‘A fourth grade Oakville student has been expelled from a Waterbury school for bringing a toy gnu onto the property. The action falls under the school district’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy, according to administrators. Officials believe the student, who is dyslexic, tried to intentionally break the policy.
“We’re convinced he intended to bring a toy gun.” said Meredith Simmons, Principal of Waterbury Elementary. “His reading disability may have confused him about what is prohibited in the policy, but we can’t take any chances. That’s why it’s called zero tolerance.”
The expulsion received full approval from the superintendent’s office. “We support Principal Simmons’ decision.” said Milton Decker, Assistant Superintendent. “The toy gnu may seem harmless, but we can’t ignore the underlying intent. I seriously doubt any of our students even know what a gnu is.”‘
‘A Chelan County fire chief says a couple were lucky they weren’t killed by a cow that fell off a cliff and smashed their minivan.
District 5 Chief Arnold Baker says they missed being killed by a matter of inches Sunday as they drove on Highway 150 near Manson.
The 600-pound cow fell about 200 feet and landed on the hood of the minivan carrying Charles Everson Jr. and his wife Linda of Westland, Mich., who were in the area celebrating their one-year wedding anniversary. They were checked at Lake Chelan Community Hospital as a precaution.
The van was heavily damaged, including a broken windshield.’
‘The father of a fallen Marine was awarded nearly $11 million Wednesday in damages by a jury that found leaders of a fundamentalist church had invaded the family’s privacy and inflicted emotional distress when they picketed the Marine’s funeral.
The jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned later in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress to the Marine’s father, Albert Snyder of York, Pa.
Snyder sued the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified monetary damages after members staged a demonstration at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq. [..]
Church members routinely picket funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, carrying signs such as “Thank God for dead soldiers” and “God hates fags.”‘
‘Karl Marx, who complained of excruciating boils, actually suffered from a chronic skin disease with known psychological effects that may well have influenced his writings, a British expert said on Tuesday.
Sam Shuster, professor of dermatology at the University of East Anglia, believes the revolutionary thinker had hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) in which the apocrine sweat glands — found mainly in the armpits and groin — become blocked and inflamed.
“In addition to reducing his ability to work, which contributed to his depressing poverty, hidradenitis greatly reduced his self-esteem,” said Shuster, who published his findings in the British Journal of Dermatology.
“This explains his self-loathing and alienation, a response reflected by the alienation Marx developed in his writing.”‘
‘Tourism officials have been slammed for featuring an axe wielding serial killer on a children’s Christmas advent calendar.
They defended the move by saying mass murderer Fritz Haarmann was part of the German city of Hanover’s history.
The calendar is already on sale at tourism offices and shows children singing Xmas carols and laughing as Santa hands out Xmas gifts – and the Star of Bethlehem twinkles over the rooftops.
But over the first door of the calendar, a trilby wearing man peaks out from behind a tree with a meat cleaver in his left hand.’
see it here »
The distance may be fine, the aim is maybe not so good. 🙂
(1.8meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘Doctors have long argued about the health effects of coffee, but its reputation seems likely to receive a boost thanks to a flavoured condom that aims to encourage safer sex in Ethiopia.
Around 300,000 of the coffee condoms were sold in a week when they were launched in September, according to the US charity DKT International.
It hopes to tap into Ethiopia’s coffee mania as a means to tackle high rates of HIV in the country, which is said to have invented the drink.
The charity said that with 2.1% of Ethiopians infected with Aids – and more than 7% in the capital, Addis Ababa – the flavoured prophylactic was more than a novelty. “Everybody likes the flavour of coffee,” said a spokeswoman.’
A series of photographs, recreating some of the most famous images from the last century.
Although, approximating might be a better word than recreating. 🙂
This is a few weeks old, but I’ve decided to archive it for posterity. 🙂
(967kB Flash video)
see it here »
You should probably look at what’s in front of you before you go running across a road.
(1.9meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘A 69-year old woman is facing charges for celebrating too loudly when her beloved Denver Broncos score on Sundays.
Jeri Priest honks a contraption she calls “The Broncos Horn” after each Denver score. Priest, along with her husband Larry and their neighbors let off one hearty honk for each point scored.
The horn is an odd-looking device Larry Priest built 30 years ago. It’s a two-wheel dolly carrying six car horns all hooked to a car battery. A relay switch allows Jeri Priest to sound the horn from the comfort of her home.
It’s the comfort of one neighbor that’s in question.’
‘A mother cremated a body she thought was that of her dead son, only for him to turn up alive later, police said on Friday.
Gina Partington’s 37-year-old son Thomas Dennison was reported missing last month and a body was found in Rusholme, Manchester, three days later.
The 58-year-old mother, from Urmston, Greater Manchester, formally identified the body as that of her son and, following an inquest, the body was cremated on October 30.’
‘Kerri and Jason Brown discovered a secret room behind a bookcase containing a homeowner’s worst nightmare — mold. Also in the room was a handwritten note: “You found it!” What the Browns found was a mold problem so serious the previous owner was forced to move, according to the note.
Fearing their young daughter’s health, the Browns hired an environmental engineer who detected high levels of several types of mold, including a black mold fungus called Stachybotrys.
“It terrified me,” Kerri Brown told WYFF-TV in Greenville. “I had heard reports of what it does for children, and I was terrified.”‘
‘An alleged speed ‘cook’ for a bikie gang had both his ears cut off at Currumbin at the weekend.
Police said picnickers and swimmers at the Currumbin Rock Pools found the man bleeding from head wounds about 2pm on Saturday.
The man, who had lost a large amount of blood, told medical staff he had been hurt in a fall.
The Elanora man, 38, refused to speak to police at The Tweed Hospital on Saturday afternoon.
He also refused to make an official complaint after police found the crime scene near the rock pools, but no sign of the severed ears. [..]
“Even though he’s not talking to us, you don’t need to be Einstein to work out what he did wrong to incur the wrath of the bikies,” said a police officer.’
‘A physicist and his biologist son destroyed a common virus using a superfast pulsing laser, without harming healthy cells. The discovery could lead to new treatments for viruses like HIV that have no cure.
“We have demonstrated a technique of using a laser to excite vibrations on the shield of a virus and damage it, so that it’s no longer functional,” said Kong-Thon Tsen, a professor of physics at Arizona State University. “We’re testing it on HIV and hepatitis right now.” [..]
In the latest research, Tsen and his son demonstrated that their laser technique could shatter the protein shell, or capsid, of the tobacco mosaic virus, leaving behind only a harmless mucus-like mash of molecules.
The laser shattered the capsid at low energy: 40 times lower, in fact, than the energy level that harmed human T-cells. Other types of radiation, like ultraviolet light, kill microbes on produce, but would damage human cells.’
‘An Australian researcher is on the road to riches after discovering a way to make broadband connections up to 100 times faster.
University of Melbourne research fellow Dr John Papandriopoulos is in the throes of moving to Silicon Valley after developing an algorithm to reduce the electromagnetic interference that slows down ADSL connections.
Most ADSL services around the world are effectively limited to speeds between 1 to 20Mbps, but if Dr Papandriopoulos’s technology is successfully commercialised that speed ceiling would be closer to 100Mbps.’
‘TMZ has obtained portions of a secret document from David Copperfield’s shows, outlining in extreme detail how the magician’s assistants were supposed to rope in the women that David found attractive — and hold their boyfriends and husbands at bay.
The document, titled “Show Participation,” requires the people who work David’s shows to arm themselves with clipboards, a Polaroid camera, a digital camera, brochures of David’s islands in the Bahamas and “Blank photo(s) of David (if one of the girls is a scorpion).” “Scorpion” refers to women David brings onstage as part of his act.
The document describes how the assistants need to be heads-up for attractive women whom David can meet backstage after the performance. We’re told the plan is to keep boyfriends and husband in the arena, adding “from time to time, boyfriends and husbands will give us a hard time and refuse to stay. If that is the case, try your best to get them to stay and refer to the “What to Say” sheet for help.”‘
‘A 24-year-old New York City man remains jailed after he was found allegedly having sex with a 92-year-old woman’s corpse inside the morgue of the hospital where he worked.
Anthony Merino, who works as a lab technician at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, N.J., was arrested Sunday after police responded to a call from a security guard at the hospital. The guard reported witnessing the lab technician sexually desecrating the woman’s dead body, according to police.
“This is a first,” Lt. Dean Kazinci, spokesman for the Teaneck, N.J., police, told ABC News. “When you think you’ve heard and seen it all, something like this happens.”‘
‘An argument between several Indian men during a cricket match in Orlando led to an on-the-field shooting that seriously injured one of the players, according to police. [..]
Officers said Singh apparently became involved in a fight and threatened Devan Bascom, 37, with a cricket bat.
Police said Bascom then pulled a small semi-automatic gun and fired at Singh, hitting him at least once.
“The shooter was defending himself from an attack with a cricket bat which is simlar to a baseball bat but it’s flat,” Orange County sheriff’s Sgt. Spike Hopkins said. “For this man to bring a firearm to a sporting event is odd but then again, he has the right to do so. He has a concealed weapons permit and if, in fact, he was protecting himself, he was authorized by law to do so.”‘
‘A U.S. woman who decided to pierce her 13-year-old daughter’s genitalia to protect her from early sex life was acquitted of aggravated child abuse. The girl, now 16 years of age, testified at court that her mother was trying to protect her. In 2004 the woman asked her male friend to shave the girl’s head to make her unattractive to boys. Afterwards, the woman apparently thought that it was not enough and decided to forcefully pierce the girl’s genitalia. [..]
“She was trying to protect me, but it hurt me,” the girl testified earlier this week. “It not only hurt me physically, but it hurt me mentally. … That’s emotionally scarring. That’s physical abuse.” Prosecutors said the mother called on a friend to shave the girl’s head and do the piercing after realizing that she had been having sex, including with the mother’s boyfriend.
Defense attorneys told jurors that the mother had trouble with her rebellious daughter and that the girl agreed to the piercing to help rebuild her mother’s trust. Child welfare officials were called after the girl became infected from the piercing.’
It’s usually a good idea to close the doors of your car when it’s in motion.
(835kB Flash video)
see it here »
‘If there’s a sadder commentary on the state of American society, we can’t think of it — we’ve grown so fat we sink the boats of It’s A Small World.
According to Miceage, the boats routinely bottom out under the weight of super-sized riders, bringing the popular ride to a grinding — literally — halt. That’s increased the wear and tear on the fiberglass boats, which have been in use since the ride opened during the 1964 World’s Fair, when Americans, on average, weighed 25 pounds less than we do today. [..]
Employees — Disney calls them “cast members” — have been aware of the issue for some time now and so discretely leave empty seats in boats carrying heavy riders. But backups persist, and in some cases no one realzes there’s a problem until boats stop emerging from the ride.’
‘A study of more than 5000 youngsters in Switzerland has found those who smoke marijuana do as well or better in some areas as those who don’t.
But the same was not true for those who used both tobacco and marijuana, who tended to be heavier users of the drug, said the report by Dr J.C. Suris and colleagues at the University of Lausanne.
The study did not confirm the hypothesis that those who abstained from marijuana and tobacco functioned better overall, the authors said.
In fact, those who used only marijuana were “more socially driven … significantly more likely to practice sports and they have a better relationship with their peers” than abstainers, it said.’
‘WINK News Now obtained a confidential memo sent around the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. What it showed, sent a shockwave of disgust through our staff.
The question now is, is the new way to get high described in the memo, really being used in Southwest Florida. WINK News Now investigates.
It’s called Jenkem – the ingredients may shock you. [..]
Basically, the new drug is a mixture of solid human waste and urine, turned into a gas that can be huffed. [..]
When our crews asked some students about the drug, they said they never heard about it, and would not be interested in trying it.’
‘The sight of a blind-drunk young woman being assaulted by a Big Brother housemate in what may be the most public rape ever has turned the stomachs of millions of television viewers.
[..] Bezuidenhout lay down next to the comatose young woman and penetrated her vagina with his fingers. He carried on despite the pleas of another female housemate for him stop. Under the law in South Africa – where, on average, a woman is sexually assaulted every 40 seconds – such an act constitutes rape.
Bezuidenhout, who is married, finally desisted and went off to sit by himself while drunkenly sniffing his fingers. At this point the producers of the show did intervene, sending paramedics into the house and cutting the live feed.
Bezuindehout, defending his sexual behaviour in a show that has featured copious nudity, recently told his housemates, “Well, this is Africa.”‘
‘Australia’s 2007 Toy Of The Year, Bindeez, was being pulled from shelves after it was revealed the product’s “magic beads” contain a chemical that when swallowed converts into the toxic illegal drug fantasy.
Two NSW children have been hospitalised over the past 10 days suffering seizures after eating the beads, while a two-year-old boy from Toowoomba in southeastern Queensland was flown to a Brisbane hospital after swallowing Bindeez beads. [..]
Testing by scientists in NSW found the chemical link to the drug gamma-hydroxy butyrate (GHB) – also known as fantasy or Grievous Bodily Harm – which can also cause drowsiness, coma and can lead to death. [..]
Sydney-based poisons specialist Dr Naren Gunja said the list of Bindeez’s ingredients supplied by the manufacturer said it should contain the non-toxic chemical known as 1,5-pentanediol.
“What we’ve found in the beads from testing done … by our hospital scientists is that it contains 1,4-butanediol,” Dr Gunja said, adding this chemical was metabolised by the body into GHB.’
‘When the military decides to get weird, it’s gets REALLY weird
It all started in the Fourteenth Century. We have a record of a “pre-tank” machine, called “Fighting Unicorn”.’
Also, Strange Tanks, Part 2.
