‘An Australian state has banned the video Web site YouTube from government schools in a crackdown on cyber-bullying, a minister said Thursday.
Victoria, Australia’s second most populous state, banned the popular video-sharing site from its 1,600 government schools after a gang of male school students videotaped their assault on a 17-year-old girl on the outskirts of Melbourne.
The assault, which is being investigated by police, was uploaded on YouTube late last year.’
‘It wasn’t exactly a Bigfoot sighting, but motorists reported seeing someone wearing a gorilla suit in the center divide of Interstate 280 on the Peninsula at the start of this evening’s rush hour, the California Highway Patrol said.
The first call came in at 4:39 p.m., reporting the costumed primate near the Highway 92 interchange, Officer Marc Johnston said.
“This is a real person in a gorilla suit,” said a CHP log entry on traffic incidents.
One caller reported there were two other people off to the side of the freeway in the same area, Johnston said.
An officer dispatched to the scene at 4:50 p.m. found no one.
“We were unable to locate it,” Johnston said. “They didn’t find anything.”
The mystery continues.’
‘A great presentation of five apocalyptic scenarios.’
(434meg Google video)
see it here »
‘Japanese health authorities are investigating a flu medicine that is also available in Australia after a teenager jumped 11 storeys to his death after taking the drug. It was the 18th juvenile fatality linked to Tamiflu in 17 months.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has asked the Japanese importer of Tamiflu, an anti-viral drug regarded as the most important shield against bird flu in humans, to collect information about the conditions of patients who take the drug.
The 14-year-old boy’s death follows a similar case two weeks ago, when a girl also 14, died after jumping from an apartment building at Gamagori, in central Japan.’
‘A 4-year-old Redwood City boy was struck and killed by a sport utility vehicle after sledding down a driveway and into traffic in Truckee, police said today.
Kunal Mohindroo was playing with his parents in the snowy driveway Saturday when he slid into the street and was struck by the SUV, which was driven by a 38-year-old Burlingame man, said Lt. Randy Fenn of the Truckee police.
“As I understand it, they’d been doing this for a while and there had been no problems,” Fenn said. “He was riding the sled up and down the driveway. At one point, he slid out in the street and got past his parents.”‘
‘Taking certain vitamin supplements may adversely affect people’s lifespan, researchers have suggested.
Millions worldwide use antioxidant supplements such as vitamins A and E, and beta-carotene.
Looking at dozens of previous studies, Copenhagen University researchers suggested these appeared to raise, not lower, the risk of early death.
A supplements industry expert said the Journal of the American Medical Association study was fatally flawed.
But nutritionists said it reinforced the need to eat a balanced diet, rather than relying on supplements.’
‘Belgium Police used water cannons and firemen fought back with foam and thrown objects after a labor protest got out of hand in the Belgian capital. About two-thousand firefighters were protesting close to the Belgian parliament. When they tried to break through security barriers, about 300 police tried to keep them back — and that’s when the trouble started. Police say three officers suffered facial injuries when the firemen pelted them with equipment and loose objects. Three firefighters were hospitalized, one of them for broken ribs after he fell off a water cannon. The firemen want better working conditions, earlier retirement, and better injury compensation.’
(4.3meg mpeg)
see it here »
‘A former Canadian defense minister is demanding governments worldwide disclose and use secret alien technologies obtained in alleged UFO crashes to stem climate change, a local paper said Wednesday.
“I would like to see what (alien) technology there might be that could eliminate the burning of fossil fuels within a generation … that could be a way to save our planet,” Paul Hellyer, 83, told the Ottawa Citizen.
Alien spacecrafts would have traveled vast distances to reach Earth, and so must be equipped with advanced propulsion systems or used exceptional fuels, he told the newspaper.
Such alien technologies could offer humanity alternatives to fossil fuels, he said, pointing to the enigmatic 1947 incident in Roswell, New Mexico — which has become a shrine for UFO believers — as an example of alien contact.’
‘A Brevard County teacher was placed on leave while Cocoa police investigate allegations she duct-taped a kindergarten student to a desk as punishment.
“My teacher duct-taped me to that table,” 5-year-old Dylan Negron said.
Dylan told his mother that his teacher, Mrs. Maki Monje, at Cambridge Elementary was punishing him because he wouldn’t put his head down on the desk on Friday. His mother, Donna Negron, said she immediately reported the incident to the school and police.
“I’m very hurt,” she said, “Thinking that I was sending him to school and he’d be safe at school and I didn’t expect nothing like that to happen.”‘
‘Quebec provincial police came up lucky with a haul of marijuana found on a snowy beach in suitcases and a sports bag.
Officers got a call after a man was out walking in Forestville on Quebec’s North Shore and noticed the baggage on a local beach.
Police seized 63 kilograms of marijuana with an estimated value of $600,000 on Monday as the drugs were being loaded onto a helicopter by a man.’
‘Just when you think were past the white guys cant jump stereotype this happens. Actually, if you think about it shoving your junk in a hot chicks face in front of thousands of people deserves a perfect 10!’
(3.4meg Windows media)
see it here »
‘The reason Al Gore’s energy bill is so high is because he and his wife chose to receive “green power,” which costs them $4 more per 150 kilowatt-hours than their utility’s regular plan. Furthermore, Al Gore’s house has 20 rooms due to offices, security, etc.
The Gores choose to raise their bill by over 50 percent in order to minimize carbon pollution.
That’s the real truth… Inconvenient or not.’
Followup to: Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”
‘If you are too drunk to drive, you might want to think about ditching the assault rifle. And the cocaine. Ditto the marijuana. And you definitely don’t want to pretend you’re a police officer.
Gwinnett police have arrested a 24-year-old Lawrenceville man after he asked for change for $100 at a fast-food drive-through last week and the clerk noticed an assault rifle in his lap.
He was slurring his words as he asked for change at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday at a McDonald’s on Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth, police said in a news release Monday. When the driver noticed that the clerk had seen the gun, the driver claimed he was a police officer. He either passed out or fell asleep at the wheel.
Store clerks called police and said the man appeared to have been drinking. The driver awoke a moment later, got upset because he didn’t get his change and left.’
‘Packet Garden captures information about how you use the internet and uses this stored information to grow a private world you can later explore.
To do this, Packet Garden takes note of all the servers you visit, their geographical location and the kinds of data you access. Uploads make hills and downloads valleys, their location determined by numbers taken from internet address itself. The size of each hill or valley is based on how much data is sent or received. Plants are also grown for each protocol detected by the software; if you visit a website, an ‘HTTP plant’ is grown. If you share some files via eMule, a ‘Peer to Peer plant’ is grown, and so on.’
Looks interesting, but won’t install under 64-bit Windows.
‘A barrage of runaway barrels caused carnage after a brewery lorry dropped its load in a quiet Somerset village.
About 100 metal kegs, barrels and bottles rolled into gardens in Pecking Mill, near Shepton Mallet, battering flower displays and spraying beer over nearby homes.
The accident is thought to have caused damage worth thousands of pounds, and left residents in shock.’
see it here »
Or, convulses. You decide. 🙂
(1.6meg Windows media)
see it here »
‘Abuse of prescription drugs is about to exceed the use of illicit street narcotics worldwide, and the shift has spawned a lethal new trade in counterfeit painkillers, sedatives and other medicines potent enough to kill, a global watchdog warned Wednesday.
Prescription drug abuse already has outstripped traditional illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine and Ecstasy in parts of Europe, Africa and South Asia, the U.N.-affiliated International Narcotics Control Board said in its annual report for 2006.
In the United States alone, the abuse of painkillers, stimulants, tranquilizers and other prescription medications has gone beyond “practically all illicit drugs with the exception of cannabis,” with users increasingly turning to them first, the Vienna-based group said.’
‘Frisco police said a 60-year-old woman turned the tables on a 19-year-old carjacker and shot him with his own gun, NBC 5 reported. [..]
The woman said an armed man approached her in the parking lot, demanded her car and fired a warning shot into the air. Police said as the woman struggled with the suspect for control of the weapon, the gun fired and struck the man in the stomach.
“During that scuffle, she ended up with the gun and the suspect was shot once in the stomach. He was able to get up, get his gun back from the victim and he took off running,” said Sgt. Gina McFarlin of the Frisco Police Department.’
‘Friday the 13th of April 2029 could be a very unlucky day for planet Earth. At 4:36 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time, a 25-million-ton, 820-foot-wide asteroid called 99942 Apophis will slice across the orbit of the moon and barrel toward Earth at more than 28,000 mph. The huge pockmarked rock, two-thirds the size of Devils Tower in Wyoming, will pack the energy of 65,000 Hiroshima bombs — enough to wipe out a small country or kick up an 800-foot tsunami.
On this day, however, Apophis is not expected to live up to its namesake, the ancient Egyptian god of darkness and destruction. Scientists are 99.7 percent certain it will pass at a distance of 18,800 to 20,800 miles. [..] We will have dodged a cosmic bullet.
Maybe.’
Followup to Space rock on a collision course.
He’s a very smart fellow.
see it here »
‘An obese 26-year-old man in northeastern China died after a “marathon” online gaming session over the Lunar New Year holiday, state media said on Wednesday.
The 150-kg (330-lb) man from Jinzhou, in Liaoning province, collapsed on Saturday, the last day of the holiday, after spending “almost all” of the seven-day break playing online games, the China Daily said, citing his parents.
Xu Yan, a local teacher, said the “dull life” during the holiday prompted many people to turn to computer games for entertainment.’
‘A man charged with robbing a bank, for the second time since 2005, tried to show police the loot, but discovered he had been robbed, Fayetteville police said.
Joseph Thomas Mulkerin, 46, was arrested at a Bragg Boulevard motel Tuesday and charged with common law robbery of $2,179 from the Wachovia branch on Green Street, said police spokeswoman Jamie Smith.
He had been released from prison Jan. 11 after serving a sentence for the 2005 robbery of the same bank, in which he pleaded guilty to taking $1,098.
Mulkerin went to his motel room to show officers the money, but discovered some missing. Police later charged motel maintenance man David Mims, 49, with breaking into the room and taking some of the cash, Smith said.’
‘A middle school principal accused of selling crystal methamphetamine from his office after school and on weekends was arrested after police found the drug on his desk, authorities said Wednesday.
There was no indication that John Acerra sold the drug to students at Nitschmann Middle School, where he was arrested Tuesday, said Dennis Mihalopoulos, an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Police said they began investigating Acerra in early February after an informant told them the principal was using and distributing the drug.’
With a cool soundtrack to go along with it. 🙂
(25.1meg Windows media)
see it here »
‘Significant new capabilities have been added to the US Air Force’s latest superfighter, the F-22 “Raptor”. The USAF’s Raptors cost more than $300m each, and are generally thought to be the most advanced combat jets in service worldwide. However, until recently they were unable to cross the international date line owing to a software bug in their navigation systems.
A group of F-22s heading across the Pacific for exercises in Japan earlier this month suffered simultaneous total nav-console crashes as their longitude shifted from 180 degrees West to 180 East.
Luckily, the superjets were accompanied by tanker planes, whose navigation kit was somewhat less bleeding-edge and remained functional. The tanker drivers were able to guide the lost top-guns back to Hawaii and the exercises were postponed.’
‘A 74-year-old Italian grandmother who bought a sack of potatoes at the her local market found a live grenade among the spuds.
“I found a bomb in the potatoes,” Olga Mauriello said in a telephone interview with Reuters.
“I went to the market to buy some potatoes and that’s where the bomb was. But this bomb was covered in dirt, and I put it in water and got all dirt off. And then I realized ‘It’s a bomb’!”‘
‘The U.N. human rights chief expressed concern Wednesday at recent U.S. legislative and judicial actions that she said leave hundreds of detainees without any way to challenge their indefinite imprisonment. [..]
“I am very concerned that we continue to see detention without trial and with, in my opinion, insufficient judicial supervision,” Arbour told a news conference after meeting with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
“I thought there had been progress in that direction. There’s been a legislative setback now recently in my view, a judicial decision,” she said. These people have “no credible mechanism to ascertain the validity of these … suspicious or allegations.”‘
‘A race car is travelling at over 180 MPH when a seagull crashes into and breaks his windshield.’
(2.1meg Windows media)
see it here »
‘Parents are furious a PE mistress is being allowed to carry on teaching their kids despite posing topless on the internet.
Former England netball player Louise Crolla, 26, exposes her enhanced 32DD boobs and offers to do ‘fetish’ work on the modelling agency website.
But her headmaster will not sack her from her £30,000 supply job. [..]
He told the News of the World: “Miss Crolla is a capable and fully qualified teacher. She has passed all the relevant checks, teachers have to go through.
“On that basis at this time, she can continue to work here.”‘
‘An American historian jailed in Romania for paedophile offences has been released more than two years early because he wrote a book about Dracula.
According to the law, Kurt Treptow was entitled to early release because his writing counted as work in prison.
He published a book about Vlad III Dracul, the Romanian prince who inspired the Dracula legend. [..]
His lawyer, Liviu Bran, denied that he wrote the book to get out of prison, saying that a board of historians had reviewed it and concluded it was an “original scientific piece of work”.’
