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

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: KB in Iowa
Date: 26 Aug 08 - 01:16 PM

Man pulls knife at church for butter

OCALA, Fla. (AP) -- Authorities say an Ocala man pulled a knife on members of a church congregation who would not give him butter from their morning buffet.

When 48-year-old Frankie Lewis couldn't get any butter on Sunday from the buffet line, police say he pulled his knife on members and threatened to cut them.

Police say Lewis eventually went to put the knife away, but that's when a church member hit him with a wooden board. Lewis then rode away on a bicycle, but police quickly caught him.

Lewis was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was being held on $2,000 bail.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 01:16 PM

"A squirrel looking for nuts in a power plant inadvertently caused an 80-minute power outage that shut down Switzerland's main television broadcaster just as the final ceremony of the Beijing Olympics was about to be shown.

A squirrel accidentally shut down the power supply to part of the Swiss city of Zurich and thereby prevented television viewers across Switzerland from watching the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics live.

The Zurich electricity company said the animal, which unfortunately fried to death in the incident, was to blame for an 80-minute power cut on Sunday afternoon that led to a complete outage for Swiss national television from 1:38 p.m., just as the Chinese were getting ready to stage their spectacular finale."

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Aug 08 - 12:37 PM

August 22, 2008
Wisconsin woman jailed for overdue library books

This story out of Wisconsin sort of resembles "The Library" episode from Seinfeld, specifically the part about the "library cop."

A Wisconsin woman was cuffed, fingerprinted and booked into jail in connection with her overdue library books.

The woman, 22-year-old Heidi Dalibor, told WISN-TV that she repeatedly ignored overdue notices from the library for two books she checked out last year.

She also ignored a police citation and a notice to appear in municipal court for her overdue books.

"I said, what could they possibly do? They can't arrest me for this ... I was wrong," she told WISN.

That's what led the Grafton (Wis.) Police Department to knock on her door, arrest warrant in hand, according to the report.

She was booked into the city jail and released after paying a $170 fine.

As for the books, Dalibor told the station she's still not giving them back.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 11:19 AM

Spanish shopkeeper finds Homer Simpson euro
Fri Aug 8, 2008 1:46pm EDT   

MADRID (Reuters) - A one euro coin has turned up in Spain bearing the face of cartoon couch potato Homer Simpson instead of that of the country's king, a sweetshop owner told Reuters on Friday.

Jose Martinez was counting the cash in his till in the city of Aviles, northern Spain, when he came across the coin where Homer's bald head, big eyes and big nose had replaced the serious features of King Juan Carlos.

"The coin must have been done by a professional, the work is impressive," he told Reuters.

The comical carver had not taken his tools to the other side of the coin displaying the map of Europe. So far, no other coins of the hapless, beer-swilling oaf have been found in circulation.

"I've been offered 20 euros for it," said Martinez.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Janie
Date: 07 Aug 08 - 12:59 AM

Talk about family jewels

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 05:58 PM

LOL!! "It's a treat top beat yer feet....".



A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: beardedbruce
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 05:25 PM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0808/mud.volleyball/content.1.html

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 12:42 PM

From The Onion:

HAZEL PARK, MI—In a statement made to reporters earlier this afternoon, local idiot Brandon Mylenek, 26, announced that at approximately 2:30 a.m. tonight, he plans to post an idiotic comment beneath a video on an Internet website.

"Later this evening, I intend to watch the video in question, click the 'reply' link above the box reserved for user comments, and draft a response, being careful to put as little thought into it as possible, while making sure to use all capital letters and incorrect punctuation," Mylenek said. "Although I do not yet know exactly what my comment will entail, I can say with a great degree of certainty that it will be incredibly stupid."

Mylenek, who rarely in his life has been capable of formulating an idea or opinion worth the amount of oxygen required to express it, went on to guarantee that the text of his comment would be misspelled to the point of incomprehension, that it would defy the laws of both logic and grammar, and that it would allege that several elements of the video are homosexual in nature.

"The result will be an astonishing combination of ignorance, offensiveness, and sheer idiocy," Mylenek said.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 06:25 PM

SOmetimes a power moves upon the waters greater than one mind can conceive.

A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 03:57 PM

Posted on Sat, Aug. 02, 2008
'Little yard sale' to help WWII vet turns into outpouring of support

link

FORT WORTH — Lidia Perez's prayers were answered.

And answered. And answered. And answered.

The blessings showered on 88-year-old John Martinek — a World War II veteran who has been living in her back bedroom since his house burned down in May — have made Perez feel a bit like a waitress at the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

"I was going to have a little yard sale," she said Friday after an all-day crush of people on her lawn handing over twenties, fifties and hundreds to benefit Martinek. "I am so surprised. But I knew the Lord heard my prayers."

Perez, a 53-year-old hairdresser who lives in a house built by Habitat for Humanity, opened her home to Martinek 12 weeks ago when she found him living in a camper behind his charred house in north Fort Worth and learned that he'd been washing up in a McDonald's.

He is a widower, has no children and gets only $550 a month from Social Security. He had no homeowner's insurance.

Perez had been struggling to find ways to help Martinek, both with immediate needs and more permanent housing. That is, until a reader contacted the Star-Telegram, which published an article about their friendship Thursday and highlighted Perez's garage sale Friday and today.

The outpouring from North Texans since then has been nothing less than extraordinary. The first day of the garage sale brought in close to $13,000.

"When you go through life day after day, you don't think about anything like this, and you don't realize there are so many nice people," Martinek said, resting in the shade, his eyes brimming with tears and his voice catching. "It's amazing."

At 7:30 a.m. Thursday, a young man showed up at Perez's house with a full bed and sheets. (Martinek had been sleeping on the floor because Perez could not afford a bed.)

People brought items for Perez's garage sale. Veterans groups offered to help him get benefits. Someone brought him a new cap that said WORLD WAR II VET in big, bold letters. Readers called to find out how to donate to his Wells Fargo account. People such as Jim and Jane Cox, who live in Keller, and Debbra Ledbetter from Arlington showed up at 6 a.m. to help and stayed most of the day.

Shoppers, such as Teresa Weaver and her 10-year-old daughter Cori, drove from Saginaw to buy a couple of small items and grossly overpay. Weaver ended up crying with Martinek in the yard.

"What [Lidia] was willing to do for him means that we all have to do what we can to help," she said.

Many people said they were as touched by Perez's generosity as they were by Martinek's misfortune.

Marcus Hernandez, who also lives in Keller, came to the garage sale early Friday to have Perez's Ford Explorer fixed. The vehicle has been without air conditioning for months.

"She refused me, repeatedly," he said. "She said this is about Mr. Martinek, not her."

Perez does not want to be part of the story, although her wish to be left out has yet to be granted.

"From my deepest heart, I have already been blessed by having this experience with Mr. Martinek," she said.

Leaders of the Trinity Habitat for Humanity also went to the garage sale and looked at Martinek's property. Martinek has so little monthly income that he does not qualify for a Habitat house, which requires some financial buy-in from the homeowner.

But Gage Yager, the executive director, said his organization would do all it could in the coming days to find a solution.

The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Texas Veterans Commission are also looking into what benefits or pensions Martinek is entitled to for his combat service in the Army.

But with the $13,000 donated Friday, Martinek's financial picture and his wish for a new home has brightened considerably.

"It's going to happen now," Perez said.

____________

When you go through life day after day, you don't think about anything like this, and you don't realize there are so many nice people. It's amazing."
John Martinek

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 07:22 PM

I knew an old lady who swallowed a fly ....
Maybe she'll die.

The "pique" of swallowing strange objects is not too common but not actually what could be called "rare." Most settle for things like coins or marbles and such that go down fairly easily, although paper clips and small nails seem to have some favor among practitioners.

Now if the kid in the previous post had swallowed the pit bull, that would probably be real NEWS.

John

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 06:34 PM

Very hard teeth?


A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 06:30 PM

How do you suppose he managed to eat all of that stuff? Dementia?

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 06:26 PM

LIMA, Peru - Doctors in a coastal town in northwestern Peru have rescued the innards of a 38-year-old man by removing 17 metal objects Ñ among them nails, a watch clasp and a knife Ñ that he ate.

Luis Zarate was taken to the regional hospital of Trujillo earlier this week by his family after complaining of sharp stomach pains. Doctors took X-rays of his chest that showed his insides littered with screws.

"There were 17 strange objects found at the level of his stomach and colon," said Dr. Julio Acevedo, one of the surgeons who operated on Zarate.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 10:25 AM

LIMA (Reuters) - A naked model photographed using Peru's flag as a saddle while mounted on a horse will face charges that could put her in jail for up to four years for offending patriotic symbols, the country's defence minister said on Wednesday.

The suggestive shot of Leysi Suarez, whose main job is dancing for the band Alma Bella, or Beautiful Soul, was splashed on the cover of DFarandula magazine and has caused a political uproar as Peru prepares to celebrate the 187th anniversary of its independence from Spain on Monday.

"These are patriotic symbols that demand total respect, and using them improperly requires punishment," defence Minister Antero Flores told reporters. "This is an offence."

Flores has ordered a public prosecutor to take up the case and file charges.

Suarez said it was patriotic to pose for the photo.

"I haven't committed a crime. I love Peru and show it with my body and soul," the dancer said on RPP radio.

Mario Amoretti, a well-known lawyer, said it depends in part on how Peru's red-and-white flag was used.

"It's one thing to cover your body with the flag, but quite another thing to be naked and using it as a horse's saddle," he said.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 10:10 AM

Boy bites pitbull dog



An 11-YEAR-OLD boy is enjoying a flash of fame in Brazil after biting a pitbull terrier that attacked him as he played in his uncle's back yard.

Gabriel Almeida, who lives on the outskirts of Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais, broke a canine tooth when he bit into the dog's neck to fend off an attack. Since then, he has been pampered in several TV stations, where he has been recounting his ordeal.

"I grabbed him by the neck and bit," he told O Globo newspaper. "It's better to lose a tooth than to lose your life."

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 14 Jul 08 - 11:32 PM

Obviously the heat is getting to people.


A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Emma B
Date: 14 Jul 08 - 09:18 PM

'PACKING' TEENS INTO CHURCH

An Oklahoma church canceled a controversial gun giveaway for teenagers at a weekend youth conference.

Windsor Hills Baptist had planned to give away a semiautomatic assault rifle until one of the event's organizers was unable to attend.

The church's youth pastor, Bob Ross, said it's a way of trying to encourage young people to attend the event. The church expected hundreds of teenagers from as far away as Canada.

A gun giveaway was part of the event last year. This year, organizers included it in their marketing.

!!

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jul 08 - 09:04 PM

Police seek 28-year-old man in fatal traffic circle beating
link

King County [Seattle] prosecutors have charged a 28-year-old man in connection with last week's beating death of a 60-year-old Rainier Beach man who was gardening inside a traffic circle in front of his house.

James "Jage" Paroline, 60, died Thursday, a day after the police say that Brian Brown punched him in the head during a dispute in the street. Police say that Brown struck Paroline while the Rainier Beach man was arguing with three teenage girls who were upset with him for blocking traffic while he gardened in the traffic circle.

Brown was charged today with second-degree murder. Police are looking for Brown and prosecutors have issued a warrant for $500,000. Brown has prior convictions for third-degree assault, drug possession and obstructing a law enforcement officer, theft and criminal trespassing.

Neighbors and police said that Paroline was gardening in the traffic circle at 61st Avenue South and South Cooper Street around 8 p.m. and had set up traffic cones to keep cars from driving over a garden hose. Three teenage girls in a car stopped and told him to remove the traffic cones, but Paroline refused, neighbors said.

A video of the attack, shot by a neighbor, showed Paroline attempting to ignore the girls until they threw water on him from water jug, according to charging papers. Police said the teenagers then removed the cones and Paroline sprayed them with water from the hose.

Several minutes later Brown pulled up in a car and punched Paroline.

The girls first told police that they didn't know the man who struck Paroline, according to charging papers. The girls later admitted that they knew Brown, who is the boyfriend of someone they know, charging papers say.

Brown pleaded guilty to assault in 2005 after police said he attacked a woman in her Renton apartment. The victim said that Brown choked and head-butted her, according to court charging papers.

Brown was sentenced to four months in jail for the attack.

Paroline's brother-in-law, Greg Goodwin, said today that his family is still struggling to understand why anyone would harm him.

Goodwin said that Paroline "had a connection" with the traffic circle because he lobbied to have it constructed after a car crashed into his house.

Paroline adopted the circle as an extension of his colorful yard — weeding, watering and tending to the purple, yellow and pink flowers that soon sprouted there.

His death has drawn the concern of hundreds of fellow Rainier Beach residents, many of whom plan to attend a community meeting Tuesday night to share their concerns about crime in the area.

Yolanda Gill, of the Rainier Beach Joint Block Watch, said that Paroline's death was the catalyst for the meeting at Rainier Beach Presbyterian Church.

"Folks want to come together and they want to come up with some solutions on how to curb crime," Gill said. "We are seeing gang activity, graffiti, incidents where people are mugged and a number of things."

Goodwin said that the slain man's relatives plan to attend the meeting.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 02:23 PM

The recently reported launch of several missiles by Iran receives comment in an MSNBC "Photoblog" at:

Too many missiles

"As the media editor working the msnbc.com home page yesterday, I was frustrated with the quality of a fuzzy video image we published of the Iranian missile launch. So I was thrilled when the top image crossed the news wires. Today, I learned that the image was apparently manipulated, possibly to hide the fact that one missile failed. Many major U.S. newspapers and news websites ran the photo as well."

The above bit provides a link to more detail at:

In an Iranian Image, a Missile Too Many

July 10, 2008, 9:16 am
By Mike Nizza and Patrick Witty

Lovely pictures at the second link, although reader comments are unsophisticated.

John

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jul 08 - 02:21 AM

Woman: Renovation plan halted by city 'bullying'

DALLAS — A woman's passionate plan to renovate a piece of Dallas history has met with an end after a city's decision to tear down a building.

However, it isn't just her plan that has gone down the drain — it's also her investment.

Jane Bryant said she fell in love as soon as she saw an abandoned apartment structure that was built in the '20s on Davis Street. The building sits near the Bishops Arts District in north Oak Cliff.

While she bought the building last August in hopes to restore it, her dreams were dashed when the city decided to tear it down.

"I want to utilize this property and save it for its historical reference to the neighborhood," she said.

Bryant said after she bought the building, she was almost immediately asked to sell by the prominent Dallas real estate investment firm called INCAP. The company wanted the building to complete a large track purchase for a development on the block.

"Their broker was aggressively contacting me," Bryant said. "And again, I told the broker I wasn't interested in selling the property."

She says just days after turning down the offer she got a call from the Dallas City Attorney's office saying her property was out of code compliance.

"It seems awfully coincidental to me that the only time I receive any communication from the city and its threatening communication, is within days of me turning down a prominent developer in the area.

She said a few weeks after she was initially contacted, INCAP made a final offer for her building, which she once again denied.

Three days later, on March 5, the city of Dallas sued her in Municipal Court without ever issuing her a citation. The city gave her 30 days to fully repair her building or have it demolished.

"I lose all of my investment," she said of the consequences if the city bulldozes the building.

Even more upsetting, Bryant said, was the inaccuracies contained in the suit.

"Failure to remove visible graffiti," high "weeds or grass," and "accumulations of bricks and lumber" are all elements Bryant said she already addressed.

Just days ago in court, the city produced photographs of garbage and broken windows, which she said are no longer a threat.

"It's totally inaccurate," she said. "The entire lawsuit is inaccurate. It's fraudulent as far as I'm concerned."

However, the city says otherwise.

"She can complain all she wants, but she's had since October to fix the property and she just hasn't," said Assistant City Attorney Jennifer Richie.

Richie said the property at 600 Elsbeth has been in substandard, unfit condition for years. She said only now has the city gotten around to holding owners responsible.

Yet to date, no code violations have ever been issued on the property and the city can't provide documentation showing the property was ever a threat, until now.

INCAP Fund Director Alan McDonald said his efforts to buy the property have no relation to the city's attempt to tear it down.

"We don't talk to the city attorney," McDonald said. "I don't even know how their condemnation process works, and I don't think the city plays those kinds of games."

But Bryant said she finds the whole situation suspicious.

"I feel like I'm being bullied," she said. "I'm being intimidated. I'm being threatened. It's just wrong."

Unless Bryant can immediately come up with the money to restore her investment, she must sell.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 09:46 PM

Wow. Fifty tons. Think of the industrial shelving that university library must have in place.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 05:48 PM

SYRACUSE, New York (AP) -- A vast collection of 78 rpm records is being donated to Syracuse University by the estate of a prominent New York City record shop owner.


Customers go through bins of 78 rpm records at a collectibles show last year in Wayne, New Jersey.

The more than 200,000 records represented the entire inventory of "Records Revisited," a landmark Manhattan store owned by Morton Savada, who died in February of lung cancer at age 85.

The collection, valued at $1 million, weighs 50 tons and represents more than a half-century of American music history.

Included are recordings from 1895 to the 1950s, with big band, jazz, country, blues, gospel, polka, folk, Broadway, Hawaiian and Latin among the genres. The collection also contains spoken-word, comedy and broadcast recordings, and "V-disks," which were distributed as entertainment to the U.S. military during World War II.

"It's a treasure trove of that era," said Joe Lauro, founder of Historic Film Archive, whose holdings include more than 40,000 musical performance clips and which holds exclusive rights to such famous shows as "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert."

"In terms of individual records at high prices ... there's not a lot of that in there. The value is that it's the largest massing of recordings from one particular era," said Lauro, who was befriended by Savada as a teenager and visited his store often during their 35-year-long friendship.

Even though they don't yet know what gems await them in Savada's collection, university officials were ecstatic about the donation, which boosts the Belfer Audio Laboratory and Archive's collection of 78 rpm records to about 400,000 -- second in the United States only to the Library of Congress collection. His family also donated Savada's collection of catalogs, discographies and other materials.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 05:37 PM

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- A man raced into Berlin's Madame Tussauds wax museum Saturday and ripped the head off a waxwork of Adolf Hitler, police said.


A wax likeness of Adolf Hitler sits in Berlin's Madame Tussaud's wax museum before Saturday's attack.

Police said the 41-year-old entered the exhibit shortly after the museum doors opened and "made for the Hitler figure," scuffling with a guard assigned to protect it and the manager before tearing the head off the life-size statue.

The man was arrested and is now in custody, Berlin police spokeswoman Uwe Kozelnik said. He told officers he wanted to protest the figure being included in the museum.

Museum official Nathalie Ruoss said organizers would decide Monday what to do about the figure.

Saturday was the opening day of the Berlin branch of the famous Madame Tussauds wax museum.

The presence of the waxwork, which depicted the Nazi dictator sitting at his desk in his bunker shortly before he committed suicide in 1945, in the new museum led to criticism in German media over recent weeks. But the museum's defenders argued Hitler's role in German history must not be ignored.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 05:35 PM

Adventurer flies on lawn chair lifted by 150 balloons

BEND, Oregon (AP) -- Riding a green lawn chair supported by a rainbow array of more than 150 helium-filled party balloons, Kent Couch took off Saturday in a third bid to fly from central Oregon all the way to Idaho.
Kent Couch gets ready for his flight Saturday. He carries 15-gallon barrels of Kool-Aid for ballast.
1 of 3

Couch kissed his wife and kids goodbye, and patted their shivering Chihuahua, Isabella, before his ground crew gave him a push so he could clear surrounding light poles and a coffee cart.

Then, clutching a big mug of coffee, Couch rose out of the parking lot of his gas station into the bright blue morning sky, cheered by a crowd of spectators.

"If I had the time and money and people, I'd do this every weekend," Couch said before getting into the chair. "Things just look different from up there. You're moving so slowly. The best thing is the peace, the serenity.

"You can hear a dog bark at 15,000 feet."

"He's crazy," said his wife, Susan. "It's never been a dull moment since I married him."

Couch hoped to ride the prevailing wind to the area of McCall, Idaho, about 230 miles east. He travels at about 20 mph.

Each balloon gives four pounds of lift. The chair was about 400 pounds, and Couch and his parachute 200 more. Watch Kent Couch explain why balloon flying is "a beautiful thing" È

"I'd go to 30,000 feet if I didn't shoot a balloon down periodically," Couch said.

For that job he carried a Red Ryder BB gun and a blow gun equipped with steel darts. He also had a pole with a hook for pulling in balloons, Global Positioning System tracking devices, an altimeter and a satellite phone.

It was his third flight. In 2006, he had to parachute out after popping too many balloons. Last year, he flew 193 miles to the sagebrush of northeastern Oregon, short of his goal.

"I'm not stopping till I get out of state," he said.

Couch had to dump some of the 45 gallons of cherry Kool-Aid he carried as ballast before he was able to disappear into the distance. "We wanted some color, and it kind of reminded me of kid days," he said of the ballast.

Couch was inspired by a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight over Los Angeles, California, by truck driver Larry Walters, who gained folk hero fame but was fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 01 Jul 08 - 10:19 PM

A drunken 78-year-old Swede stole a dinghy after a night out in the Danish town of Helsingor and tried to row back to Sweden, but fell asleep halfway, Danish police said.

When the man discovered he lacked the necessary funds to pay for the ferry from Helsingor to Helsingborg in Sweden on Saturday, he decided to row the three miles across the strait of Oresund that separates the two.

He quickly grew tired and, trusting fortune and the currents to see him safely home, took a snooze at the bottom of the boat, where Danish police later found him out at sea, still asleep.

The strait is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Police said the owner of the dinghy had decided not to press charges.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 01 Jul 08 - 12:07 PM

Man, that was one mellerdramatic phone call. Whew!!! HElluva thing--blowing two guys out of the water. Damn.


A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 08 - 11:58 AM

I'm glad I don't live near this guy.

Man Cleared for Killing Neighbor's Burglars
'Castle Doctrine' Gives Texans Unprecedented Authority to Take Action Against Intruders

A Texas man who shot and killed two men he believed to be burglars while he was talking to a 911 dispatcher won't be going to trial. A grand jury on Monday declined to indict Joe Horn, a 61-year-old computer technician who lives in Pasadena, Texas, just outside Houston.

Before making its decision, the grand jury listened to the dramatic 911 tapes from Nov. 14, 2007, when Horn called to say two burglars were robbing his neighbor's home. Horn ignored the dispatcher's pleas not to open fire.

Joe Horn: "I've got a shotgun; you want me to stop him?"

Dispatcher: "Nope. Don't do that. Ain't no property worth shooting somebody over, OK?"

Joe Horn: "Hurry up, man, catch these guys, will you? Because I ain't gonna let them go. I'm gonna kill him."

Dispatcher: "OK, stay in the house."

Joe Horn: "They're getting away!"

Dispatcher: "That's alright."

Joe Horn: (Shouts to suspects) "Move, you're dead."

Three gunshots can be heard on the tape. Both suspects were shot in the back and were pronounced dead at the scene.

Harris County District Attorney Kenneth Magidson stood by the grand jury's decision.

"I understand the concerns of some in the community regarding Mr. Horn's conduct," Magidson told reporters at the courthouse. "The use of deadly force is carefully limited in Texas law to certain circumstances. ... In this case, however, the grand jury concluded that Mr. Horn's use of deadly force did not rise to a criminal offense."

The dead men, Diego Ortiz and Miguel de Jesus, were two illegal immigrants from Colombia. Family and friends wanted to see Horn prosecuted. "This man took the law into his own hands," Stephanie Storey, De Jesus' fiancée, told ABC News just after the shootings. "He shot two individuals in the back after having been told over and over to stay inside. It was his choice to go outside and his choice to take two lives."

Monday's decision ignited a firestorm in Houston on both sides of the issue. Debate raged on local talk radio, on street corners and on blogs. One resident, Keith Sabharwal, said, "That's what I want my neighbor to do; I really don't think he should have gotten into trouble for it."

But another resident, Ronald Elkins, disagreed. "His actions were rash and he did not take into account [what] the consequences of his actions were going to be".

The same debate raged on Timberline Drive, where Horn still lives. "I think it's a good thing," Diana Null, who lives nearby, said. "I mean, people come in and try to rob us. I mean, we're just protecting our homes." But Josie Karaze disagrees. "He had no right, and he had been told not to do it."

And law enforcement officials and law experts have been debating the merits of Castle Law since it was passed. "There's too many imponderables in this law, whereas the previous law was working just fine," said Warren Diepraam, the Harris County Assistant District Attorney, told ABC a few months ago. "Frankly, life is precious."

The critical legal question hinged on whether Horn acted in a reasonable way to defend his neighbor's property. "You cannot take another person's life in defense of their property unless you're somehow given permission by the other person to protect their property," Diepraam said.

On that 911 call, the dispatcher asked Horn directly about the owners of the house that was being burglarized and whether he knew them.

"I really don't know these neighbors," Horn said. "I know the neighbors on the other side really well … I can assure you if it had been their house, I'd already have done something."

Still, Lambright, Horn attorney told ABC News that his client "absolutely" had his neighbors' permission.

"There's no question about it," he said. "They'd tell you today that they are very happy that he was there and that he was watching out. Every neighbor in the state of Texas watches out for one another."

Reporters Kevin Quinn, Christine Dobbyn and Katisha Cosley from ABC's KTRK-TV in Houston contributed to this story.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 08 - 11:20 PM

You should have pasted the entire thing, John, you left out the best part:

The U.S. says it has classified intelligence that ETIM is affiliated with al-Qaida, though officials have not identified the source of that intelligence. The judges said there's credible evidence that the source is the Chinese government, "which may be less than objective with respect to the Uighurs."

The three-member court, which was made up of two Republican judges and one Democrat, was particularly pointed in its criticism of the argument that evidence is reliable because it appears on multiple documents.

"The government insists that the statements made in the documents are reliable because the State and Defense Departments would not have put them in intelligence documents were that not the case," the court wrote. "This comes perilously close to suggesting that whatever the government says must be treated as true."

The judges compared the argument to the logic in Carroll's nonsense poem, in which a hapless crew hunts for a creature that is never quite defined. The Bellman, the ship's leader, led his men across the ocean, guided by a map that was just a blank piece of paper. He rallied and reassured his crew simply by repeating himself.

"I have said it thrice: What I tell you three times is true," the Bellman says in the poem.

"Lewis Carroll notwithstanding, the fact that the government has 'said it thrice' does not make an allegation true," the court wrote.

The court said Parhat deserved a new hearing or should be released — though it didn't say to where he would be released. The U.S. does not want to send him to China for fear he will be tortured.

Guantanamo isn't torture?

As an aside, isn't there a community in the U.S. of these Chinese Moslems, who fled after WWII or maybe Korea? They helped the U.S. during the war. I don't think it was as late as Vietnam, but I won't rule it out. They were persecuted and some were allowed to immigrate.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 30 Jun 08 - 06:22 PM

Federal Appeals Court Compares Military Evidence To Lewis Carroll Poem

Judges cite nonsense poem in Gitmo case

Ruling says Chinese Muslim was improperly labeled as enemy combatant

The Associated Press
updated 1:54 p.m. CT, Mon., June. 30, 2008

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court reviewing evidence at Guantanamo Bay compared a Bush administration legal argument to one made by a hapless, dimwitted character in a 19th century nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit cited the 1876 poem, "The Hunting of the Snark," in ruling that the military improperly labeled a Chinese Muslim as an enemy combatant. The ruling was issued last week but an unclassified version of the opinion was released only Monday.

It was the first time a court has reviewed the military's decision-making and considered whether a detainee should be held. The ruling provides guidance to federal district judges, who are about to begin reviewing dozens of such cases now that the Supreme Court says detainees can challenge their detention in federal court.

The appeals court said military review panels, known as Combatant Status Review Tribunals, were unable to assess much of the evidence against the detainee, Huzaifa Parhat, and at times treated accusations as evidence.

"The big issue now is, can any CSRT decision survive this kind of scrutiny?" Parhat's lawyer, Susan Baker Manning said.

/quote

Check the link for background that may help explain how Alice (of Wonderland fame) appears also to have been involved in US "secret detentions." It appears there may be several non-enemy-combatants who, now being identified and their whereabouts known, have no place safe to go if released. Maybe we'll have to grant them US asylum(?) (if we ever get an immigration act that accomplishes anything).

John

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 08 - 06:10 PM

Budweiser, the toast of Belgium

America's most famous beer may taste like water, but if InBev succeeds in taking over its brewer the US will lose a national symbol

From the Guardian (UK) Ian Williams Thursday June 26, 2008

There is probably a graph somewhere correlating the decline in the strength of American beer and the value of its dollar. If so, it would likely feature Budweiser, the archetypal American beer. There are many mysteries about the US for non-Americans, but few so imponderable as their attraction for the fizzy, aqueous substance.

The old Q&A sums it up. Why is drinking Bud like making love in a canoe? Because it's f*ing close to water!

There is surely a thesis to be written about what happened to hundreds of varieties of cheese, beer and sausage taken by European emigrants to the US in the 19th century. By the time they reached Ellis Island, only the frankfurter, Wisconsin cheddar and Budweiser were left.

Somewhere around the mid-Atlantic ridge, will future marine archaeologists discover, preserved in the cold dark depths, a huge depositary of tasty, nutritious brands dumped overboard to ensure tasteless homogeneity on arrival?

So there is multiple irony in the threatened InBev takeover of the iconic American brand. InBev is mostly owned by a company from Brazil, home to one of the world's strongest liquors, cachacas, but it is itself from Belgium, a thoroughly heterogeneous country whose one unifying factor is an attachment to hundreds of tasty and strong varieties of beer.

However, Budweiser has the seeds of hope, emblematic of the new world. In a sense, it is already very cosmopolitan. In total defiance of the ancient Nuremburg laws on brewing, it is made with rice, so in one sense, it is America's most popular brand of sake, thus anticipating Asian domination of the US economy, and a Belgian takeover would somehow bring in the theme of Euro-power.

It is also a pleasant counterpart to the deranged, reactionary Coors brewing empire, bankers to all the causes that led us into Iraq and may yet lead us into teetotal Iran – probably with compulsory beer consumption as part of the occupation agenda.

And we really should cheer a company that gets "Pinko George Clooney", in the words of one Christian conservative blogger, to do their voiceover work. "I mean, come on, has this country gotten so pathetic where an American beer company can hire a radical liberal pansy to be its spokesperson," he continued, wondering why middle America was not "so freaked out that they have to fire him and issue an apology within two weeks!?"

Let us hope that InBev continues the good work – and, if the takeover is successful, improves the strength of flavour of its new brand so that the Bud blossoms at last toward the flavoursomeness of its Bohemian Budovar origins.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 30 Jun 08 - 01:17 PM

Why optimism is good for you, especially when young:

"MRI study suggests novelty is its own reward
By John Timmer | Published: June 30, 2008 - 08:28AM CT

Humans frequently face a straightforward dilemma: stick with something that has a known benefit or try something new and face the unknown. The ability to choose novelty over a known quantity can help us find new and more rewarding experiences, and it adds a wildcard to human behavior. An open access study published in the journal Neuron looks into how the brain processes decisions between options with unknown and expected outcomes, and it finds that the brain responds to the unknown in the same way that it anticipates a positive outcome.

Clearly, exploring novel options is a necessity, since otherwise people would never be able to optimize their behavior. The authors discuss how behavioral models performed on computers have attempted to approximate this through a mathematical analysis of past instances where an unknown was chosen—apparently, this becomes computationally expensive once the number of instances gets large. Instead, many models simply perform an approximation where the novel choice is given a slight positive value, which approximates real behavior quite well. So well, in fact, that the authors decided to test whether this is actually the way the brain operates.

To do so, they set up a test where subjects were asked to choose one of four pictures displayed at the same time. Each one of those was assigned a permanent reward frequency; whenever it was picked, it had a set probability of winning the subject £1. Each image would appear an average of 20 times in succession, allowing the subject a chance of getting a feel for its odds. Whenever an image was dropped, a new one would replace it with its own distinct odds of rewards. Over extensive repetitions, the test offered the subjects many chances to choose a novel photo or stick with a known risk. The subjects also underwent functional MRI imaging in order to examine the regions of the brain that were active during the test.


With the statistics in hand, the authors sought to figure out the parameters that gave the best approximation of the test subjects' behavior and found that people do appear to assign a value to novel picture options. Given the fact that a successful choice was worth £1, researchers could actually calculate a price for the value of novelty: four pence.

In the brain, neural activity associated with a novel choice occurred in an area identical to that activated when a known image triggered the expectation of a positive result. In essence, the test subjects chose novelty because their brains—specifically, the right ventral striatum—interpreted it in a manner similar to a known positive result.

To confirm that this was specific to novelty, the authors determined that the degree of activity in specific test subjects correlated with the frequency that they choose a previously unknown image. The activity also correlated with novelty-seeking behavior when the subjects filled out a personality survey. Overall, the researchers build a pretty compelling case that people try the new in part because they view a novel choice as its own reward.

In their discussion, the authors note that there are limits to this behavior. Nearly any animal humans have tested will learn to avoid novelty if it is frequently associated with negative outcomes. The discussion also points out that novelty seeking may not always be rewarding, as it can be associated with substance abuse. Still, behavior indicates that novelty is prized in a variety of animals, suggesting it's an old evolutionary adaptation and therefore a major influence on human development. " (Ars Technica)

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 30 Jun 08 - 12:11 PM

Well, yeehaw. That's what I say!


A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 08 - 12:01 PM

The aspect of Carnival isn't mentioned directly in that piece but is clearly at play to a large degree in that town.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 30 Jun 08 - 11:52 AM

Irish Town Honors His Goatness

In the town of Killorglin in County Kerry, the reins of power are handed to a wild billy goat once a year. It's an opportunity for the people to let out their inner beast -- and for tourists to party the night away, writes reader Desmond F. Kelly.

The crowning of a king has always been cause for celebration. In the small town of Killorglin in the south-west corner of Ireland, it still is -- with a hitch. The king in question is a goat.

"King Puck" is one of the last regents of Ireland, though his reign is a short one -- from August 10 to 12 every year. Nevertheless, the small Irish town of Killorglin (about 100 km. from Cork) has been crowing King Puck since (officially) 1610. The goat-fawning fair is one of the oldest of Ireland's traditional rural celebrations -- and one of its better known.

Still, despite the fair's fame, its origins are somewhat unclear. One theory has the fair dating back to pagan times. Puck, as the male goat is called, could have been seen as a symbol of fertility for a late summer harvest festival.

The more modern theory is that King Puck is a celebration of the fact that a herd of goats, which had been grazing in the countryside nearby, were scared up by pillaging "Roundheads," the soldiers of Oliver Cromwell. One goat galloped off towards the town in a state of fear, thus alerting the townspeople to the approaching danger. (A third, and less romantic, version involves legal loopholes, greedy landlords and tax evasion.)


Whatever its origins, it has grown to be an interesting collection of traditions and customs. Some days before the fair begins, a group of the most fearless and strong lads from the town head off into the McGillycuddy's Reeks (as the nearby hills are called) and attempt to corner and capture one of the wild goats grazing there. Bumps, cuts and bruises suffered during the chase are, of course, worn as badges of honor.

While their fathers and brothers are off traipsing through the hills, the young girls of the town compete to be crowned as "Queen Puck." The competition entails them writing essays and giving interviews about why they want to be queen, and why they think that they are the best choice for the role -- a rather gruelling selection process.

Once the goat has been wrestled down from the heights, he is paraded through the town on what is known as "Gathering Day," the day before the fair starts. The goat is then placed onto the lowest tier of a three-tiered platform. The Queen then delivers the Puck Proclamation and crowns her new king. The newly crowned king is then elevated to the topmost tier of the platform, there to look down on, and survey his subjects below for the next 3 days. Three days of trading and drinking, and singing, and drinking, and storytelling, and drinking follow -- giving rise to the saying, "Where a goat acts the king, the people can act the goat!"

For the town of Killorglin -- population 1,359 -- the goat festival has turned into a cash cow. More than 100,000 people pass through during the three days of the fair, and festival organizers estimate the event is worth over €6 million to the local economy. Puck Fair is one of the only places, and times, of the year in Ireland that the pubs are allowed to stay open till three in the morning. At the end of it all, the king is dethroned (in a nice way) and returned to the wild to rejoin his comrades on the foothills of Ireland's highest mountain.

Submitted by Desmond F. Kelly in Karlsruhe, Germany

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 29 Jun 08 - 03:42 PM

The US dentist who masterminded thefts from hundreds of human corpses from funeral homes will serve between 18 and 54 years in jail, a judge has ruled.
Michael Mastromarino's ring stole parts from more than 1,000 bodies, including that of BBC presenter Alistair Cooke.
The group then sold the parts to doctors who transplanted them into patients in a scam worth $4.6m (£2.3m).
Mastromarino, 44, had pleaded guilty to body stealing, reckless endangerment and enterprise corruption in March.
The organs, extracted from bodies which had not been medically screened, were stolen from funeral homes in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania between 2001 and 2005.
They were sold around the country for 10,000 surgical procedures including knee and hip replacements, as well as dental implants. (BBC)

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 29 Jun 08 - 03:22 PM

Socialism, as any right-wingnut knows, can go entirely too far. An example:

"An eight-year-old boy has sparked an unlikely outcry in Sweden after failing to invite two of his classmates to his birthday party.

The boy's school says he has violated the children's rights and has complained to the Swedish Parliament.

The school, in Lund, southern Sweden, argues that if invitations are handed out on school premises then it must ensure there is no discrimination.

The boy's father has lodged a complaint with the parliamentary ombudsman.
He says the two children were left out because one did not invite his son to his own party and he had fallen out with the other one.

The boy handed out his birthday invitations during class-time and when the teacher spotted that two children had not received one the invitations were confiscated.
"My son has taken it pretty hard," the boy's father told the newspaper Sydsvenskan.
"No one has the right to confiscate someone's property in this way, it's like taking someone's post," he added.

A verdict on the matter is likely to be reached in September, in time for the next school year. " (BBC News)

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 27 Jun 08 - 07:26 PM

HEre's a cousin of ours who prefers very close friends to enemas:

"The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the most volatile and hostile countries on the planet, yet its dark interior is home to a group of pacifists who look like refugees from the Summer of Love. Pygmy chimps or bonobos are both literally and metaphorically our kissing cousins. If you know them at all, it is probably as the most highly sexed of all the apes, but they are also considered by many to be our closest living relative - closer even than the common chimp. Bonobos seem to live by the principle "make love, not war". They are very docile towards one another, never aggressive or murderous, and possess many of the psychological traits we value most, including altruism, compassion, empathy, kindness, patience and sensitivity. How did they get to be so nice?
Think of it this way. Somewhere between 6 and 8 million years ago, our ancestors split from the line that would become today's two species of chimps. Then around 2.5 million years ago, bonobos and common chimpanzees went their separate ways. Today our human world is characterised by war, oppression and terror. Common chimps also have a reputation for aggression and bloodshed. And then you have the bonobos. Which poses a few questions. How come they have taken such a different evolutionary path? Can they teach us to be more tolerant? What would it take to turn on our inner bonobo?
The question of how bonobos got to be the way they are has long baffled primatologists. Nobody has been able to put their finger on exactly what makes this ape so different. What is becoming clear now though is that its behaviour is influenced less by its nature - the genes - and more by its environment, culture and learning. What bonobos eat, how they structure their social interactions, and their ability to pass on certain psychological attitudes from one generation to another all seem to play a part. That being so, there may indeed be lessons we can draw about how to make human society more peaceable.
At most, there are a few hundred thousand bonobos left in the wild. They live only in the rainforests of the central Congo basin in DRC. Although their exact distribution is still unknown, the northern extent of their territory is bounded by a loop in the Congo river that forms an impassable barrier. On the face of it, their habitat looks very similar to a chimpanzee's, although the latter are much more widely distributed (see Map). The habits of the two species couldn't be more different, though.
When communities of bonobos from different areas of a forest meet, the females of each tribe initiate sex with males from the other. When chimp tribes meet, the encounters are extremely violent and it isn't unusual for at least a few individuals to end up mauled or even dead. Chimps create despotic male-controlled societies where males beat up females to display dominance. Bonobo society is egalitarian, until it is time to feed, at which point females tend to get preferential access. Tool use is another huge disparity between the two species. Chimps make use of varying tools in different regions to obtain and prepare food. To date, wild bonobos have never been observed using even a single tool.
ÒBonobos are very docile towards one another, never aggressive or murderousÓ
Then there is the sex. Bonobos are famous for it. Aside from the typical male/female activity, they also engage in more "creative" behaviours: wet kissing, masturbation, oral sex, female/female and male/male couplings, group activities, the list goes on and on. The only restriction seems to be incest between mothers and their children. Chimps by contrast restrict themselves almost entirely to male/female sex and don't have nearly as much of it as bonobos. What's more, males are dominant, frequently use food to lure females into having sex with them, and sometimes beat uncooperative females"

---

See New Scientist for complete article. Apparently it all boils down to protein.

A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 08 - 03:01 PM

IRS agent allegedly was too amorous
The agent was removed from the Everett Housing Authority's audit after reported innuendo and suggestions of IRS penalties.
link

EVERETT -- An IRS agent was kicked out of an audit of the Everett Housing Authority after he allegedly asked about a female employee's perfume, invaded her personal space and talked about the two being "alone again."

The agent was three days into a weeklong audit in April when the Housing Authority employee told a manager that she no longer wanted to meet privately with the auditor.

"My first reaction was, 'We are done with three days, we've got a couple more days, can't we just get through this?' " said Bud Alkire, the Housing Authority's executive director. "As the discussion went on and we learned about the (IRS agent's) conduct, we couldn't let this persist."

The Housing Authority employee was assigned the task of providing the IRS agent with the authority's payroll and other financial records, according to an e-mail obtained by The Herald through public records laws.

The employee told managers the agent positioned himself close to her while talking, leaned in toward her and asked if he was making her "uncomfortable." She described the IRS agent as "slimey" (sic), according to a letter sent by Alkire to the IRS.

The agent also reportedly made several references to the woman about the penalties the IRS could bring down on the Housing Authority if he found problems.

Citing privacy concerns, the Housing Authority is not disclosing the employee's name.

Reached at home and at work last week, the IRS agent declined to comment. He said he is forbidden to discuss with the press any topic regarding his employment. The Herald is not naming him.

IRS spokeswoman Judy Monahan in Seattle and spokesman Jesse Weller in Oakland, Calif., said they could not comment on the allegations or even confirm the IRS audited the Housing Authority. The IRS agent's behavior was egregious, created a potentially hostile workplace and opened the possibility of a sexual harassment complaint for the IRS and Housing Authority, Alkire said in his letter to the IRS.

"Interspersed with personal comments were extensive remarks ... about the fines and penalties the IRS could impose," he wrote. "(The employee) was intimidated by the sexual innuendo in the tone and content of (the IRS agent's) comments, and by the remarks about penalties."

After being asked to leave on April 9, the agent stayed and attempted to discuss the matter. He warned the IRS would react by subpoenaing the Housing Authority's records and reviewing them at its Bellevue offices, according to Alkire's letter.

The agent works as an auditor with the IRS's Federal, State and Local Governments unit.

Two days after the agent was sent away, a criminal investigator with the U.S. Department of Treasury was sent to Everett. The Treasury Department investigates allegations of abuse by the IRS.

The agent wanted to interview the woman but was thwarted after Alkire questioned whether he was qualified to handle the investigation, records show.

Alkire told him that it wasn't a criminal matter but an "issue of violation of discrimination laws." The investigator told Alkire that he would decide that. Alkire wanted to have the Housing Authority's female attorney sit in on the interview. The investigator left after the pair could not agree on how the interview should occur, records show.

Treasury Department spokesman David Barnes said it's against policy to confirm or discuss investigations.

This month, the IRS flew out a second auditor from its Nevada offices who completed the review, Alkire said in an interview last week.

The auditor reviewed payroll records and policies on the personal use of Housing Authority cell phones, laptop computers, cars and employer-provided meals. Tax forms sent to landlords who participate in the housing voucher program, known as Section 8, also were inspected.

A few irregularities were uncovered, but nothing serious enough to trigger fines, Housing Authority officials say.

Everett Housing Authority commissioner Lyle Ryan -- one of six appointed by Everett's mayor to oversee the public agency -- said the incident was unusual and he believes Housing Authority managers handled the complaint appropriately.

The Housing Authority, which operates mostly on grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has an annual budget of about $30 million. It has more than 100 employees, assists 2,400 households through its housing voucher program and another 1,000 families that live in public housing units in Everett.

The special IRS unit that inspects government agencies for tax compliance is taking a closer look at community colleges and housing authorities this year.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 06:59 PM

National Bathroom Reading Month was just announced on NPR. It seems appropriate, after the last item.

"Would you like a free bathroom reader?" the woman featured in the news piece asks as she hands out articles and stories. She says people are shy about admitting to reading in the john.

I don't think they should be encouraging lengthy reading retreats to users of the public johns in NYC (that's where this promotion took place). They're needed by more than four people an hour (15 minutes max per user.) Read somewhere else--like on the subway.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 09:43 AM

It's a political statement, right?


A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 01:43 AM

Enema of the people: Statue unveiled

Spa director: 'An enema is almost a symbol of our region'

The Associated Press
updated 12:04 p.m. CT, Thurs., June. 19, 2008

MOSCOW - A monument to the enema, a procedure many people would rather not think about, has been unveiled at a spa in the southern Russian city of Zheleznovodsk.

The bronze syringe bulb, which weighs 800 pounds and is held by three angels, was unveiled at the Mashuk-Akva Term spa, the spa's director said Thursday.

"There is no kitsch or obscenity, it is a successful work of art," Alexander Kharchenko told The Associated Press. "An enema is almost a symbol of our region."

The Caucasus Mountains region is known for dozens of spas where enemas with water from mineral springs are routinely administered to treat digestive and other complaints.

Kharchenko, 50, said the monument cost $42,000 and was installed in a square in front of his spa on Wednesday. A banner declaring: "Let's beat constipation and sloppiness with enemas" — an allusion to a line from "The Twelve Chairs," a famous Soviet film comedy — was posted on one of the spa's walls.

Sculptor Svetlana Avakina said she designed the 5-foot-high monument with "irony and humor" and modeled the angels on those in works by Italian Renaissance painter Alessandro Botticelli.

"This device is eternal, it will never change," she told the AP. "We could promote this brand, turn it into a franchise with souvenirs and awards for medical doctors."

Dozens of monuments dedicated to characters from tall tales and popular jokes have been erected in post-Soviet Russia.

©2008 The Associated Press.

[Photo at link]

John

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 11:08 PM

You want to slap this young mother upside the head and see if there is any brain inside. This is an AP story.

Girl finds teen sister's premature baby, abandoned but alive

BRECKENRIDGE (Texas)— A premature baby was found alive between a mattress and door several days after a teenage mother gave birth, hid the infant there and went on a trip, police said.
The teen's younger sister found the baby girl Saturday morning when she heard faint cries coming from a bedroom, opened the door and found a newborn completely wrapped in two towels between a mattress and bathroom door, Breckenridge Police Chief Larry Mahan said.

"Her sister heard whimpering and didn't know what it was, thought it was an animal and went in her sister's bedroom," Mahan said.

The girl immediately called authorities, who took the baby to a hospital in Fort Worth, about 100 miles east of Breckenridge, a town of about 6,000. The infant remained hospitalized, but her condition was unavailable Wednesday.

Lauren Renee McDonald, 19, of Breckenridge was charged with child abandonment and endangerment after she returned from her trip Sunday. She has since been released from jail on $10,000 bail.

Her attorney, David Wimberley, did not immediately return a call Wednesday afternoon from The Associated Press.

If convicted, she faces up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Investigators believe McDonald, who had hidden her pregnancy from her friends and family, gave birth one or two days before she left June 12 to visit a relative in West Virginia, Mahan said.

Texas has a "safe haven" law that allows a mother who does not want her baby to leave the child at a hospital, fire station or other designated place without being questioned or arrested.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 08:33 PM

CBD chaos as Apple Store opens (Sydney, Australia)

while the link works, have a look at the great pic of the new store!

June 19, 2008

Hundreds of Apple fans and onlookers clogged the pavements of George Street in the heart of Sydney's CBD tonight to witness the opening of Australia's first Apple Store.

Fifteen minutes before the allotted hour of 5pm, the queue to enter the store stretched from the corner of George and King Streets, around the block and back down York Street, almost to Market Street.

In places the line was five deep and police, City of Sydney council officials and private security guards had their job cut out keeping order as workers spilled out of their offices and merged into the streets with late night shoppers.

With fans penned in by metal barricades and flashbulbs illuminating York Street, passers-by could have been forgiven for thinking an international movie star had just arrived on a red carpet for a movie premiere.

Inside the store as zero hour approached, Apple Store staff faced the massive, 15m high glass atrium that frames the store and began singing, dancing an clapping.

For the people at the head of the queue, 5pm marked the end of a 30-plus hour vigil that earned them nothing more than a free t-shirt and the right to say they were among the first customers to visit the new $15 million store.

Although none of the first three in line bought anything, other's behind them were not so frugal and soon after the doors were open Apple's tills were ringing.

By about 4.25pm the streets resembled the home stretch of a marathon as scores of Apple employees poured out of the store ran a lap of the block, high-fiving members of the cheering crowds as thanks for their devotion.

"It's pretty incredible; far more than I expected," said Brisbane inventor and self-confessed Apple geek Moyzschya Belle, who slept out overnight with scores of other enthusiasts and was among the first wave to enter the store.

"But right now, I'm going home to have a hot shower and snuggle up to my sweetie."

Gary Allen from Berkeley in California, who writes a blog about Apple Stores and has attended some 30 store openings, also camped outside the store overnight.

He rates the Sydney store as among the top five in the world in terms of design and presentation.

For Anthony Agius from Melbourne who runs the MacTalk forum website, the best part of the overnight experience was the camaraderie. "We just spent all night talking about Macs," he said.

Apple's executive were also very pleased with themselves. The turnout had been better than expected and was achieved without any large-scale advertising or paid promotion.

"They all magnificent, but there's something very special about this [opening]," said Steve Cano, Apple's senior director of international retail, as the crowd poured in to the store. "There's a real energy."

===================================

I saw the beginning of the event on Wednesday afternoon - a few folks sitting on fold-up chairs outside the backlit newly unveiled shop, folks in the new store pottered around & a cleaner polished the railing on the second floor while city workers went about their business.

sandra (bemused Mac owner)

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 01:16 PM

I want to know what is up with the floating feet that have been washing up on the western shore of Canada. I mean, what is UP with these feet??

" Investigators are pursuing a variety of theories in their quest to unravel the mystery of six human feet that have washed up on the shores of the Canadian province of British Columbia in the last 11 months.


The sixth foot turned up Wednesday -- a right foot in a man's size 10 black Adidas athletic shoe, police said. As in the previous cases, however, immediate answers as to the foot's origin eluded detectives.

"We are exploring the possibility that it could be people who may have drowned," said Annie Linteau, a spokeswoman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. "It could be missing fishermen. It could be the remains of people who may have died in a plane crash."

When asked about the suspicion of foul play, Linteau noted that the first four feet contained no tool marks and were therefore deemed not to have been severed. Watch woman describe finding severed foot »

It is too early to say how the foot found Wednesday was separated from a body, and Linteau did not address the question of how the fifth foot came to be detached.

"It is certainly a very unusual situation," she said. "We have to explore all avenues and investigate all theories."

The coroner's office plans to examine DNA from the foot found Wednesday to try to identify the person to whom it belonged, she said. The authorities also are combing through missing persons reports and trying to determine when and where the shoe was manufactured and sold.

" (CNN)

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 11:20 AM

BANGKOK, Thailand — For teen boys who prefer to dress as girls at one rural high school in Thailand, taking a bathroom break no longer means choosing between "male" and "female" restrooms. There's now a "transvestite toilet."

The Kampang School in northeastern Thailand conducted a survey last term that showed more than 200 of the school's 2,600 students considered themselves transgender, said school director Sitisak Sumontha.

So, when classes resumed in May, the school unveiled a unisex restroom designated by a human figure split in half — part man in blue and part woman in red. Below it are the words "Transvestite Toilet."

Three transgender students praised the new restroom as they plucked their eyebrows and applied face powder in front of the mirror outside the stalls.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 12 Jun 08 - 10:27 PM

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A casualty of powerful storms that hit the Kansas State University campus on Wednesday was the Wind Erosion Lab, which the university said was destroyed by an apparent tornado.

"The damage on campus is extensive," said Tom Rawson, the university's vice president for administration and finance. "The Wind Erosion Lab is gone. There is significant damage to the engineering complex."

Storms and tornadoes raked Kansas overnight and caused an estimated $20 million damage at the university campus in Manhattan. No one was injured, a spokeswoman said.

"Roofs have been damaged or torn off, windows have been blown out in many buildings," Rawson said in a statement.

One of the damaged buildings housed the university's nuclear reactor, but the reactor remains unharmed, the university said.

---

Wait, wait!! You can't blow me away!! I'm here to study wind erosion!!


A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jun 08 - 11:08 PM

That's interesting! Clearly he got the message!

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 11 Jun 08 - 11:06 PM

Man walks 25 miles for DUI sentencing

He says his brother didn't show up to give him a ride

The Associated Press
updated 8:07 p.m. CT, Wed., June. 11, 2008

CARLISLE, Pa. - A Pennsylvania man says he had one alternative when his brother didn't show up to give him a ride to court: start walking. Stephen Shoemaker of Shippensburg was scheduled to appear at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday for sentencing on a 2007 drunken-driving conviction.

Shoemaker, 33, doesn't have a car or driver's license. So he started walking to the Cumberland County Courthouse in Carlisle at dawn. He kept walking for about 25 miles in 90-plus-degree heat.

Shoemaker arrived about 3:30 p.m., after a detour to Carlisle Regional Medical Center, where he was treated for dehydration.

Judge Edward Guido had issued an arrest warrant when Shoemaker failed to appear. Instead he agreed to defer sentencing until July. Guido says he hesitated only because "that means he'll have to walk back to Shippensburg."

Deputy Public Defender Anthony Adams volunteered to give Shoemaker a ride home.

© 2008 The Associated Press.

John

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 10:17 AM

This morning's newspaper with the article is on the kitchen table waiting to be read. Big photo above the fold. Arson? You'd think they'd have a security plan for a place like this.

SRS