BS: I Read it in the Newspaper

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: 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: 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 - 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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 - 10:49 AM

Nope.

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: 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: 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 - 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: 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: 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 - 01:04 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: 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: 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: 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: 17 Nov 06 - 10:02 AM

I read a piece in the business pages the other day that talked about the divorce laws in California being the reason for some of the timing and odd behavior of folks. Why "fraud" is reasonable grounds after all, when looking at the other options. You don't have to prove fraud, you do have to prove total insanity.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 01:36 PM

From the local newsrag, and probably not destined to appear in wider circles, yesterday it was reported that apparently two men went to another man's home where an argument, believed to be something about a pair of audio speakers, erupted.

One of the two "assailants" fired several shots "in the direction of the third man." The shooter then stuffed the gun into his belt, where it discharged, "striking him in one testical and then penetrating the calf of his leg."

In today's news, it was reported that the injured man has been arrested and will be charged, probably with at least three felonies. His "partner" likely will also face charges.

John

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: GUEST,danspin
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 05:44 PM

Only in the USA.... coincidentally I stumbled upon your thread - what a fortunate stumble....

Living in the UK (London), I must say that you guys are so lucky to live in the US of A. We're dying over here for those trigger-happy gun stories. Long Live the NRA (wanna open a UK branch?)

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 07:40 PM

I think you mistake the nature of this thread. This is where we post interesting, oddball, topical articles for others to read if they're curious because this thread is back on the page. The NRA gets no endorsement here. But then, if you're dying for these stories, maybe you're looking for reasons to NOT have the NRA in the UK?

Today's contribution, and you'd think the woman flight attendent would know better:

Breast-Feeding Case Leads to Punishment
From Associated Press
November 17, 2006

BURLINGTON, Vt. - A commuter airline has disciplined a flight attendant who ordered a passenger off a plane for refusing to cover herself with a blanket while breast-feeding her toddler, the airline said Friday. Freedom Airlines spokesman Paul Skellon did not specify the discipline in an e-mail announcing the action against the employee who had Emily Gillette, of Santa Fe, N.M., removed from the plane Oct. 13 at Burlington International Airport.

Gillette, 27, said she was breast-feeding her 22-month-old daughter in a window seat in the next-to-last row, with no part of her breast showing and her husband between her and the aisle. The flight attendant tried to hand her a blanket and told her to cover up, Gillette said. She declined, telling the flight attendant she had a legal right to nurse her daughter. Breast-feeding is protected under state law.

The case received broad news coverage this week, days after Gillette filed a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission. On Wednesday, about 30 parents and their children protested the airline's treatment of Gillette by staging a "nurse-in" at the Burlington airport.

Skellon said that after the flight attendant ordered Gillette off the plane, the captain of the Delta Air Lines flight being operated by Freedom apologized and asked her family to reboard, but they refused. Gillette, however, said the airline never offered her a chance to get back on board the New York-bound plane. "I would have jumped at the opportunity," she said.

Delta paid for a hotel room and rebooked the family on a different airline the next day.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 18 Nov 06 - 07:29 PM

The deer mentioned above seems to have shed his unusual head ornament.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Amos
Date: 18 Nov 06 - 07:48 PM

I think you're projecting again, Robin...


A

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 06 - 09:24 PM

I heard that today, on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 20 Nov 06 - 02:04 AM

This hasn't appeared in my local newsrag, but will probably make page 17F in a week or so.

MSNBC reports that an "approval" has been obtained for increased release of records from the "Holocaust Archive" currently held at BAD AROLSEN, Germany. This archive appears to consist largely of detailed records maintained by Germany during the WWII purges, and have been administered for the past 50 years mainly/exclusively by the International Red Cross. The Red Cross has been extremely restrictive about allowing access to the archives, and/or reporting any of the contents, largely (they claim) due to German restrictions on privacy of individuals.

This is not a "done deal" as all of the 11 nations with "ownership" of the archive must agree to the release. If and when all 11 agree, each of the 11 member nations is to be given a digital copy of the records, which they may or may not then make available to their own people. It is probable that even if/when the archive is approved for distribution, access will be limited to "accredited scholars" and others with verifiable need to know what's there.

Story at Archive Release [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15791203/]

John

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Nov 06 - 09:15 AM

This has skated past the edge of my radar--I've noticed subject headings on articles about more information from new archives to be released or already released. I'll pay more attention to see if this is the one they're speaking of.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 04:11 AM

At MSNBC yesterday, so it'll be in my newspaper day after tomorrow (if at all). Check your local news:

EPA to regulate nanosilver.

Nanosilver refers to silver particles less than 10^-9 meters in diameter. Particles of this size are being used in a number of products where it is claimed that the silver "kills bacteria."

A specific example cited as a nanosilver product was "Odor Eater" shoe sole inserts, but there are a number of such products now being marketed.

The environmental concern, and the "justification" given for EPA action, is that anything that kills bugs could contaminate groundwater and kill beneficial fauna. (The EPA regulates "insecticides" and other pest control products.)

In typical beaurocatidiot manner, the announcement says that "Any product that claims germicidal action by using nanosilver will be subject to the new regulation." Producers of any material that claims to kill germs using nanosilver will be required to show that no harmful environmental impact will be produced.

The EPA admits quite openly that as long as the maker does not claim that the nanosilver kills germs a manufacturer is free to market the same products without regulation, and one manufacturer already has anticipated the new regs by dropping the word "germicidal" from all labelling and advertising - and will thereby be free from having to comply with the new restrictions.

The EPA suggests that this is a "test case" to see whether they can get by with regulating other similar kinds of products, and predicts a long series of court cases. (Expect some mfr to argue that by limiting what they can say their product does, the reg is an Unconstitutional infringement of their freedom of speech, etc.)

John

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

"Nano" is the latest high-tech term to hype, and I suspect has been overused by advertisers. It may amount to nothing, if Madison Avenue comes clean (so to speak).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 01:31 PM

Stilly -

"Nanotechnology" is being hyped by a few advertisers, and in most places it's just for advertising; but it's a very real deal for the people in technology development (and in the "venture capital" world).

Technology Review carries at least one article per month recently, American Scientist has about one per quarter, and lots of other "scientific" publications are trying to keep up with what's "coming."

The really interesting articles still seem to end with "... commercial applications within the next x years." But there are lots of things people think it can do; and the ones who are really trying to do it aren't sloppy about what they mean when they use the term.

John

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 01:59 PM

I know all about it--we have a large nanotechnology research center at the university where I work. We see articles all the time in the student and local newspapers about the work they're doing.

What I meant was that people are latching onto the term to try to ride along with the growth of this industry, whether they actually are doing nano work or not.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 03:06 AM

Not really big news, but the Washington Post reports a bad day in court for one young gentleman:

"As Devin K. Hoerauf's robbery trial in Rockville was wrapping up Tuesday afternoon, the 19-year-old accidentally dropped a bag of marijuana on the floor when he stood up at the defense table.

"The judge's assistant noticed a plastic bag containing "a green, leafy substance" and pointed it out to a Montgomery County deputy sheriff, who picked it up and added two misdemeanor charges — possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia — to Hoerauf's criminal history.
"To make matters worse, his mother, a defense lawyer, was by his side at the time — representing him."

A.n.d..h.i.s..m.o.t.h.e.r..s.a.i.d... ...

"He is brain-damaged, your honor. I don't mean he's just a defendant who does dumb stuff. This is a boy with an IQ in triple digits. His brain is glued together with Silly Putty. He can't think his way out of a paper bag, but he can do physics."

Story at MSNBC

John

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Nov 06 - 01:14 AM

I know someone like that. Kind of the reverse. He can't do the physics, but he can get into trouble and think his way out of a paper bag. Trouble is, he keeps getting into trouble (arguments) and getting fired, though he's convinced that in the end the boss always understood and agreed with him, that it was everyone else who was stupid.

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: autolycus
Date: 26 Nov 06 - 04:10 AM

SRS. Does Madison Avenue in particular, and
advertising in general, EVER "come clean.?"






       Ivor

Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Nov 06 - 12:10 PM

With the judicious use of subpoena soap sometimes it happens.