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

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 25 Sep 07 - 08:57 AM

In my local newsrag 24 SEP 2007
Estimate of human trafficking wildly off
BY JERRY MARKON
Washington Post

WASHINGTON Outrage was mounting at the 1999 hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building, where legislators were learning about human trafficking.

A woman from Nepal testified that she had been drugged, abducted and forced to work at a brothel in Bombay. A Christian activist recounted tales of women overseas being beaten with electrical cords and raped.

A State Department official said Congress must act – 50,000 slaves were pouring into the United States every year, she said. Furious about the "tidal wave" of victims, Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., vowed to crack down on so-called modem-day slavery.

The next year, Congress passed a law, triggering a little-noticed worldwide war on human trafficking that began at the end of the Clinton administration and is now a top Bush administration priority. As part of the fight, President Bush has blanketed the nation with 42 Justice Department task forces and spent more than $150 million—all to find and help the estimated hundreds of thousands of victims of forced prostitution or labor in the United States.

But the government couldn't find them. Not in this country. The evidence and testimony presented to Congress pointed to a problem overseas. But in the seven years since the law was passed, human trafficking has not become a major domestic issue, according to the government's figures.

The administration has identified 1,362 victims of human trafficking brought into the United States since 2000, nowhere near the 50,000 a year the government had estimated. In addition, 148 federal cases have been brought nationwide.

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told Congress last year that a much lower estimate in 2004 – 14,500 to 17,500 a year – might also have been overstated.

Yet the government spent $28.5 million in 2006 to fight human trafficking in the United States, a 13 percent increase over the previous year. The effort has attracted strong bipartisan support.

Steven Wagner, who helped HHS distribute millions of dollars in grants to community groups to find and assist victims, said "those funds were wasted." "Many of the organizations that received grants didn't really have to do anything," said Wagner, former head of HHS's anti-trafficking program. "They were available to help victims. There weren't any victims."

Deja vu?

On June 25, 1910, President William Howard Taft signed into law the White Slave Traffic Act. Named for its sponsor in Congress: the Mann Act.

The bill was aimed at the criminal traffic in women. But it also served as a rallying point for the social purity movement. As one supporter argued, those in favor of the bill included "every pure woman in the land, every priest and minister of the living God, and men who reverence womanhood and who set a priceless value upon female purity." On the other side of the bill, "you would find all the whoremongers and the pimps and the procurers and the keepers of bawdy houses. Upon that other side you would find all those who hate God and scoff at innocence and laugh at female virtue."

Stanley Finch, one of the first heads of the Bureau of Investigation, used the hysteria to build a personal fiefdom within the federal government. After he became Special Commissioner for the Suppression of White Slavery, he told audiences, "It is a fact that there are now scattered throughout practically every section of the U.S. a vast number of men and women whose sole occupation consists in enticing, tricking, or coercing young women and girls into immoral lives. Moreover, their methods have been so far developed and perfected that they seem to be able to ensnare almost any woman or girl whom they select for the purpose. This is indeed an extraordinary statement, and one almost passing belief, but that it is absolutely true no one can honestly doubt who reviews any considerable portion of the mass of evidence which is already in the possession of the Attorney General's Bureau of Investigation."

There was only one problem: No one could find a widespread, organized traffic in white slaves.¹

And is it déjà vu all over again?

Later, the honorable J. Edgar Hoover repeatedly cited FBI statistics showing that the number of young women forced into sexual slavery in the US each year exceeded the number entering high school in each of the same years … …

¹ The Century of Sex, Petersen, 1999, ISBN 0-8021-1652-3

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 24 Sep 07 - 11:39 PM

Wow!! Cannon Fodder of the masses is the Answer! We just need more flesh to pound! Obviously!! How blind we have been.


(Jaysus, some folks give stupidity a real bad name, ya know?).

W didn't write those letters, did he? Just askin'


A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: katlaughing
Date: 24 Sep 07 - 11:36 PM

[No kidding, SRS!]

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Sep 07 - 11:20 PM

[signed: The Pope]

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: katlaughing
Date: 24 Sep 07 - 11:01 PM

Not enough worker bees!

On September 19, the Fort Collins Coloradoan published a guest opinion credited to Lois Burnett suggesting that "[t]here would have been far less need or opportunity for foreign workers to come [to the United States] illegally" if during the last "34 years, the lives of 45-plus million babies" had not "been terminated by abortion." The op-ed further stated that, if not for abortion, "[s]ervicemen and women" serving in Iraq "would not have had to return for two or three deployments," adding, "It's very likely that there would have been far less casualties all around if the United States had the volume of forces needed to rapidly gain and keep control."

As Colorado Media Matters has noted, Douglas County Republican Party official Rick Murray reportedly made similar assertions at a May 25 GOP breakfast, saying that "[s]ince Roe v. Wade we have flushed 48 million babies down the toilet. So we have these jobs filled with illegal immigrants. Draw your own conclusions."

Burnett was arguing in favor of Senate Bill 351, which would amend Title X of the Public Health Service Act "to prohibit family planning grants from being awarded to any entity that performs abortions." She wrote, "There has been recent (but not new) concern for shortages of farm workers, industry and construction laborers, military recruits, school teachers, and doctors and nurses in rural areas." Burnett then added, "For 34 years, the lives of 45-plus million babies have been terminated by abortion, babies who would have been these laborers, workers, servicemen and women, teachers, researchers, doctors, nurses, and the list goes on." She further claimed:

    There would have been far less need or opportunity for foreign workers to come here illegally. The masses of illegal immigration to our country have been a bitter pill to swallow. Can one dare to speculate that, in these 34 years, Mexican citizens may have united in their own country, forged positive change and great strides in their own economy and quality of life?

    I firmly believe, also, that a heavy deployment of armed forces, had they been available, to Iraq at an early time would have substantially improved their effectiveness and shortened our time in Iraq. Servicemen and women would not have had to return for two or three deployments. It's very likely that there would have been far less casualties all around if the United States had the volume of forces needed to rapidly gain and keep control.

The op-ed concluded with a reference to the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, asserting, "We are all paying a terrible price for one irrespective law of 1973. Let us at least stop financing the rogue Planned Parenthood with our tax monies."

Media Matters for America has noted similar claims by conservatives including convicted Watergate felon and Prison Fellowship Ministries founder Charles W. Colson. During the April 11, 2006, broadcast of his daily BreakPoint radio commentary, Colson claimed that legalized abortion created a labor shortage, forcing the United States to solicit undocumented workers from other countries to fill jobs that might have otherwise been occupied by the "40 million sacrificed since 1973."

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: beardedbruce
Date: 24 Sep 07 - 05:37 PM

Baha'i international leader dies

A longtime leader of the Baha'i religion, Ali-Muhammad Varqa, has died in Haifa, Israel. The Holy Land, particularly the cities of Haifa and Acre, are considered the spiritual home of Baha'i.

Dr. Varqa was appointed in the 1950s as one of the protectors and propagators of the faith by Shoghi Effendi, a descendant of the founder of Baha'i.

The Baha'i faith is based on the principle that all human beings are one family, and that humanity is nearing its goal of a peaceful and just world order. It has about 6 million followers.

Here's the full news release from Baha'i World News Service.

BAHA'I WORLD LOSES MOST DISTINGUISHED MEMBER

HAIFA, Israel, 24 September 2007 (BWNS) -- The worldwide Baha'i community has lost its most distinguished member with the death of Dr. Ali-Muhammad Varqa.

He passed away on the evening of 22 September 2007 at his home in Haifa.

In 1955, Dr. Varqa was appointed to the high rank of "Hand of the Cause" by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Baha'i Faith. Dr. Varqa served in that capacity, on the international level, for 52 years until his passing. He was the last survivor of the 27 Hands of the Cause who were alive when Shoghi Effendi passed away in 1957.

Dr. Varqa came from a well-known Iranian family that has served the Baha'i Faith with distinction for generations. After obtaining a doctorate from the Sorbonne in Paris in 1950, he taught in Iran at the universities of Tabriz and Tehran and served the Baha'i community there in various administrative capacities. In 1979 he moved to Canada, and later established his residence in Haifa to serve at the Baha'i World Center.

He was born in 1912 in Tehran, Iran, and received his name from 'Abdu'l-Baha
in memory of his grandfather, who had been killed for being a follower of Baha'u'llah.

Dr. Varqa traveled to many countries as a representative first of Shoghi Effendi, then of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing council of the Baha'i Faith. In that capacity, Dr. Varqa attended the first national conventions held in Belgium, Luxembourg, the Congo, Mauritania, Central Africa Republic, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Czechoslovakia and Greenland.

Dr. Varqa is survived by three daughters and six siblings. His funeral was to take place the morning of 24 September, with burial in the Baha'i cemetery in Haifa.

To view the photos and additional features click here:
http://news.bahai.org

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 01:32 PM

CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuelan man who had been declared dead woke up in the morgue in excruciating pain after medical examiners began their autopsy.

Carlos Camejo, 33, was declared dead after a highway accident and taken to the morgue, where examiners began an autopsy only to realize something was amiss when he started bleeding. They quickly sought to stitch up the incision on his face.

"I woke up because the pain was unbearable," Camejo said, according to a report on Friday in leading local newspaper El Universal.

His grieving wife turned up at the morgue to identify her husband's body only to find him moved into a corridor -- and alive.

Reuters could not immediately reach hospital officials to confirm the events. But Camejo showed the newspaper his facial scar and a document ordering the autopsy.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: KB in Iowa
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 01:27 PM

Hindu gods could get a class action going pretty easily, I would think.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 12:39 PM

The next step, obviously, is a suit filed by the "real God" charging identity theft against those who impersonated him to file these counters(?).

I'd guess it might have to be handled as a "class action" thing due to the number of self-proclaimed imitators (dozens in my own home town). That would be a quite novel development, as class action precedent largely is limited to classes of plaintiffs, and new processes might be needed to handle a mass class of defendants.

John

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: KB in Iowa
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 10:28 AM

'God' responds to legislator's lawsuit

LINCOLN, Nebraska (AP) -- A legislator who filed a lawsuit against God has gotten something he might not have expected: a response.

One of two court filings from "God" came Wednesday under otherworldly circumstances, according to John Friend, clerk of the Douglas County District Court in Omaha.

"This one miraculously appeared on the counter. It just all of a sudden was here -- poof!" Friend said.

State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha sued God last week, seeking a permanent injunction against the Almighty for making terroristic threats, inspiring fear and causing "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."

Chambers, a self-proclaimed agnostic who often criticizes Christians, said his filing was triggered by a federal lawsuit he considers frivolous. He said he's trying to make the point that anybody can sue anybody.

Not so, says "God." His response argues that the defendant is immune from some earthly laws and the court lacks jurisdiction.

It adds that blaming God for human oppression and suffering misses an important point.

"I created man and woman with free will and next to the promise of immortal life, free will is my greatest gift to you," according to the response, as read by Friend.

There was no contact information on the filing, although St. Michael the Archangel is listed as a witness, Friend said.

A second response from "God" disputing Chambers' allegations lists a phone number for a Corpus Christi law office. A message left for that office was not immediately returned Thursday.

Attempts to reach Chambers by phone and at his Capitol office Thursday were unsuccessful.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 04:50 AM

Loss from vehicles can occur anywhere, it has happened often enough to visitors here for the Calgary Stampede and off hiking in the Rockies. It happens to we locals as well.
The problem is that there is no really safe place to leave belongings.
They should have kept their credit cards and ID with them, however. That was dumb.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 11:15 PM

This story has a "happy ending," but what on earth did this group think, leaving all of those valuables in a vehicle parked at a trailhead for 10 days? I used to work in that park, pass that trailhead frequently. It's easy pickings for the kind of folks who prey on hikers. Quick off the road, hit the cars, back on before anyone else comes along. NEVERNEVERNEVER leave valuables in a vehicle like that.

Returns happily accepted
link

GRANITE FALLS — An early September trip to the wilderness turned into a real-life crime drama for a group of university students visiting Washington from Montana. Just like on TV, this story ends happily. The cast includes a bad guy from Granite Falls, about a dozen University of Montana college students and a determined small-town police department.

It all started a few weeks ago when students stumbled out of the wilderness after a 10-day hiking trip to discover their van broken into and their property gone. "We were just kind of devastated," said sophomore Clara Schahczenski, 19, of Whitehall, Mont. The students thought for sure their backpacks, wallets, iPods and other belongings — including irreplaceable jewelry and school work — were gone for good.

But two days after reporting the thefts, Laurie Ashley, 32, a university instructor in the Wilderness and Civilization program, got a phone call from Granite Falls Police Chief Tony Domish. "It was like, oh, my God, something's happening," Ashley said Wednesday from Missoula. "It was the beginning of what turned into a cop TV-like drama for us."

For the students, it all ended Wednesday in Missoula after Domish and officer Win Matter drove more than 500 miles to return students' stolen property. "Normally a police department wouldn't have brought it back. But he was really sweet about it and took the time to get it and bring it back," Schahczenski said.

The group had come to hike in Washington because of wildfires in Montana. They arrived in Washington on Aug. 31 and chose to hike in the Mount Baker Wilderness in Skagit County. On Sept. 7, the students emerged from the woods in a bliss-like state, they said, only to discover that civilization had paid them a visit.

"It's a little bit too classic to have a really amazing wilderness experience and your first contact with civilization to be very negative," Ashley said. The students scrambled to cancel credit cards, lining up at a roadside pay phone. Until they could get credit and debit cards replaced, they borrowed money and begged friends to use their cell phones.

During the long ride back to Missoula, with glass on the floor of the van and a window busted out, the exhausted students were miserable. When Andrea Manes, 21, got back to campus, she had to walk back to her apartment dressed in dirty, pink long johns because her clean clothes were stolen. "I probably looked like a meth addict instead looking like being robbed," she said. The college junior had to crawl through a screen in her apartment until she could get the locks changed. Her car sat unusable in a campus parking lot, the keys stolen.

Meanwhile, in Granite Falls, police had stopped a man in his mid-40s on suspicion of driving with a suspended license. In the car, police found several other driver's licenses. Domish started making phone calls and learned they all belonged to the University of Montana students. Through interrogation, investigation and a lot of legwork, Domish began to unravel what happened.

The Granite Falls man police believe was responsible was driving his girlfriend to a court date in Omak. Along Highway 20, he apparently stopped at the Ross Lake trailhead where police believe he siphoned gas from the students' van, broke the window and stole their stuff. "Each one had a cell phone, iPod, thumb drives with dissertations ... irreplaceable stuff," Domish said. "They had to make it home with nothing, no credit cards, no phones."

In just a few days, police believe the suspect used the stolen credit cards to buy gas and used the cell phones to place calls, Domish said. The suspect filled gas cans paying with the stolen credit cards and then likely sold the gas for cash. For many students, the hiking trip was their first visit to Washington, and Domish didn't want their perceptions colored by the theft, he said.

He set out to find all the stolen property. "I was determined," he said. Domish recovered items in Granite Falls. Tips lead him to a trailer in Omak where he found more of the stolen property.

Domish called Ashley every few hours to give her updates. "I knew he was working very hard and that this was pretty intense. He was meeting with the bad guys, learning where everything was," she said. "I could tell it was important to him. It was clear that he had worked really hard on this case."

On Wednesday, Domish surprised the students by walking into class in Missoula with his arms full of their property. "He's amazing," Manes said. "I grew up in a law enforcement family. I've never seen this kind of effort for a car being broken into. The amount of progress they made in a couple of days is astonishing. It's good to know there are officers out there like that. It's pretty rare."

Domish shrugs off the praise. "It was great," he said on his way back to Granite Falls on Wednesday afternoon. "How often do you get to meet the victims and return their stuff?" The suspect is in Snohomish County Jail for investigation of four counts of identity theft. Snohomish County prosecutors may charge the man with additional crimes, Domish said.

Ashley said the university students were grateful. "We're super thankful to the Granite Falls Police Department," she said. "Whereas two weeks ago I didn't even know the town existed, now I feel very indebted."

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 10:38 PM

There have been some really wacko stories in the news the last couple of days. I've been too busy to post any, but that's probably just as well.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: frogprince
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 09:02 PM

That is way, way, beyond bizzare. Is that the family from the movie "The Hills Have Eyes"?

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: KB in Iowa
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 12:40 PM

Judge Orders Concord Man To Bury Mummified Baby

CONCORD, N.H. -- A judge has ordered a Concord man to lay an unusual family heirloom to rest.

Probate Judge Richard Hampe said the mummified baby known as "Baby John" passed down for generations through Charles Peavey's family must be buried because there is no DNA evidence proving kinship.

Peavey said Wednesday his family is disappointed but will not appeal the decision.

"I'm just washing my hands of it," said Peavey. "I'm disappointed it came to this."

Until police confiscated Baby John last year, the mummy had been on display on a bureau in Peavey's home. Relatives and friends treated the desiccated infant as a family member, giving it cards during holidays and even a dried fish as a pet. Authorities learned of the mummy's existence after Peavey's niece mentioned to day care staffers that her uncle kept a dead baby at his house.

Peavey said his family believes the mummy is the stillborn child of a great-great uncle.

Testing by the state concluded the baby died of natural causes shortly after its birth and confirmed the remains were decades old, but did not determine the mummy's age or origin. Peavey said he can't afford DNA testing, and the state won't release the remains unless there is proof of a family relationship.

"It's one of the few things from our family past that we have left," Peavey had written in a petition to the court. "And when I pass on, I was looking forward to passing it on to another family member, to keep some of the history for future family members."

In court, prosecutor Richard Head raised concerns about the family's treatment of the mummy if it were returned, pointing to Peavey's page on the social networking site MySpace that opens with the "The Addams Family" theme song and makes joking references to Baby John, including a photo of a small crypt and a suggestion that it may hold the remains of Baby John's sister.

Peavey said the page was created as a joke by his niece and he was going to ask her to take it down.

"I do not think this is a joke. I've never treated him like a joke. No weirdness was going on," he said.

article with picture

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 01:48 PM

New US pain weapon renamed due to sounding like a former US President's name.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=482560&in_page_id=1965

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 01:45 PM

Rove corruption investigation dropped due to lack of funds.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/09/budget-shortfal.html

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: KB in Iowa
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 01:37 PM

Police: Irate Woman Throws Baby At Trooper

NORTH EAST, Md. -- A Maryland mother was arraigned on drug and child abuse charges after police said she threw her 6-month-old child across a room at a police officer.

According to court documents, the incident happened in late July at a home on Inverness Drive in Cecil County.

According to court documents, state troopers were called to a trailer on Inverness Drive to check on the well-being of Evelyn Doninger, 23, of North East, and her two small children.
Officers said that they smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the home, so they told Doninger they would be coming in. The court documents said that Doninger told police they had no right to enter her home.

Police said that they noticed a hand -rolled cigarette and a bag with what they believed was marijuana in it, as well as various drug paraphernalia. They also said they found two men inside the home and two children -- a 2-year-old and a 6-month-old.

Police said they told Doninger she was being arrested. The documents said she became "incredibly irate," stood up from a chair and threw the 6-month-old at least 5 feet at one of the troopers.

The child struck the trooper's chest and he caught the baby just before it hit the floor, according to court documents. Doninger then shoved the trooper, striking both him and the baby.

Neighbors who spoke with WBAL TV 11 News said that the allegations are shocking, but most turned away when 11 News asked them about it for fear of retaliation from drug dealers who the neighbors said have a strong presence in the area, according to 11 News reporter Lowell Melser.

A woman who neighbors said was Doninger's mother -- but would not identify herself to Melser -- said that there was some validity to the story, but would not give details.

Police said that the 6-month-old baby is doing fine.

Doninger has since been released from jail. She is facing eight different child abuse and drug charges.

A trial date has not been set.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 09:35 PM

Woman Pleads Not Guilty in Lawn Case
link. There are a couple of photos.

OREM, Utah - A 70-year-old woman arrested in a dispute over her brown lawn pleaded not guilty Tuesday, then stood by as a Los Angeles lawyer waved handcuffs for the cameras outside court. "I ask the citizens of Orem: How many of you would like to have your great-grandmother taken from her home with bruises and blood and placed in handcuffs for failing to water her lawn?" Gloria Allred said. "Let's bring sanity back to law enforcement," she said.

Betty Perry is charged with resisting arrest and failing to maintain her landscaping, both misdemeanors. She was arrested July 6 after failing to give her name to a police officer who visited her home. During a struggle, Perry fell and injured her nose. She spent more than an hour in a holding cell before police released her.

The mayor and City Council apologized, and the police department said the incident could have been handled differently. But the city attorney still is pressing charges against Perry. She pleaded not guilty and will return to court Oct. 11.

Allred is a noted feminist who has been involved in several high-profile cases, including representing Amber Frey, the girlfriend of Scott Peterson, who was sentenced to death for the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci. A state investigation found Officer James Flygare acted properly in arresting Perry after trying to get her to cooperate.

Perry's water had been turned off for about nine months, at her request, although she was living at the house at the time of the arrest. Orem has a shut-off policy for people who are away for extended periods.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 01:45 PM

Beat me to the eBay story, Amos.

link here to the rest of the story.

Someone Tries to Sell Belgium on eBay

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — Hidden among the porcelain fox hounds and Burberry tablecloths on sale at eBay.be this week was an unusual item: "For Sale: Belgium, a Kingdom in three parts ... free premium: the king and his court (costs not included)."

The odd ad was posted by one disgruntled Belgian in protest at his country's political crisis which reached a 100-day landmark Tuesday with no end in sight to the squabbling between Flemish and Walloon politicians.

"I wanted to attract attention," said Gerrit Six, the teacher and former journalist who posted the ad. "You almost have to throw rock through a window to get attention for Belgium."

Six placed the advertisement on Saturday, offering free delivery, but pointing out that the country was coming secondhand and that potential buyers would have to take on over $300 billion (euro220 billion) in national debt.

Like many of Belgium's 10 million citizens, Six is exasperated that the power struggle between the county's French- or Dutch-speaking political parties has left Belgium in political limbo since June 10 elections.

Demands for more autonomy from the Dutch-speaking Flemish are resisted by the French-speaking Walloons, making it impossible to form a government coalition and triggering concern the kingdom is on the verge of a breakup.

Six decided to vent his frustration through the Internet ad.

"My proposal was to make it clear that Belgium was valuable, it's a masterpiece and we have to keep it," he told Associated Press Television News. "It's my country and I'm taking care of it, and with me are millions of Belgians."

Six' idea got a mixed reaction on the streets of Brussels.

"Very funny, typical Belgian humor," said Anne Graux. "It's ridiculous," snapped Nathalie Ginot, a Brussels resident who had her own pragmatic solution to Belgium's woes. "We think it would be good to split Belgium into the three and make Brussels a tax-haven, a capital exempt from all taxes," she said hopefully.

Six vaunted Belgium's attractions to potential buyers from art nouveau architecture to the headquarters of NATO and the European Union and some great beers. But he also warned of the pitfalls of taking on the cacophonous mix of Flemish nationalists, Walloon Socialists and the mayors of all 19 Brussels' boroughs.

EBay was happy to take Six' advertisement.

"It was a really fun listing made by a Belgian," Peter Burin, PR manager of eBay Belgium. "This person, in a very funny way, reminded the Belgians what a great country Belgium actually is and it would be a shame to sell it."

However, the company decided to pull the add Tuesday after receiving a bid of euro10 million ($14 million)

"We decided to take it down, just to avoid confusion," he told APTN.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 11:00 AM

Posted on 09/18/2007 3:44:37 AM PDT by chessplayer


Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said today.

Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.

Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.

Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 10:51 AM

Someone Tries to Sell Belgium on eBay Sep 18 10:23 AM US/Eastern By PAUL AMES Associated Press Writer BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -

Hidden among the porcelain fox hounds and Burberry tablecloths on sale at eBay.be this week was an unusual item: "For Sale: Belgium, a Kingdom in three parts ... free premium: the king and his court (costs not included)."

The odd ad was posted by one disgruntled Belgian in protest at his country's political crisis which reached a 100-day landmark Tuesday with no end in sight to the squabbling between Flemish and Walloon politicians. "I wanted to attract attention,"...

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Mickey191
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 03:14 PM

AP Story- Poughkeepsie,NY Journal:

"POLICE: BALD MAN TRIED TO STEAL HAIR PRODUCTS

Ossining,NY A bald man who stole 5 bottles of hair loss treatment was caught while running away. Police arrested Mark Hoousendove 42, on petty larceny charges. He had just dropped off friends at SING SING PRISON on Sunday when he went into pharmacy & stole $50.00 worth of the treatment. An officer nearbye chased & grabbed him."


There's gotta be a song in here somewhere.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 01:58 PM

Depends on where he hit, I suppose. If he lost consciousness gradually from blood loss rather than brain destruction, he might have made a few wild turns and swerves before he lost control,no?



A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 01:15 PM

From the Star-Telegram this morning:

Driver kills himself after police chase

A 30-year-old man fatally shot himself early Saturday after trying to run over a Dallas police officer during a routine traffic stop, Dallas police said.

The driver fled after the stop, which came at 12:55 a.m. near Fitzhugh and Capitol Aves., north of downtown Dallas.

Officers chased him into Allen, Lt. Vernon Hale said in a statement.

After about an hour, the man crashed his vehicle. At some point during the chase, he shot himself, Hale said. No other injuries were reported.

I suppose it is accurate to say "at some point," but it would be my guess that this shot occurred at the very end of the chase.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 12:36 AM

I heard about this from my friend Pam, who runs the parks in Ventura County. She did all of the leg work but her boss took the credit in all of the interviews. It's that kind of hierarchy.

story link

Blue Whale washes ashore near Ventura

The carcass of a 70-foot blue whale rolled gently with the incoming waves at a beach about 10 miles north of Ventura this morning as scientists from as far as the San Francisco area rushed to the scene.

Blue whales, the largest animal on earth, have been migrating through the Santa Barbara Channel. How the one that drifted into the rocks off Hobson Beach died will not be known until scientists have extracted tissues and examined its vast body.

Beached less than 100 feet from the Old Pacific Coast Highway, the whale has drawn dozens of spectators ambling on the roadside, taking photos and giving their children a rare glimpse of a huge marine mammal.

"Amazing!" said Terry Hewitt, a cook at Cal State Channel Islands who came to view the whale on her day off. "I was swimming out there yesterday, and if that thing had passed me in the water, well, Ohmigod!"

Authorities had been tracking the carcass for a couple of days before it ran ashore. Ron Barrett, an enviromental specialist for the Navy and a volunteer for a local wildlife group, said he could not recall a blue whale dying and washing ashore on the Ventura County coastline.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Sep 07 - 06:01 PM

These Okies and Texans, they're f**kin' nuts when it comes to football. Literally. From the Star-Telegram today.

OU fan accused of gruesome injury to man clad in UT shirt
The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY -- To some University of Oklahoma football fans, there are things that just aren't done in the heart of Sooner Nation, and one of them is to walk into a bar wearing a Texas Longhorns T-shirt. That's exactly what touched off a bloody skirmish that left a University of Texas fan nearly castrated and an Oklahoma fan facing aggravated assault charges that could put him in prison for up to five years.

The case has set off a raging debate in this football-crazed region about the extreme passions behind a bitter rivalry. Some legal observers even question whether this case could ever truly have an impartial jury. "I've actually heard callers on talk radio say that this guy deserved what he got for wearing a Texas T-shirt into a bar in the middle of Sooner country," said Irven Box, an attorney in this city 20 miles from OU's campus in Norman.

Police say Brian Christopher Thomas, 32, walked into Henry Hudson's Pub on June 17 wearing a Longhorns T-shirt and quickly became the focus of football trash talk from another regular, Sooners fan Allen Michael Beckett, 53. Thomas told police that when he went to the bar to pay his tab, Beckett grabbed him in the crotch, pulled him to the ground and wouldn't let go, even as other bar patrons tried to break it up. It took more than 60 stitches to close the wound, and police interviewed Thomas at a nearby hospital.

Beckett's attorney, Billy Bock, concedes that his client commented about Thomas' shirt but said that it was just good-natured ribbing and that he apologized to Thomas when it appeared to upset the Texas fan. Later, Bock said, Thomas approached his client at the bar and threatened him.

Thomas' attorney disputes Beckett's version. "That's total malarkey," Hughes said. "My client never said a word to him. He got up to pay and when he paid and left a tip, the guy grabbed him."

Beckett, a church deacon, federal auditor and former Army combat veteran, has pleaded not guilty. His next court appearance comes Oct. 4, two days before the Sooners and Longhorns tangle in their annual football game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 10:21 AM

Here we are again, moving into a new "decade" of interesting news stories.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 10:08 AM

That happened to Moonglow and her friends at work one day also, at the local Dairy Queen. They were able to watch the surveillance camera and found the few frames where a mall maintenance worker walked past and grabbed the whole tip jar and made off with it. Guy was fired. Too bad he ditched the tip jar so they could never find it--it was a good one that people recognized and actually used. A cup on the counter with a hand-lettered word "tips" just doesn't work as well.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 10:01 AM

MELBOURNE, Fla. -- Ben & Jerry's is offering five years worth of free ice cream for the arrest of a man caught on surveillance video stealing $160 from a tip jar at a store in Melbourne.


Police said a man was videotaped at the Melbourne Ben & Jerry's store located on Hibiscus Boulevard near the Premiere Theaters Oaks Stadium 10 reaching into the cow-shaped jar and removing the money.

"It's pretty despicable that someone would steal tip money from teenagers," store owner Matt Solomon told Local 6 News partner Florida Today. "These kids work hard behind this counter."

Ben & Jerry's is offering one free scoop of ice cream -- cone or cup -- every week for five years to anyone who provides information leading to an arrest. Solomon estimated the reward's value at $1,000.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 07 - 08:05 PM

Connecticut Man Gets Anthrax From Drums
(this is an AP story. Another one is linked below)

DANBURY, Conn. - A musician and a family member both contracted a non-contagious form of anthrax, apparently from imported animal skins used to make drums, officials said Wednesday. Mayor Mark Boughton described one of the individuals as a renowned African drummer and drummaker who stored untanned animal hides obtained from areas of the world where anthrax is common.

A spokesman for the state Department of Public Health, Bill Gerrish, said a second member of the same family also had the disease. Both apparently had the cutaneous form of anthrax, which is not contagious and can usually be treated with antibiotics. The public's health is not threatened, Boughton said at a news conference.

Cutaneous anthrax, the most common form of the bacterial infection, can cause reddening and swelling of the skin. There usually are only one to two cases per year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

FBI agents were notified, but state public health officials were handling the investigation, said Marybeth Miklos, a spokeswoman for the FBI's New Haven field office. "We are aware of it, but as of right now it is not anything terrorism-related," Miklos said.

The state Department of Public Health took about a dozen hides that had been stored in a shed on the man's property. The drums were not finished, so officials said anthrax would not have spread beyond where the man had worked.

State officials said the hides were part of a recent shipment believed to be from Africa. The FBI and U.S. Department of Agriculture were working to determine whether hides from the same shipment had been sent elsewhere in the country.

The owner of the home, Donald Lombardo, identified the tenant as Ase-AmenRa Kariamu and said he has not seen Kariamu for several weeks. Kariamu is the director of the West Afrikan Drumming program at the Danbury Music Centre. His private phone number is unpublished. Messages seeking comment were left for him at the music center.

Dr. Gary Schleiter, chief of infectious diseases at Danbury Hospital, said the man went to his doctor a few weeks ago with what looked like a scab on his arm. When it didn't get better, he went to the hospital, where tests confirmed late Monday he had anthrax.

The other family member, who also was not identified, went to a pediatrician because of a similar spot. Both were treated and released and are fine now. There was an 80 percent chance they would have gotten better without treatment, Schleiter said.

In a similar case in February 2006, a New York City man contracted anthrax while handling drums he had covered with goat skin he brought from Ivory Coast. Health officials believe he inhaled anthrax spores while making the instruments.

Local Danbury newspaper link.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: TheSnail
Date: 05 Sep 07 - 04:06 PM

Wandering water buffalo named Shakespeare dies in car accident

Martin Wainwright
Wednesday September 5, 2007
The Guardian


A pet water buffalo called William Shakespeare was a victim in a collision which left two car drivers and a passenger with minor injuries. The huge animal crumpled the front of a Fiat Punto after roaming on to the A590 where it skirts the Lake District at Dalton-in-Furness. Firefighters had to cut the car's 19-year-old driver free, although he escaped with bruises and a few cuts. Two other cars, a Ford Focus and a Nissan Micra, collided while trying to avoid the debris or because their drivers were distracted by the accident.

Article continues

The driver of the Nissan was taken with minor injuries to Furness general hospital in Barrow, where his woman passenger was treated for whiplash.
William Shakespeare, who died at the scene, weighed more than a tonne and belonged to an enthusiast in nearby Walney. He had a record of trying to escape. Cumbria police said: "William Shakespeare was very well known in the area, but he tragically sustained fatal injuries in the collision and died at the scene. There will be a normal police investigation into the collision."

Expertise in similar crashes is concentrated in Canada and the northern US, where even a relatively small state such as Massachusetts clocks up some 50 accidents involving cars and moose every year.

The collision rapidly made international headlines yesterday, including an informative piece in Pravda online, which explained to Russian readers that Cumbria "is better known for its herds of cattle and rugged hill-dwelling sheep".

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 07 - 01:45 PM

Here's one a little more upbeat.

Photo link to the Herald (Everett, Wa)

A lumberjack for life
By Suzanne Schmid, Herald Photographer

There's no lumbering with this lumberjack. At 65, Alvie Marcellus of Spokane is still sawing trees with speedy finesse. In fact, he and his brother, Earl Marcellus, 63, who sawed with him at the Evergreen State Fair, began competing at 13 and 11 years old, and have won world championships.

In less than ten seconds, Alvie and Earl can blaze through a log with a saw that was once known as the mystery whip. "A lot of people think it's all arm, but there's a lot of leg and hip involved," Alvie explains.

When not performing for the International Lumberjack Show at the fair, Alvie coaches others in the art of sawing, chopping, and axe-throwing. "Technique is everything," he says.

Alvie recalls two students he once taught together. One was a 275-pound weightlifter and the other was a slim 138 pounds. After one month of training, the smaller student using correct method could out-saw the man with muscles. "A few ounces of pressure make all the difference," he says.

Performing three shows every day can leave Alvie with sore hands, but for a guy whose favorite hobby is chopping wood, Alvie has no interest in hanging up his blades. According to him, being a lumberjack is wonderful exercise. "I don't need any sleeping pills to get me to sleep."

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 07 - 10:49 AM

This is from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram today. I would imagine that an uncataloged injury for the father is a broken heart. . .

Man killed in collision with father near home
   
A 20-year-old Godley man was killed Friday afternoon when his car and his father's pickup collided about a mile and a half from the family's home. James Daniel III was pronounced dead at the intersection of County Road 913A and 913B in northwest Johnson County, said Trooper David Riggs of the Texas Department of Public Safety. James Daniel II, 61, remained hospitalized Tuesday night with a punctured lung and broken ribs.

"Who would ever believe the odds of it happening?" said a family member, who returned a phone call to the Star-Telegram on Tuesday but said he did not want his name published. "It was a very tragic accident."

The father, who headed toward home on 913B about 1:30 p.m., stopped at the two-way sign at the intersection of 913A before turning, Riggs said. He "eased his way" into the intersection because weeds were high, making it hard to see around the corner.

His son had just left home and was driving his 2003 Nissan 350Z east on 913A, Riggs said. A witness said he appeared to be driving well over the 40 mph speed limit, Riggs said. The son's car crashed into the father's truck, he said. "It happened so fast there was nothing either of them could do," Riggs said. "The dad couldn't stop, and the son couldn't stop."

The mother arrived at the scene soon after the crash, he said, but later left to be with her husband at Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital, where he was flown by helicopter ambulance. The father was wearing his seat belt, Riggs said. His son was not.

The father recognized his son's car, Riggs said. "Of course, he was upset," Riggs said. "It was a real sad deal." The collision remains under investigation, Riggs said. "I have little doubt in my mind that if the son had been wearing his seat belt, he could have survived," Riggs said.

The younger Daniel was a graduate of Godley High School, where he played basketball on a team that narrowly lost in the regionals of the state tournament, said Ronnie Stephens, the school's athletic director, on Tuesday. "He was good basketball player and a fun-loving person," Stephens said. "A lot of people knew him around here." The Godley community is heartbroken, he said. "It was unbelievable," he said. "It happened to a real good family."

The Daniel family appreciates the support it has received, the family member said. James Daniel II "will be OK physically," he said. "But a tragedy like this is going to strike you in more ways than your health."

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 04 Sep 07 - 07:46 PM

irst kiss can make or break a couple's relationship
12:39 04 September 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Rowan Hooper

Evolutionary Psychology vol 5, p 621
George Gallup, State University of New York, Albany

The first kiss can make or break a couple's relationship, suggests a new study.

A kiss may contain potentially important information about your kissing partner, says George Gallup at the State University of New York, Albany, US.

He surveyed 1041 students on their attitudes to kissing (Evolutionary Psychology, vol 5, p 612).

Some views verged on the predictable: women, for example, placed more emotional importance on a kiss, valuing kisses during and after sex, and throughout a relationship.

The men tended to see kissing as a means to an end – sex – and placed less importance on kissing as a relationship progresses. Just over half the men said they would have sex with someone without kissing, compared with 15% of women. And more men than women said that a good kiss was one with tongue contact, where the partner made moaning noises.

But Gallup says the first kiss a couple share could make or break the relationship. In a separate survey within the study, 59% of men and 66% of women reported on occasion finding themselves attracted to someone, only to lose interest after kissing them for the first time.

"The complicated exchange of information that occurs during a kiss may inform evolved, unconscious mechanisms about instances of possible genetic incompatibility," Gallup says.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 04 Sep 07 - 02:23 PM

LONDON, Aug. 30 The Metropolitan Police in London have agreed to pay compensation to a teenager who was put in a trash can by a police officer.

Anop Singh, 16, told The Daily Mail he agreed to the 4,000-pound ($8,000) settlement because his attorney told him he had no other recourse. The officer was given a written warning because his superiors decided that he did not act maliciously.

A teenage friend filmed the 2005 exchange between Singh and the constable. The two teenagers were filming the police response to an incident involving other young people when the constable told them to move on.

Anop Singh said he would have been jailed if he had assaulted the officer.

Gurdev Singh, the teen's father, was also angry.

"We are not satisfied and I will always be angry about the way my son was tossed around like a piece of rubbish," he said. "The officer should have been sacked."

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 08:47 PM

August 31, 2007

Texas town abuzz over sightings of mythical, bloodsucking 'chupacabras'

link (has a photo, looks like a dog)

CUERO, Texas (AP) - Phylis Canion lived in Africa for four years. She's been a hunter all her life and has the mounted heads of a zebra and other exotic animals in her house to prove it. But the roadkill she found last month outside her ranch was a new one even for her, worth putting in a freezer hidden from curious onlookers. Canion believes she may have the head of the mythical, bloodsucking chupacabra. "It is one ugly creature," Canion said, holding the head of the mammal, which has big ears, large fanged teeth and greyish-blue, mostly hairless skin.

Canion and some of her neighbours discovered the 18-kilogram bodies of three of the animals over four days in July outside her ranch in Cuero, 130 kilometres southeast of San Antonio. Canion said she saved the head of the one she found so she can get to get to the bottom of its ancestry through DNA testing and then mount it for posterity. She suspects, as have many rural denizens over the years, that a chupacabra may have killed as many as 26 of her chickens in the past couple of years. "I've seen a lot of nasty stuff. I've never seen anything like this," she said.

What tipped Canion to the possibility that this was no ugly coyote, but perhaps the vampire-like beast, is that the chickens weren't eaten or carried off. All the blood was drained from them, she said. Chupacabra means "goat sucker" in Spanish, and it is said to have originated in Latin America, specifically Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Canion thinks recent heavy rains ran them right out of their dens. "I think it could have wolf in it," Canion said. "It has to be a cross between two or three different things." She said the finding has captured the imagination of locals, just like purported sightings of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster have elsewhere.

But what folks are calling a chupacabra is probably just a strange breed of dog, said veterinarian Travis Schaar of the Main Street Animal Hospital in nearby Victoria. "I'm not going to tell you that's not a chupacabra. I just think in my opinion a chupacabra is a dog," said Schaar, who has seen Canion's find. The "chupacabras" could have all been part of a mutated litter of dogs, or they may be a new kind of mutt, he said.

As for the bloodsucking, Schaar said that this particular canine may simply have a preference for blood, letting its prey bleed out and licking it up.

Chupacabra or not, the discovery has spawned a local and international craze. Canion has started selling T-shirts that read: "2007, The Summer of the Chupacabra, Cuero, Texas," accompanied by a caricature of the creature. The $5 shirts have gone all over the world, including Japan, Australia and Brunei. Schaar also said he has one.

"If everyone has a fun time with it, we'll keep doing it," she said. "It's good for Cuero."

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 04:11 PM

Texan is jailed as illegal immigrant
link

A native Texan spent the night in the Arlington Jail, missed her children's first day of school and feared being deported after authorities mistook her for an illegal immigrant. "I was told I was waiting for an [immigration] officer or Border Patrol officer to interview me and then move me to another location. It was very scary," the Mansfield woman said.

Arlington and federal immigration officials say they made a mistake and apologized. "This is very unusual," Arlington police spokeswoman Christy Gilfour said "We're not aware of this having happened before. We do realize that this is unfortunate, and we do regret that we made an error." Gilfour said police overlooked fingerprints that would have shown Rodriguez was not the illegal immigrant.

Rodriguez said she does not plan to sue, but apologies do not make up for what she was put through. "I think it's ridiculous. I think it was obvious that I wasn't an illegal immigrant," she said. Rodriguez's case demonstrates the need for a balanced approach between enforcement and immigration reform, said Marisol Perez, an attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. "We want to uphold the laws of the country, but we want to balance that with individual rights," she said.

Earlier this year, authorities wrongly deported U.S. citizen Pedro Guzman, a developmentally disabled man from California. It took his family three months to find him. Law enforcement experts say similar situations may happen again as the government creates more databases of names to fight illegal immigration, terrorism and other crimes.

"Part of the dynamic is when you identify the right person, they also say they didn't do it," said Jack McDevitt, associate criminal justice dean at Northeastern University in Boston. "So police are used to running into people who say, 'This isn't me, I didn't do it.'"

Identified as illegal

Arlington police pulled Rodriguez over and arrested her Sunday night after running her license-plate number. She had warrants from Dalworthington Gardens for having no insurance during a stop in that city and failure to appear in court for the insurance charge. [note: this is a common ploy/speed trap kind of setup in this tiny enclave town in Arlington, Texas. They try to get everyone on proof of insurance violations--it's how they fund the town.]

Rodriguez said the charges are valid, and she was willing to pay a fine and bail to get out of jail. But when she got to the jail, the Arlington police computer told officers that they had a woman who was in the country illegally. Gilfour said Rodriguez's name and date of birth matched. The height was off by an inch. The weight was off by 25 pounds, but the information was last updated in 1999.

Police arranged for Rodriguez to have a telephone interview with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Rodriguez said the ICE officer was "very hostile" to her, refusing to believe her when she said she was born in Dallas. Rodriguez said the person on the other end of line sternly told her that she was speaking to a federal agent and had to answer truthfully or risk committing perjury. "At the time, I thought someone with my name had committed some horrible crime," Rodriguez said.

ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok said the illegal immigrant Alicia Rodriguez had at least three claims of false citizenship on her record. That record may have led officials to doubt the Alicia Rodriguez they had in custody when she said she was born in Dallas.

In jail overnight

Rodriguez's sister, Deborah Evans, came to the Arlington Jail with cash to pay any fines or bail only to learn that her sister was being held as an illegal immigrant. "I said, 'What do you mean? She's my sister. We were born here in Texas, in Dallas,'" Evans said. "I was shocked they were telling me this."

Rodriguez spent the night in jail sleeping on a mat on the floor with a cellmate. Another sister stayed with her three children, and her ex-husband took them to school the next day. On Monday, she was transferred to Dalworthington Gardens Jail, where she had a panic attack when authorities told her immigration officials would come pick her up -- eventually. "They told me it could take up to two days to move me to the next location which to me just meant it was going to be endless," Rodriguez said. She said police gave her oxygen to calm her hyperventilating.

Evans went to the Dalworthington Gardens Jail, showed officials her sister's birth certificate and tried again to convince officials that her sister was a U.S. citizen. "I was frightened that she was going to be deported right then" to Mexico, Evans said. "We don't speak Spanish. What was she going to do, and how was I going to get there?" After trying unsuccessfully to get her sister released, Evans said she left for an appointment.

Dalworthington Gardens Sgt. David Henderson said an officer there discovered Rodriguez had a driver's license and Social Security number. Dalworthington Gardens officials eventually started working for her release, Rodriguez said. [another note: the woman doesn't speak Spanish. She sounds like a Texan. And it took this long for them to figure out she had a driver's license and a SS card?]

They finally let her out at about 3 p.m. Monday. She walked about 3 miles to get her impounded car before her sister could pick her up. Rodriguez said the whole experience was a nightmare.

"I feel like it's a political byproduct of the whole illegal immigration thing," she said, "not that illegal immigrants shouldn't be dealt with, but I'm a citizen."

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 10:34 AM

Interestng legal point. If steering, but not braking or accelerating a vehicle, is not "driving"; and simply stepping on the pedals is not "driving"; then both of them could get off scot-free by reason of a cunning division of responsibilities!!

A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 07:20 PM

My sister (in San Francisco) just sent this to me -- our parents were originally from the Colby/Stetsonville area of Wisconsin (Taylor & Clark Counties) so that's why we keep an eye on news from there.

Linn


Tuesday, August 28, 2007

TWO busted for drunk driving...in the same truck! At the same time!

Two Dorchester men driving one truck at the same time were arrested for drunken driving in the Abbotsford area about 170 miles northwest of Madison.

Harvey J. Miller, 43, who has no legs, steered the 1985 Chevrolet truck while Edwin H. Marzinske, 55, operated the brake and gas pedals, according to a report from the Colby/Abbotsford police.

Miller, who was sitting in the driver's seat, admitted he'd had too much to drink but argued that he wasn't really operating the truck since he had no legs to push the pedals, the report said. He received a citation for a third drunken driving offense.

Marzinske was cited for a second drunken driving offense. Both men also were cited for driving after their licenses had been revoked.

A third man in the truck, also drunk, walked himself home after the Aug. 18 traffic stop, police said.

Printed from: http://www.newstalk1130.com

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 05:21 PM

Log airlift helps fish return to their roots
link (great photo with the story)

STANWOOD — The sprawling Stillaguamish River delta once was covered with toppled old-growth trees ripped out of mountain soil and washed down the river by raging winter floods. The giant logs would clump together and their roots would tangle, creating areas for young salmon to hide and forage before they headed out to sea. Those big old trees are gone now, leaving the delta devoid of anything but mud and grass. Salmon, especially endangered chinook, have few places to hide as they move through channels carved into the mud flats. On Tuesday, some of those logs came back, thanks to a helping hand from The Nature Conservancy and a Boeing Vertol 107-II helicopter.

The Nature Conservancy flew in 26 logs with roots intact and put them into six clumps. Fish experts say that at a minimum, the logs will re-create some of the long-lost habitat that young chinook and other salmon depend on, and at best, form the beginnings of some new logjams. "If there's no wood and no cover, there's no salmon," said Rick Rogers, a project coordinator for the Stillaguamish Tribe. "When there is wood, they congregate and hide underneath that."

The tribe twice tried to drop giant "lawn darts" — logs with plywood wings and weighted tips — into the same delta. The idea was to have the tree trunks sticking up out of the mud catch and trap wood debris that flow down the river. The first time, heavy winds blew the darts sideways. The second time, they shattered on impact. The Nature Conservancy's technique was to drop 1,000-pound blocks of concrete into the mud, and then to cable the logs to the blocks. Shaped like spinning tops, the concrete blocks sank into the mud with ease, some of them sinking several feet below the surface. "This worked a lot better," said Rogers, working on the crew that bolted the logs together on Tuesday.

Danelle Heatwole, a Nature Conservancy ecologist, spent a year planning the log drop. "I'm glad that today finally got here," Heatwole said. "I feel like it went really smoothly." Humans have degraded salmon habitat in many ways, but the near-shore habitat that fingerling salmon use before they head out to sea has seen perhaps the most impact, Heatwole said. This project is a way to get some of that back, she said.

The Nature Conservancy project is a good first step, said George Pess, a research fish biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northwest Fisheries Science Center. "The change in the amount of habitat is by far greatest in the estuarine habitat — 70 to 80 percent has been lost," Pess said. "It's a small step in the right direction. Obviously, you need to do things at a larger scale if you really want to see any significant change." The NOAA contributed most of the $70,000 in grants used to fund the log drop, said Robin Stanton, a spokeswoman for The Nature Conservancy.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 28 Aug 07 - 11:02 AM

Butt-biting bug munches on Japanese tush in a quest for the golden (be)hind

Sunday Mainichi (9/9)Japan is getting tickled pink by a little fairy that goes around biting people's bottoms and making them happy, according to Sunday Mainichi (9/9).

Oshiri Kajiri Mushi, literally the Butt-Biting Bug, has struck a chord with Japanese young and old in recent months.

The Butt-Biting Bug, which is actually supposed to be one of the Little People, first appeared in June on an NHK children's cartoon. The crunching creepy crawly -- who, perhaps unsurprisingly, has roots dating back to ancient Assyria -- skyrocketed to national fame following the release of a CD and DVD on July 27, with stocks of both quickly running out.

Sales and additional orders for both the music and movie have continued flooding in, and a catchy mobile phone ringtone taken from a song about the Butt-Biting Bug and its tush tasting exploits attracts six times more downloads than any other of the dozens available on NHK's site. A children's book starring the fairy came out last week.

Sunday Mainichi notes that the Butt-Biting Bug is actually a fairy, whose nibbles on people's cabooses are supposed to bring them enormous amounts of energy.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 28 Aug 07 - 10:00 AM

DAR ES SALAAM (AFP) - A traditional medicine man in Tanzania drowned after jumping in a river and promising to resurface three days later with relevations from ancestral spirits, police said Tuesday.

The local witch doctor, named as Nyasio Alfonso, staged his ill-fated stunt last week at the village of Masingo in the western Mpanda district near Lake Tanganyika, Rukwa regional police commander Daudi Siadi told AFP.

Dozens of villagers chanted and drummed as the fortune-teller dived to confer with the riverine spirits, he said.

"The incident was reported to us by the village leadership on Sunday, four days after Alfonso threw himself into the river," he said. "His decomposing body was fished out several metres downstream."

...

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Aug 07 - 07:17 PM

7News exclusive - Aussie soliders using faulty weapons

By Michael McKinnon,
27 Aug 2007

Australian soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are using faulty weapons and ammunition with up to 70,000 of the standard issue Steyr rifles having flaws causing stoppages.

A Seven News investigation can also reveal long-range patrol vehicles could not fit heavy weaponry because of wrong specifications and snipers are forced to use a cleaning agent that hurts accuracy on rifles because of orders from headquarters.

There has also been a widespread recall of the 9mm pistols used by Special Forces, and faulty ammunition and weapons have rotted from storage in extreme heat according to Defence Department documents obtained using Freedom of Information laws.

The documents reveal widespread problems, for at least a year, with the soldier's standard issue 5.56mm Steyr rifle, also used by the navy and airforce as well as the New Zealand Defence Force, with flawed springs leaving the weapon unable to be loaded.

The revelations are a challenge to Prime Minister John Howard who personally promised less than two years ago that Australian troops would have the best possible equipment.

Launching the Defence White Paper in December 2005, Mr Howard said: "Our commitment, my commitment is that we will spend the additional resources that are necessary to give the ADF the resources it needs for the tasks it has, remembering at all times that our prime responsibility in a personal sense is to give our men and women the best possible chance if they are involved in combat.

"It is just not acceptable for a country as wealthy as Australia to send men and women into the field without them having the best possible equipment and we certainly intend to ensure that happens," he said at the time.

However, Australians soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have faced "constant problems" with the documents revealing the Austrian-designed Steyr including "locking...jamming...misfiring" because of "faulty springs".

The Army's chief weapons expert in Baghdad has warned the problem is so grave that "persistent weapons failures on operations quickly diminishes confidence in the weapon systems".

A Defence Materiel Organisation source yesterday confirmed there had been a "large number of complaints" about the springs in the Steyr both domestically and overseas.

"There are too many defect reports to ignore and field trials are now underway to try to fix the problem," he said.

The FOI documents also show that pistols issued to the SAS in Iraq and
Afghanistan were so unreliable the commanders have recommended: "All weapon use be suspended."

The documents also show snipers are being forced to damage weapon accuracy because of the cleaning agent. When cleaned with the issued Breakfree Bore Cleaner, the powerful .50 cal sniper rifle is found to have residue in the barrel affecting the "accuracy of any sniper weapons system".

Soldiers have found another cleaner, Hoppers Powder Solvent No 9, that cleans without damage but it cannot be used after the Joint Task Force Head Quarters said it was not an "authorised cleaning agent".

"The problem still exists in this organisation that the weapons arenot being cleaned to the required standard," the Defence documents state.

"It is common within sniper cells throughout the Army to use this product."

The documents also show problems with broken heavy machine guns being delivered to the front line, along with faulty and dud ammunition.

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd yesterday called for an immediate inquiry into the weapons problems revealed by the ADF documents.

"The Prime Minister should order an immediate audit of the adequacy and effectiveness of all weaponry currently being used by our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan," the ALP leader said.

Opposition Defence spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon said even with a $17 billion surplus, the Howard Government had failed soldiers on the frontline.

"This government can't even find the money to put proper quality control in place to ensure that our troops on the frontline have reliable weapons," he said.

Yesterday the Defence Minister Brendan Nelson was unavailable for comment however the Army Chief General Peter Leahy said the documents showed the Army's reporting system for problems was working well.

However, he said if systemic problems with the Steyr were revealed, the ADF would undertake an audit.


URL:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/070827/23/14a9n.html

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 27 Aug 07 - 11:13 AM

Aug 24, 12:54 PM (ET)


BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) - A Northern Ireland man bit his girlfriend's pet snake in half during a fight and remarked that it "tasted lovely," lawyers testified Friday.

Shane Cooke, a 33-year-old bricklayer, was arraigned in Belfast High Court on charges of assaulting his girlfriend, Coleen McGleenon, and fatally torturing her royal python Aug. 4.

McGleenon's lawyers said he headbutted her twice and picked up her pet, put it in his mouth, and threw its severed head at her. "Your snake tasted lovely," he was quoted as saying.

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 12:11 PM

I listen to a Sunday morning organic gardening program, and there are usually local garden center ads and the occasional Scott's Turf Builder (nasty stuff) ads inserted by folks hoping that non-discriminating listeners might think this is sanctioned (the program host slams these products any time the ad plays--advertisers are told they can't run these non-organic ads without comment). And then comes an your face loud, bossy church ad telling you how to celebrate the most famous and powerful man in history. . . yup. You got it, Mr. J. The ad is placed in such a way that it castigates anyone who is listening to a gardening show instead of sitting in a christian church.

I usually turn off the program about that point anyway. Too bad they lose listeners with that ad. It would be nice if the station would refuse that one.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: JennyO
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 08:29 AM

Interesting stuff. However I couldn't help noticing that just after the first paragraph in the article, is inserted this:

Sponsored Links (Ads by Google)

Is there Really a God? - Does He exist? How can you know? What Is Life's Meaning and Purpose?
www.ucg.org.au


Those guys never miss an opportunity!

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 25 Aug 07 - 03:06 PM

I have always believed there was something seriously missing about this Universe of ours. Now, I know:

Astronomers find gaping hole in the Universe

University of Minnesota astronomers have found an enormous hole in the Universe, nearly a billion light-years across, empty of both normal matter such as stars, galaxies and gas, as well as the mysterious, unseen "dark matter." While earlier studies have shown holes, or voids, in the large-scale structure of the Universe, this new discovery dwarfs them all.

"Not only has no one ever found a void this big, but we never even expected to find one this size," said Lawrence Rudnick of the University of Minnesota astronomy professor. Rudnick, along with grad student Shea Brown and associate professor Liliya Williams, also of the University of Minnesota, reported their findings in a paper accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal.


Astronomers have known for years that, on large scales, the Universe has voids largely empty of matter. However, most of these voids are much smaller than the one found by Rudnick and his colleagues. In addition, the number of discovered voids decreases as the size increases.

"What we've found is not normal, based on either observational studies or on computer simulations of the large-scale evolution of the Universe," Williams said.

The astronomers drew their conclusion by studying data from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS), a project that imaged the entire sky visible to the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope, part of the National Science Foundation's National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). Their study of the NVSS data showed a remarkable drop in the number of galaxies in a region of sky in the constellation Eridanus, southwest of Orion.

"We already knew there was something different about this spot in the sky," Rudnick said. The region had been dubbed the "WMAP Cold Spot," because it stood out in a map of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation made by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotopy Probe (WMAP) satellite, launched by NASA in 2001. The CMB, faint radio waves that are the remnant radiation from the Big Bang, is the earliest "baby picture" available of the Universe. Irregularities in the CMB show structures that existed only a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang.

http://www.physorg.com/news107109720.html

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 25 Aug 07 - 12:08 PM

"In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnation without government permission."

-- Newsweek, Aug 20

---

I wonder who gets the authority to sign the passes? Maybe someone from a past dynasty?



A

Subject: RE: BS: News of Note (was 'I Read it . . .')
From: Amos
Date: 24 Aug 07 - 07:12 PM

http://www.delmarvanow.com

Could chicken houses be a terrorist target?
By Joseph Gidjunis
Staff Writer



      WASHINGTON -- Chicken houses across the country are one step
away from being named the newest terrorist targets demanding stricter
access and regulation, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security.

      As part of the DHS Chemical Security Anti-Terrorism Standards,
facilities with more than 7,500 pounds of propane gas -- 1,785
gallons -- could be considered high-risk. To determine if a facility
is a security risk, operators must process complete "Top Screen"
safety measures, including vulnerability assessments, develop site
security plans and implement protective measures approved by DHS.


      U.S. Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Tom
Carper, D-Del., have co-authored a letter to Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff demanding answers for what they describe
as a waste of government time and money.

      The rule affects nearly every poultry grower across the
Delmarva peninsula, and as many as 20,000 sites across the country,
because propane gas is the most popular chicken house heating method.
One house typically has a 1,000 gallon to 1,500 gallon tank attached
to it. There could be more than 50,000 facilities subjected to the
report in the United States, according to the National Propane Gas
Association.

      "We appreciate the fact that Homeland Security does have a
responsibility to the security of this nation, but in terms of what
is considered a threat, I would think chicken houses would be so far
down on the list that nobody would ever find it," said Worcester
County farmer Virgil Shockley, who has 9,000 gallons heating six
chicken houses. ...