BS: I Read it in the Newspaper

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 01:38 AM

SRS -

I pay so little attention to the celebrity news that it's really hard to have much of an opinion; but there have been a few glimpses recently that suggest she's perhaps smarter than she acts. Perhaps a lot of the bizarre stuff is just the script her manager gives her - although she does seem to have a talent for following it.

Or maybe the stuff when she looks a little more sane is the script.

John

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 11:59 PM

I think it was the summary of her misadventures that caught my eye. It's kind of sad, the public life she leads. Hardly gives her an opportunity to grow up, with every mistake being front-page fodder.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 09:18 PM

Does talk about Britney make anyone else think of a phantasy world? ... as in "la la land."

Some may or may not have heard of the website Second Life, where Dell has created a "Dell Island." In Second Life, gamesters create their virtual world, spend their virtual money, and reap virtual fortunes. Apparently, one can virtually "spec" a virtual Dell PC there and it is virtually delivered to ones virtual home if paid for with the virtual money in use; but there is also the option to pay in $US and have the virtual computer (virtually?) delivered to ones real home.

The Dell Island also contains a virtual Dell factory, and a virtual computer museum where one can virtually view the virtual bathroom where Michael Dell claims he virtually had to hide his computer parts from his parents while building his first machines.

The new "island" was announced in a virtual press conference on Second Life, of course. Dell declines to say how much they paid for the rights to "build their island," but it's rumored to have been virtually a fortune.

It all sounds about as real as most stuff about Britney.


Second news flash:

I think I've heard of this one before, but they're claiming it's something new.

The gift (secret Santa?) for the 'catter who has everything.

John

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Nov 06 - 01:04 PM

Okay, okay, I don't read this Britney FedEx stuff as a rule, but this one caught my eye in the Google News:

Listen up, Britney: Forget K-Fed, and stay off talk show couches
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Monday, November 13, 2006 link

Britney Spears may have shed her lesser half, but she need not shed any tears. Now free of dancer/rapper (tee hee)/multiple babydaddy hubby Kevin Federline, it's time for the former Mouse-keteer and mom to get her life and career back on track, and we're gonna tell her how.

Here's our advice for the post-K-Fed Britney:

Don't adopt a baby from a Third World country - We know it's trendy, and her MTV Video Music Awards mentor and liplock partner Madonna has done it, but these are children, not Hummers or imported Japanese sneakers or whatever the latest celebrity "must-have" item is.

Not to mention Britney hasn't proven particularly adroit with the mommying skills - a tip, car seats start at $49.98 at Babies R Us - but it'll also save her the embarrassment of asking for a baby from a foreign country, "Y'know, like New Mexico."

Keep your shoes (or at least socks) on when flying. We hate to rehash an incident from two years ago when Britney took off her shoes on a plane and caused olfactory distress among her fellow first-class passengers, but we have to, for her benefit. Smelly feet don't really jibe with that glam, pop star image, unless you look like Kid Rock or Axl Rose.

Recent appearances and a return to model-esque physique may render this advice moot, but just to be clear: lose the trailer trashy white tank tops.

Take a page out of the Cee-Lo/Gnarls Barkley playbook and record an off-the-wall collaboration with a left-field producer, maybe George Clinton or Fatboy Slim. Bring in another down-on-their-luck pop star (Janet Jackson sure seems to need some love these days) and you've got the comeback story of next year.

Write an autobiography. Make no mistake, the public has an insatiable urge to hear every detail about what a doof Federline was. So capitalize on it by dishing on every microbe of dirt, greasy hair and lughead machismo and relish the fact you don't have to play nice for the gossip rags any more.

Just be sure to hire a good editor. We're anticipating there might be a few typos and run-on sentences that have to be weeded out before it goes to print.

Leverage the above book and resurgent singing career into a side gig as a girl power-esque advice guru for young girls with Bad Boy Syndrome. Before too long, Oprah comes calling with an offer for a recurring spot to give thoughtful words to wayward teens every quarter or so.

Stay away from Scientologists and Kabbalists. After her public relations nightmare of the past few years, the last thing Britney needs to do is have a Tom Cruise couch dance episode on the "Megan Mullally Show" or something.

Get back out there. In that spirit, we even cooked up some potential suitors:

1. Flavor Flav - Purely for comic relief (like Michael Jackson and Bubbles back in the day) and possible reality show deals.

2. Ryan Phillippe - Guy's so down on his luck after getting the boot from Reese Witherspoon, he'll kiss your feet AND the ground you walk on. Just remember the above item about the socks.

3. Nick Lachey - This would be a hard sell for Lachey, who's probably not itching for another blonde pop singer prone to extended bouts of ditziness. But he's a solid guy who can sing (collaboration potential) and might just bite on the chance to stick it to ex-wife Jessica Simpson by moving up the pop cultural food chain.

4. Lance Bass - Just seeing if you're still paying attention.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 13 Nov 06 - 05:09 AM

An article in the November-December issue of American Scientist caught my eye for a couple of "popuot" lines:

Mirror Mirror: Evidence that psychology, like biology, is conserved between human and nonhuman species augurs a shake-up for science and society, G. A. Bradshaw, Robert M. Sapolsky

The article starts off with:

Back in 1974, an unusual report from Jane Goodall at the Gombe Stream Wildlife Research Centre in Tanzania caught the public eye. Chimpanzees had committed infanticide and were engaging in war. Not only were they acting in unanticipated ways, chimpanzees were acting like humans. Goodall's discovery bridged the divide between Homo sapiens and other species.

The article continues with the argument that there is little in the way of a real dividing line separating animals from humans. There are differences in "quality" and "quantity," but little difference in "kind," for emotions and behaviour as well as for physical characteristics. This requires an adjustment in how animal (and human) behaviour is studied.

The article is accessible for reading, but the "interesting" comments were more like side notes:

We now recognize that species other than humans engage in an array of behaviors that bring variety and depth to life: dolphins teach cultural customs to their young, octopi demonstrate diverse personalities, and rats show a sense of humor.

I've heard reports of all that, but:

… This is one of the reasons that chimpanzee homicide, laughing mice and empathetic sheep are considered newsworthy: …

I once knew an old farmer whose eyes got sort of misty when he spoke of a nanny goat that had died a few years before, but I don't know if she reciprocated the tenderness. A separate book review (not web accessible) asserted that elephants bury their dead, defend the gravesite, and return on their annual migrations to "grieve" at the burial site. The same book asserts that elephants buried one young man whom they had "killed out of necessity" and defended his grave from those who attempted to collect the body as if he was one of their own …

But I think the "empathetic sheep" demands comment, and I'm not sure I can provide an appropriate one, as I can't recall a specific reference to this characteristic. Perhaps, if it's true that the some of our members¹ are the authorities here, we should invite some opinions … .

Like, did anyone ever feel she was just using them, or did she really care? Or maybe she just felt sorry for … ?


John

¹Ducking, weaving, bobbing, and running as fast as possible

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Nov 06 - 01:33 AM

Am I the only one here who thinks that anyone fooling around a buck in the fall rutting season has to show up in his autopsy a few marbles short? Penned or not, this animal would be dangerous.



Deer Attacks, Kills His Owner in N.Y.
From Associated Press
November 12, 2006

ELLENBURG, N.Y. - A deer being kept in a pen attacked and killed his owner Sunday, state police said. The buck that killed Ronald Donah, 43, was among about a half dozen deer penned up on his property in Ellenburg, about 180 miles north of Albany, said state Trooper Joseph House.

Details of Donah's injuries and what may have prompted the attack were not available Sunday. Maureen Wren, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said Donah had a license to keep the white tail deer on his property but did not know why he was doing so.

She said deer attacks, at least in the wild, are extremely rare. Donah was taken to CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh, where he died. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 10:20 PM

The only one that seems to have a second (mirror) part and wrong numbers is MOAB. We've tried tricks on both of these threads to try to get them to open and enumerate the posts correctly. No luck so far.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 09:52 PM

Now you know how Rudolph got stuck woth his red nose....

Perhaps starting part 2 of this thread may fix teh problem that means that this thread title is duplicated in the thread list?

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 12:02 AM

Printer friendly says that last post was number 425.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 12:00 AM

Deer's Head Gets Stuck in Fake Pumpkin
By JAMES PRICHARD, Associated Press
November 09, 2006

CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A plastic jack-o'-lantern meant for collecting Halloween candy is threatening the life of a small, immature deer that calls a gated community home. The fake pumpkin has been stuck on the animal's snout for at least several days. It hangs there like an orange-and-black feed bag from its thin handle, which appears to be snagged on the young buck's ears or horn buds.

Ironically, the container that resembles a feed bag and is intended to hold children's treats is instead keeping the animal from eating. It also looks as if the plastic pumpkin prevents the deer from drinking. Animal experts who went Thursday to the neighborhood in Kent County's Cascade Township to assess the situation not only saw the deer but got to within 35 to 40 yards of him, said Bert Vescolani, director of the John Ball Zoo in nearby Grand Rapids.

Zoo personnel, as well as other animal experts, planned to return to the site Friday. If they see the deer, they hope to safely shoot a tranquilizer dart into him, remove the plastic jack-o'-lantern after the buck becomes unconscious, and then take the animal somewhere to recover until he can be released back into the wild.

Although Vescolani and the others got a good look at the buck, which has been spotted in a herd of several deer, they could not get close enough to make a good assessment of his physical condition. Still, the bucket was not impairing the animal's vision, and the deer looked strong, he said. "He seems to be doing pretty well," Vescolani said. "I'm always amazed at how wildlife makes it sometimes, even under the hardest conditions."

Anesthetizing the buck and taking him away carries some degree of risk, Vescolani said, but the creature surely will die of starvation or dehydration unless the plastic pumpkin is removed from his head. The bucket also would make it much easier for hunters to see the animal when the state's deer firearm season begins Wednesday.

Deb Larson, who lives in the wooded, semi-rural gated neighborhood that the buck frequents, said she appreciates the effort to save the animal being made by the zoo, the Humane Society of Kent County and the Grand Rapids-based Wildlife Rehab Center Ltd., a nonprofit group that helps to rehabilitate abandoned and injured wildlife.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has provided them with guidance and other assistance. "I'm very thankful that they are going to try and get him," Larson said.

Vescolani said he and the others will do their best to save the deer. "There are a lot of folks trying to do the right thing, and hopefully we'll get the right results that'll be the best for the animal," he said. "That's what we all want."

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Nov 06 - 10:49 AM

Nope.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Nov 06 - 10:48 AM

Our count is way short. Maybe this will fix it.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Nov 06 - 10:38 AM

Not me! I find PayPal fairly civilized these days. eBay dips into my account regularly and quietly and gets richer and richer, but as long as they let me keep a little of it, I'm happy.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 02 Nov 06 - 11:48 PM

So somebody has a problem with PayPal?

PayPal got bombed on Halloween?

Which oneaya dunit?

John

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Amos
Date: 30 Oct 06 - 03:12 PM

Raises an interesting question -- how many of the old Rod Serling plots would have been completely ruined by the presence of cell phones?


A

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Oct 06 - 02:57 PM

I found that this story had been edited--and actually, they took out the best part! How often does one actually get to GO TO THE TWILIGHT ZONE? I had a hint of that tune in my head as a read this to my amused son at breakfast this morning:

Passengers and deputies noted that Davis drove the bus at normal speeds and made all the appropriate stops. He had the route down to a T.

But Jeffrey Johnson of Orlando, one of his passengers, noticed that things were not quite right. Riding close to the front of the bus, he noticed that the driver looked too young and was not in uniform.

Johnson, who was taking the bus to his favorite barber shop, looked for the bus security camera. His heart sank when he saw only twisted wires hanging where the camera was supposed to be.

Then he noticed that the ads in the bus were outdated. And that it was filthy.

"That's when I thought 'Oh, my God,'" Johnson said. "It was extremely surreal."

Johnson dialed 911.

The bus had one passenger besides Johnson when deputies stopped it in Fern Park, about 12 miles north of the fairgrounds. Authorities believe that Davis picked up a total of three passengers and collected only a few dollars.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Oct 06 - 12:12 AM

I think they should recognize this boy's interest in a career direction and give him a break. And driving lessons, when he's old enough.

Boy Reportedly Takes Stolen Bus on Route
October 29, 2006

FERN PARK, Fla. - A 15-year-old boy stole a bus, drove it along a public transit route, picked up passengers and collected fares, authorities said Sunday. Ritchie Calvin Davis was already on probation for taking a tour bus and driving passengers around, authorities said.

In Saturday's incident, he took the bus from the Central Florida Fairgrounds in Orlando, where it was parked awaiting sale at an auction, a Seminole County sheriff's report said. The bus belongs to the Central Florida Transportation Agency, which runs LYNX public transit services in the Orlando area.

"I drove that bus better than most of the LYNX drivers could," the teen, who is too young to drive legally, told a deputy after he was stopped and arrested. "There isn't a scratch on it. I know how to start it, drive it, lower it, raise it."

Passengers and deputies noted Davis drove the bus at normal speeds and made all the appropriate stops on the route. One passenger, suspicious of the youthful looks of the driver, called 911.

The bus had two passengers when deputies stopped it in Fern Park, about 12 miles north of the fairgrounds. Authorities believe Davis picked up a total of three passengers and collected only a few dollars.

He was charged with grand theft auto and driving without a license. A court hearing was scheduled Tuesday to determine whether he will be charged as an adult.

A message left at the home of a man identified as a Davis relative was not immediately returned Sunday.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Oct 06 - 10:48 AM

That's the spirit! I'd have never discovered that article on my own.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 24 Oct 06 - 08:42 AM

Well we can't avoid politics in the newspapers I suppose.

The Libertarian party candidate for governer in Alabama (that's in the US, for those who need a hint) began her campaign with a slogan:

Vote Nall Y'All

When a weekly newsrag ran a column about her, with comment and picture showing "some cleavage," the columnist did apologize:

"Nall, who designed the campaign art work, said the idea came to her after a weekly newspaper columnist wrote about her campaign one week and then wrote an apology the next week for the paper accompanying his column with a picture of Nall that showed lots of cleavage.

"Nall said she was offended at first that her neckline was being discussed in the newspaper, but then realized that when a campaign budget runs lower than a neckline, "you have to be outrageous to get attention."

"Now her campaign is offering everything from T-shirts to marijuana stash boxes adorned with a photo of her in a dress with a plunging neckline and the words: "More of these boobs."

"Below that are pictures of other candidates for governor — including Republican incumbent Bob Riley and Democratic Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley — along with the words: "And less of these boobs."

The picture she's using on the campaign stuff appears to be This One.

Story at MSNBC

"No matter how far back Nall finishes on Nov. 7, that won't be the last that voters will see of her. She's already making plans to run against Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in Alabama's 3rd Congressional District in 2008.

""I enjoy this," she said."

John

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Amos
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 08:28 PM

If it 's not too late perhaps he can let a contract with young Jackson.


A

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 07:55 PM

I have a friend whose ex-wife attempted to murder him and his kids - the boy still bears the knife scars on his back - she regularly hooks up with new guys who she manages to convince that it happened the other way round - so he regularly gets visits from new guys trying to 'sort him out'...

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 05:45 PM

Some days you read about the sick people in the world and you want to shut the blinds and curl up with a good book. Probably NOT a murder mystery. . . what kind of sick game was this young woman playing, why ISN'T she under arrest, all things considered, and how did she convince this guy of the veracity of her made-up story? I wonder she really had been up to? Or what she though this guy might do to her? All speculation leads down dark alleys.


Sailor Kills Marine After Lie About Rape
From Associated Press
October 23, 2006

NORFOLK, Va. - A sailor pleaded guilty Monday to abducting and killing a Marine corporal he thought had been involved in a gang rape. The rape turned out to be a lie, but the truth surfaced too late.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Cooper Jackson, 23, pleaded guilty Monday to premeditated murder, kidnapping, impersonating a Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent and obstruction of justice in connection with the death of Cpl. Justin L. Huff, 23. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to spare him a possible death sentence.

Federal agents had testified at his Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury investigation, that Jackson had been fooled into falling in love with a woman who called herself Samantha and made up a story about being raped by servicemen.

"Samantha" turned out to be Ashley Elrod, a 22-year-old hotel clerk on North Carolina's Outer Banks, who testified that she lied about being raped. She said she "might have" told Jackson that one of the Marines was named Huff or Huffman, and she said Jackson called her after Huff was killed. Elrod has not been charged.

During his court-martial, Jackson told the Navy judge how he posed as an NCIS agent and took Huff to North Carolina to get information about the purported rape. He said he then slit Huff's throat and buried the body to avoid being caught. "I'd broken several laws and I had a missing Marine with me," Jackson said at his hearing Monday. "Quite frankly, I was scared of the consequences of what would happen, of being caught, more so than I was of the consequences of taking his life."

If the judge accepts the plea, Jackson could be sentenced to life in prison with or without the possibility of parole, said his lawyer, Don Marcari. The sentencing phase was to begin Tuesday.

Huff, 23, of Indianapolis, was reported missing Jan. 2 after he didn't show up for class at the Navy and Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center in Virginia Beach, where Jackson also was a student. Agents said Jackson, of Boones Mill, confessed when they questioned him Jan. 12. The next day, he led agents to Huff's body in a wooded area in Currituck County, N.C., just south of the Virginia-North Carolina border.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 22 Oct 06 - 05:06 AM

OK - Don't eat blue ice then...

BTW, the other day a bolt fell from a Singapore Airlines plane on takeoff into a house in Aus - it smashed a couple of roof tiles, and cracked the ceiling.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Oct 06 - 01:04 AM

Toilet ice rips hole in couple's roof
Associated Press

CHINO, Calif. - A chunk of blue ice, apparently from the holding tank of an aircraft toilet, ripped a hole in an elderly couple's roof and destroyed a bed. William McElroy was watching a movie with his wife Evelyn and would normally have been in the bed when the block of ice crashed into the house Wednesday night.

"It was a huge crash. It shook the whole building but we thought it was a car," McElroy said. The couple went outside to investigate but found nothing, so they returned to finish watching the movie.

They didn't discover the chunk of ice on the bed and the 2-foot-wide hole in the ceiling until Thursday morning.

"If I'd been looking at TV (in his bedroom) I'd have had it," he said.

"I think we had somebody extra looking over us," Evelyn McElroy said from her wheelchair Thursday afternoon.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said Thursday if the offending chunk of ice is from an airplane, then it is likely the cause of a leak in a holding tank of the aircraft's bathroom.

Blue ice occurs when waste leaks from a plane's bathroom onto the outside of the plane and freezes at high altitudes. The liquid begins to thaw as the plane descends, Gregor said.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Amos
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 10:40 AM

A Clyo landlord was accused of trespassing when she was found sleeping at a property she rents.

Deputies responded to a call at 5:47 a.m. Oct. 10 in which Jennifer Lynn Ingram of 110 Lehigh Circle was found sleeping at 120 Lehigh Circle, a property she rents. The renter said she returned home from work to find Ingram asleep in the master bedroom.

Police said Ingram smelled of alcohol when she was escorted from the house.

Officers offered a phone to Ingram so she could call for someone to pick her up, but she snatched the phone and screamed profanities, according to the police report.

When officers tried to arrest Ingram, she began struggling and fighting. An officer said Ingram broke a radio clip on his belt. When placed in a police car, Ingram struck her head against the window and kicked her feet.

At Effingham County Jail, jailers used a stun gun on Ingram.

Ingram was charged with interference with government property, disorderly conduct and obstruction.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Amos
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 03:43 PM

Drunk Norwegian breaks into prison
Associated Press

OSLO, Norway - In a different kind of jail break, a very drunk young man surprised prison guards by breaking into their northern Norway jail. "You might say we were a bit perturbed to find this person on our turf," prison warden Geir Broen said on the state radio network NRK on Monday.

Broen said the district prison in the Arctic town of Bodoe is rebuilding its outer fence, and that the man broke through a section of temporary fencing.

The weak fence is of no help to real prisoners seeking a way out, since they are confined within the walls of the jail compound.

The Norwegian, identified only as being in his 20s, was apparently was trying to find his way home after a Friday night party.

"I don't think this guy knew where he was, and he was pretty well under the influence," Broen said on the radio.

When police came to pick up the man to take him home, he told them he thought he was in Moerkved, a neighborhood about 6 miles east of the prison.

"I guess you could say this was notable day in the history of the Bodoe Jail," Broen said. "But I hope we don't have many similar incidents in the future."

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Amos
Date: 15 Oct 06 - 09:31 PM

Woman gives birth to grandchild

Countries have different attitudes to surrogacy

BBC

A Japanese woman in her 50s gave birth to her own grandchild last year, using an egg from her daughter and sperm from her son-in-law, a doctor has revealed.
It was the first time a woman has acted as a surrogate mother for her daughter in Japan, local media reported.

The case is set to stir debate in Japan where surrogate births are opposed by the government and a key medical group.

Japan's justice ministry also views the woman who gives birth as a child's mother - not the biological mother.

This legal position has led a Japanese celebrity couple to go to the courts to try to win the right to register twins born to a surrogate mother as their own children. Their case is continuing.


Yahiro Netsu, the head of the Suwa maternity clinic in Nagano, told a news conference that the woman gave birth last year, Reuters reported.

She had agreed to in vitro fertilisation and to act as a surrogate mother because her daughter had had her uterus removed due to cancer and was therefore unable to bear children.

Both the mother and child were reported to be in good health.

Dr Netsu said the woman had first registered the baby as her own and then the child was adopted by her daughter and son-in-law.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 14 Oct 06 - 09:29 AM

I suppose that could be called an IdenTITy Parade...

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Oct 06 - 06:18 PM

I've talked to my kids about this several times. If someone tries to abduct you from a parking lot, put up a fight right there. Never let them get you under their control and take you away, hoping they won't hurt you like they say they won't. They're sick and they're lying. Same goes for this school stuff-don't think like a victim, don't let that individual have control. I see I'm not the only one who has had those those thoughts. More power to them. Burleson is the school district directly south of where my son goes to school.

link
Posted on Fri, Oct. 13, 2006

Students told to fight back if gunman attacks

The Associated Press


BURLESON - Youngsters in a suburban Fort Worth school district are being taught not to sit there like good boys and girls with their hands folded if a gunman invades the classroom, but to rush him and hit him with everything they got - books, pencils, legs and arms.

"Getting under desks and praying for rescue from professionals is not a recipe for success," said Robin Browne, a major in the British Army reserve and an instructor for Response Options, the company providing the training to the Burleson schools.

That kind of fight-back advice is all but unheard of among schools, and some fear it will get children killed.

But school officials in Burleson said they are drawing on the lessons learned from a string of disasters such as Columbine in 1999 and the Amish schoolhouse attack in Pennsylvania last week.

The school system in this working-class suburb of about 26,000 is believed to be the first in the nation to train all its teachers and students to fight back, Browne said.

At Burleson - which has 10 schools and about 8,500 students - the training covers various emergencies, such as tornadoes, fires and situations where first aid is required. Among the lessons: Use a belt as a sling for broken bones, and shoelaces make good tourniquets.

Students are also instructed not to comply with a gunman's orders, and to take him down.

Browne recommends students and teachers "react immediately to the sight of a gun by picking up anything and everything and throwing it at the head and body of the attacker and making as much noise as possible. Go toward him as fast as we can and bring them down."

Response Options trains students and teachers to "lock onto the attacker's limbs and use their body weight," Browne said. Everyday classroom objects, such as paperbacks and pencils, can become weapons.

"We show them they can win," he said. "The fact that someone walks into a classroom with a gun does not make them a god. Five or six seventh-grade kids and a 95-pound art teacher can basically challenge, bring down and immobilize a 200-pound man with a gun."

The fight-back training parallels the change in thinking that has occurred since Sept. 11, when United Flight 93 made it clear that the usual advice during a hijacking _ Don't try to be a hero, and no one will get hurt _ no longer holds. Flight attendants and passengers are now encouraged to rush the cockpit.

Similarly, women and youngsters are often told by safety experts to kick, scream and claw they way out during a rape attempt or a child-snatching.

In 1998 in Oregon, a 17-year-old high school wrestling star with a bullet in his chest stopped a rampage by tackling a teenager who had opened fire in the cafeteria. The gunman killed two students, as well as his parents, and 22 other were wounded.

Hilda Quiroz of the National School Safety Center, a nonprofit advocacy group in California, said she knows of no other school system in the country that is offering fight-back training, and found the strategy at Burleson troubling.

"If kids are saved, then this is the most wonderful thing in the world. If kids are killed, people are going to wonder who's to blame," she said. "How much common sense will a student have in a time of panic?"

Terry Grisham, spokesman for the Tarrant County Sheriff's Department, said he, too, had concerns, though he had not seen details of the program.

"You're telling kids to do what a tactical officer is trained to do, and they have a lot of guns and ballistic shields," he said. "If my school was teaching that, I'd be upset, frankly."

Some students said they appreciate the training.

"It's harder to hit a moving target than a target that is standing still," said 14-year-old Jessica Justice, who received the training over the summer during freshman orientation at Burleson High.

William Lassiter, manager of the North Carolina-based Center for Prevention of School Violence, said past attacks indicate that fighting back, at least by teachers and staff, has its merits.

"At Columbine, teachers told students to get down and get on the floors, and gunmen went around and shot people on the floors," Lassiter said. "I know this sounds chaotic and I know it doesn't sound like a great solution, but it's better than leaving them there to get shot."

Lassiter questioned, however, whether students should be included in the fight-back training: "That's going to scare the you-know-what out of them."

Most of the freshman class at Burleson's high school underwent instruction during orientation, and eventually all Burleson students will receive some training, even the elementary school children.

"We want them to know if Miss Valley says to run out of the room screaming, that is exactly what they need to do," said Jeanie Gilbert, district director of emergency management. She said students and teachers should have "a fighting chance in every situation."

"It's terribly sad that when I get up in the morning that I have to wonder what may happen today either in our area or in the nation," Gilbert said. "Something that happens in Pennsylvania has that ripple effect across the country."

Burleson High Principal Paul Cash said he has received no complaints from parents about the training. Stacy Vaughn, the president of the Parent-Teacher Organization at Norwood Elementary in Burleson, supports the program.

"I feel like our kids should be armed with the information that these types of possibilities exist," Vaughn said.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Oct 06 - 06:20 PM

We usually post the articles, that's the nature of this thread. I found this version of the story at
Deutsche Welle

A number of women who ran off without paying after having breast enlargement operations at a Cologne clinic are being hunted by police who have issued posters of the errant breasts in a bid to catch the fraudsters.

German police have issued a set of "wanted" posters which may themselves become the victims of crime.

In the search for several women who have run out on a Cologne cosmetic surgeon without paying for their breast enlargements, local cops have issued photos of the breasts in question in an attempt to capture the perpetrators.

While hoping the pictures will lead to an arrest, there are fears that the pictures themselves could end up on the bedroom walls of local teenage boys. However, this remote possibility has not stopped the Cologne cops using all the resources at hand to catch the top-heavy fraudsters.

"The women registered under fake names," Michael König, the Cologne surgeon, told Bild newspaper. "After the operations, which lasted about an hour, they just ran away."

Post-op runner leaves surgeon out of pocket

According to König, one patient, "Tanja", went out for "fresh air" after an 8,000-euro ($10,000) boob job. "She never came back and never paid," König said. He now plans to demand payment in advance.

Bild published a five-column picture of Tanja's naked breasts. "It's probably the most unusual 'wanted' poster police ever had," the newspaper wrote.

The fraudsters are still at large.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Emma B
Date: 06 Oct 06 - 06:58 AM

Identity Parade?

A German plastic surgeon who was cheated out of payment by several women has given pictures of their enlarged breasts to police, in the hope the photos will help trace them. REUTERS/Ian Waldie

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Oct 06 - 01:41 AM

What kind of weenie (pun intended) would even consider such a stunt? With such a sharp, stupid, and strong animal? How would he hold the animal in place and not come away with every part of him like a pincushion?

Pause a moment and mull over that mental image. . .

I feel pretty confident this article is there to test the level of gullibility of the readers. Or to check to see if they're paying attention.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Amos
Date: 05 Oct 06 - 03:30 PM

..therefore, I am not."

Hmmmmmmm...

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Oct 06 - 01:48 PM

I think not.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Amos
Date: 05 Oct 06 - 01:19 PM

From Ananova Quirky News:


Ananova:   

Man needed surgery after sex with hedgehog

A Serbian man needed emergency surgery after he had sex with a hedgehog on a witchdoctor's advice.

Zoran Nikolovic, 35, from Belgrade, says the witchdoctor told him it would cure his premature ejaculation.

But he ended up in an operating theatre after the hedgehog's needles left his penis severely lacerated.

A hospital spokesman said: "The animal was apparently unhurt and the patient came off much worse from the encounter. We have managed to repair the damage to his penis."

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Sep 06 - 04:33 PM

I bet MOM MOAB would like this.

400

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Sep 06 - 04:32 PM

Police: Strangled 'Intruder' a Hit Man
From Associated Press, September 16, 2006

PORTLAND, Ore. - When Susan Kuhnhausen returned home from work one day earlier this month, she encountered an intruder wielding a claw hammer. After a struggle, the 51-year-old nurse fended off her attacker by strangling him with her bare hands.

Neighbors praised the woman for her bravery, and investigators said they believed the dead man - Edward Dalton Haffey - was burglarizing Kuhnhausen's home. But after an investigation, police now say the intruder Kuhnhausen strangled was apparently a hit man hired by her estranged husband - Michael James Kuhnhausen Sr. - to kill her.

The 58-year-old husband was taken into custody Thursday and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder. He was ordered held on $500,000 bail.

Haffey had worked as a custodian under Kuhnhausen at an adult video store, according an affidavit filed by the Multnomah County District Attorney's office.

Kuhnhausen and his wife were in the process of getting a divorce, and she told officers "her husband was distraught about the divorce and wanting to reconcile but that she was insisting on the divorce," the affidavit states.

A background check showed Haffey had served lengthy prison terms for conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and convictions for robbery and burglary.

Inside a backpack Haffey left at the scene was a day planner with "Call Mike, Get letter," scribbled on the week of Sept. 4, the affidavit said. Michael Kuhnhausen's cell phone number was jotted on the inside of a folder, it said.

An emergency room nurse who lives in a southeast Portland neighborhood, Susan Kuhnhausen arrived home on the evening of Sept. 6 to find Haffey coming at her with a claw hammer.

She was struck in the head and wrested the weapon away, but the struggle continued and Haffey bit the nurse, according to police. A large woman, she was eventually able to get the slight Haffey into a chokehold and police later found him dead in a hallway. An autopsy revealed the cause of death as strangulation.

Police say she acted in self-defense.

There was no sign of forced entry into the home, but according to the affidavit, Susan Kuhnhausen offered an explanation for the lack of evidence of a break-in: Her estranged husband had the security codes for the home's alarm system, and would have been able to disarm it.

Michael Kuhnhausen denies any involvement, the affidavit states.

Susan Kuhnhausen was out of town attending a nursing conference and did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

She left this message on her voicemail: "I'm not able to answer all the calls that I've received in the past few days. I'm being comforted by your concern and your support. I want you to know that our lives are all at risk for random acts, but more likely random acts of love will come your way than random acts of violence."

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 06 - 01:11 PM

City plans to raze home where 90 cats were kept
STAR-TELEGRAM

GRAPEVINE -- The fur stops flying Tuesday. City officials have scheduled that day to demolish a house in the 1300 block of Airline Drive, where animal rescue officials had seized 85 cats by Friday morning.

Officials began the roundup Aug. 14 after the owners did not comply with orders to get rid of the scores of cats on the property. A neighbor alerted city officials to the problem. More than 90 cats had lived at the house, police said. Grapevine ordinances allow four animals per home.

No charges are expected to be filed against the owners because the cats had food and water, police said Friday. The couple has moved out, and the house is scheduled to be demolished Tuesday because it's been condemned for health reasons, authorities said.

Authorities will continue to set out cat traps over the holiday weekend. Captured animals are taken to North Texas shelters. The cats have had friends. Authorities have also seized 19 raccoons and five opossums at the house.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 01:32 AM

I heard on the news today that 200 of the pit bulls from Cleveland, Texas, are to be euthanized. So sad! A vet testified that dogs trained to be fighters can't usually be rehabilitated. Maybe they should hire Cesar Millan to evaluate the dogs individually instead of just throwing them away en masse. No, I don't want to see dangerous dogs become pets. But I would like to know that those they plan to kill are truly dangerous. The 100 left out of this number must be puppies that hadn't been staked out yet. What a cruel individual--one can't help think that justice was served when he was left to bleed to death after being shot. Maybe his family didn't struggle too hard to get themselves untied to come to his aid.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Aug 06 - 09:26 PM

Let us know how it turns out. And link to the original story in the thread, if you would. I read back a ways and didn't see it. (I rediscovered some interesting old stories, though!)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 Aug 06 - 11:05 PM

The guy who put the little girl in the clothes tumble drier is now currently undergoing his trial.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Aug 06 - 10:49 PM

5 kittens thrown in frying pan with pork chops, survive with burns
From Associated Press
August 14, 2006

BUFFALO, New York - Five kittens thrown into a frying pan with pork chops and hot oil were recovering at an animal shelter, and the man accused of scalding them was awaiting a court appearance.

The kittens, about six or seven weeks old, were injured Saturday when a visitor threw them into the cooking pan, authorities said.

The kittens suffered slightly burned skin and are expected to recover.

The resident of the apartment had left the kitchen, where he was cooking at the stove, when the kittens were scorched.

"The (visitor) started taking his clothes off, took two kittens, put them in the frying pan with the hot oil and pork chops and began swishing them around," said Charles Loubert Sr., an animal control officer. "Then he threw one kitten on the floor and he took the other one and wiped it off on the wall. Then he put three more kittens into the frying pan."

Police said they anticipated the suspect, whose identity was not released, would be charged Tuesday with animal cruelty.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Aug 06 - 05:07 PM

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1155AP_Legal_Rich__Poor.html

Luxury spending found in legal program

By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The federal program that provides legal help to poor Americans turns away half of its applicants for lack of resources. But that hasn't stopped its executives from lavishing expensive meals, chauffeur-driven cars and foreign trips on themselves. Agency documents obtained by The Associated Press detail the luxuries that executives of the Legal Services Corp. have given themselves with federal money - from $14 "Death by Chocolate" desserts to $400 chauffeured rides to locations within cab distance of their offices.

The government-funded corporation also has a spacious headquarters in Washington's tony Georgetown district - with views of the Potomac River and a rent significantly higher than other tenants in the same building. And board members wrote themselves a policy that doubled the amount they could claim for meals compared with their staff.

The program's clients were upset when told of the spending. "I don't think that's right," said Richard Taylor as he walked from an austere, carpet-stained Legal Services office in Washington, his head covered with a towel to protect himself from the searing heat on recent summer day. "They're depriving some others that really need it and that's not good. ... It's supposed to be about the people."

Legal Services is a nonprofit corporation run with federal money that was created by Congress to provide legal help in civil matters for Americans who can't afford their own lawyers. It funds neighborhood clinics across the country where lawyers provide such help. Three congressional committees have questioned the program's spending as has the corporation's own internal watchdog. The chairman of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee is threatening to withhold future money if the corporation doesn't trim its extravagance. "It's waste and abuse," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, citing the board's doubling of the meal money as an example. "At 200 percent, it seems to me what we would call in Iowa living high off the hog."

Legal Services officials defend their program, saying administrative expenses are kept separate from money distributed to the local, independently run legal outlets. Corporation spokesman Tom Polgar said LSC president Helaine Barnett and board chairman Frank Strickland "are aware they are using taxpayer funds and try to operate in a manner that is frugal and appropriate." Barnett is a former legal services attorney. Strickland is an Atlanta lawyer.

Barnett declined to be interviewed. Strickland did not return several phone messages seeking comment.

The scrutiny of Legal Services' spending comes as the corporation says it doesn't have enough resources to meet many poor clients' needs. Legal Services' own study found last October that for every client who receives service, one applicant is turned away for lack of resources. Since that study only counted those who contacted the program for assistance, the corporation said it likely underestimated the unmet need. Nine recent state studies demonstrated that less than 20 percent of the legal needs of low-income Americans were being met, LSC said.

Neighborhood Legal Services, the local program that serves the poor in the nation's capital, is a refuge where a federally funded lawyer can help a client stave off homelessness, fight an unscrupulous landlord, file for divorce or receive help with a host of other legal problems. The lobby of the inner city office looks like a doctor's waiting room that has used the same hardback chairs and magazine stand for decades. The carpet is worn and stained. Some offices are barely big enough for a desk.

Unlike Legal Services headquarters' well-stocked library, filled with criminal code books and Supreme Court opinions, the local program library has mostly bare walls. The conference table doubles as a staff lunchroom. Marie Parran of Washington, a legal services client, wants money supporting Legal Services headquarters to go instead to the field. "There's so many poor people in the Washington, D.C. area who need the help and can't afford a lawyer. I think that's money that should be going to the poor that live in D.C," she said.

Legal Services own internal watchdog, Inspector General Kirt West, has questioned whether the corporation's headquarters has more space than it needs and whether it pays too much for rent. The headquarters has multiple conference rooms and kitchen/pantry areas. Yet, the corporation's 11-member board of directors holds its meetings at hotels around the country, including Washington, at costs ranging from $20,145 to $55,125 - the latter in San Juan, P.R.

The decision not to use the headquarters conference room was explained in an October 2004 memo from board chairman Strickland. He said board members, who work outside the corporation, preferred the Melrose Hotel in the same upscale neighborhood as the headquarters. The board members sought "convenience to their rooms" and did not want to "feel confined" to headquarters for two entire days, he said. In addition, he said he was worried that the headquarters lacked privacy because "all meeting rooms at LSC have glass walls."

Bills from the Melrose, with all costs per person, included: a $59 three-entree buffet, an $18 breakfast featuring scrambled eggs with chives, a $17 breakfast including Belgian waffles, a $28 deli buffet, a $13 "high tea" service, a $12 "bagel break," a $12 "Crazy for Cookies" assortment and $14 "Death By Chocolate" desserts. Legal Services spokesman Polgar and Charles Jeffress, the LSC chief administrative officer, said the headquarters conference room can hold about 80 people, but that was too small to accommodate the 11-member board, the staff, the media and the public. They also contended that meal costs for board members may be just as expensive if catered at headquarters.

Beyond the hotel-prepared meals at their meetings, it made sense for board members to dine together. The board fashioned for itself an expense policy that permitted members to receive up to 200 percent of the allowable meal expense - as long as board members ate together. "The only time it was ever used was in conjunction with a board meeting," Jeffress said. The policy recently was rescinded after congressional investigators questioned it.

Barnett, Strickland and another board member have used limousine services. Strickland had a packed schedule last April 25, so the agency ordered a car and driver to take him and Barnett to meetings on Capitol Hill with lawmakers - about a 15-minute ride from headquarters. The car also took them to Arlington National Cemetery for a funeral and to a separate memorial service, also in Arlington - all short rides.

Even the Legal Services Corp. comptroller, David Richardson, questioned the expense. "With cab fares from our office to Capitol Hill costing $20 and the nominal cost of a cab to Arlington Cemetery and return, this $423.99 seems to be an extraordinary cost," he wrote in an internal memo. Polgar, who acknowledged making the decision to hire the car, said he was concerned that Strickland wouldn't make his schedule.

Barnett also used a hired car and driver to attend a funeral service for a former board member in Harrisburg, Pa., about a two-hour drive. The cost: $400. Polgar said Barnett, who does not have a car in Washington, wanted to work on the trip rather than rent a car and drive herself. The cost was competitive with train fare and airlines, he said.

Barnett and Strickland both attended the International Legal Aid Group Conference in Killarney, Ireland in June 2005. To get to Killarney from Shannon Airport, Barnett took a cab for $220 and returned to the airport by taxi for $189, a cost of $409 for a roundtrip of about 160 miles. Polgar said Barnett was supposed to have a free ride from Shannon, but she was stranded at the airport and had to take the cab. She couldn't find a ride for the return trip, he said.

The Legal Services headquarters in Georgetown was bought by a nonprofit group, Friends of the Legal Services Corp., that was formed to purchase a permanent headquarters. The board chairman, Thomas Smegal, said the $38 per-square-foot rent charged Legal Services was a good deal - even though other tenants were paying less than $30. Nonetheless, he said Legal Services was not getting ripped off.

Smegal said LSC's rent won't change for the 10-year lease, while other tenants' rents rise. The tenants paying low rent already had those leases when Friends took over the building, said Smegal, a San Francisco lawyer. When the building is paid off, he said, it will be turned over debt-free to the Legal Services Corp.

---

On the Net:

Legal Services Corporation: http://www.lsc.gov

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Aug 06 - 11:11 AM

85-Year-Old Woman Is Left in Bank Vault
From Associated Press
August 09, 2006

ZURICH, Switzerland - An 85-year-old woman was found in the vault of a Swiss bank when she set off motion detectors hours after the bank was already closed, according to a statement released Wednesday. Employees at the Zuercher Kantonalbank apparently forgot about the woman.

The director of the bank's safe allowed the woman into the vault on Monday before closing it punctually at 4:30 p.m. local time - with the woman still deep in study of her documents, ZKB said. She remained so still that she initially failed to activate either the motion detector or the attached camera, the bank said in confirming a report that appeared in the Zurich-based daily "Tages-Anzeiger."

She was freed from the room four hours after the vault was closed. The bank gave the woman a bouquet of flowers for suffering from the ordeal and said it would decide on further nonfinancial compensation.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Aug 06 - 01:18 AM

It breaks your heart to read about people who intentionally mistreat good animals like this. This is the kind of operation/operator that creates the kind of pit bulls that everyone fears.

---

300 pit bulls seized after fatal shooting in Liberty County
Associated Press

CLEVELAND, Texas - About 300 pit bulls were seized by authorities on Monday after the dogs were discovered in a Liberty County home suspected of being a base for a dogfighting ring. Liberty County officials discovered the dogs after investigating a fatal shooting during a robbery last week at a home in Cleveland, about 45 miles northeast of Houston.

Thomas Weigner, 27, the owner of the 23-acre property, bled to death after being shot in the leg, said Liberty County Sheriff Greg Arthur. Weigner's wife, father-in-law and three children were tied up during the incident, but were not hurt, Arthur said.

Authorities believe Weigner bred the dogs for fighting and shipped them across the country. "At this time, we don't believe it was a random home invasion," Arthur said. "We do believe there's a connection (to the dog ring)."

Authorities found no evidence that pit bulls fought on the property, but Houston Humane Society officers said there were 75 pups in chicken-type coops. The rest were chained to ground spikes, living in standing water and their own waste. Investigators estimate the dogs could be worth $500,000 to $1 million. The animals were being transported to a Humane Society wellness center in Houston, where they would be evaluated.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Amos
Date: 03 Aug 06 - 10:55 AM

Patriotism just doesn't pay, I guess:

Man jailed for waving Old Glory in all his glory

Police frown on patriotic stroll along highway in just cowboy boots, hat

FORT PAYNE, Ala. - A man was arrested and charged with public lewdness for walking naked near a highway while waving an American flag.

The DeKalb County Sheriff's Department arrested Gerald Lynn Kelley, 52, the Fort Payne Times-Journal reported Tuesday.

Deputy Mike James said deputies were sent to Hammondville about 3 p.m. Sunday after receiving calls about two men walking nude along U.S. 11, just inside the town limits.


James said Kelley, who was allegedly drunk, was wearing only a cowboy hat and boots.

The other man, reportedly clad in the same attire and also carrying the American flag, could not be found. Police reports show that Kelley and the other man had been at a party that got out of hand.

Kelley posted a $1,500 bond and was released from DeKalb County Jail early Monday morning.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jul 06 - 03:51 PM

Common Pollutant Eyed in Cancer Study
By JOHN HEILPRIN (AP)
July 27, 2006

WASHINGTON - Growing scientific evidence suggests the most widespread industrial contaminant in drinking water - a solvent used in adhesives, paint and spot removers - can cause cancer in people. The National Academy of Sciences reported Thursday that a lot more is known about the cancer risks and other health hazards from exposure to trichloroethylene than there was five years ago when the Environmental Protection Agency took steps to regulate it more strictly.

TCE, which is also widely used to remove grease from metal parts in airplanes and to clean fuel lines at missile sites, is known to cause cancer in some laboratory animals. EPA was blocked from elevating its assessment of the chemical's risks in people by the Defense Department, Energy Department and NASA, all of which have sites polluted with it.

TCE is a colorless liquid that evaporates at room temperatures and has a somewhat sweet odor and taste. It is one of the most common pollutants found in the air, soil and water at U.S. military bases. Until the mid-1970s, it also was used as a surgical anesthetic.

TCE also has been found at about 60 percent of the nation's worst contaminated sites in the Superfund cleanup program, the academy said. Its 379-page report recommends that EPA revise its assessment of TCE's risks using "currently available data" - so no more time is wasted.

That's a step that could lead to stricter regulations. EPA currently requires limiting TCE to no more than 5 parts per billion parts of drinking water. A stricter regulation could, in turn, force the government to require more thorough cleanups at military and other sites.

A committee of academy experts said "a large body of epidemiologic data is available" on TCE showing the chemical is a possible cause of kidney cancer, reproductive and developmental damage, impaired neurological function and autoimmune disease. "The committee found that the evidence on carcinogenic risk and other health hazards from exposure to trichloroethylene has strengthened since 2001," the report said. "Hundreds of waste sites are contaminated with trichloroethylene, and it is well documented that individuals in many communities are exposed to the chemical, with associated health risks."

In 2001, EPA issued a draft document saying the risks of TCE causing cancer in humans were higher than previously thought. But that pronouncement was dropped after other federal agencies accused EPA of inflating the risks.

To mediate the issue, the Bush administration asked the academy to study the issue.



Duh.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 11:17 AM

Woman Asks 911 to Send 'Cutie Pie' Deputy
July 14, 2006

ALOHA, Ore. - A woman who called 911 to get "the cutest cop I've seen" sent back to her home got a date all right - a court date. The same sheriff's deputy arrested her on charges of misuse of the emergency dispatch system.

Washington County Sheriff's Sgt. David Thompson told KGW-TV of Portland it all started with a noise complaint called in last month by neighbors of Lorna Jeanne Dudash. The deputy sent to check on the complaint knocked on her door, then left. Thompson said Dudash then called 911, asking that the "cutie pie" deputy return. "He's the cutest cop I've seen in a long time. I just want to know his name," Dudash told the dispatcher. "Heck, it doesn't come very often a good man comes to your doorstep."

After listening to some more, followed by a bit of silence, the dispatcher asked again why Dudash needed the deputy to return. "Honey, I'm just going to be honest with you, OK? I just thought he was cute. I'm 45 years old and I'd just like to meet him again, but I don't know how to go about doing that without calling 911," she said.

"I know this is absolutely not in any way, shape or form an emergency, but if you would give the officer my phone number and ask him to come back, would you mind?" The deputy returned, verified that there was no emergency and arrested her for misusing the 911 system, an offense punishable by a fine of up to several thousand dollars and a year in jail.

Thompson said Thursday it was the first case he knew of in which someone called the emergency line for such a personal reason. "That's taking up valuable time from dispatchers who could be taking true emergency calls," he said.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 03:32 PM

Bow Street Magistrates Court Set to Close
July 13, 2006

LONDON - One of London's most famous courts - where suspected terrorists, petty thieves and prostitutes mingle with the ghosts of Oscar Wilde, D.H. Lawrence and generations of killers - is closing Friday. With the end of Bow Street Magistrates Court goes a living monument in the development of British justice and a tangible link to the genesis of the capital's police service, descended from a posse created in 1749 by a former magistrate, the novelist Henry Fielding.

"We range from the very trivial offenses - begging, prostitution, and the sort of very low-level crime ... to the highly dangerous, and allegations of mass murder and all sorts of things," Chief Magistrate Timothy Workman said Thursday, sitting among packing boxes signifying his imminent departure to new quarters. That breadth of responsibility will remain the hallmark of the new City of Westminster Magistrates Court, which will absorb Bow Street's functions and staff. The old court and police station at Bow Street, opened in 1881 opposite the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, has been sold and may become a hotel.

Workman, 63, the 32nd magistrate to preside at Bow Street, says he hopes to take with him the dock from Court One. A padded bench enclosed by iron railings, the dock stands at the center of the wood-paneled room, facing the magistrate and his clerks. The two-seat press box, near the witness stand, has been known to accommodate nine squashed reporters. The public sits in a glass-enclosed pen at the back. The dock accommodated Wilde, the suffragettes Christabel and Emmline Pankhurst, the wife murderer Hawley Harvey Crippen, the Nazi propagandist William "Lord Haw Haw" Joyce and, more recently, the novelist and perjurer Lord Jeffrey Archer. Charles Dickens placed the Artful Dodger in the dock at Bow Street - in an earlier building - in "Oliver Twist."

The court was frequently in the news for handling extradition cases, including terrorist suspects wanted in the United States, Spain and elsewhere. The former Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet, arrested in London on a Spanish warrant, was excused from appearing at Bow Street in 1999 because of illness. The court ordered his extradition but was overruled by the British government, and Pinochet went home.

Lawrence's novel "The Rainbow" was declared obscene by a Bow Street magistrate in 1915. In 1928, "The Well of Loneliness," by the lesbian writer Radclyffe Hall, suffered a similar fate.

The first Bow Street magistrate, Col. Sir Thomas De Veil, began dispensing justice from a house across the street from the present court in 1735. His successor, Fielding, commissioned half a dozen constables known as the Bow Street Runners in 1749. Fielding, the author of "Tom Jones," was dismayed by the squalor he found on Bow Street where, he said, "taverns and houses are kept by persons of the most abandoned character such as bawds and thieves, receivers of stolen goods."

Fielding was succeeded by his half brother Sir John Fielding, "the Blind Beak of Bow Street," who was reputed to recognize 3,000 criminals by their voices. He created the Bow Street Horse Patrol, arming his men with truncheons, cutlasses and pistols. The libertine Giacomo Casanova appeared in Sir John's court, accused of abusing a prostitute. Casanova was grateful to be discharged but confused his Fieldings, saying in his memoirs that it was an honor to appear before the great novelist.

The Bow Street Runners vanished in 1829 with the creation of the Metropolitan Police, who put their headquarters at Scotland Yard.

Bow Street's celebrities are vastly outnumbered by the forgotten losers and thugs and who are the bulk of the court's business. More than 95 percent of England's criminal cases originate in the magistrates' courts; only the most serious cases are referred up for trial by jury.

Reflecting wistfully on the end of a judicial era, the last chief magistrate at Bow Street said he believed its reputation was secure. "I would like to think that most people don't look upon it in awe, but do look upon it with great affection," Workman said. "There is a certain sense of security and history. Really, that goes on."

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jul 06 - 12:24 PM

North Texas teens recover after being hit by lightning

By DEANNA BOYD, STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

From atop the West Spanish Peak in Colorado, Zach O'Neal, 15, and his 16-year-old friend Ernie Elbert celebrated their successful climb Sunday. They snapped photos of the spectacular view with O'Neal's cellphone. They marked their achievement by signing their names on a scroll kept atop the mountain and placing rocks in a cross formation. And they made a phone call to O'Neal's family, waving their hands wildly and dancing while the family watched through a telescope from the deck of their vacation condo miles away.

But within minutes, things took a terrible turn. A frantic Elbert called the O'Neals again, this time screaming for help. A bolt of lightning had hit Zach O'Neal on top of his head, sending electricity coursing through both teens and leaving the Aledo teenager motionless on the ground. They were alone and miles away from help.

In an hours-long ordeal Sunday afternoon, Elbert, injured but alert, used CPR to resuscitate his friend -- something he'd learned in his freshman health class. The two teens then prayed together before making the painful, slow journey down the mountain to the help that waited below. "God was definitely on the mountain with us," O'Neal said Monday, in a telephone interview from the Pueblo hospital where he and Elbert were being treated.

Storms came early

For more than a decade, O'Neal and his family have been going to Cuchara, a small resort town in south central Colorado. This summer, the Aledo High School sophomore was told he could take a friend. O'Neal asked Elbert, of Fort Worth, a junior at Paschal High School. The two were good friends. Their fathers play in a band together. Their families attend the same church.

Not long after arriving in Colorado, the teens decided they wanted to climb West Spanish Peak, a challenging but relatively safe hike to just over 13,600 feet. Their plan did not worry O'Neal's family. Two family friends in their 70s had taken the hike before. A forest ranger said the boys would be fine as long as they left the mountaintop around noon to avoid the frequent afternoon storms. But on Sunday, the storms came early.

After reaching the peak just before noon, O'Neal and Elbert saw a flash of lightning to the south, but it seemed far away. They ate the turkey sandwiches they'd brought along and began to pack up for the trek home. "All of a sudden my legs and waist kind of cringed and there was a big bang," Elbert said. "Everything felt really hot and I fell back."

Stunned, he took a few seconds to realize what happened. Immediately he looked for O'Neal, finding his friend a few feet away, lying on his back. His jeans had been shredded. His jacket had melted into his skin. His socks and his shoes, sturdy hiking boots he had borrowed from his grandfather, had been blown off. "He had blood on his eyebrow. He wasn't really breathing," Elbert said. " I went over and I did what I could remember of CPR. I still don't know if I did it right."

Gayle O'Neal, Zach's grandmother, was the one to answer Elbert's frantic phone call. At first, she said, she gently scolded the teen for playing such a joke. "I handed the phone to my son, Scott. Then I saw Scott's expression," Gayle O'Neal said. "Ernie had started crying." Scott O'Neal called 911, then jumped on a dirt bike and headed for the mountain. The rest of the family jumped in the car, comforting Elbert on the telephone as they rushed to the mountain's base to help direct rescue workers to the teens' location.

Limping down the mountain

Elbert first noticed his friend's lips trembling, then saw his chest rise and fall in shallow breaths. "I knelt next to him and started praying," he said. "After a while he started breathing heavily and then started moaning."

O'Neal awoke confused, asking repeatedly what had happened, then forgetting what he had been told and asking again. Although O'Neal said he doesn't remember those conversations, Elbert said it was at his insistence that they began to head down the mountain. "He said he was really cold and he was hurting really bad and so we needed to go down," Elbert said.

But before they did, O'Neal told Elbert that the boys should pray. "We knelt down and prayed that God would give us the strength, and he did," Elbert said.

With one of O'Neal's hiking boots destroyed, walking on the mountain's loose rock proved difficult. "He couldn't walk in them at all. I gave him one of my tennis shoes, which were also torn up but not quite as bad, and we went down the mountain," Elbert said. "We were limping down as fast as we could."

About an hour after the lightning strike, O'Neal's father reached the teens. With his help, they continued down. They met the first of several emergency responders about an hour later at the timberline. Both teens had wounds on their feet, burns and singed hair. In addition, O'Neal had a large wound near his eyebrow that required three stitches. After receiving medical aid, O'Neal was whisked away in a helicopter to St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center in Pueblo.

Elbert rode down the rest of the way, about two miles, on an all-terrain vehicle with David DeTray, assistant fire chief with the La Veta Protection District, before the O'Neals took him to St. Mary-Corwin. "He saved his buddy's life without a doubt," DeTray said in a telephone interview Monday. "I told him I thought he was an angel. I just think it's remarkable that kids that age have the compassion for each other, especially in this day and age."

Getting back to normal

DeTray said that in his 17 years of fire and emergency medical service, he had worked only three incidents in which people have been struck by lightning. In each of those, he said, the strike proved fatal. "That is the first lightning strike that I've seen anyone walk away from," DeTray said.

Since 1980, people have been struck by lightning 437 times in Colorado, according to the National Weather Service. Seventy-five of them have died. O'Neal was kept in intensive care Sunday night while Elbert was housed in the pediatrics unit as doctors ran tests to make sure neither had any internal damage.

The two teens traded barbs in messages passed by O'Neal's parents. "He made fun of me because he said I got the wussy end of the lightning. I made fun of him because he couldn't stay awake during the shock and he didn't duck in time," Elbert said, laughing. "He's definitely got his sense of humor back."

By Monday afternoon, the two teens were sharing a room in the pediatrics unit and playing Nintendo. "My husband said it was the very best and the very worst day ever," said Kelly O'Neal. "We feel that God's hand of protection was over them. They are just incredibly blessed and fortunate. We just can't thank Ernie enough."