Life is wasted on the living.
~ Douglas Adams.
~ Douglas Adams.
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Highlands
Click on the photo of Castle Stewart in Inverness to see why we Scots love our Highlands!
Coober Pedy
Coober Pedy is a town located in northern South Australia and is known as the opal capital of the world, as nearly 95 percent of the world's opal supply comes from the local mines. This small town with a population of around 3000 has a unique way of life – nearly half of them live underground.
Read the rest here (and see the photos).
India is trying to block Bangladesh's copy of Taj Mahal
A wealthy film director is spending £40 million to build an exact replica of the Taj Mahal in Bangladesh, but Indian officials are trying to block its constructing, claiming the Taj Mahal, which was completed in 1653 is protected by copyright.
For their part, Bangladeshi officials are incensed by suggestions that the Taj Mahal - which was built by the Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, and completed in 1653 - is protected by some sort of copyright.“I'm not sure what they are talking about,” one said. “Show me where it says that emulating a building like this can be illegal.”
To make his Taj, Mr Moni imported marble and granite from Italy and diamonds from Belgium to add to 160kg (350lb) of bronze. He hopes that his version of the mausoleum will attract tourists to Bangladesh, a country that is well off the beaten track for Western holidaymakers.
Through A Glass Darkly
When one examines the oddities and absurdities about life one finds they are in fact not oddities and absurdities, but that which is 'normal'.
And all that is 'normal' in life is naught save the oddities and absurdities of life.
It is like looking through a glass darkly ... all you see is yourself.
And all that is 'normal' in life is naught save the oddities and absurdities of life.
It is like looking through a glass darkly ... all you see is yourself.
Catholics On Parade
No, it's not the Ku Klux Klan.It really is 'catholics on parade' in the 1950's in Procession de Semana Santa en Sevilla.
Fooled you didn't they?!
Mexican soldiers kill pregnan woman
Soldiers shot to death a pregnant 35-year-old woman after she reportedly failed to stop at a highway checkpoint in the northern state of Chihuahua, authorities said.
Silvia Arzate died after soldiers opened fire on the sport utility vehicle she was driving near the capital of Chihuahua, which is experiencing a surge of violence as drug gangs battle each other and authorities, said the state prosecutors' spokesman, Eduardo Esparza.
The circumstances surrounding Thursday's shooting remain unclear.
Esparza said Arzate, who died of several gunshot wounds, had been carrying a cousin in her vehicle who had been wounded in an earlier gunbattle. Her mother was also aboard, but was not injured.
Silvia Arzate died after soldiers opened fire on the sport utility vehicle she was driving near the capital of Chihuahua, which is experiencing a surge of violence as drug gangs battle each other and authorities, said the state prosecutors' spokesman, Eduardo Esparza.
The circumstances surrounding Thursday's shooting remain unclear.
Esparza said Arzate, who died of several gunshot wounds, had been carrying a cousin in her vehicle who had been wounded in an earlier gunbattle. Her mother was also aboard, but was not injured.
Our readers
Some of today's readers hail from:
Lucknow, Espoo, Madrid, Rome, Nagpur, Jakarta, Zaragoza, Tamuning, Pune, Baghdad, Ahmedabad, Izmir, Paris.
And lest you think Carolina Naturally only has out of state and out of country readers.
The following cities in the Carolinas all have Carolina Naturally readers in them who have dropped by today:
Charlotte, Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, Boone, Cary, Greensboro, Beaufort, Charleston, Raleigh, Wilkesboro, Lumberton, Greenville, Cullowhee, Asheville, Black Mountain, Linville, Highlands, Monroe, Waxhaw, Huntersville, Davidson, Statesville, Moresville, Morris, New Bern, Fayetteville, Columbia, Clemson, Greenwood, Spartanburg, Mount Airy, Farquy-Varina, Hatteras, Robbinsville, Hot House, Saulda, Cherokee, Waynesville, Sanford, Pinehurst, Wagram, Old Fort, and Gastonia.
Lucknow, Espoo, Madrid, Rome, Nagpur, Jakarta, Zaragoza, Tamuning, Pune, Baghdad, Ahmedabad, Izmir, Paris.
And lest you think Carolina Naturally only has out of state and out of country readers.
The following cities in the Carolinas all have Carolina Naturally readers in them who have dropped by today:
Charlotte, Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, Boone, Cary, Greensboro, Beaufort, Charleston, Raleigh, Wilkesboro, Lumberton, Greenville, Cullowhee, Asheville, Black Mountain, Linville, Highlands, Monroe, Waxhaw, Huntersville, Davidson, Statesville, Moresville, Morris, New Bern, Fayetteville, Columbia, Clemson, Greenwood, Spartanburg, Mount Airy, Farquy-Varina, Hatteras, Robbinsville, Hot House, Saulda, Cherokee, Waynesville, Sanford, Pinehurst, Wagram, Old Fort, and Gastonia.
Scientists create device that can project images from dreams
From the "Oh, Shit it's finally happened ..." Department:
... They can really read our minds!
... They can really read our minds!
And just begs the question ... Can this possibly be true?
A team of Japanese scientists have created a device that enables the processing and imaging of thoughts and dreams as experienced in the brain to appear on a computer screen.
While researchers have so far only created technology that can reproduce simple images from the brain, the discovery paves the way for the ability to unlock people’s dreams and other brain processes.
A spokesman at ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories said: “It was the first time in the world that it was possible to visualise what people see directly from the brain activity.
Darpa, Dronemaker to Brew Algae-Based Jet Fuel
Pentagon way-out research arm Darpa and Predator dronemaker General Atomics are teaming up to try to turn algae into jet fuel. The Defense Department announced the $20 million deal earlier in the week.The idea is to “demonstrate and ultimately commercialize the affordable production” of an algae-based surrogate for JP-8 jet fuel by 2010. The work is going to be spread all over the country, from the Scripps Institutions of Oceanography near San Diego to Hawaii Bio Energy in Honolulu to the University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental research center. General Atomics also seems to have pulled down an extra $4 million in Congressional pork money to set up a plant-fuel research facility at Eastern Kentucky University.
Former Nasdaq chairman busted for running a $50 billion fraud
A former Nasdaq chairman has been arrested for stealing over $50 billion through an elaborate Ponzi scheme (the largest ever) run through his private investment fund -- he allegedly ripped off some clients to pay other clients, then recruited (and then robbed) new clients to pay off the last round of losers. The Wall Street Journal says he was turned in by his sons.
In a separate criminal complaint, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Theodore Cacioppi said Mr. Madoff's investment advisory business had "deceived investors by operating a securities business in which he traded and lost investor money, and then paid certain investors purported returns on investment with the principal received from other, different investors, which resulted in losses of approximately billions of dollars..."
The 70-year-old Mr. Madoff is the founder and primary owner of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. The firm is primarily known for its business in market-making, or serving as the middleman between buyers and sellers of shares. But Mr. Madoff also oversaw an investment-advisory business that managed money for high-net-worth individuals, hedge funds and other institutions...
Both complaints say Mr. Madoff told his sons he believed losses from his fraud exceeded $50 billion. That figure couldn't be confirmed. But such a loss is plausible, had money been flowing in and out for years: At the beginning of 2008, according to the SEC filing, his operation had more than $17 billion under management.
Such a scheme would dwarf past Ponzi schemes. It would also be nearly five times larger than the accounting fraud that drove telecom company WorldCom into bankruptcy proceedings in 2002.
Albino raccoon
This not a fox but rather a rare albino raccoon that lives in the woods of Rockledge, Florida. A local woman has been lobbying for the zoo to capture it for its own protection.
Michelle Smurl, Brevard Zoo's director of animal programs, said the zoo is not at liberty to trap an adult animal that is thriving in the wild. She viewed photos of the animal and confirmed that it is a white raccoon.
"The raccoon looks healthy, and it looks like it's doing well," Smurl said. "I grew up with white squirrels up in New York, and I was worried that someone was going to shoot them."
Federal Reserve refuses to disclose the recipients of $2 trillion in emergency loans
It's our money and we have bloody well got a right to know where it's going!
Bloomberg News filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Federal Reserve on November 7 to find out who is getting the $2 trillion in bailout money.
The Federal Reserve told them to shove it.
The Federal Reserve told them to shove it.
The Fed responded Dec. 8, saying it’s allowed to withhold internal memos as well as information about trade secrets and commercial information.You think Madoff's $50 billion fraud was something? He's a penny ante operator compared to these guys....
“Notwithstanding calls for enhanced transparency, the Board must protect against the substantial, multiple harms that might result from disclosure,” Jennifer J. Johnson, the secretary for the Fed’s Board of Governors, said in a letter e-mailed to Bloomberg News.
“In its considered judgment and in view of current circumstances, it would be a dangerous step to release this otherwise confidential information,” she wrote.
Biggest, brightest full moon of the year tonight
If you get a chance, check out tonight's full moon. It will be closer to Earth than it's been since 1993 - 221,560 miles away, making it look 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than 2008's other full moons.The composite NASA photo above shows how different the size of the moon appears at perigee, the moon's closest point to the Earth, and apogee, its furthest position from us.
From National Geographic:
"Typically we don't have the full moon phase and perigee (the position of an object at its least distance from Earth), coinciding at the same time, so that makes this event particularly special," said Ed Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California...
"While high tides happen each month when the sun, Earth, and the moon are aligned, there is going to be an enhanced effect, with the moon being the closest it's been in more than a decade," said Ben Burress, staff astronomer at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, California.
It's Rummey's fault
Rumsfeld's decision a "direct cause" for POW abuse, says bipartisan Senate report
A bipartisan Senate report concluded that decisions by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld were a "direct cause" of inhumane treatment of POWs.
You know, of course, the only thing that will happen as a result of this report is that the shrub will hand Rummy a medal along with his pardon.The report, endorsed by Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is the most forceful denunciation to date of the role that Rumsfeld and other top officials played in the prisoner abuse scandals of the last five years.
The document also challenges assertions by senior Bush administration officials that the most egregious cases of prisoner mistreatment were isolated incidents of appalling conduct by U.S. troops.
"The abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib in late 2003 was not simply the result of a few soldiers acting on their own," the report says.
Instead, the document says, a series of high-level decisions in the Bush administration "conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment for detainees in U.S. military custody."
Web site producer dresses as backup Caps goalie
A 6-foot-7 Web site producer for the Washington Capitals prepared to dress as the team's backup goalie for tonight's game against the Ottawa Senators because of an injury to Jose Theodore.
Brett Leonhardt, who played Division III hockey in college, signed an amateur tryout contract before the game. If he were to actually get on the ice, he would tie the record for tallest goalie ever to play in an NHL game.
1940's heartthrob Van Johnson dies at 92
Van Johnson, whose boy-next-door wholesomeness made him a popular Hollywood star in the '40s and '50s with such films as "30 Seconds over Tokyo," "A Guy Named Joe" and "The Caine Mutiny," died Friday of natural causes.
He was 92.
Johnson died at Tappan Zee Manor, an assisted living center in Nyack, N.Y., said Wendy Bleisweiss, a close friend.
With his tall, athletic build, handsome, freckled face and sunny personality, the red-haired Johnson starred opposite Esther Williams, June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor and others during his two decades under contract to MGM.
He proved to be a versatile actor, equally at home with comedies ("The Bride Goes Wild," "Too Young to Kiss"), war movies ("Go for Broke," "Command Decision"), musicals ("Thrill of a Romance," "Brigadoon") and dramas ("State of the Union," "Madame Curie").
During the height of his popularity, Johnson was cast most often as the all-American boy.
He played a real-life flier who lost a leg in a crash after the bombing of Japan in "30 Seconds Over Tokyo."
He was a writer in love with a wealthy American girl (Taylor) in "The Last Time I Saw Paris." He appeared as a post-Civil War farmer in "The Romance of Rosy Ridge."
He was 92.
Johnson died at Tappan Zee Manor, an assisted living center in Nyack, N.Y., said Wendy Bleisweiss, a close friend.
With his tall, athletic build, handsome, freckled face and sunny personality, the red-haired Johnson starred opposite Esther Williams, June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor and others during his two decades under contract to MGM.
He proved to be a versatile actor, equally at home with comedies ("The Bride Goes Wild," "Too Young to Kiss"), war movies ("Go for Broke," "Command Decision"), musicals ("Thrill of a Romance," "Brigadoon") and dramas ("State of the Union," "Madame Curie").
During the height of his popularity, Johnson was cast most often as the all-American boy.
He played a real-life flier who lost a leg in a crash after the bombing of Japan in "30 Seconds Over Tokyo."
He was a writer in love with a wealthy American girl (Taylor) in "The Last Time I Saw Paris." He appeared as a post-Civil War farmer in "The Romance of Rosy Ridge."
Illinois Attorney General asks high court to declare governor unfit
The Illinois attorney general has filed a motion with the state's highest court asking justices to remove scandal-plagued Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office.
Lisa Madigan took the action today (Friday, December 12, 2008), as pressure on the governor intensified to step down.
The motion challenges his fitness to serve and asks that the Supreme Court oust him.
Lisa Madigan took the action today (Friday, December 12, 2008), as pressure on the governor intensified to step down.
The motion challenges his fitness to serve and asks that the Supreme Court oust him.
Hunter injurd by wounded bear
From the "Turnabout is fair-play" Department:
A hunter was injured by a wounded black bear in Onslow county, North Carolina earlier this week.
Vince Cox was in a hunting party of four when he shot, but did not kill, the bear, said Kenny Huffman, forest wildlife manager.
“They were hunting the bear … shot him, then went to him when it happened,” Huffman said. “It was just a hunting accident. The bear was wounded. They didn't kill him right off the bat.”
Cox received bites on the leg and was airlifted for treatment to Pitt County Memorial Hospital. He was released Wednesday and is recuperating at home.
North Carolina ranks first ...
North Carolina and South Carolina continue to lead the way in the number of nationally certified teachers.
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards announced Tuesday that North Carolina continues to rank first and South Carolina continues to rank third in the number of teachers who have earned National Board certification. More than 14,000 N.C. teachers have achieved the honor, similar to professional exams for doctors or lawyers.
*****
So, 14,000 are certified, huh? Well, where the hell are they, then? The kids are coming out of school more stupid than ever and each year is dumbed down from the previous!
The national certification means a teacher could teach anywhere in the USA. Evidently, they do not - at least not in North Carolina.
Dogfight promoters arrested
Wilkes county authorities seized 127 dogs and arrested a man who co-wrote a book on raising dogs to fight after raiding an apparent dogfighting operation in western North Carolina.
Officials of the Humane Society of the United States said Thursday the actions were the result of a three-year investigation into the group “Westside Kennels.” A news release said three people were arrested Wednesday and charged with one count each of felony dogfighting and baiting. Other charges are possible.
The Humane Society said one of the men arrested, Westside Kennels owner Ed Faron, is a known pit bull breeder and an influential figure in underground dogfighting. He co-wrote “The Complete Gamedog: A Guide to Breeding and Raising the American Pit Bull Terrier,” which includes depictions of injuries inflicted upon or suffered by fighting dogs.
*****
It's about time! Everyone knows Wilkes county is the world's Moonshine capital and we don't hold no truck with no dogfightin'!
Seriously it is about damn time!
Colonial America
Have you ever wondered what life was like in 1771 America?
Is so, here's a few clues ...
Is so, here's a few clues ...
Sorry, But I could not get rid of the F*%#ing commercial!
Hoping 2009 A Big Year For Urinary Tract Infections
News that the Onion has the nerve to let loose of ...
The nation's leading cranberry juice producers announced Monday that they are banking on a record number of Americans suffering from urinary tract infections in 2009.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers, who carefully observe Ocean Spray's projections, are also optimistic that the vast increase in cranberry juice consumption will boost the sales of over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medications.
Cranberry Juice Industry Hoping 2009 A Big Year For Urinary Tract Infections
The nation's leading cranberry juice producers announced Monday that they are banking on a record number of Americans suffering from urinary tract infections in 2009.
"If our projections are correct and current trends in rough, dry sex continue, we'll see a spike in sales starting in mid-January," Ocean Spray CEO Randy Papdellis said during a press conference. "We don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but several factors also indicate that bathroom hygiene amongst women is due for a significant downturn. This could be the breakthrough we've been waiting for."
Pharmaceutical manufacturers, who carefully observe Ocean Spray's projections, are also optimistic that the vast increase in cranberry juice consumption will boost the sales of over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medications.
Science News
Ancient brain found in England
Scientists discovered a brain northern England that is at least 2,000 years old. The brain was found inside the, er, skull of its owner at an archaeological site at York University.
They believe the skull, which was found on its own in a muddy pit, may have been a ritual offering.
Rachel Cubitt, who was taking part in the dig, described how she felt something move inside the cranium as she cleaned the soil-covered skull's outer surface. Peering through the base of the skull, she spotted an unusual yellow substance.
Actor slits own throat accidentally in suicide scene
Actor Daniel Hoevels was seriously injured on stage during a suicide scene in Friedrich Schiller's play Mary Stuart at Vienna's Burgtheater. The prop knife he used to slit his throat turned out to be real. Police are investigating whether it was an error or something more nefarious.
From The Guardian:
From The Guardian:
Daniel Hoevels, 30, slumped over with blood pouring from his neck while the audience broke into applause at the "special effect". Police are investigating whether the knife was a mistake or a murder plot. They are questioning the rest of the cast, and backstage hands with access to props; they will also carry out DNA tests....
The knife was reportedly bought at a local shop; one possibility is that the props staff forgot to blunt its blade. "The knife even still had the price tag on it," an investigator said.
Vatican issues major new bioethics document
From the "As if we care!" Department:
The Vatican hardened its opposition Friday to using embryos for stem cell research, cloning and in-vitro fertilization.
But it showed flexibility on some forms of gene therapy and using vaccines created from cell lines derived from aborted fetuses.
In a major new document on bioethics, the Vatican also criticized "embryo adoption," whereby infertile couples adopt embryos frozen during in vitro techniques and subsequently abandoned.
It said that while the intent was "praiseworthy" the result posed legal, medical and psychological problems.
The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued "The Dignity of a Person" to help answer bioethical questions that have emerged in the two decades since its last such document was published.
With it, the Vatican essentially confirmed in a single, authoritative instruction the opinions of the Pontifical Academy for Life, a Vatican advisory body that has debated these issues for years.
The Vatican hardened its opposition Friday to using embryos for stem cell research, cloning and in-vitro fertilization.
But it showed flexibility on some forms of gene therapy and using vaccines created from cell lines derived from aborted fetuses.
In a major new document on bioethics, the Vatican also criticized "embryo adoption," whereby infertile couples adopt embryos frozen during in vitro techniques and subsequently abandoned.
It said that while the intent was "praiseworthy" the result posed legal, medical and psychological problems.
The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued "The Dignity of a Person" to help answer bioethical questions that have emerged in the two decades since its last such document was published.
With it, the Vatican essentially confirmed in a single, authoritative instruction the opinions of the Pontifical Academy for Life, a Vatican advisory body that has debated these issues for years.
Laid-off Chicago workers hope to inspire others
They've taken their sleeping bags and pillows back home and hauled away their protest placards after ending a nearly week-long sit-in at a Chicago factory that came to symbolize the plight of laid-off labor.
But a day after dozens of protesting workers walked out of the Republic Windows & Doors plant with their demands met, they said they hope their triumph will inspire others nationwide to take similar stands against employers if need be.
"Sometimes people are scared to say something to big companies," said Ricardo Caceres, who spent his first night in his own bed after sleeping on a flatbed truck in the plant during the six day sit-in.
"But we stood up - opened everyone's eyes."
That should include the eyes of factory executives, some business leaders said Thursday.
"I'd be the first to say to companies that what you saw with workers at Republic will be repeated over and over across the country," said Jerry Roper, president of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.
"We haven't seen this since the '30s."
But a day after dozens of protesting workers walked out of the Republic Windows & Doors plant with their demands met, they said they hope their triumph will inspire others nationwide to take similar stands against employers if need be.
"Sometimes people are scared to say something to big companies," said Ricardo Caceres, who spent his first night in his own bed after sleeping on a flatbed truck in the plant during the six day sit-in.
"But we stood up - opened everyone's eyes."
That should include the eyes of factory executives, some business leaders said Thursday.
"I'd be the first to say to companies that what you saw with workers at Republic will be repeated over and over across the country," said Jerry Roper, president of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.
"We haven't seen this since the '30s."
France's first lady wants to block 'cheeky' bags
France's first lady is taking legal action to stop a clothing company from distributing bags bearing a nude black-and-white image of her.
Her attorney says Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has exclusive ownership rights to her image.
She is seeking euro125,000 ($165,200) in damages from clothing vendor Pardon.
The firm is based on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion.
The first lady's lawyer, Thierry Herzog, said Friday that a La Reunion court will hear the case Monday and that she will donate any damages to charity.
Pardon has been giving the bags to its clients.
Actually it is the photographer who took the pictures that has the ownership rights to her images. But that minor detail will be overlooked to be sure.
The nude photo of Bruni-Sarkozy was taken in 1993 when she was a model.
Her attorney says Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has exclusive ownership rights to her image.
She is seeking euro125,000 ($165,200) in damages from clothing vendor Pardon.
The firm is based on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion.
The first lady's lawyer, Thierry Herzog, said Friday that a La Reunion court will hear the case Monday and that she will donate any damages to charity.
Pardon has been giving the bags to its clients.
*****
Actually it is the photographer who took the pictures that has the ownership rights to her images. But that minor detail will be overlooked to be sure.
The nude photo of Bruni-Sarkozy was taken in 1993 when she was a model.
Rocker stabbed, band members held
Those crazy Goths ...
The singer in a teen Gothic metal band and her brother allegedly stabbed the band's guitarist dozens of times because he did not play well enough, Italian police and a lawyer said Friday.
Police in Genoa, on Italy's northwestern coast, said the 16-year-old victim remained hospitalized but his life was not in danger.
He was attacked Saturday night after the band "Soul Cry" rehearsed in Sestri Ponente, a small town near Genoa.
He was stabbed about 50 times, mainly to his back and head, said police official Alessandra Bucci in Genoa.
The 18-year-old singer, Cristina Balzano, and her 16-year-old brother, the band's bass player, were arrested on charges of premeditated attempted murder.
During the rehearsal, band members accused the victim of playing poorly, police said.
The attack occurred moments later in a narrow alley.
Balzano was caught by police holding a kitchen knife with a 7-inch (18-centimeter) blade, her brother next to her and the victim in a pool of blood, Bucci said.
"The motive - absurd as that is - is apparently that the way my client played his instrument did not satisfy the two," said Giuseppe Maria Muscolo, a lawyer for the victim.
Police said they had seized a note that the 16-year-old suspect wrote to the victim days before the attack, which read: "I'm preparing a nice little funeral for you."
The victim has accused both suspects of stabbing him, police and the lawyer said.
Balzano initially said she was trying to stop the victim from committing suicide, Bucci said.
She later refused to answer investigators' questions.
Her brother has accused her of being the only attacker.
The singer in a teen Gothic metal band and her brother allegedly stabbed the band's guitarist dozens of times because he did not play well enough, Italian police and a lawyer said Friday.
Police in Genoa, on Italy's northwestern coast, said the 16-year-old victim remained hospitalized but his life was not in danger.
He was attacked Saturday night after the band "Soul Cry" rehearsed in Sestri Ponente, a small town near Genoa.
He was stabbed about 50 times, mainly to his back and head, said police official Alessandra Bucci in Genoa.
The 18-year-old singer, Cristina Balzano, and her 16-year-old brother, the band's bass player, were arrested on charges of premeditated attempted murder.
During the rehearsal, band members accused the victim of playing poorly, police said.
The attack occurred moments later in a narrow alley.
Balzano was caught by police holding a kitchen knife with a 7-inch (18-centimeter) blade, her brother next to her and the victim in a pool of blood, Bucci said.
"The motive - absurd as that is - is apparently that the way my client played his instrument did not satisfy the two," said Giuseppe Maria Muscolo, a lawyer for the victim.
Police said they had seized a note that the 16-year-old suspect wrote to the victim days before the attack, which read: "I'm preparing a nice little funeral for you."
The victim has accused both suspects of stabbing him, police and the lawyer said.
Balzano initially said she was trying to stop the victim from committing suicide, Bucci said.
She later refused to answer investigators' questions.
Her brother has accused her of being the only attacker.
English town names streets after Stones songs
Are you looking to live on Satisfaction Street?
Or, maybe, Ruby Tuesday Drive?
If so, Dartford is the place to go.
Streets there are being named after classic Rolling Stones hits in honor of local heroes Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
The ties to the town just east of London are strong: Jagger was born there and attended elementary school there, meeting Richards when both were schoolboys.
According to local legend, the two later met at the Dartford train station and talked about forming a band that went on to become the world-conquering Stones.
The new Stones streets are part of a major new housing development that will also include some businesses.
One road will be named "Sympathy Street," derived from the Stones' sinister classic "Sympathy for the Devil."
Others will be called "Cloud Close," "Rainbow Close" and "Dandelion Row" after other Stones songs.
There will also be "Stones Avenue" and "Little Red Walk" from "Little Red Rooster," the blues classic covered by the Stones in their early days.
Or, maybe, Ruby Tuesday Drive?
If so, Dartford is the place to go.
Streets there are being named after classic Rolling Stones hits in honor of local heroes Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
The ties to the town just east of London are strong: Jagger was born there and attended elementary school there, meeting Richards when both were schoolboys.
According to local legend, the two later met at the Dartford train station and talked about forming a band that went on to become the world-conquering Stones.
The new Stones streets are part of a major new housing development that will also include some businesses.
One road will be named "Sympathy Street," derived from the Stones' sinister classic "Sympathy for the Devil."
Others will be called "Cloud Close," "Rainbow Close" and "Dandelion Row" after other Stones songs.
There will also be "Stones Avenue" and "Little Red Walk" from "Little Red Rooster," the blues classic covered by the Stones in their early days.
George Lucas to Put Star Wars on at London Stadium
“Just when it appeared that George Lucas had finally laid to rest his epic saga of Jedis, Wookies and Ewoks, he has announced that Star Wars will return as a stadium experience. The Times has learnt that Lucasfilm has authorised Star Wars: A Musical Journey, a retelling of the story that will combine excerpts of the film with live orchestral accompaniment. Die-hard fans may dream of Jedi Knights serenading Jabba the Hutt and C-3PO singing “Don’t cry for me, R2-D2” but they are likely to be disappointed. Producers for the show, which will have its world premiere in Britain, emphasized that although actors would be used to narrate the story, it would not be a stage musical.
The production, which condenses more than 13 hours of film into 90 minutes, will be more like a classical music concert performed in front of a cinema screen, 27m (90ft) wide. The audience at the 17,000-seat O2 Arena in southeast London will watch key scenes from the film as 86 musicians from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra play extracts from John Williams’s score. The composer has reworked the music for the show, which will take place on April 10, 2009. Other shows may follow, depending on demand.”
Read the rest at The TimesOnline
Trivial One Liners
If your Christmas party is getting boring and no one is doing a tabletop strip, then throw some of these one liner's in.
"Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
"Lollipop" is the longest word typed with your right hand.
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters 'mt'.
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
The sentence: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' uses every letter of the alphabet.
The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right
or right to left (palindromes).
There are only four words in the English language which end in 'dous': tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: 'abstemious' and 'facetious.'
TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds (so do some humans!).
A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
A snail can sleep for three years.
Almonds are a member of the peach family.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain (I once knew a girl like that).
Babies are born without kneecaps.
They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.
February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast,
the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
The cruise liner, QE 2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid .
There are more chickens than people in the world.
Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
*****
"Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
"Lollipop" is the longest word typed with your right hand.
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters 'mt'.
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
The sentence: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' uses every letter of the alphabet.
The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right
or right to left (palindromes).
There are only four words in the English language which end in 'dous': tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: 'abstemious' and 'facetious.'
TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds (so do some humans!).
A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
A snail can sleep for three years.
Almonds are a member of the peach family.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain (I once knew a girl like that).
Babies are born without kneecaps.
They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.
February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast,
the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
The cruise liner, QE 2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid .
There are more chickens than people in the world.
Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
Only 46 to go
Carolina Naturally is read in 150 of the world's countries now!
Welcome to all our readers in Armenia!
Welcome to all our readers in Armenia!
 |
MPAA to Obama ...
... censor the Internet, kick people off the Internet, break other countries' Internet protocols and laws!
Tim Jones of the Electronic Frontier Foundation has some good commentary on the news that the MPAA has asked Obama to spy on the entire Internet, and to establish a system where being accused of copyright infringement would result in loss of your Internet connection (and your VoIP line, your access to your university, your lifeline to your parents in the old country, your means of participating in civic life, your means of fighting your parking ticket, etc etc etc). The MPAA also wants Obama to lean on other countries (most notably Canada!) and force them to adopt US copyright laws.
Here, the MPAA is advocating for a number of things, the most problematic of which is a "three strikes" internet termination policy. This would require ISPs to terminate customers' internet accounts upon a rights-holder's repeat allegation of copyright ingfringement. This could be done potentially without any due process or judicial review. A three-strikes policy was recently adopted by legislation in France, where all ISPs are now banned from providing blacklisted citizens with internet access for up to one year.Because three-strikes policies do not guarantee due process or judicial oversight of whether the accusations of copyright infringement are valid, they effectively grant the content industry the ability to exile any individual they want from the internet. Lest we forget, there is a history of innocents getting caught up in these anti-piracy dragnets. (Copyfighter Cory Doctorow has wondered what would happen if the MPAA's erroneous notices were subject to a similar three-strikes law.)
Thankfully, members of the European Parliament vehemently rejected these measures, resolving that "The cut of Internet access is a disproportionate measure regarding the objectives. It is a sanction with powerful effects, which could have profound repercussions in a society where access to the Internet is an imperative right for social inclusion." Let's hope the US government's decisions on this are as wise.
And the incompetence continues ...
Just when you thought you had seen the depths of the shrub and company's incompetence this makes the news!
Company buys back shrub library domain name for $35K
The shrub's presidential library domain name has been retrieved after a Web developing company let it expire - and it apparently came at a high price.
Raleigh, N.C.-based Illuminati Karate paid less than $10 for the http://www.GeorgeWBushLibrary.com domain name and sold it back earlier this year for $35,000 to the library's contracted Web developers, Yuma Solutions, said George Huger, lead Web developer for Illuminati Karate.
Mark Mills, owner of Yuma Solutions, did not immediately return calls seeking comment Thursday.
The Tallahassee, Fla.-based company has a history with the shrub family, hosting Web sites for the shrub's 2000 campaign and for Florida Jeb's 1998 and 2002 campaigns.
Records indicate that in March 2007, the shrub's Library Foundation, using Yuma Solutions as its contractor, bought the domain name from a private citizen for $3,000. But the registration was set to expire within a few months.
Huger said he grabbed the library name, seeing its potential, while searching through a public list of names that were about to expire.
Months later, Huger had received some offers on it, but he declined to provide details.
After it was reported that the library had lost the domain, Mills contacted Illuminati Karate and asked to buy it back, Huger said.
At the time, a library foundation spokesman said officials were unaware that the name had been lost.
Yuma finally reached a deal to buy the Web address back for $35,000, which the company, not the library foundation, apparently paid, Huger said. The site changed hands in April and won't expire until 2013.
Mark Langdale, president of the shrub's Library Foundation, said he didn't know about the Web site being lost and recovered. But, he said, he would know if the library had been stuck with a surprise $35,000 expenditure.
The shrub Center - which will include a library, museum and public policy institute - is being built at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
*****
They say laughter makes you live longer and if that is true - after the last eight years we will all live forever.
Neighbors settle 16-month cat custody battle
All right, for a dog I can see this, but a cat?!
A 16-month cat fight in an Oregon court has come to an end. Portland neighbors resorted to attorneys to sort out their dispute over a 4-year-old Siamese cat named Merlin. Donella and Charles Whitacre had claimed their neighbors, RoseMarie Opp and Lawrence Hudetz, "kidnapped" Merlin.
A 16-month cat fight in an Oregon court has come to an end. Portland neighbors resorted to attorneys to sort out their dispute over a 4-year-old Siamese cat named Merlin. Donella and Charles Whitacre had claimed their neighbors, RoseMarie Opp and Lawrence Hudetz, "kidnapped" Merlin.
But Opp and Hudetz said they kept the cat because they believed he had been neglected.
Donnella Whitacre posted fliers around their neighborhood, calling Opp and Hudetz cat thieves. She reported the cat stolen, sending a police officer to retrieve it.
Opp and Hudetz countered by slapping a lien on the cat as personal property, eventually foreclosing during an auction on the front steps of the Multnomah County Courthouse.
Police concluded that it was a civil matter, so it ended up in court with attorneys on both sides.
But with a trial pending this week, the lawyers reached a settlement that sent Merlin back to the Whitacres.
Man sprays 'toilet-papering' teens with fox urine
A 50-year-old man in Willmar, Minnesota, who told authorities he was fed up with teens toilet-papering his house decided to defend his property - with a squirt gun filled with fox urine. Now, Scott Wagar is in trouble with the law.
Wagar pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in Kandiyohi County District Court to misdemeanor assault and other charges. He was released on personal recognizance.
According to police, Wagar was on his property September 16th when he used night vision goggles to see 15-20 people running toward his place. He told police that he told them to leave, swore at them and sprayed them with the fox urine. He also allegedly struggled with one of the teens.
*****
Around here we use a shotgun filled with rock salt and we have no 'toilet-papering' teens - word gets around quick and rock salt burns like hell for weeks! That and hand packed bear-shot packs a wallop!
(and yes, for all you gun nuts out there, we use an old gun and clean it after each use)
Mom, why is there a hawk in the house?
A large raptor crashed through the window of a northern Idaho home, showering a youngster with glass and stunning itself before recovering and flying off.
Karyn Holt said her 1-year-old son was eating breakfast in his high chair Tuesday morning when the bird, possibly a Cooper's Hawk, broke through the window facing their backyard.
Holt's son, Quinn, suffered only minor cuts. Her daughter came running and asked, "Mom, why is there a hawk in the house."
Karyn Holt picked up the stunned bird and moved it into the yard, where it rested for about 90 minutes before flying off.
Jane Cantwell, a raptor biologist, says raptors like the Cooper's Hawk are ambush predators that can get so focused on prey that they don't notice sudden threats, like a glass window.
Aw, nuts. Why won't my car start?
Aw, nuts!
That's likely not what Hope Wideup of Demotte, Indiana, thought (odds are it was a bit more colorful) when her car's turn signal and windshield wipers wouldn't work. It's also what she found later when she opened the hood. "There were thousands in there. They were everywhere," she said, speculating a chipmunk found its way into her car, which had been sitting idle for several weeks, and used the engine compartment as a storage depot for a trove of black walnuts.
Wideup thinks it all started last fall when a chipmunk snatched a garden glove from her yard. She later found the glove in the engine compartment when she was trying to repair the broken turn signal. Unable to fix the problem, however, Wideup let the car sit unused for a couple of weeks and then heard a loud revving sound from the engine when she tried to start the vehicle.
That's when she looked under the hood again and found the walnuts.
"Apparently this little guy stuffed a bunch of these nuts in the accelerator throttle," said Wideup, who had to spend $242 for towing and repairs.
The chipmunk hasn't returned. But she's not taking any chances, alternating use of her two cars so neither one is sitting too long.
"It's funny, but it's not," she said.
Shoplifter waits over three hours for police ...
... and they still didn't show up!
Police, in Frederick, Maryland said a man caught stealing nearly $900 worth of Sears merchandise waited more than three hours for officers to show up before store workers let him go.
Maryland State Police said that when they finally reached the 27-year-old man by telephone later that night, he agreed to come in for questioning, showed up early and willingly confessed to the crime.
Police said the man told them he planned to sell some of the merchandise he took so he could make his car payment.
He allegedly stole two power tools along with three shirts, 11 video games and seven DVDs.
Sam can keep his therapy pony
Three year old Sam Spiteri of Caledon, Ontario can keep the miniature pony he uses in therapy for his spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. The local council's granted the family a zoning exception that trumps the complaints of the family's neighbors who complained of the smell ... and they also border a cow-pasture no less!
Caledon councillor Annette Groves said that the boy should be allowed to keep the therapy pony.“While you have to enforce the rules, there are times when you have to use discretion and have to remember that you’re a human being and have to have some compassion,” she said.
“That would be the case in the case.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
