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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: Stilly River Sage Date: 13 Dec 11 - 02:18 PM If you look to the right side of the story you'll see related stories. This is a growing problem around here. A growing problem with "adverse possession" scams in North Texas. MANSFIELD -- Squatters were ordered to vacate a Mansfield home they had tried to claim, then the couple was arrested and handcuffed, accused of burglarizing the house. Andrew LaTour II and Alicia LaTour had removed deadbolt locks and garage door openers on the $224,000 house, said Constable Clint C. Burgess, adding that they took a house that wasn't theirs. "We are going to hold these people accountable," he said. The couple had appeared early Tuesday at an eviction hearing before Justice of the Peace Matt Hayes, contending that the case against them should be thrown out. Their attorney, Bob Frisch of Dallas, argued that GMAC, the servicing agent for the bank holding the mortgage, had no authority to represent the house owners. "They have no standing in this court," Frisch said. But a GMAC attorney said that the couple had no legal right to the home. "Mr. LaTour is a squatter and a trespasser under Texas law," Aaron Holland told the court. Hayes would not recognize the LaTours' affidavit of adverse possession, filed in July with the County Clerk, calling it fraudulent. He then ordered the couple to leave the house. After the judge issued his order, Frisch said that the couple understood they would likely be asked to leave the house, but said they wanted time to get their belongings from it. However, as the couple left the courtroom, constables were waiting and pulled out handcuffs. "I have a warrant for your arrest. You are being arrested for burglary," they said. The LaTours were taken to the county jail for booking. Attending Tuesday morning's hearing was Ken Robinson, who has filed an affidavit of adverse possession on a Flower Mound home and who had wanted to testify on the LaTours' behalf, but did not. The LaTours have said they turned to him for advice on using the affidavits. He said he was attending to show support for the couple and declined further comment. Also attending the hearing was Andrew LaTour's mother, Sandra LaTour, who also has filled affidavits on Mansfield homes. No proceedings have been initiated against her so far. But Burgess said that more arrests may be coming. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 06 Jan 12 - 06:39 PM Runaway car parks itself in neighbour's garage A car reported stolen last month in the Adelaide Hills is believed to have rolled into the garage of a nearby home, parking itself perfectly. The car's owner from Upper Sturt had parked the vehicle on a slight slope outside a shop in Stirling early on December 18. He returned 15 minutes later to find the car was gone, and then called police. The man had only owned the vehicle for two days. The mystery was still unsolved when the new owners of a house opposite the shops returned from holidays on Wednesday. Noticing their garage door had received minor damage and been pushed off its tracks, they suspected a break-in. Upon inspection, they found the car inside. Police say the owner probably did not put the transmission in park when he left the vehicle on a slight slope. Senior constable Tim Dodds says they reconstructed this sequence of events. "It had rolled out of the shopping centre car park, across the road, down the driveway, into the garage, through the garage door which then closed on itself and there was the man's stolen car," he said. "It remained under cover for 17 days and so we've recovered the stolen car and cleared up the break-in. "It even made us have a bit of a laugh here in the office." The driver says he can recall hearing a loud bang while he was away from the car. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 Jan 12 - 07:49 PM I hope there wasn't anything of a grocery nature in the car - 17 days without refrigeration could render that new car undrivable! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 26 Jan 12 - 11:13 PM Silk harvested from Golden Orb spiders go into a cape. No Spiders Were Harmed in the Making of This Golden Silk Cape SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 27 Jan 12 - 05:23 AM I've been admiring the cape since I saw the story yesterday - the colour is superb |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Bettynh Date: 27 Jan 12 - 01:07 PM Thar link is gone already. This one has several pictures, at least for the moment. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 05 Mar 12 - 05:08 PM Zoo hunts for escaped penguin The hunt is on for a penguin that scaled a sheer rock face to escape from a Tokyo zoo, and was last seen swimming in a river in the Japanese capital. The one-year-old Humboldt penguin was snapped bathing in the mouth of the Old Edogawa river, which runs into Tokyo Bay, after fleeing its home in the east of the city in an echo of the hit animated film Madagascar. Takashi Sugino, an official at Tokyo Sea Life Park, said the 60-centimetre bird appeared to have got itself over a rock wall twice its size and made a run for it. READ ON & check out the pic! |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Amos Date: 05 Mar 12 - 08:17 PM Oh, I hope he gets away and swims all the way to the Antarctic. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 05 Mar 12 - 10:46 PM Long swim, but I agree! |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 06 Mar 12 - 03:42 AM very clever bird |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 07 Mar 12 - 02:14 AM Spider webs surround house The big wet has led to a glut of spiders in the flood-bound inland town/city of Wagga Wagga - more info about the unseasonably big wet on this thread BS: Australian floods Everyone OK? |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 12 Mar 12 - 03:55 AM APOD - Astronomy Picture of the day 2012 march 12 The Scale of the Universe - Interactive Flash Animation Credit & Copyright: Cary & Michael Huang Explanation: What does the universe look like on small scales? On large scales? Humanity is discovering that the universe is a very different place on every proportion that has been explored. For example, so far as we know, every tiny proton is exactly the same, but every huge galaxy is different. On more familiar scales, a small glass table top to a human is a vast plane of strange smoothness to a dust mite -- possibly speckled with cell boulders. Not all scale lengths are well explored -- what happens to the smallest mist droplets you sneeze, for example, is a topic of active research -- and possibly useful to know to help stop the spread of disease. The above interactive flash animation, a modern version of the classic video Powers of Ten, is a new window to many of the known scales of our universe. By moving the scroll bar across the bottom, you can explore a diversity of sizes, while clicking on different items will bring up descriptive information. make sure your cursor starts at left (micro-miniature to bewilderingly gi-normous) to see the sequence properly. sandra |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 Mar 12 - 01:50 PM Great one, Sandra. That is the photo of the day only today. To find it later, go to http://htwins.net/scale2/ Here's a short and sweet story: PA zoo gives aging gorilla a bunny companion photo. An elderly gorilla that lives at a Pennsylvania zoo has a new companion: a bunny named Panda. The Erie Zoo's gorilla, Samantha, has been without a full-time friend since the death of Rudy, a male gorilla, in 2005. But officials say the 47-year-old western lowland gorilla is too old to be paired with another gorilla. So they opted last month to introduce her to Panda, a Dutch rabbit, last month. The Erie Times-News reports Samantha and Panda get along well. Samantha will gently scratch under the bunny's chin and share her food. Officials at the zoo say Samantha has always had a gentle personality. She was hand-raised and was more comfortable around humans even when Rudy was alive. SRS |
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Subject: BS: Hawk or Mohawk? From: Bert Date: 26 Mar 12 - 11:23 AM It really isn't funny, but.... Man who shot woman says he thought Mohawk was bird GRAND JUNCTION — A 49-year-old Grand Junction man who said he shot a woman in the head when he mistook her large red Mohawk for a fowl that had been harassing his cats has been sentenced to five years probation. Derrill Rockwell told police he fired one shot at what he thought was a bird sitting on a hill near his home Oct. 5, and soon after, he heard a woman moaning in pain. Prosecutors say the "bird" turned out to be a 23-year-old woman who may have been sleeping on the hill. Her injury was not life threatening. The Daily Sentinel reports Rockwell was sentenced Friday for felony possession of a weapon by a prior offender. Prosecutors say the woman, who is believed to be a transient, has left Colorado and could not be reached to testify. Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/robbery-135807-early-springs.html#ixzz1qEjXVd00 |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 12 Jul 12 - 05:31 AM Texas Man Reunited With Stolen Austin-Healey 42 Years Later When we lose something, we search for it for about a week, get frustrated, complain that the cops aren't doing enough, and eventually forget about whatever it was that was lost. We've never had a car stolen, though. Bob Russell has, and even after 42 years, he was consistently on the hunt for his long lost beauty. Russell's 1967 Austin Healey 3000 was jacked from his Philly apartment the morning after his second date with now-wife Cyndy. For decades, Russell, a 66-year-old retiree, checked random Austin-Healeys on the road as he searched and searched and searched. Once the World Wide Web became available, his methods changed entirely, hunting on online auctions frequently for that particular VIN. On Friday, May 11, Russell's eyes must have looked the size of the car's bugeye headlights, as he found the car at Beverly Hills Car Club on eBay. He had the original police report reactivated, had the car impounded and ended up spending about $1,500 and six days of travel and hotel costs to get the car back in his possession. This has us believing there really is one true love you're supposed to be with. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 13 Jul 12 - 02:23 AM What a great story, Sandra! Here's an odd one to follow it with: Michigan woman kept friend's body for 18 months. A 72-year-old Michigan woman kept the body of her dead companion bathed, dressed and sitting up for a year and a half after his death because she didn't want to be alone, according to M Live, a Michigan news and information blog. Linda Chase said that she knows what she did may seem morbid, but that she kept the body of her friend Charles "Charlie" Zigler, who is believed to have died of natural causes around Christmas of 2010, so that she would have someone with whom to talk and watch NASCAR races on TV. "It's not that I'm heartless," she said, "I didn't want to be alone. He was the only guy who was ever nice to me." Jackson, Michigan police found Zigler's body sitting up in a living room chair, mummified. Chase said that there was never a bad smell from the cadaver, and that contrary to what neighbors and some media outlets are reporting, she and Zigler were merely friends, not a romantic couple. "If you had to know Charlie, he had the best sense of humor in this whole world," Chase told M Live. She liked to buy him western shirts and would bake him a birthday cake each year. The two would often go on fishing trips together and watch NASCAR races, she said. They shared a home for more than ten years. "We just had so much fun together," she said. Zigler's family members became concerned when they did not hear from him for an extended period of time, finally contacting police, who entered the home on Friday and found the body. Chase has not been arrested but is under investigation for financial fraud. Zigler's 48-year-old son said that his father received checks from Social Security, the Veterans' Administration and a pension fund. Chase continued to cash the checks, just as she had when he was alive. She said that she knows people will think it strange that she kept Zigler's body for so long, and that she doesn't entirely understand why she did what she did. She told a reporter from TV station WLNS, Channel 6 that at 72, she feels that she's lost too many people in her life. "I know this is horrible, but after awhile, you get…" she said, tears welling up in her eyes, "I don't know what you call it, I don't know." |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 13 Jul 12 - 03:13 AM next!! click on the link to see the photo The first photo ever uploaded to the internet Every day millions of photos are uploaded to the Internet on countless blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, etc. But have you ever wondered what the very first image upload looked like? Well look no further, because the tech site Motherboard has done the digging for you, with writer Abraham Riesman posting a story to mark the upcoming 20th anniversary of the upload. In 1992, a picture of the parody band Les Horribles Cernettes, that was digitally altered in Photoshop, earned the distinction of becoming the first World Wide Web photo upload. So who are these ladies pictured in the image? The group of ladies were lab employees who worked for CERN, a research laboratory in Geneva where major discoveries have been made, including the project that started the World Wide Web, and more recently, the discovery of the Higgs boson. The internet's creator, Tim Berners-Lee, was looking to test a Web system that could support photos and asked IT developer Silvano de Gennaro to provide an image. De Gennaro chose an edited image of the ladies of Les Horribles Cernettes, whose nerdy song lyrics included the words "you say you love me but you never beep me." Part of the reason the upload was so revolutionary was because the Internet was previously seen as a place for conducting serious business, not having fun. De Gennaro, who snapped the picture of the ladies for their next CD cover, never could have imagined the place it would have in history. "I didn't know what the Web was," he said later. "When history happens, you don't know that you're in it." July 18 marks the photo upload's 20th anniversary, although, as Mr Riesman clarifies, this is not the first photo on the Internet; rather it was the first photo on the World Wide Web, which was developed at CERN, linked to the Internet |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 15 Jul 12 - 07:21 PM Guantanamo lawyer Mori moves to Australia AAP The US military lawyer who defended Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks has settled in Melbourne with his family. The Age reports Michael Mori will start his new job on Monday in the Lonsdale Street offices of the plaintiff law firm Shine. Mr Mori, 46, was passed over three times for promotion after defending Mr Hicks and was critical of the US military commission trial processes. In 2007 he was threatened with court martial for speaking out for Mr Hicks. He told The Age that he finally secured his promotion to lieutenant colonel in 2009 and ended up as a military judge in Hawaii before retiring this year. Mr Mori has to study some local subjects to gain formal admission as a solicitor in Victoria but will immediately take a role expanding his new firm's social justice work. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 21 Oct 12 - 12:17 AM Here's a nice story. Music in nature, but I don't want to start a whole thread for it. Mr. Sollecito's Ultimate School of Rock. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Ed T Date: 21 Oct 12 - 10:24 AM TSA Removes X-Ray Body Scanners From Some Major Airports: Body scanners |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Ed T Date: 21 Oct 12 - 12:10 PM ""Driving while wearing Ugg boots could severely damage your health. Vera Baxter, a 49-year-old assistant head teacher, has told a Manchester court she ''thought she was going to die'' when one of her boots became trapped under the brake pedal"". Driving with Ugg boots |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 Nov 12 - 12:24 PM Making our Cities More Resilient Can't Wait by Richard Florida. Millions upon millions of people live in coastal cities — not just New York and the Boston-Washington corridor, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and New Orleans, but also many of the great cities in the emerging economies of Asia, India, and around the world. Their coastal locations are what fueled their growth in the first place, as a recent study titled "The United States as a Coastal Nation" [PDF] shows. Read the rest of the article at the link. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 30 Dec 12 - 08:28 PM Rescued hiker fined over potatoes, naan bread A man has been fined for not preparing adequately before setting out on a three-day trek in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Police say the 29-year-old only had a kilo of potatoes and a naan bread in his backpack when he left for the walk on Wednesday afternoon. The man, from Victoria, failed to show up at his destination three nights later. A search involving two helicopters and volunteer rescue workers was launched on Saturday afternoon. Four hours after it began, the man was found and winched to safety from the Wolgan Valley. He was found to have a minor ankle injury but declined treatment. He was taken to Katoomba Police Station and issued with a $500 fine. Inspector Brenton Charlton from the NSW Police Rescue Force says the man was fined for for putting his own safety, and the safety of others, at risk. "When the man set out he had with him a kilo of potatoes and naan bread," he said. "We believed the 29-year-old placed himself and the search teams at risk through his lack of planning and preparation, and through carrying inadequate provisions." Police also allege his intended route, through remote terrain, would have been extremely difficult to complete safely. They say it would have taken much longer than the man had estimated. ============= Fires are forbidden, so if he has wanted to cook the spuds, he could have caused a bush fire. If he had matches. ==================== |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 13 Jan 13 - 07:42 PM I've heard of alpacas bonding with sheep to protect them & even seen one in action at the Bendigo Sheep & Wool show a few years back. I'd just read the blurb on the tent of the bloke selling alpacas to protect sheep, when a yappy dog walked walked the laneway. The alpaca was sitting with 3 sheep in a pen & looked up sharply, then stood facing the dog to protect it's sheep! Desperate farmers turn to donkeys for protection Demand is on the rise for rescued Hunter Valley donkeys to protect stock from being maimed or killed by wild dogs. Wild dogs are considered so devastating across New South Wales that scientific officials have declared them a key threatening process. Farmers lose millions of dollars each year and now they are turning to donkeys, which are notorious for fending off dogs. The Good Samaritan Donkey Sanctuary in the Hunter Valley has taken to pairing donkeys with desperate farmers like Mike O'Brien. Mr O'Brien travelled from Queensland to get his donkeys Milo and Coco. He says he has lost no sheep since they started work. "I've tracked dingoes going flat across a paddock and seen the donkey tracks after them," he said. "The dogs have taken-on an electric fence. So they really stick the skids on under the dogs if they turn up in your area - and they do kill dogs. "I've had all the donkey/ass jokes told to me and it's like water off my back. "I'm marking 100 per cent lambs again, so I'm smiling." Mr O'Brien says donkeys are tough, bond well with stock and live up to 40 years. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 13 Jan 13 - 08:31 PM Here in the southern US, donkeys have been being used as guard animals in livestock herds for a number of years. They particularly don't like coyotes and rattlesnakes. However, local wisdom (aka conversations overheard at the feedstore) is that rescue animals, especially abandoned family pets, don't adapt well to their guardian role. They need to be introduced to the livestock herd at a young enough age to bond with it. Otherwise, they tend to be loners and may even fight with the animals they're supposed to be protecting. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 14 Jan 13 - 12:43 AM That makes sense. Just the process of having pets that go from being house pets to outside pets involves a learning curve. My two dogs had quite a bit of teaching to do when I took in a friend's lab after she was hurt in an accident last year at this time. After a year with them he's a pro, but it took a while for him to figure out what they were barking at, what they were grazing on, how you're suppose to howl when the fire truck goes by on the road, and not just howl at the coyotes beyond the back fence. :) SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 24 Jan 13 - 10:01 PM Death knell for cemetery coffin dunny A small far north Queensland town will today hold a funeral for its controversial coffin-shaped toilet. The oddly shaped outhouse stands at Millaa Millaa's cemetery but the Tablelands Regional Council ordered its removal because of complaints and a failure to meet building standards. Pat Reynolds from the local chamber of commerce says it will be moved to a nearby paddock in a funeral procession today. He says the community has lost what could have become an iconic attraction. "There will be a funeral for it, as we're calling it the death of common sense at the cemetery," he said. "The weather's obviously going to have some effect on it but we will be removing the toilet from the cemetery. "There will be a procession as we move it to its new spot just down the road." read on & check out the picture! & here are a few more The long drop: Australia's outback dunnies When plumbing is but a pipe dream, it's time to dig a pit and build yourself an outhouse When you've gotta go in the outback, it's the blistering desert or one of Australia's finest traditions -- the dunny. "They were funny-looking buildings, that were once a way of life, If you couldn't sprint the distance, then you really were in strife. They were nailed, they were wired, but were mostly falling down, There was one in every yard, in every house, in every town. They were given many names, some were even funny, But to most of us, we knew them as the outhouse or the dunny." -- Anonymous The outhouse, the thunder box, the long drop, the biffy and the kybo. Most cultures around the world have some version of a toilet separated from main buildings and in Australia it's called the dunny. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 25 Jan 13 - 12:56 PM Wow! What a clever idea for an outhouse shape. :) SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Bill D Date: 25 Jan 13 - 03:56 PM Study: Digital information can be stored in DNA Really... they converted 1s & 0s to DNA letters and stored it in a tiny piece of DNA... then read it. Gives new meaning to "Hmmm... I've got the answer right on the tip of my tongue." |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 25 Jan 13 - 11:05 PM so just get swabbed & the info is available to read! |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 14 Feb 13 - 04:42 PM The Vacation from Hell MOBILE, ALA. — The miserable passengers aboard the ill-fated Carnival cruise ship were slowly making their long journey home Thursday after crews replaced a broken tow line, another bad break that briefly set the ship adrift off the Alabama coast. As passengers came within sight of land and a cellphone signal, a clearer picture of the scene aboard the ship began to emerge. They described overflowing toilets, sewage backed up in showers, scarce food, people getting sick and a tent city on what was supposed to be a tanning deck. What began as a four-day voyage in the Gulf of Mexico had turned into a vacation nightmare, not at all the luxury cruise touted in brochures. The more than 4,000 people who left Galveston, Texas, a week ago were expected to make it to shore Thursday night at the earliest - only to then face an hours-long bus ride or other travel hassles to finally get back home. Frustrations with the cruise line were simmering on and off the ship, as passengers and their relatives questioned why it has taken so long to get back to dry land after an engine-room fire disabled the ship Sunday. "There's poop and urine all along the floor," Renee Shanar, of Houston, said from her cellphone aboard the ship. "The floor is flooded with sewer water ... and we had to poop in bags." The ship was in sight of the Alabama shore Thursday afternoon when the tow line broke, leaving it briefly dead in the water, Coast Guard Petty Officer William Colclough said. It wasn't immediately clear how long the broken line had delayed the trip home. The 14-story ship still has to negotiate a tricky, shallow shipping channel before it can dock. Before the line broke, the ship was traveling about 5 mph. Television images from CNN showed passengers with signs of "Help" and "I love you" hanging from their cabin rooms. Others walked around the deck, some waving to the helicopters flying above. People in boats, presumably officials from Carnival, the Coast Guard and Customs, have boarded the ship. Shanar, who is on the ship with her husband, said the couple had a cabin with no windows, so they have been sleeping outside for days. She said the food has been distributed on the 9th floor, and some of the elderly have needed younger people to bring it to them. They were initially only given cold cuts, like turkey and vegetable sandwiches. Then another cruise line dropped off hamburgers and chicken sandwiches, but the line for that fare was nearly four hours long. "And then people started getting sick from the food," she said. The company has disputed the accounts of passengers who describe the ship as filthy, saying employees are doing everything to ensure people are comfortable. Terry Thornton, senior vice president for Carnival Cruiselines, said they received an extra generator that allowed them to serve hot food on the ship Wednesday night, and that the food services will be fully operational when they are docked. That isn't expected until at least 8 p.m., perhaps later. The massive ship still needs to make turns and navigate cross currents on its way to the port - all without the help of its engines. "This is going to be a long day," Thornton said. "There is no way we can speed up the process." When passengers arrive in Alabama, their stay will be short. Carnival said in a statement late Wednesday that passengers were being given the option of boarding buses directly to Galveston, Texas, or Houston - a roughly seven-hour drive - or taking a two-hour bus ride to New Orleans, where the company said it booked 1,500 hotel rooms. Those staying in New Orleans will be flown Friday to Houston. Carnival said it will cover all the transportation costs. "I can't imagine being on that ship this morning and then getting on a bus," said Kirk Hill, whose 30-year-old daughter, Kalin Christine Hill, is on the cruise. "If I hit land in Mobile, you'd have a hard time getting me on a bus." Hill is booking a flight from Amarillo, Texas, to New Orleans to meet his daughter when she gets there. Vance Gulliksen, a Carnival spokesman, also said the company chose to bus people to New Orleans because it "offered additional capacity and flexibility which was important to us." Thelbert Lanier was waiting at the Mobile port for his wife, who texted him early Thursday. "Room smells like an outhouse. Cold water only, toilets haven't work in 3 1/2 days. Happy Valentines Day!!! I love u & wish I was there," she said in the text message, which was viewed by The Associated Press. "It's 4:00 am. Can't sleep...it's cold & I'm starting to get sick." Robert Giordano, whose 33-year-old wife Shannon is aboard the cruise liner with a group of friends of hers from Edmond, Okla., said he has yet to speak to someone at Carnival. All his information has come through pre-recorded phone calls, the most recent one Wednesday afternoon when he was told the ship would "probably" arrive in Mobile late Thursday or early Friday. He got better information, he said, when the "Today" show called him. "A complete utter surprise to me. I'm excited but I didn't know about that," Giordano said. "That's the biggest frustration for me now is that the media knows more than the family members do and certainly more than the passengers do on the ship." Gulliksen said the company has tried to keep families updated and established a toll-free number for friends and relatives. Gulliksen said about 200 Carnival employees are in Mobile waiting to assist passengers upon their arrival, and some will go on board to assist when the ship sails in. The ship left Galveston for a four-day cruise last Thursday with 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew members. It was about 150 miles off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula when an engine room fire knocked out its primary power source, crippling its water and plumbing systems and leaving it adrift on only backup power. No one was injured in the fire, but a passenger with a pre-existing medical condition was taken off the ship as a precaution. In Mobile, officials were preparing a cruise terminal that has not been used for a year to help passengers go through customs after their ordeal. Mobile Mayor Sam Jones questioned the plan to bus passengers to other cities, saying the city has more than enough hotel rooms and its two airports are near the cruise terminal. "We raised the issue that it would be a lot easier to take a five-minute bus ride than a two-hour bus ride" to New Orleans, Jones said. Jones said Carnival employees will be staying in Mobile. Carnival Cruise Lines has canceled more than dozen more planned voyages aboard the Triumph and acknowledged that the crippled ship had been plagued by other mechanical problems in the weeks before the engine-room blaze. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation. Gulliksen said the Triumph's recent mechanical woes involved an electrical problem with the ship's alternator on the previous voyage. Repairs were completed Feb. 2, and the problem was not related to the fire, he said. Passengers were supposed to get a full refund and discounts on future cruises, and Carnival announced Wednesday they would each get an additional $500 in compensation. Once docked, the ship will be idle through April. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 16 Feb 13 - 07:49 PM I saw this in a collection of user-submitted photos - TV survives floods - A man uses a spa cover as a raft to move a television through floodwaters at Beenleigh, south of Brisbane, on January 29, 2013. rest of photos here - here |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 10 May 13 - 06:19 AM Student driver's lucky escape Student driver s lucky escape The cars after the failed parking attempt. Picture: Jaimie Perry Every now and then, a driver misjudges a parking attempt - some more often than others. Sometimes, we get it so wrong that we hit the car next to us, and if we're honest, we leave our details on the windscreen. But this morning at a Perth university, a 20-year-old student left a whole lot more than his details. Staff member Jaimie Perry witnessed the failed parking attempt and still can't quite get his head around it. "The guy was reversing and he decided to open his door and hang his right foot out, with his left foot on the accelerator," he said. "Maybe he couldn't see properly so he had his head right out of the door. "You know how you don't have as much control with your other foot? Well, he's accidentally floored it and just catapulted onto the other car. "It's really mystifying. The curb is sloped and I think he just hit it at pace and got airborne." While the accident might have provided some excitement for those watching on, the driver was left with a damaged car, a sore leg and a bruised ego. "The leg that was dangling out got caught between the tree and the door, unfortunately," Mr Perry said. "(It) could have been a lot worse". St John Ambulance took the student to Joondalup Hospital for treatment. (see picture) |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 May 13 - 07:46 PM Oh, my! That bit about opening the door and hanging out a foot - not something covered in my driver's ed class! Thanks for the reminder that this thread was here - facebook has kind of taken over for the sharing of oddball stuff. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Bill D Date: 11 May 13 - 10:25 AM YouTube is full of videos of often hilarious parking attempts from various countries. *I* learned to (parallel)park at my university, where parking was permitted on both sides of a one-way street, and failed attempts led to backups behind you. You either get good at it, or you get a reputation. I got VERY good. I once parked my VW bus in a space 2 inches shorter than itself.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 12 May 13 - 09:56 AM Bill D said - I once parked my VW bus in a space 2 inches shorter than itself.... I ask - was the space improperly measured? or did you remove a bumper before/while parking? sandra |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 12 May 13 - 08:01 PM Video shows ice rolling into Minnesota homes Ever wonder what a glacier might look like if it moved a little faster? This video shows what happens when ice begins to melt on a frozen lake, and strong winds push it across the ice that remains – straight onto the lakeshore and into houses. This event was at Izaty's Resort on Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota on Saturday, May 11. A similar event took place on Alberta Beach in Canada last week. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Bill D Date: 12 May 13 - 10:44 PM I saw this 'small' looking parking place, and was late to class...but my old '56 VW bus was easy to steer, and I could look almost straight down in front. (later models had more 'front' in front.) So, I eased in....back until I just gently touched the car in back, then forward (turning sharply) until I heard metal touch metal in front... then repeat...and repeat... more times than usual- maybe 10-12 back & forth- until I could see I was straight. Got out and looked--- the car in back had a pointy hood (bonnet)and my vertical rear door was about 1/4" from it. Went to front...and laughed- my front bumper had a broken mount and was wired on for safety with baling wire, but sagged. It seems that every time I went forward, that bumper slipped a tiny bit UNDER the bumper of the car in front! When I stopped, it extended under that bumper. The car in back was last in line, so it had no issues, but the car in front 'probably' had no room to get out. That was the only time I ever found a note both congratulating me and calling me a bad name. I always wish I'd had a camera along. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 13 May 13 - 05:01 AM wonderful! The emu wars When the army was sent in to deal with a problem flock of emus, they didn't expect that the birds would fight back. For those not in the know, the emu is the second largest flightless bird in the world. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 03 Jul 13 - 07:54 AM Dog suits up for a day in the hives Working dogs have always been a revered part of life in rural Australia. Australia's 'winery dogs' have several volumes of books documenting their role in the vineyards. But to date, little has been said for the apiary dog. More than likely, that's because dogs can't get near a hive of bees without being aggressively chased away. This was the problem beekeeper Josh Kennett encountered when he began training a black Labrador to sniff out the nasty bee disease American foulbrood. The beekeeper, from Tintinara in South Australia's south-east, says that while there are dogs doing similar work in the United States, the cold temperatures there negate the need for protection. "Their winters are far colder than ours, with snow over the top of beehives. We don't have that situation here in South Australia. "So I've tried to develop a suit the dog can wear and hopefully avoid being stung." Mr Kennett says after a long process of trial and error, he's finally got a working prototype. The process of training his dog and developing the suit has been an attempt to find a better way of controlling American foulbrood. The disease devastates beehives, and to date there's no cure for it, so good control and quarantine are essential in apiaries across Australia. After a lengthy training regime, and with a suit ready to go, Mr Kennett's dog is ready for action. "We've now proven the concept, he can find the infected hives. "The only challenge now is getting the dog comfortable with the suit. It's hard to change a dog's habits overnight. "To fully cover a dog up and expect it to do the same thing, it takes time to change how he behaves and to get used to that suit." click on link to see a pic of the dog in suit. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: gnu Date: 03 Jul 13 - 08:32 AM Sandra... cool, thanks. |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 Jul 13 - 03:10 PM I imagine that all of those houses were hit by the ice. The videographer's ability to speculate on what might happen in a few more minutes seems to be broken. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Jul 13 - 01:22 AM Car drives several miles with dog trapped under hood DANIA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — South Florida firefighters came to the rescue of a dog that traveled 5 miles while trapped under the hood of a car. The Broward Sheriff's Office says firefighters were called Thursday afternoon to Dania Beach to free the dog. The animal had been trapped between the car's axle and steering mechanism. A sheriff's office spokesman says the dog suffered no injuries, even though it had been driven roughly 5 miles from Hallandale Beach. It wasn't immediately clear how the dog became trapped. Poor thing! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Jul 13 - 10:45 AM http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2075435/Husband-chops-wifes-fingers-stop-studying-degree.html How utterly awful. How small and petty this man. 'I've got a surprise for you': Husband blindfolds his wife.... and then chops off her fingers to stop her studying for a degree A jealous husband is facing life in prison after chopping off his wife's fingers because she began studying for a degree without his permission. Rafiqul Islam, 30, blindfolded his wife Hawa Akhter, 21, and taped her mouth, telling her he was going to give her a surprise present. Instead he made her hold out her hand and cut off all five fingers. One of his relatives then threw Ms Akhter's fingers in the dustbin to ensure doctors could not reattach them. Read the rest online. How awful - not only that he did it, but that his family was complicit and helped his plan work. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity Date: 07 Jul 13 - 06:06 PM Here's one for ya'............. Some heads should roll for this one! GfS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 Jul 13 - 04:43 PM Lawn chair balloonist says flying days are done From the article: A La Center, Wash., man launched his own lawn chair balloon last month to celebrate his 60th birthday. He managed to fly 24 miles before getting stuck in a tree, far short of his goal of more than 250 miles. Couch said the FAA interviewed him after some of his previous flights, but this is the first time it levied a fine. In his 2006 flight, Couch traveled 99 miles before the balloons started popping and he had to bail out. In 2007, he flew 193 miles before running low on helium and landing in the sagebrush of Eastern Oregon. In 2008, he floated at 35 mph across the high desert and landed in a pasture in the farming community of Cambridge, Idaho, after pulling out his trusty BB rifle and shooting enough balloons to come to earth. The lawn chair from that flight is in a museum. He was at it again in 2010 when he raced another law chair balloonist on a flight that went about 70 miles. Read the rest online. Isn't there an Australian movie about a lawn chair guy? One of the stars was the roommate from Nottinghill and the woman was Eowyn in the two last Lord of the Rings films. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 10 Jul 13 - 09:47 PM Danny Deckchair |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: GUEST Date: 10 Jul 13 - 10:33 PM ""It may then come as a surprise that militant Buddhist groups in Burma (Myanmar) are actively persecuting the minority Muslim population. In stark contrast to the Saffron Revolution of 2007 when Buddhist monks marched peaceably with their alms bowls, Buddhist mobs, led by the radical monk Ashin Wirathu, have so far killed more than 200 Muslims and forced more than 150,000 from their homes. But many are asking how the 45-year old monk, dubbed the "Buddhist Bin Laden", has been able to galvanise such high levels of religious intolerance from the Buddhist community?"" Militant Buddhism? |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: GUEST Date: 10 Jul 13 - 10:50 PM ""Minnesota town has 4-year-old boy as mayor"" 4 year old mayor |
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Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .') From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 Jul 13 - 12:01 AM Seattle's Secret Beach You knew this one had to be a stunt. When you and the rest of Seattle are fighting for space at Golden Gardens on a hot day, ever wish you knew of a local secret beach? Apparently, one exists. Of course, you can't go there, or tell anyone about it, because then it wouldn't be a secret, right? According to Everyone's Travel Club, a Seattle-based travel blog, the secret beach is near a Shilshole breakwater, emerging only at low tide and accessible only by kayaks and other tiny boats. For directions and photos that look like paradise, read more here. SRS |
