month, all without securing a search warrant. In an amicus brief filed in the case, EFF and the ACLU of the Nation's Capital argued that unsupervised use of such tactics would open the door for police to abuse their power and continuously track anyone's physical location for any reason, without ever having to go to a judge to prove the surveillance is justified.

The court agreed that such round-the-clock surveillance required a search warrant based on probable cause. The court expressly rejected the government's argument that such extended, 24-hours-per-day surveillance without warrants was constitutional based on previous rulings about limited, point-to-point surveillance of public activities using radio-based tracking beepers. Recognizing that the Supreme Court had never considered location tracking of such length and scope, the court noted: "When it comes to privacy...the whole may be more revealing than its parts."

The court continued: "It is one thing for a passerby to observe or even to follow someone during a single journey as he goes to the market or returns home from work. It is another thing entirely for that stranger to pick up the scent again the next day and the day after that, week in and week out, dogging his prey until he has identified all the places, people, amusements, and chores that make up that person's hitherto private routine."

"The court correctly recognized the important differences between limited surveillance of public activities possible through visual surveillance or traditional 'bumper beepers,' and the sort of extended, invasive, pervasive, always-on tracking that GPS devices allow," said EFF Civil Liberties Director Jennifer Granick. "This same logic applies in cases of cell phone tracking, and we hope that this decision will be followed by courts that are currently grappling with the question of whether the government must obtain a warrant before using your cell phone as a tracking device."

"GPS tracking enables the police to know when you visit your doctor, your lawyer, your church, or your lover," said Arthur Spitzer, Legal Director of the ACLU-NCA. "And if many people are tracked, GPS data will show when and where they cross paths. Judicial supervision of this powerful technology is essential if we are to preserve individual liberty. Today's decision helps brings the Fourth Amendment into the 21st Century."

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 07 Aug 10 - 10:07 PM

AP:

MEXICO CITY Ñ Authorities in Mexico say a newborn baby girl declared dead by doctors revived inside her coffin during her wake.

Hidalgo state Attorney General Jose Rodriguez says the parents heard a strange noise coming from the tiny casket. Opening it up, they found her crying and very much alive.

Rodriguez told state public radio Thursday that the doctor who pronounced the girl dead at a hospital in the town of Tulancingo is being investigated for possible negligence.

The baby, who was born prematurely Monday, is in stable condition at a different hospital.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Aug 10 - 12:21 AM

Pop that babe onto the nip, Mom, and bring her back to full health!

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 11 Aug 10 - 03:24 PM

4 Sisters Have 4 Babies in 4 Days
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 11, 2010

Filed at 2:57 p.m. ET

CHICAGO (AP) -- Four sisters from one family have each given birth within four days. That's four sisters, four babies, four days. The same obstetrician delivered the babies of three of the sisters -- 27-year-old Lilian Sepulveda, 29-year-old Saby Pazos and 24-year-old Leslie Pazos -- in the same suburban Chicago hospital on Friday and Saturday.

A fourth sister, Heidi Lopez, gave birth on Monday in California.

Family members said the women didn't plan the timing.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Aug 10 - 09:02 PM

Albino python on cocaine confronts police

Police raiding a drug den in the Italian capital have been confronted by an aggressive albino python which was used to intimidate addicts.

Police had been tipped off that they would find "an animal" during the raid on the apartment in the centre of Rome, and when they opened the door they saw a striped yellow and white snake curled up on a heat mat.

The snake, which was three metres long and was kept hungry so that it would be more aggressive, was allowed to roam the apartment to scare addicts into paying for their drugs, police said.

Animal services were called to capture the snake, which was tempted into captivity using a whole chicken and sent to a nearby zoo.

The reptile had been resting on 200 grams of pure cocaine, and a further five kilograms were found in the apartment.

Six people were arrested in the raid, on top of another six who were already in custody.

The 12 were charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine and illegal possession of a protected species.

- AFP

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 12 Aug 10 - 02:08 PM

BOSTON (AP) -- Doctors say they have found a pea sprouting in the lung of a 75-year-old Massachusetts man.

Doctors feared the worst when they studied Ron Sveden's (SVEE'-dehn) X-rays and spotted a small dark spot.

The former teacher had worked for years smoking fish and had already had emphysema before he felt his health take a turn for the worse this summer.

By the time Sveden reached the hospital, he had a collapsed left lung and pneumonia. Two biopsies came back negative for lung cancer.

Feeding a scope down Sveden's throat, Dr. Jeff Spillane scraped away at an encrusted mass and discovered a sprout. Spillane says Sveden apparently inhaled a pea that took root in his lung.

Spillane removed it, and Sveden's health has returned.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 16 Aug 10 - 11:51 PM

Billy the Kid was bamboozled out of a pardon for which he made a deal with the governor of New Mexico. Now the present Governor is considering granting the overdue pardon but Pat Garrett's great-grandchildren don't like the idea atall!



A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 17 Aug 10 - 01:30 PM

Geek Squad owners send cease-and-desist letter to God Squad

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Virus infected your computer? Call the Geek Squad.

Temptation infected your soul? Ring up the God Squad - just don't expect Father Luke Strand to show up in the same clever little car he's been driving since his days in the seminary.

The young priest's attempt to add a little fun to his ministry has apparently run afoul of some corporate lawyers who care more about strictly enforcing trademarks than eternal salvation.

Best Buy, the Minnesota-based electronics retailing giant, recently sent Strand a cease-and-desist letter concerning his car. The black Volkswagen Beetle has oval door stickers that read "God Squad" in a logo very similar to the black, white and orange logos on black-and-white Geek Squad Beetles driven by the computer and electronics trouble-shooters.

The car has been around for at least two years, when it was featured in a photo of Strand and his then-colleagues at St. Francis de Sales Seminary. The car has a white square on the hood, to mimic a priest's collar, and the license plate reads, GODLVYA.

Strand, since ordained, now works at Holy Family Catholic Community in Fond du Lac. He declined to talk with a reporter about Best Buy's concerns.

But Father Dan Janasik, who was in the photo with Strand, recalled the car.

"There was never any kind of formal God Squad group or organization. Father Luke and some friends simply decided to design a car that would act as a cool and fun way to bring our faith into the public. It's just a conversation starter," Janasik said in an e-mail.

"It's obviously not a Best Buy vehicle. When people see the car in public they usually laugh, and then it leads into lots of great conversations with strangers about faith and God."

Paula Baldwin, senior manager for public relations at Best Buy, said the company aggressively defends its trademarks and notified Strand "because of the unfortunate similarities between their logo and ours."

"This was a really difficult thing for us to do because we appreciate what Father Strand is trying to accomplish with his mission. But at the end of the day, it's bad precedent to let some groups violate our trademark while pursuing others," she said in an e-mail.

Baldwin said Best Buy is working with Strand to alter the God Squad logo in a way that it will still work for him without infringing on the Geek Squad trademark.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 19 Aug 10 - 04:38 PM

Put your paws up!

Police raiding two marijuana fields in Canada encountered 13 black bears wandering the grounds.

When the cops arrived to the premises at Christina Lake, British Columbia, two weeks ago, they discovered the animals and nervously seized the fields, which contained about 2,300 cannabis plants.

It is not clear if the bears were the owners' pets or if they were being used to guard the marijuana fields.

Police Cpl. Dan Moskaluk told the Toronto Star that the cops soon learned the bears were tame and accustomed to being around humans.

"As the members are conducting the search of the house, at one point in time the (home owner) has to shoo a bear out of the residence and out of the way, coming out of the basement," Moskaluk said.

"The owner tried to assure, 'Don't worry, they won't become aggressive towards you, just don't approach them and things will be fine.' Certainly it's a little bit of an odd situation to be in."

Two adults at the location were arrested and face charges of production and possession of a controlled substance.

According to the newspaper, cops also bumped into a pot-bellied pig and a raccoon sleeping in one of the bedrooms

"The pig was a little frantic at the sight of police, but the raccoon was pretty laid back about the bust and took it all in stride," said Moskaluk.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/08/19/2010-08-19_canada_cops_encounter_bears_surrounding_marijuana_fields_during_bust_at_christin.html#ixzz0x5PTyqYh

---

Oh, there was green alligators and some long-necked geese
Some humpy-backed camels and a chimpanzee.... :D


A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 01 Sep 10 - 06:57 PM

NEW YORK -- A New York City man who plunged 40 stories from the rooftop of an apartment building has survived after crashing onto a parked car.

Witnesses and police say 22-year-old Thomas Magill jumped from the high-rise at West 63rd Street on Tuesday. He landed in the backseat area of a Dodge Charger after crashing through the windshield.

He suffered broken legs. Police say he's in critical condition.

The car's owner, Guy McCormack, of Old Bridge, N.J., told the Daily News he's convinced that rosary beads he kept inside the Dodge saved Magill's life.

Police are investigating why Magill jumped from the building.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Sep 10 - 07:52 PM

I bet this is one that David Letterman won't try to duplicate from the top of his theater.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Sep 10 - 03:37 PM

The old western bar brawl still lives.
A professional cage boxer (female), the governor of Pojoaque Pueblo, the manager of the City of Santa Fe and the Santa Fe County Clerk were involved in a brawl at the Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino (a four-star resort owned by Pojoaque Pueblo).
Pojoaque tribal Police Department Sgt. Glen Gutierrez said the fur flew long after the official fight finished and continued into the early hours.
Felicia Romero approached a Tribal officer and said her ex-husband, Santa Fe City Manager, was there although she had a protective order against him. When approached, the man called Pueblo Governor George Rivera on his cellphone; the governor talked with the officer (content not disclosed). Records later showed that it was the City Manager who had the restraining order against the ex-wife.
She was escorted out but later sneaked back in. She approached County Clerk Valerie Espinosa and City Manager Robert Romero who were drinking together and started throwing punches.
Reports were confused, but the County Clerk ended on the ground. Boxer Monica Lovato was hit with Mrs Romero's purse.
In the ensuing brawl, both Romero and Espinosa received slight injuries. Both Mrs. Romero and boxer Monica Lovato were charged with public affray. The boxer is now in Tokyo but is supposed to appear at a pre-trial conference Sept. 27.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 10 - 11:51 AM

There's a reason why that reporter is working out in the boonies. That is a very confused telling of the story, isn't it?

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 05 Sep 10 - 03:21 PM

I probably confused it even more by cutting out parts of it. But aren't all bar brawls confused?

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 10 - 03:28 PM

I imagine so. I've managed to live my life so far without experiencing any. I remember a couple of cat fights in the dorm, though, that might come in a close second (and were the reason I didn't spend long living in a dorm!)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 09 Sep 10 - 10:30 AM

Fidel Castro takes a journalist to a dolphin exhibit and says the Cuban model isn't working; Che's daughter as dolphin veterinarian; and other wonders.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Sep 10 - 12:24 PM

Interesting article

Fidel: 'Cuban Model Doesn't Even Work For Us Anymore'

There were many odd things about my recent Havana stopover (apart from the dolphin show, which I'll get to shortly), but one of the most unusual was Fidel Castro's level of self-reflection. I only have limited experience with Communist autocrats (I have more experience with non-Communist autocrats) but it seemed truly striking that Castro was willing to admit that he misplayed his hand at a crucial moment in the Cuban Missile Crisis (you can read about what he said toward the end of my previous post - but he said, in so many words, that he regrets asking Khruschev to nuke the U.S.).

Even more striking was something he said at lunch on the day of our first meeting. We were seated around a smallish table; Castro, his wife, Dalia, his son; Antonio; Randy Alonso, a major figure in the government-run media; and Julia Sweig, the friend I brought with me to make sure, among other things, that I didn't say anything too stupid (Julia is a leading Latin American scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations). I initially was mainly interested in watching Fidel eat - it was a combination of digestive problems that conspired to nearly kill him, and so I thought I would do a bit of gastrointestinal Kremlinology and keep a careful eye on what he took in (for the record, he ingested small amounts of fish and salad, and quite a bit of bread dipped in olive oil, as well as a glass of red wine). But during the generally lighthearted conversation (we had just spent three hours talking about Iran and the Middle East), I asked him if he believed the Cuban model was still something worth exporting.

"The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore," he said.

This struck me as the mother of all Emily Litella moments. Did the leader of the Revolution just say, in essence, "Never mind"?

I asked Julia to interpret this stunning statement for me. She said, "He wasn't rejecting the ideas of the Revolution. I took it to be an acknowledgment that under 'the Cuban model' the state has much too big a role in the economic life of the country."

Read the rest at the site. I think it is one in a series.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 09 Sep 10 - 01:28 PM

The Danish cartoonist who caused such an uproar with his image of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban has been awarded an industry prize for courage in journalism, with spokeswoman Merckel giving the keynote speech. Der Spiegel remarks that either our memories are short or our values are highly malleable.


A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 02:28 AM

Dog named "Hewitt Avenue" because of where he was handed over, in traffic, to a councilman in Everett, WA.

EVERETT -- The most loyal public servant in Snohomish County government starts each day with a burst of energy that sends his mop of black and brown hair bouncing.

He drops by his favorite staffers on the eighth floor, jumping on desks, looking ready to do a back flip at any moment. Then, full of treats and attention, he abruptly patters to his master's office and takes a nap.

Meet Hewitt, the dog referred to as the sixth member of the County Council.

In reality, there are five elected council members. Hewitt is a terrier mix about the size of a small poodle. He's been a fixture at the office for about a year and a half, after being handed through a car window one day as County Councilman Dave Somers sat in traffic.

"He could stay at home, but he's just so much fun," Somers said. "He enjoys us, and he fits right in. So we've settled into a routine here."

The routine traces its origins to a sunny fall afternoon about two years ago.

See the rest at the link.


Cute story.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 11:35 AM

230,000 Japanese centenarians missing or dead Japanese officials say more than 230,000 people listed as being over the age of 100 cannot be found.

Famed for the longevity of its people, Japan has been forced to do some national soul-searching, after several citizens, recognised as being over 100, were actually found to have been dead for decades.

The government launched a nationwide audit of family registries and found that more than 230,000 people listed as reaching three figures were either dead or missing.

The survey also discovered records for nearly 1,000 people who would be 150 or older.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 11:49 AM

I started hearing about that story a few weeks ago. This should be interesting as they sort out who is still actually around, and who isn't.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 05:36 PM

Was this a nation-wide pension scam?


A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 06:32 PM

The Wardrobe of La Conquistadora.

The most respected persona in Santa Fe and a subject of devotion is a small wooden statue (30") of the Virgin, brought to the royal city in 1625 by oxcart from Mexico.
She made the jornada twice, the second during the Indian rebellion, when the colonists were forced to leave. The Santa Fe Fiesta commemorates the re-conquest.
La Conquistadora has her own chapel, in bright colonial style, contrasting with the rest of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.
Through the years she has acquired a large wardrobe, now over 200 costumes. She is dressed in a new one once a month and daily during the novena in June. She wears her finest in procession through town.
Many are embroidered and jeweled, made by the devoted.

Some of her costumes and jewelry are on display at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art in Santa Fe. The sacristan of the cofradia who care for her made the selection from their place in the cathedral.
Included are some of her crowns, including the Corona Grande, a golden papal crown bestowed in ceremony by the pope's representative, valued at $65,000.
Her cross, encrusted with emeralds, sapphires and diamonds, is valued at $100,000.
The cofradia entrusted with her care dates to 1685 and the Re-conquest.
Her "autobiography" was written by Fra Angelico Chavez in 1975.

"Museum Exhibit provides closer look at La Conquistadora's collection of costumes," Anne Constable, The New Mexican, Sept. 10, 2010..

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Sep 10 - 05:09 AM

Amos - as at least one family has grand-dad/ma's body somewhere in the house, & several had been collecting pensions for years for the body or a missing relative, probably! if you want further info you could follow the links in the story I posted.

Q - it would be interesting to see the whole collection - the relevant pics here are intriguing. Google image search - "La Conquistadora" I've seen pics of dressed religious statues in historic costume books, & they are a fascinating example of past fashions, textiles & jewellery.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 17 Sep 10 - 10:50 PM

Every year a group of politicians, journalists & other interested women gather together examples of sexist comments that hit the news in the previous 12 months & vote for the winners of the Ernies. I can't remember who the original Ernie was, but now I know!

Ernies and dirt dished at sexist awards Politicians, businessmen and even women have been condemned at the annual Ernie Awards, which showcase the worst of sexist behaviour.

The Ernies, now in their 18th year, were held last night at New South Wales Parliament House in Sydney.

And there was plenty of sexist material from both men and women for a room full of judges to choose from.

NSW MP Adrian Piccoli was nominated for telling Premier Kristina Keneally that her hairspray would contribute to global warming.

Columnist Miranda Devine was nominated for writing that: "Some of the world's most charming people are men who love women too much. They might not make the greatest husbands, but many women enjoy their attention, so we shouldn't be out to stigmatise energetic heterosexuality".

But with a federal election contested this year, the politics section brought the most number of nominations.

Australian Christian Lobby CEO Jim Wallace was nominated for his comments regarding Prime Minister Julia Gillard's living arrangements, when he said they would be a factor in the way many Christians voted.

Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce got a nod for his comments after being dumped from the finance portfolio, when he said: "You lose one girlfriend, you find another one".

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott also came in for criticism, leading the field with eight nominations.

But the Gold Ernie, awarded to the night's overall winner, went to students from St Paul's College at the University of Sydney. The students set up an offensive Facebook page that encouraged rape against women.

"Always something to do with rape and consent and sexual assault wins, because that is what women just feel angriest about," Awards founder Meredith Burgmann said.

Ms Burgmann said the event aimed to highlight gender imbalances between men and women.

"Every year I think no-one's going to say anything terrible, there won't be any nominations, and yet every year we have 100, 200 nominations for terrible things that men have said in the past 12 months, so it doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon," she said.

=====

Miranda Divine - right wing columnist referring to a sexual harassment case in the courts.

Our Prime Minister Julia Gillard is - 1. unmarried & living with a bloke! - 2. has no children - so has been referred to as barren (ie. knows nothing about children & family life) in the past.

Barnaby Joyce & Tony Abbot - politicians from the right - Abbott has won many Ernies.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Sep 10 - 01:50 AM

That Santa Fe icon is just like a Barbie Doll for the church faithful.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Sep 10 - 03:15 PM

Sex isn't going to go away, so comments will continue, although not as disparaging as in the past.

La Conquistadora is bound up in the history of La Villa Real and has especial meaning to those who have ties to original families who settled in New Mexico before the takeover by the United States, especially those families who experienced the Jornada del Muerto (1680). The statue was carried by those fleeing the Indian revolt, and brought back in triumph with them.
These settlers have been eclipsed by the wave of immigrants from outside, but their history is important to them.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 21 Sep 10 - 02:22 PM

An Austrian zookeeper enlisted the help of unwitting rhinos by growing cannabis in their enclosure. The scheme worked for years until a stool pigeon betrayed him.

An Austrian zoo has fired a zookeeper after discovering that he had been secretly growing a cannabis plantation in the rhinoceros enclosure he was in charge of. It was a clever scheme because the 59-year-old man had exclusive access to the enclosure at Salzburg Zoo, and the presence of the notoriously irritable one-ton beasts was likely to deter the curious.


Police discovered the 33 cannabis plants after getting a tip-off from a drug user that the cannabis grower had been supplying. The zookeeper had been in charge of the animals for a number of years.

"It was appalling. We had never thought something like that could happen in our zoo," the director of the zoo, Sabine Grebner, told local newspaper Salzburger Krone. "We cater for families and children -- we don't want anything to do with drugs and these people."

Media reports said that the cannabis plants had been well camouflaged and that the unsuspecting rhinos did not have access to the calming vegetation.

(Der Spiegel)

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 27 Sep 10 - 01:25 PM

MUGS FOR THUGS

Munich Oktoberfest Sees Rise in Assaults with Beer Glasses

While certain crimes are down at Oktoberfest this year, there have been more attacks with an unlikely, yet readily available, weapon: the one-liter beer stein. Some of the victims have been whisked away in ambulances with concussions and fractured skulls caused by fights involving the heavy glasses.
(der Spiegel)

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: gnu
Date: 29 Sep 10 - 01:30 PM

2 hours, 1 minute ago
By The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - A network of philanthropists, business leaders and government are distributing 5,000 kid-proof laptops to children in aboriginal communities across Canada.

The specially designed laptops are low-cost, low-power devices, about the size of a textbook and meant to be used in remote areas.

They come with built-in wireless capacity and a glare-free screen that can easily be used outside.

Each computer is loaded with customized child-centred programming meant to encourage literacy, health and learning about science, finances and aboriginal culture.

Cree singer Buffy Sainte-Marie helped develop the programming.

Led by the Belinda Stronach Foundation, the donor group includes the Ontario government, the Bank of Montreal and nickel giant Vale, among others.

The effort is the Canadian part of a global campaign, One Laptop Per Child.

"I believe strongly in combining the power of technology and education and investing in our young people," Stronach said in a statement. "Aboriginal kids should have the same opportunities as every other child in Canada."

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Oct 10 - 08:49 AM

Apropos of nothing, see below; of course it does not excuse or make just all the bad things ever done in the name of "America," but I found it a useful counterpoint.

~S~

==========

Subject: Fw: Fwd: An American

It really is sad that there are so many in this, our own Country,
who do not understand, nor appreciate what this individual from
Australia is saying... THANKS AUSTRALIA !!!

Written by an Australian Dentist 



To Kill an American

You probably missed this in the rush of news, but there was
actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a
newspaper, an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day
to let everyone know what an American is. So they would know
when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!)

'An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German,
Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be
Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean,
Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan.

An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot,
Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known
as Native Americans.

An American is Christian, or s/he could be Jewish, or Buddhist,
or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than
in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America
they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that
he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed
thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of
the world.

The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration
of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of
each person to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about
every other nation in the world in their time of need, never
asking a thing in return.

When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years
ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people
to win back their country!

As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more
than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty,
welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your
teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are
the people who built America.

Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of
September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families.
It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from
at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first
languages, including those that aided and abetted the
terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So
did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other
blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would
just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular
people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human
spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit,
everywhere, is an American.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Oct 10 - 11:07 AM

That's touch feely enough to last me for years. Gag. This thread is for published news stories, not internet chain emails. Just so you know.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Oct 10 - 12:00 AM

Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns gave a moving announcement at the Oct. 12, 2010 City Council meeting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax96cghOnY4. It's long, but stick with it. It's good, very moving. I think it will communicate to troubled teens as well as any message out there.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Oct 10 - 08:36 PM

What's in Fast Food Chicken Nuggets? (Hint - it isn't chicken)

From Organic Authority, posted to facebook by Dr. Andrew Weil.

Frying chicken is fairly simple, if a little messy. You dip pieces of chicken into a mix of egg and milk, roll them around in flour and spices, then cook the chicken in sizzling hot oil until the pieces are brown, crispy and delicious.

But wait! Don't forget to add a dash of dimethylpolysiloxane, an anti-foaming agent made of silicone that is also used in Silly Putty and cosmetics.

Now add a heaping spoonful of tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), which is a chemical preservative and a form of butane (AKA lighter fluid). One gram of TBHQ can cause "nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse," according to A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives. Five grams of TBHQ can kill you.

Sprinkle on thirteen other corn-derived ingredients, and you're only about twenty shy as many ingredients as a single chicken nugget from McDonald's. And you were using pulverized chicken skin and mechanically reclaimed meat for your chicken, right?

No one in his or her right mind would cook chicken like this. Yet every day, hoards of Americans consume these ingredients in Chicken McNuggets, which McDonalds claims are "made with white meat, wrapped up in a crisp tempura batter."

However chicken only accounts for about 50% of a Chicken McNugget. The other 50% includes a large percentage of corn derivatives, sugars, leavening agents and other completely synthetic ingredients, meaning that parts of the nugget do not come from a field or farm at all. They come from a petroleum plant. Hungry?

Scariest perhaps is the fact that this recipe is a new and improved, "healthier" Chicken McNugget launched in 2003 after a federal judge called the deep-fried poultry bites "a McFrankenstein creation of various elements not utilized by the home cook." Also terrifying is the fact that these McFrankenuggets are overwhelmingly marketed to children who love their fun shapes and kid-friendly size.

While McDonald's is of course the poster child for fast food ire, if you look at the nutritional information for chicken at any fast food restaurant, the ingredient list will be dozens of items longer than the egg, flour, chicken and oil recipe you might use at home.

Eating fast food is a habit, but it is one that you can break? No doubt you rarely plan to have a delicious meal at Arby's for dinner, a lingering lunch at Carl's Jr. or a special breakfast at the Burger King in the airport. It just happens. You are late, tired, hungry, broke, or all of the above. You have no time, and you must find something to eat before you crash. All of a sudden a bright, friendly sign beckons from the side of the road: Drive-through!

In five minutes you are happily chowing down on an inexpensive, filling meal. But don't be fooled – the true cost of fast food does not come out of your wallet, but out of your body, your health, and your years on this earth.

You can break the unhealthy fast food habit: educate yourself about the true ingredients of fast food items, plan ahead for your meals, carry healthy snacks like nuts to ward off hunger and cook healthy chicken recipes at home. Convince yourself that fast food is the most disgusting stuff on the planet and is harmful to you and to those you love. After reading this, that shouldn't be too hard.

Full ingredient list for a Chicken McNugget (from McDonald's website):

White boneless chicken, water, food starch-modified, salt, seasoning (autolyzed yeast extract, salt, wheat starch, natural flavoring (botanical source), safflower oil, dextrose, citric acid, rosemary), sodium phosphates, seasoning (canola oil, mono- and diglycerides, extractives of rosemary). Battered and breaded with: water, enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, food starch-modified, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, whey, corn starch. Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.


Full ingredient list for my mother's fried chicken:

Bone-in chicken pieces, egg, milk, flour, canola oil, salt & pepper.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Oct 10 - 08:43 PM

Not As Private as you Think

Not As Private As You Think
Andy Greenberg, 09.25.08, 06:00 PM EDT
Users' confusion about their online privacy raises questions about whether the private sector will adequately protect personal data.

The Daily Number: 57

News for just over half of all Americans who use the Web: Companies don't need to let you know if they're watching you online.

A report published Thursday by the Consumer Reports National Research Center shows that 57% of Web users mistakenly believe that before monitoring their online browsing, companies are legally required to identify themselves, spell out why they're collecting data and who they intend to share it with. Sixty-one percent believe what they do online is "private and not shared without their permission," and 43% of users incorrectly believe that a court order is required to monitor Web-browsing activities.

That doesn't mean users aren't concerned about online privacy. Seventy-two percent of respondents to Consumer Reports' poll said they were troubled by the idea that their behavior is tracked by companies. Fifty-three percent of users said they were uncomfortable with Internet firms merely using their e-mail content or browsing history to show them more relevant ads.

That mix of concern and ignorance could have broad implications for the Web's advertising regulations. Companies that sit on mountains of users' Web-browsing data, including search engines, ad networks and Internet service providers, argue that self-regulation and competition are better than new laws for safeguarding privacy online. But if consumers aren't aware of how their data move around the Web, companies have little incentive to compete over privacy standards, advocates contend.

The newest chapter in the debate between laws and self-regulation: whether Internet service providers should be legally prevented from selling data to advertisers. That data-selling practice has come under scrutiny since Redwood City, Calif.-based NebuAd began partnering with ISPs, including Charter Communications (nasdaq: CHTR - news - people ), Embarq (nyse: EQ - news - people ) and WOW, using the providers' massive collection of user-browsing data to better target and place Web ads. (See "Broadband Indiscretions.")

NebuAd's innovative ad tactics offer broadband providers a lucrative new revenue stream, but have raised flags with lawmakers who see it as a new method of tracking that's more invasive than the data collection schemes of search engines and ad networks. (See "Senate Grills Wiretapping Ad Firm.")

In a hearing Thursday before the Senate's Committee on Commerce, Energy and Transportation, representatives from broadband providers AT&T (nyse: T - news - people ), Time Warner (nyse: TWX - news - people ) and Verizon Communications (nyse: VZ - news - people ) argued that NebuAd's indiscretions mean ISPs need more self-regulation, not new laws. The three providers reassured lawmakers that none of them have partnered with ad firms or plan to sell Web-browsing data. Verizon and Time Warner also laid out proposed frameworks of self-regulatory rules that require ISPs to ask permission to track user behavior and create standards of security for how the information is stored.

But Gigi Sohn, an attorney with the advocacy group Public Knowledge, told senators that wasn't enough. Competition, she pointed out, hasn't been particularly strong between ISPs, many of whom hold near-monopolies on entire regions. Some providers that partnered with NebuAd in particular, she argued, served rural areas and had practically no competitors. "Can I be the skunk at the self-regulatory party?" she asked. "This notion that there's going to be this competitive pressure … I'm dubious."

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who chaired the hearing, seemed to waiver between supporting new legislation and self-regulation. But he pointed to the Consumer Reports research as evidence that Web users might not be able to discern which broadband providers adhere to privacy standards and which don't.

Dorgan, who sat in on Wednesday's hearings on Wall Street's meltdown and the current bailout plan, said it served as a reminder that self-regulatory measures aren't always enough.

"This reminds me of last night's discussion about 'firewalls,' " Dorgan said. In the case of that system's self-regulation, he remarked, "It turns out the firewalls weren't so fireproof."

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Oct 10 - 04:38 AM

Man charged over rude tattoo

Police at Ipswich west of Brisbane have charged a 21-year-old tattooist who is accused of putting an obscene picture on a customer's back instead of the image requested.

The 25-year-old customer wanted a yin and yang symbol and a dragon but instead was given a 40 centimetre tattoo of a penis and a rude slogan implying he was gay.

It is believed the pair had earlier been involved in an argument.

Police say the tattooist will appear in court next month charged with two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm and one charge relating to the Public Safety Act.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 11:17 PM

more tattoo news (but not in Australia this time)

Rolling Stones tattoo too wild for pony A German court has ruled that tattooing a pony with the Rolling Stones' famous tongue logo would infringe animal rights law.

The court in Muenster, north-western Germany, found against the white pony's owner, who wanted to tattoo the animal's right hind thigh to make it "more uniquely beautiful".

He had already shaved a large portion of hair from the animal and pre-tattooed the outline of the tongue, 15 square centimetres in area.

"The tattooing of a warm-blooded vertebrate contravenes animal protection laws," the court said.

"This forbids causing an animal pain without reason."

In addition, the court took into account the inability of the animal to understand why it was being tattooed.

The court also said the owner's desire to "beautify" the pony masked a more commercial purpose.

"He wanted to make money from a 'tattoo service for animals'," the court said.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Nov 10 - 11:39 AM

Poor pony!

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 24 Nov 10 - 06:40 PM

The beleaguered state of Arizona has just concluded one of the most lopsided elections in state history, in which Republicans captured every statewide office, seven of ten Congressional seats, and three-quarter supermajorities in both legislative bodies. Conservatives took most of the local and municipal seats as well, and voters passed ballot initiatives prohibiting affirmative action, allowing secret ballots in workplace elections (to hamper union organizing), and challenging coverage-mandate aspects of the recently passed federal health care bill.

Despite this resoundingly ideological state sweep, there were still a number of surprisingly progressive results. Voters soundly rejected an NRA-backed proposition to make hunting a constitutional right Ð the only state to do so in this election cycle, where similar measures passed in South Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas. Also rejected was a provision that would have allowed state trust land to be sold in the service of "protecting" military bases, as well as one that would have transferred over $100 million from a land conservation fund to the state's general fund. And overwhelmingly rejected (by 70 percent of the voters) was a measure that would have ended an early childhood services program and transferred its $300 million in revenues to the general fund.

Most surprisingly, with the narrow passage of Proposition 203, Arizona became the 15th state to adopt a medical marijuana law. The measure was trailing in the tally following election day, began gaining ground as provisional and mail-in ballots were counted and finally surged ahead ten days after the election to ultimately prevail by about 4,000 votes out of almost 1.7 million ballots cast. Prop 203 was unique in Arizona's midterms in that it was the only citizen-referred initiative on the 2010 ballot; all of the others were referred directly by the Republican-dominated state legislature. The initiative garnered more than 250,000 petition signatures to get on the ballot, a total exceeding the required number by more than 100,000. It passed despite being opposed by law enforcement, the state's top-ranked officials and both U.S. Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Nov 10 - 12:22 AM

Patently odd: thunder-stealing grundies and kit to get kitty on the can
Australia is home to many quirky inventions, and they're worth $12 billion a year to the economy.

It's those SBDs - silent but deadlies - that give us away. But the telltale smell of a secret gas alert could be a thing of the past thanks to a unique Australian innovation that has just hit the shelves.

The designer of 4SKINS, Gilbert Huynh, says although odour-neutralising fabric has been used in sportswear for years, his range of men's undies is the first time the material has been used in intimate apparel.

"Everyone has experienced those awkward situations and I thought that it would be great if you could let one off and no one could smell it," Huynh says.

After extensive trials - with friends and family - Huynh launched 4SKINS this month and says interest in the innovation has been beyond expectation.

"I'm amazed at the number of women who are buying them for their boyfriends or husbands," he says. "We have actually had more women buyers than men."

Huynh's product is one of many unusual innovations coming out of Australia over the past decade.

Although the number of patents for new inventions has remained steady, IP Australia, the federal government body charged with intellectual property protection, says design innovations such as odour-eating knickers have increased by about 30 per cent.

"The value of patents to the Australian economy is worth around $12 billion each year," an IP spokesman said.

"In Australia, inventions and innovations that do have a patent are normally 50 per cent more profitable than those that don't."

Jo Lapidge had her light bulb moment during the movie Meet the Parents. After returning from Britain the family decided to get a cat, but Lapidge begun to wonder if it was such a good idea when she found herself constantly cleaning the litter tray.

"Then I saw the cat in the movie going to the toilet, and I wondered if I could train our cat, Doogie, to do that," she says.

Using a $5 toilet seat and some coloured plastic discs, she designed the first Litter Kwitter system and trained Doogie to use the family toilet instead of the littler tray. "I only ever intended it for us, but then my husband, Terry, and I started wondering about commercial possibilities," she says.

Within nine months, the Litter Kwitter system had gone from a "home-baked" idea to being picked up worldwide after a Reuters journalist saw a press release about the innovation.

Now Litter Kwitter is sold among 12 language groups in countries including Russia, the US and Britain.

If one person needs it, there are sure to be others, which is how a builder, Peter Hinchey, hit the big time with his innovation.

A G-string sewn onto the collar of a work shirt was all it took for Hinchey to get international workwear companies interested in his innovation, the Dustee.

Hinchey was sick of inhaling dust on building sites and although disposable dust masks were available, they were always back in the truck or the site shed. It took four years of trial and error before he hit on the right design - thanks to the G-string - but now Dustees are not only to be included in the King Gee range, but Hinchey and his business partner, Damian Cullen, are talking to a big US workwear company and are considering designing similar attachable masks for other industries.

Exporting worm wee and poo to China seems like a crazy idea, but for Chris Ma, of the Woods International agribusiness company, it made perfect sense.

In 2003, the entrepreneur took one litre of a specially treated concentrate of worm casings from his business partner's commercial worm farms in NSW to China to showcase the benefits of organic fertiliser.

"All their plants were ready to die, and then after they used our fertiliser they called me and said their plants were reborn," Ma says. "They asked me what chemical I used and I told them it was just earthworm pee."

As the first person to import organic fertiliser to China, Ma has opened new doors to industry using something that thousands of Australian households have sitting in their backyards.

"I was the first person to bring this to China, and everyone kept telling me I was crazy," he says.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Nov 10 - 12:25 AM

A friend of mine worked for a New York City law firm as a clerk in the patent department. They also renewed copyright (including Marvel Comics). Anyway, he brought home a couple of sketches that were being submitted by an inventor of various forms of what amounted to fart filters. They all tended to involve adhesive. Ugg.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 10:12 PM

Drugs worth $150k found in man's swag Police have found a commercial quantity of drugs stashed in luggage on a bus in Alice Springs overnight.

Police were checking the bus from Adelaide when sniffer dogs found an estimated $150,000 worth of drugs in a 24-year-old man's swag.

They say more than 2.5 kilograms of cannabis and 45 ecstasy tablets were found.

Duty Superintendent Bob Rennie says the man was not supposed to be on the bus.

"This chap was driving up in his own car from Adelaide, broke down near Coober Pedy, left his car there and jumped on the bus to come to Alice," he said.

"He was arrested and charged with related offences of possess supply commercial quantity of cannabis and a trafficable quantity of MDMA."

===========

swag can be used figuratively to mean luggage, or literally (possessions wrapped in blanket & carried on the back)

traditional swag carried by by men on the road back in the olden days either workers heading for their next job, or unemployed men trying to find a job in hard times

modern swags used by campers/hikers

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 11:34 PM

Those tent-related "swags" would probably be called a "pup tent" in the US. Another idiom to unravel. :)

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Dec 10 - 11:36 PM

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20101202/NEWS03/712039906/-1/NEWS

The neighbor from Hell:


Published: Thursday, December 2, 2010
KKK snowman appalls Idaho home's neighbors

HAYDEN, Idaho — A white separatist drew complaints from neighbors and a visit from law enforcement officers after erecting a snowman shaped like a member of the Ku Klux Klan on his front lawn.

Kootenai County sheriff's deputies told Mark Eliseuson Wednesday that he could be charged with a crime because the 10-foot-tall snowman was holding what appeared to be a noose. Deputies were called by neighbors who were appalled by the pointy-headed snowman with two dark eyes.

Hayden for decades earned notoriety for being near the former rural compound of the Aryan Nations.

Eliseuson could have been charged with creating a public nuisance. Idaho law defines such a nuisance as anything "offensive to the senses" or that interferes with the comfort of an entire neighborhood. Eliseuson removed the noose and toppled the snowman after he talked with officers.

Eliseuson told KXLY-TV of Spokane that he sees nothing wrong with the snowman. But other people did.

"It's such a message of hate," said Amber Caldwell, who saw the snowman while visiting her cousin in the neighborhood. "My kids asked me about it and I had to explain what that symbol means."

Eliseuson has angered neighbors in the past by flying Aryan Nations flags at his home. At Halloween he passed out bullet casings after he said he ran out of candy.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 10:56 AM

An Orange County inmate who disliked salami was able to receive kosher meals in jail after his lawyer cited the "Seinfeld" holiday Festivus as his religious belief. The Orange County Register reported Monday that Malcolm A. King, 38, a convicted drug dealer, asked for kosher meals at the Theo Lacy jail in Orange to maintain his physique. County sheriff's officials reserve such meals for inmates with religious needs, so a judge demanded a religious reason for Mr. King to get the meals. Mr. King's lawyer, Fred Thiagarajah, cited his client's devotion to Festivus, the holiday celebrated on the "Seinfeld" series. A sheriff's spokesman, Ryan Burris, said Mr. King got salami-free meals for two months before the county got the order thrown out in court.

(NYT)

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 12:05 PM

ELK RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan family has celebrated a pair of birthdays this week — one more eventful than the other.

Jessica Porter went into labor early Sunday during a big storm. She and her husband, Greg, began the trek of about 50 miles from their home in East Jordan to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. The blizzard conditions and slick roads halted the Porters' trip.

The Traverse City Record-Eagle says the couple pulled to the side of the road in Elk Rapids and called authorities. Village police arrived, and Officer Michael Courson helped deliver Bradley in the car.

Baby and mother finished their snowy trip to the hospital in the back of an ambulance. They were discharged Monday, which was Greg Porter's birthday. He says it's the best birthday present.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 01:10 AM

CBC reports on sad news for Star Wars fans: "Grant McCune, a special effects artist who earned an Oscar for his work on the 1977 film Star Wars, has died. He was 67. McCune died Monday at his home in Hidden Hills, Calif., of pancreatic cancer. McCune created scenes with miniatures, models and special effects for dozens of movies, including Spaceballs, Ghostbusters II and 2008's Rambo. He began in special effects in 1975 when he and friend Bill Shourt were hired to make a giant white shark model for Steven Spielberg's Jaws. They got no credit for the film, but McCune caught the eye of the film community and he became chief model maker for Star Wars, where he created R2-D2 and many of the creatures that populate the film."

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 03:01 AM

That sounds like it would have been fascinating work. Too bad he died so young.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: gnu
Date: 02 Jan 11 - 11:28 AM

WHA...???

Falling blackbirds baffle Arkansas officials

By AFP | Agence France-Presse – 30 minutes ago

Red-winged blackbird sings at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Titusville, …
Like an Alfred Hitchcock nightmare, a flock of more than 1,000 blackbirds rained on the small town of Beebe, Arkansas, baffling wildlife officials who said Sunday the birds would be tested.

The blackbirds began dropping from the sky on New Year's Eve, officials said, alarming residents as they mysteriously piled up on homes and gardens, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said in a Facebook posting.

Game authorities said they had no immediate answer as to why the birds fell from the sky, and that they would be tested on Monday.

Some scientists said they could have been hit by high-altitude hail, or startled by fireworks, the Arkansas Times reported.

People from most of Latin America, including neighboring Mexico and Central America, traditionally mark New Year's Eve by setting off fireworks for as long as possible -- a noisy celebration that might well have blasted the single flock of birds straight out of their roost.

Of the almost 310 million Americans, about 40 million are of Hispanic culture, and millions more Latin Americans live in the United States illegally.
****************************************************

Like I said... WHA???

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 02 Jan 11 - 12:43 PM

The notion that they all died of heart attacks because of fireworks is a bit far-fetched; on the other hand, the notion they were overtaken by a galloping hailstorm strikes me as improbable as well. They were apparently showing signs of some kind of trauma. I suppose they could have been fired upon while roosting by fireworks rockets or some such. I agree with your analysis, Gnu--a true WTF moment...