`A lovesick 16-year-old girl crashed her car into an oncoming vehicle in a suicide attempt, counting down the moments before impact in text messages sent to the female classmate who spurned her, authorities say. The girl survived; a woman in the other car was killed.
The teenager, Louise Egan Brunstad, was charged Thursday with murder in the Oct. 4 wreck. [..]
Howard said it was unclear whether the classmate the messages were intended for responded to them or even read them, either as they were sent or afterward.’
`The US has banned Vegemite, even to the point of searching Aussies for jars of the spread as they enter the country.
The bizarre condiment crackdown was prompted because Vegemite has been deemed illegal under US food laws.
The great Aussie icon — faithfully carried around the world by travellers from Down Under — contains folate, which under a technicality, the US allows only to be added to breads and cereals.
Australian expatriates in the US said enforcement of the ban had been gradually stepped up and was now ruining lifelong Vegemite on toast breakfast traditions.’
`A day after George Bush conceded for the first time that America may have reached the equivalent of a Tet offensive in Iraq, the Pentagon yesterday admitted defeat in its strategy of securing Baghdad.
The admission from President Bush that the US may have arrived at a turning point in this war – the Tet offensive led to a massive loss of confidence in the American presence in Vietnam – comes during one of the deadliest months for US forces since the invasion.’
`The teenager said the stabbing pains in her face felt like electrical shocks that lasted 10 to 30 seconds and struck 20 to 30 times a day. Her doctors diagnosed trigeminal neuralgia, a nerve disorder sometimes called “suicide disease” because of the excruciating and dispiriting pain it causes.
Doctors tried painkillers, then stronger medication, but in the end, a cure proved more simple: The young woman removed the metal stud from her pierced tongue.’
A baseball team’s manager goes a bit crazy during a radio interview. He’s got some good information for anyone looking to plant tomatos though.
(4.1meg Windows media)
see it here »
`A teenager who put her bra on a car antenna before it flew off and led to a highway accident will be charged with littering, a prosecutor said.
Emily Davis, 17, of Bowling Green, told investigators she took her bra off while her friend was driving on Interstate 75.
James Campbell, who was driving behind the girls, said he swerved to avoid the bra and his car flipped several times. Campbell, 37, broke a vertebra in his neck during the Sept. 26 accident. His passenger, Jeff Long, 40, broke several ribs.’
‘The Kazakhstan central bank has misspelled the word “bank” on its new notes, officials said Wednesday.
The bank plans to put the misprinted notes – worth 2,000 tenge ($15) and 5,000-tenge – into circulation in November and then gradually withdraw them to correct the spelling.
The move has drawn the ire of the Central Asian state’s politicians who urged the bank to abandon the notes altogether.’
`Two people were killed and seven seriously wounded in Uganda when an artillery round blew up as a man tried to melt it down for scrap metal, police said on Saturday.
Police cordoned off the area where the shell was found, searching for other munitions after the incident, which happened on Thursday in Amuria, a remote part of the once war-ravaged eastern Teso region.
“We understand this man picked up a shell and tried to melt it for scrap. He put it in the fire and it exploded,” Francis Agwoka, acting police chief for the region, told Reuters by telephone.’
‘I hope this kid grows up and kicks the crap out of his older brother.’
(3.2meg Windows media)
see it here »
`An internet user has been found guilty of what police said was Britain’s first “web-rage” attack.
Paul Gibbons, 47, tracked down John Jones using details obtained online after the pair exchanged insults in an internet chatroom, a court heard.
He travelled 70 miles to Mr Jones’ home in Clacton, Essex, and beat him up with a pickaxe handle in December 2005.’
`A Little Rock man whose SUV was cut off in traffic was arrested after he allegedly shot at a motorist with a crossbow following a brief chase. “It was a drive-by crossbow shooting,” said Steve Gilgenbach, a pitcher for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock baseball team who said he was the man’s intended target. “I’ve never been shot at by a crossbow before.”
Wayne Allen Dierks Jr., 26, posted bail after his arrest Sunday on charges of committing a terroristic act, possession of an instrument of crime, driving while intoxicated and driving on a suspended driver’s license. Committing a terroristic act is a felony; the other charges are misdemeanors. An arraignment was set for Oct. 25.’
Good old terroristic acts.
`A parent attempting to record a middle school football game from the school’s roof was misidentified as a sniper, causing police to evacuate hundreds of people from the field.
James Kranz wanted to shoot video of his children playing on Saturday. But an officer spotted him climbing a ladder onto the school’s roof with what looked like a rifle, said police Sgt. Gregg Olsen.
“An officer saw a man on top of the roof, walking around, pacing back and forth,” Olsen said. “He was acting extremely suspicious.”
It turned out to be a lawn chair that Kranz had with him — not a gun.’
‘Fun with an old hard drive. Took the platters out of many hard drives and put them into one drive. Spin it up to speed and give it a nudge, then watch the fun.’
(540kB Flash video)
see it here »
`A man let his four-year-old child steer his car at up to 150 kph before ploughing into a group of teenagers, killing six of them, a court has been told.
Thomas Graham Towle, 35, also stank of alcohol in the hours after the crash and had been cheating in his methadone program in the days before, prosecutor Jeremy Rapke QC told Mildura Magistrates’ Court. [..]
He is facing 17 charges including six of culpable driving causing death, over the alleged hit-and-run on February 18 in Cardross, near Mildura.’
‘It is bad for your blood pressure, knocks years off your life and is a strain on your heart. Now scientists have discovered that gaining weight lowers your intelligence. [..]
The researchers found that people with a Body Mass Index — a measure of body fat — of 20 or less could recall 56 per cent of words in a vocabulary test, while those who were obese, with a BMI of 30 or higher, could remember only 44 per cent.
The fatter subjects also showed a higher rate of cognitive decline when they were retested five years later: their recall dropped to 37.5 per cent, whereas those with a healthy weight retained their level of recall.’
‘A major drug bust in Minnesota turns up some interesting evidence and Maplewood’s Eyewitness news is on the scene. These drug dealers are going to be the toast of prison.’
(1.8meg Windows media)
see it here »
`The scene: Fairbanks, Alaska, 1994. Congressman Don Young, already in office for 20 years, is on the stump preaching the virtues of Newt Gingrich’s Republican revolution to a group of high school students. Just look at all the wasteful things the federal government does with taxpayers’ money, he tells them. The National Endowment for the Arts, for example, funds art involving “people doing offensive things … things that are absolutely ridiculous.” One student asks, “Like what?”
“Buttfucking,” replies the great scourge of obscenity and instructor of youth.’
`A sordid incident involving a carrot, a jar of Vaseline and “other food items” saw the owner of a local food outlet fined $350 in Griffith Local Court last week. [..]
The police statement said the carrot “appeared to have lubricant or some other liquid on it”. The man told police he was not able to get out of his car because he “was not wearing any clothing”, and officers noted he had an erection. An open jar of Vaseline and a number of food items, which police said had been used for “some purpose”, were visible in the front seat. [..]
Police noted the convicted man appeared to be affected by drugs and the court was told his actions could have caused “disgust” in the minds of a reasonable person.’
`Bill Murray created a small sensation in the Scottish town of St. Andrews, joining Scandinavian students at a late-night party and even helping to wash the dishes, a newspaper reported Sunday. [..]
As news spread around the city that Murray had turned up at the student party, the house became crowded with people wanting to meet the star of “Ghostbusters,” the article said.
“He was joking with me about reheating some leftover pasta and how drunk everyone was,” said partygoer Agnes Huitfeldt, 22. [..]
Shortly after doing the dishes, Murray left the party, the students said.’
Using some PVC pipes and a tank of LPG these people make a flame that changes with the frequency of sound waves in the pipe. It’s really very cool, especially when they start playing music with it.
(8.9meg Windows media)
see it here »
`American and Russian scientists announced on Monday that they had discovered a superheavy element, known as 118, albeit one that has only existed in three different atoms lasting a fraction of a second over months of experiments. [..]
In the latest experiments, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, bombarded californium with calcium ions to create 118 — the heaviest ever created in such experiments. [..]
In the end the atoms of element 118 — also known as ununoctium — lasted 0.9 milliseconds, researchers said.’
`Scarlett Johansson wanted to expose her breasts in a movie – but was stopped by the director.
The 21-year-old actress was left fuming after filmmaker Michael Bay demanded she wore a bra in a scene in action thriller ‘The Island’.
He told Esquire magazine: “Scarlett said, ‘I’m not wearing this [expletive] bra. I’m going naked.’ I said, ‘Scarlett, you can’t go naked, this film is PG13.'”
Michael – who has also helmed Hollywood blockbusters ‘Armageddon’ and ‘Pearl Harbour’ – says his decision annoyed the actress so much she launched into another foul-mouthed tirade when he later knocked on her trailer door.’
‘Ultimate Warrior says some of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.’
That’s wrestling for you, I suppose.
(14.4meg Flash video)
see it here »
`The Muslim holy month of Ramadan will coincide with the 2012 London Olympics, a scheduling conflict that is creating controversy in Britain, the Daily Mail reported on its website Saturday.
The conflict means Muslim athletes must fast from sunrise to sunset for the entire period of the Olympics, putting them at a distinct disadvantage.
Ramadan will fall from July 21 to August 20 in 2012, while the London Games run between July 27 and August 12.
An estimated 3,000 Muslim competitors are likely to be affected.’
`Tom Cruise has filed a $50-million lawsuit against Holesome Fun Incorporated, the world’s largest manufacturer of sex toys, over the company’s alleged unauthorized use of his image on its new Mission Insertable butt plug.
Mr. Cruise is also demanding “the immediate and complete withdrawal” of the Mission Insertable butt plug from Holesome Fun’s Dark Side of the Moon catalog and from any and all persons “currently harboring” this device.’
`Going into this elevator would certainly makes one nervous. A sign at the entrance cautions the people that goes in about work in progress. A more detailed look shows that the floor has been painted with an illusion that there is no floor.’
`Israeli Prsident Moshe Katsav, at the centre of a sexual harassment and rape scandal that threatens to end his career, is now under massive public pressure to resign amid allegations he forced women employees into sex.
Overnight, police told Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz there was enough evidence to indict Mr Katsav over charges of rape, sexual harassment and wire-tapping.’
`In a jail cell at an immigration detention center in Arizona sits a man who is not charged with a crime, not suspected of a crime, not considered a danger to society.
But he has been in custody for five years.
His name is Ali Partovi. And according to the Department of
Homeland Security, he is the last to be held of about 1,200 Arab and Muslim men swept up by authorities in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
There has been no full accounting of all of these individuals. Nor has a promised federal policy to protect against unrestricted sweeps been produced.’
