Denver's Casa Bonita is "a Mexican restaurant crossed with Disneyland."
Also: 
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Comic book sells for almost $500K in Texas
84-year old man paid a dime when he was a teen
A rare comic book an 84-year-old California man bought for a dime when he was a teen has been sold in Texas for $492,937. The copy of Detective Comics No. 27 featured the debut of "The Batman."Robert Irwin said he bought the May 1939 issue from a Sacramento, Calif., newsstand when he was 13, and it's the only comic book he kept from his youth.
The winning bid came from a collector who wished to remain anonymous. He placed the bid by phone Thursday in an auction by Heritage Auctions in Dallas.
Irwin, who attended the auction, said he is elated and wishes he had another book.
Heritage sold a rare copy of that same comic in better condition for $1,075,500 in February.
Yikes
Now that's scary!
And to think we actually lived through the 'Beehive Era' ... who would have thought it possible at the time.
Lithium in 7-Up
Everyone knows that Coca-Cola was originally formulated to contain cocaine. I didn't know that 7-Up contained lithium.
... lithium was widely marketed as one of a number of patent medicine products popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and was the medicinal ingredient of a refreshment beverage, 7 Up. Charles Leiper Grigg, who launched his St. Louis-based company The Howdy Corporation in 1920, invented a formula for a lemon-lime soft drink in 1929. The product, originally named "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda", was launched two weeks before the Wall Street Crash of 1929. It contained the mood stabiliser lithium citrate and was one of a number of patent medicine products popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. The beverage was marketed specifically as a hangover cure. Its name was soon changed to 7 Up.More about 7-Up and the history of its name at Snopes.
Confused African Pelicans End Up in Siberia: Thanks, Global Warming.
Photo: Rainbirder under a Creative Commons license
Russia's been having a record breaking autumn weather-wise, with temperatures in Altai, in southwestern Siberia, remaining as high as 41° Fahrenheit. And it looks like the balmy weather has attracted some new residents: on Tuesday, a flock of seven African pink pelicans landed in the village of Suslovo, reported Reuters. The birds, which had spend the summer in Kazakhstan, should have been flying south to winter in Africa. But that's where global warming stepped in. Confused by the unnaturally high temperatures to the north, the pelicans, all barely a year old, flew in the wrong direction.Article continues: Confused African Pelicans End Up in Siberia: Thanks, Global Warming.
What Does Your Dog Think?
Sit! Shake! Quit barking! Get off the couch! Go find your toy!
Ever wonder what your dog is thinking as it gazes at you while you are giving it commands?
Duke University's Canine Cognition Center in Durham, North Carolina, is one of the few labs in the country focused on how dogs think.
Ever wonder what your dog is thinking as it gazes at you while you are giving it commands?
Duke University's Canine Cognition Center in Durham, North Carolina, is one of the few labs in the country focused on how dogs think.
Faithful dog waits for owner near Shanghai fire without eating
A Golden Retriever puppy has deeply moved citizens in the aftermath of the huge fire that broke out on Jiaozhou Road in Shanghai killing 53 people on Nov. 15. The puppy laid and wept on the ground beside the fire site without eating and drinking waiting for its owner to return.
The puppy kept walking back and forth near the fire site in the wake of the fire disaster and looked very worried. Several hours later, it was so tired that it laid still at a crossing and was trembling. Nearby residents estimated that the dog's owner was likely trapped in the huge fire, and firefighters covered the dog with a blanket and provided it with some rice, vegetables, bread and water.
However, the dog neither ate nor drank, and had tears running down its face. A resident wanted to temporarily adopt the dog and touched it, but the dog immediately growled and glared at the resident. After resting, the dog stood up and walked around the burning building again. After the dog became a little more relaxed, a firefighter at the site temporarily adopted the dog.
The firefighter from then Shanghai Jing'an Fire Fighting Squadron said the dog's name is Jingjing and had waited for its owner near the fire site before becoming so tired that it nearly passed out on the ground while watching the burning building. Jingjing was very dismayed and ate nothing after it was temporally adopted by the firefighter. At noon on Nov. 17, Jingjing's owner went to the fire fighting squadron base, and Jingjing immediately ran toward its owner. The firefighter who adopted the dog said, "This man must be the dog's owner." Jingjing did not eat anything for 40 hours until it was reunited with its owner.
The puppy kept walking back and forth near the fire site in the wake of the fire disaster and looked very worried. Several hours later, it was so tired that it laid still at a crossing and was trembling. Nearby residents estimated that the dog's owner was likely trapped in the huge fire, and firefighters covered the dog with a blanket and provided it with some rice, vegetables, bread and water.
However, the dog neither ate nor drank, and had tears running down its face. A resident wanted to temporarily adopt the dog and touched it, but the dog immediately growled and glared at the resident. After resting, the dog stood up and walked around the burning building again. After the dog became a little more relaxed, a firefighter at the site temporarily adopted the dog.
The firefighter from then Shanghai Jing'an Fire Fighting Squadron said the dog's name is Jingjing and had waited for its owner near the fire site before becoming so tired that it nearly passed out on the ground while watching the burning building. Jingjing was very dismayed and ate nothing after it was temporally adopted by the firefighter. At noon on Nov. 17, Jingjing's owner went to the fire fighting squadron base, and Jingjing immediately ran toward its owner. The firefighter who adopted the dog said, "This man must be the dog's owner." Jingjing did not eat anything for 40 hours until it was reunited with its owner.
Peach the Chihuahua is Japan's newest police dog
In what is a first for Japan and perhaps the world, a long-haired Chihuahua named "Momo" - "Peach" - passed exams to become a police dog in the western Japanese prefecture of Nara.
The brown-and-white, perky Momo was one of 32 successful candidates out of 70 dogs, passing a search and rescue test by finding a person in five minutes after merely sniffing their cap. "Any breed of dog can be entered to become a police dog in the search and rescue division," said a Nara police spokesman.
But he admitted that news a Chihuahua had been entered may still come as a surprise to many. "It's quite unusual," he said.
Momo will be used for rescue operations in case of disasters such as earthquakes, in the hope that she may be able to squeeze her tiny frame into places too narrow for more usual rescue dogs, which tend to be German Shepherds. The public response to the news of Momo's selection took police by surprise, the spokesman said, adding: "The phone's been ringing all afternoon."
The brown-and-white, perky Momo was one of 32 successful candidates out of 70 dogs, passing a search and rescue test by finding a person in five minutes after merely sniffing their cap. "Any breed of dog can be entered to become a police dog in the search and rescue division," said a Nara police spokesman.
But he admitted that news a Chihuahua had been entered may still come as a surprise to many. "It's quite unusual," he said.
Momo will be used for rescue operations in case of disasters such as earthquakes, in the hope that she may be able to squeeze her tiny frame into places too narrow for more usual rescue dogs, which tend to be German Shepherds. The public response to the news of Momo's selection took police by surprise, the spokesman said, adding: "The phone's been ringing all afternoon."
Last chance to save tigers?
The population has plummeted so sharply that it's near the point of no return.
Also: Friday, November 19, 2010
The Daily Drift
The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:The heavens are in quite the mood right now -- the kind that's all about finding the perfect match for each of us.
In your case, that goes double.
The universe is absolutely bent on finding someone who's not temporary and not simply just adequate.
The heavens are searching for your perfect lover.
In the meantime, expect to be quite busy with family situations -- one of which may actually provide you with the introduction you ought to be expecting.
Some of our readers today have been in:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Seoul, Kyonggi-Do, Korea
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
London, England, United Kingdom
Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Sittard, Limburg, Netherlands
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Bilbao, Pais Vasco, Spain
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
as well as Singapore, South Africa, Brazil, Switzerland, India, Philippines, Romania, Japan, Czech Republic and in cities across the United States such as Vandalia, Excelsior Springs, Aurora, Olympia and more.
Today is:
Today is Thursday, November 19, the 323rd day of 2010.
There are 42 days left in the year.
Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:
World Toilet Day.
Don't forget to visit our sister blog!
Senator Threatens to Block Online Copyright Bill
A U.S. senator has vowed to fight attempts to pass a controversial copyright protection bill that would allow the U.S. government to shut down websites suspected of hosting infringing materials.Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said late Thursday that he would seek to block the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, or COICA, from passing through the full Senate, unless the legislation is changed. Earlier Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 19-0 to approve the bill and send it to the full Senate.
Wyden called the bill the "wrong medicine" for dealing with online copyright infringement. The bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice to seek expedited court orders requiring U.S. domain-name registrars to shut down domestic websites suspected of hosting infringing materials. The bill would also allow the DOJ, through court orders, to order U.S. ISPs to redirect customer traffic away from infringing foreign websites.
"Deploying this statute to combat online copyright infringement seems almost like using a bunker-busting cluster bomb, when what you need is a precision-guided missile," Wyden said during a hearing on digital trade issues.
"If you don't think this thing through carefully, the collateral damage would be American innovation, American jobs, and a secure Internet."
Wyden's opposition means the bill is likely dead this year. Individual senators can place holds on legislation, and there are only a few working days left in the congressional session this year. Sponsors of the legislation, including fellow Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, would have to reintroduce the bill if it doesn't pass this year.
Supporters of the bill say it's needed to rampant combat copyright and trademark infringement online. The bill would protect legitimate sites by targeting only sites that have no other purchase than the distribution of infringing materials, supporters said.
"The Internet serves as the glue of international commerce in today's global economy," Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican and bill sponsor, said in a statement. "But it's also been turned into a tool for online thieves to sell counterfeit and pirated goods, making hundreds of millions of dollars off of stolen American intellectual property."
COICA has bipartisan support and will help copyright holders and police better coordinate their efforts to fight online piracy, Hatch added.
Opponents of the legislation say it amounts to censorship. Even websites with infringing materials have content that's projected by free-speech rights, opponents have said.
The bill could also lead to a fragmentation of the Internet, with other countries emboldened to enforce their own laws, including censorship, said critics, including the Center for Democracy and Technology.
COICA is an example of repeated efforts to fix long-time problems through Internet restrictions, said Ed Black, president and CEO of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, a tech trade group. The Judiciary Committee pushed through the bill without adequate hearings and input from the public, Black said.
"The significance and implications of the legislation I don't think have been well thought through," Black said during the hearing on digital trade. "Sadly, it's an example of what not to do in an important, complicated digital ecosystem."
Immigration decision's impact
A California ruling on college tuition for illegal immigrants could influence other states.
Also: The man who would make the Soviet propagandists proud accuses NPR of being run by 'Nazis'
Remember: repugicans accuse others of being what they already are.
From Brian (Goering) Montopoli at CBS News:
There is no left-wing news network. FAUX is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the repugican party or is it that the repugican party is a wholly-owned subsidiary of FAUX.
From Brian (Goering) Montopoli at CBS News:
Faux News chairman Roger Ailes is characterizing executives at NPR as Nazis.The man runs the equivalent of 1980s-era Pravda, and he has the nerve to accuse NPR of being propagandists. This is what today's wingnuts do. They go to the extremes, then accuse anyone who isn't them of doing exactly what THEY have already done, and 100% of the time it's not even true. It provides them cover, and tends to make the media search for equivalences - "FAUX on the right, NPR on the left."
"They are, of course, Nazis," Ailes told the Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz. "They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism. These guys don't want any other point of view. They don't even feel guilty using tax dollars to spout their propaganda. They are basically Air America with government funding to keep them alive."
Putting aside the Nazis comment, the claim that NPR (previously known as National Public Radio) uses government funding to "keep them alive" is questionable at best: Even when indirect funding is included, less than one tenth of NPR's budget comes from taxpayer dollars. It receives no direct federal funding for operations.
There is no left-wing news network. FAUX is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the repugican party or is it that the repugican party is a wholly-owned subsidiary of FAUX.
TSA confiscates heavily-armed soldiers' nail-clippers
Here's an anonymous account of a US Army soldier returning from Afghanistan who watched as his buddies -- who were all carrying high-powered rifles, pistols, etc -- were forced to surrender their nail-clippers and multi-tools:
So we're in line, going through one at a time. One of our Soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the Soldier that they're going to confiscate his nail clippers. The conversation went something like this: TSA Guy: You can't take those on the plane.
Soldier: What? I've had them since we left country.
TSA Guy: You're not suppose to have them.
Soldier: Why?
TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.
Soldier: [touches butt stock of the rifle] But this actually is a weapon. And I'm allowed to take it on.
TSA Guy: Yeah but you can't use it to take over the plane. You don't have bullets.
Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?
TSA Guy: [awkward silence]
Me: Dude, just give him your damn nail clippers so we can get the f**k out of here. I'll buy you a new set.
Soldier: [hands nail clippers to TSA guy, makes it through security]
This might be a good time to remind everyone that approximately 233 people re-boarded that plane with assault rifles, pistols, and machine guns - but nothing that could have been used as a weapon.
TSA protects America by groping a grandmother
Feeling safer now?
“Right out in the middle of everything,” a female airport screener began patting Bitter's body in places she did not expect.
“She touched my private parts,” said Bitter.
Pressed for details, the 67-year-old Rye Beach resident said the airport employee put her hands inside the waistband of her pants, felt around her waist, passed her hands over both her breasts, and rubbed her hands up and down the insides of her legs - “twice in front and twice in back.”
“As it got more invasive, I thought, ‘why am I consenting to this?'” she said. “It was totally humiliating.”
Bitter said after the screener “finished feeling me all over,” she removed a pair of blue latex gloves, rubbed them with “a detecting pad,” put the gloves into a machine and got a reading clearing Bitter for hazardous substances.
Are body scanners safe?
Backscatter machines use low-energy X-rays, exposing travelers to some radiation.
Also: Blogger in Egypt released after four years in prison
He was allegedly beaten while in custody, including two weeks ago. One of the "crimes" that sent him to jail was calling "President" Mubarak a dictator.
BBC:
BBC:
The case of Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman, often known as Kareem Amer, highlighted early government restrictions on political bloggers.
He was the first Egyptian convicted specifically for his writing online.
Human rights groups and opposition figures had campaigned for him to be freed.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), which represented the blogger in court, said he was in bad health and was beaten by security officers in Alexandria before his release on Tuesday.
Cops arrest seven men for playing chess in a park
A squad of police officers in bulletproof vests swooped into an upper Manhattan park in New York and charged seven men with the "crime" of playing chess in an area off-limits to adults unaccompanied by kids - even though no youngsters were there, the New York Post said.
"Is chess really something that should be considered a threat to the neighbourhood?" Inwood resident and mum Joanne Johnson wrote Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly after the raid.
"Is chess really something that should be considered a threat to the neighbourhood?" Inwood resident and mum Joanne Johnson wrote Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly after the raid.
Facebook turns into a debt collection tool
Debt collectors have begun using Facebook to try to track down debtors.
According to Alternet, it's unclear if the contact is legal, while at the same time Facebook isn't happy about the matter, either.
According to Alternet, it's unclear if the contact is legal, while at the same time Facebook isn't happy about the matter, either.
Performers Dressed as Superheroes Should be Allowed to Solicit Tips on Hollywood Boulevard
U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson issued an injunction blocking Los Angeles police from arresting or threatening to arrest four individuals who regularly don the costumes of superheroes and comic book characters and ham it up for tourists on Hollywood Boulevard.
Terrell "Tony" Tomey, who has performed as Batman for the past three years, was arrested in June for blocking the public sidewalk in violation of city code.
Fellow street performers Matthias Balke, Melissa Beithan and Paul Harrell -- Wolverine, Catwoman and the Dark Knight, respectively -- were arrested for the same violation. Christopher Dennis, who dresses as Superman, was arrested for loitering. (Dennis is not a party to the lawsuit.)
They sought an injunction to protect their right to perform and solicit tips on Hollywood Boulevard. None of the superheroes have been convicted or have charges pending.
Los Angeles opposed the injunction, claiming the performers failed to establish that the city has a policy or practice of arresting costumed street performers, or that the superheroes themselves feared arrest.
Pregerson disagreed, saying the plaintiffs "have an ongoing and legitimate fear of arrest that has chilled both costumed performance on Hollywood Boulevard and their active solicitation of tips."
Pregerson said the arrests are unconstitutional, because performance art is protected speech.
"[A]though costumed performance may not be a traditional form of speech, it is without doubt a protected one," he wrote.
He said Los Angeles police can't arrest, ticket or threaten to arrest costumed performers without actual evidence that they're blocking the sidewalk, loitering or soliciting in violation of city code.
Job Growth
Well, look at that - the repugican wingnut patron saint Ronny Raygun had a job growth rate a full point below their arch nemesis and favorite whipping boy James Carter ... reality sucks doesn't it wingnuts.
Even Tricky Dicky had a better job growth rate.
In fact if you add all the rates of the repugicans together you get a total of .9 which if averaged over the seven repugican juntas is just over 1/10th of a percent at .123.
Meanwhile, Democratic administrations total 19.0 with an average of 3.167 annual job growth rate.
Now, who is it again that is so good with the economy?
Sizing up GM's stock offering
The largest U.S. IPO ever was a win for stakeholders, including taxpayers.
Also: Millionaires' plea to Obama
A group of top earners has a message for the president on taxes — and it's not what you might expect.
Also: Save more for retirement easily
Most Americans aren't socking away nearly enough to prepare for retirement.
Also: Homeless man returns $3,300
Dave Talley says he knew he couldn't keep the money he found in a lost backpack.
Also: On The Job
Deanna Miller works as a marketing specialist — and an obituary writer.
Also: 
Many interviewers are unprepared, so be ready to show how you'd solve the firm's problems.
Also: Stay-at-home dad to the NFL
Last week, Brian St. Pierre was tending to his 18-month-old son — now he'll be facing the Baltimore Ravens. His story
Also: 
Australian twin sisters drew guns on each other at shooting range and fired
They were sharing the experience of a lifetime, a cultural exchange to one of the most picturesque Rocky Mountain towns. But when one Australian twin was due to return home from the Colorado town of Arapaho, the sisters did not take a taxi to the airport. Instead, the 29-year-old Victorian twins drove to a shooting range, hired two pistols - and shot each other in the head. Just what motivated their desperate pact is unknown. And so horrific were their injuries, US police were yet to determine which sister died and which is critically injured. The sisters, whose names are withheld, had been in the US for less than three months.
According to their cultural exchange visas, which often indicate participation in an educational travel program, the first sister arrived on August 17 and the other on September 19. On Monday, one was to return to her Victoria home. Police said yesterday they took a taxi from La Quinta Inn and Suites, where they stayed, to the Family Shooting Centre in Cherry Creek State Park just 8km away. Gun range owner Doug Hamilton said the women had been to the shooting range before and knew how to use the pistols they had rented. After checking in and being issued pistols, the sisters spent 80 minutes at the range.
What happened next has baffled US investigators and torn a family apart. A surveillance video showed both women falling backwards to the ground almost simultaneously outside the shooting stall at about 2.50pm on Monday, but it did not show what happened inside the stall. No one entered or left the stall other than the two women. Police still don't know whether the shooting was an accident, a suicide or foul play. No suicide note was found. "Every time I get new information there's a new twist," sheriff's Captain Louie Perea said. "We're keeping an open mind." He said they weren't sure who fired the gun or guns, or whether the same bullet hit both sisters, who were in the same shooting lane.
But they ruled out a third person shooting them. The taxi driver who drove the sisters to the range told investigators he had not noticed anything unusual in their behavior. Neither did other people using the range at the time. "They were interacting with each other and nothing seemed unusual," Captain Perea said. "They were just a couple of gals having fun at the range." Their sisters' family had been notified but the coroner was still trying to identify which sister had died through fingerprint and dental records. "They look very similar," Captain Perea. Investigators had been unable to talk to the surviving twin, who is in a critical but stable condition in hospital.
According to their cultural exchange visas, which often indicate participation in an educational travel program, the first sister arrived on August 17 and the other on September 19. On Monday, one was to return to her Victoria home. Police said yesterday they took a taxi from La Quinta Inn and Suites, where they stayed, to the Family Shooting Centre in Cherry Creek State Park just 8km away. Gun range owner Doug Hamilton said the women had been to the shooting range before and knew how to use the pistols they had rented. After checking in and being issued pistols, the sisters spent 80 minutes at the range.
What happened next has baffled US investigators and torn a family apart. A surveillance video showed both women falling backwards to the ground almost simultaneously outside the shooting stall at about 2.50pm on Monday, but it did not show what happened inside the stall. No one entered or left the stall other than the two women. Police still don't know whether the shooting was an accident, a suicide or foul play. No suicide note was found. "Every time I get new information there's a new twist," sheriff's Captain Louie Perea said. "We're keeping an open mind." He said they weren't sure who fired the gun or guns, or whether the same bullet hit both sisters, who were in the same shooting lane.
But they ruled out a third person shooting them. The taxi driver who drove the sisters to the range told investigators he had not noticed anything unusual in their behavior. Neither did other people using the range at the time. "They were interacting with each other and nothing seemed unusual," Captain Perea said. "They were just a couple of gals having fun at the range." Their sisters' family had been notified but the coroner was still trying to identify which sister had died through fingerprint and dental records. "They look very similar," Captain Perea. Investigators had been unable to talk to the surviving twin, who is in a critical but stable condition in hospital.
Afghans don't know about 9/11
Men in two crucial provinces know nothing of the events of 9/11, a study finds.
Also: Hints of North Korea nuclear action
New images and tips from two U.S. officials suggest the nation is making good on a recent vow.
Also: Quick thinking saved Qantas jet
Facing an engine explosion that set off a cascade of breakdowns, the pilots relied on creative teamwork.
Also: Automatically Hardening Body Armor
It can be stylishly incorporated into a garment such as a base layer shirt, it can be designed to create protective equipment, like a soccer shin guard, or it can be incorporated into protective cases for delicate equipment. Because this high performance fabric is flexible, it can be cut and sewn directly into clothing, eliminating the need to insert uncomfortable padding. It can be layered, so garments can be customized with increased levels of protection for specific areas.
Virginia Rastafarians Get Their Own Prison
The story is a little confusing, but the AP is reporting that several Rastafarians in the Virginia prison system are being moved to their own prison. The Rastas have been held in solitary, sometimes for years, for refusing to cut their hair. Presumably, they are in prison for more than their growing their hair out, they’re just in solitary because of their hair. There are as many as 50 Rasta in Virginia currently in solitary for this reason. The Rastas will now live two to a cell, but “they will not have all the privileges of inmates in general population.”Concrete house irks neighbors
Shawn and Sherrie Parry's dream home looks like an architectural nightmare to some critics.
Also: Ten Buildings Shaped Like What They Sell
Top 10 Bizarre Cases Of Mass Hysteria
A common manifestation of mass hysteria occurs when a group of people believe they are suffering from a similar disease or ailment.
Mass hysteria typically begins when an individual becomes ill or hysterical during a period of stress. After this initial individual shows symptoms, others begin to manifest similar symptoms.
Here are 10 bizarre cases of mass hysteria.
Panic strikes Trinidad and Tobago school after 'Devil attack'
A group of female school children who fell mysteriously ill and began rolling on the ground and talking in tongues were ‘possessed by the devil’. Chaos broke out at Moruga Composite School in Trinidad and Tobago when 17 students began complaining of nausea and headaches before collapsing. Two of the students tried to throw themselves over a railing and had to be restrained, the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian reported.
Fellow student Kerm Mollineau said: ‘One girl was blabbering as if in a strange language. I would not understand what she was saying. ‘It was sounding like “shebbaberbebeb shhhhee”, they were unusually strong.’ According to Mollineau the devil had possessed the girl.
He said: ‘I asked the devil what he wanted with the girls and the voice said he wanted a life. He kept saying to send the girls in the toilet and to leave them alone.’ Roman Catholic priests and pastors from nearby churches were called to the school and showered the children with holy water while reciting prayers. The students were hospitalized and pupils are set to receive counseling following the incident.
Fire Officer Ramdeo Boodoo, who conducted safety tests in the school, said there was no evidence of anything that would have triggered the nausea or fainting spells. One teacher who did not want to be named, claimed the school had been visited a fortnight earlier by an Orisha woman who had had a dispute with a member of staff. Orisha is an ancient religion with roots in voodoo. Another member of staff claimed the school had been built on burial site – but this was denied by residents living nearby
Fellow student Kerm Mollineau said: ‘One girl was blabbering as if in a strange language. I would not understand what she was saying. ‘It was sounding like “shebbaberbebeb shhhhee”, they were unusually strong.’ According to Mollineau the devil had possessed the girl.
He said: ‘I asked the devil what he wanted with the girls and the voice said he wanted a life. He kept saying to send the girls in the toilet and to leave them alone.’ Roman Catholic priests and pastors from nearby churches were called to the school and showered the children with holy water while reciting prayers. The students were hospitalized and pupils are set to receive counseling following the incident.
Fire Officer Ramdeo Boodoo, who conducted safety tests in the school, said there was no evidence of anything that would have triggered the nausea or fainting spells. One teacher who did not want to be named, claimed the school had been visited a fortnight earlier by an Orisha woman who had had a dispute with a member of staff. Orisha is an ancient religion with roots in voodoo. Another member of staff claimed the school had been built on burial site – but this was denied by residents living nearby
Amazing find near ski resort
A trove of unusual fossils holds clues to an "ancient global warming event," experts say.
Also: Boy unearths £2.5m treasure trove on first metal detecting expedition
A three-year-old boy using a metal detector for the first time has unearthed a gold pendant estimated to be worth over £2.5m. James Hyatt made the discovery while out with his father and grandfather in Hockley, Essex. He had only been scanning the soil for a matter of minutes when it started beeping.
The trio, from Billericay, started digging and just eight inches deep, they saw a glint and found what they now know to be a 500-year-old gold pendant. Dad Jason, 34, said: "James got a buzz after just five minutes. We saw a glint eight inches down and gently pulled the object out. Dad was blown away. He'd never found anything like it in 15 years doing his hobby.
"James was so excited to find treasure, though he's too young to realize its significance." Experts believe the rare locket, or reliquary, dates back to the 1500s and was used to hold alleged parts of Christ's crown of thorns or crucifix. James, who is now four, said: "I was holding the detector and it went beep, beep, beep.
"Then we dug into the mud. There was gold there. We didn't have a map - only pirates have treasure maps." An inquest has declared the reliquary treasure trove and it could be bought for millions by an interested institution, including the British Museum. Proceeds will be split with the family and the owner of the field where the pendant was found.
The trio, from Billericay, started digging and just eight inches deep, they saw a glint and found what they now know to be a 500-year-old gold pendant. Dad Jason, 34, said: "James got a buzz after just five minutes. We saw a glint eight inches down and gently pulled the object out. Dad was blown away. He'd never found anything like it in 15 years doing his hobby.
"James was so excited to find treasure, though he's too young to realize its significance." Experts believe the rare locket, or reliquary, dates back to the 1500s and was used to hold alleged parts of Christ's crown of thorns or crucifix. James, who is now four, said: "I was holding the detector and it went beep, beep, beep.
"Then we dug into the mud. There was gold there. We didn't have a map - only pirates have treasure maps." An inquest has declared the reliquary treasure trove and it could be bought for millions by an interested institution, including the British Museum. Proceeds will be split with the family and the owner of the field where the pendant was found.
Chinese Noodle Dinner Buried for 2,500 Years
- Noodles, moon cakes and other foods dating to 2,500 years ago were recently unearthed in a Chinese cemetery.
Conch Shell Trumpet Played for First Time in 3,000 Years
Archaeologists found twenty intact conch shell trumpets at a site in the Andes Mountains. They tested them to determine how they could be played and what sounds they could make:
As an expert shell musician blew into the horn, researchers recorded the sound’s path via four tiny microphones placed inside the player’s mouth, the shell’s mouthpiece, the shell’s main body and at the shell’s large opening, or bell. Similar to a bugle, the instruments only sound one or two tones, but like a French horn, the pitch changes when the player plunges his hand into the bell.
The team used signal-processing software to characterize the acoustic properties of each trumpet. Following the sound’s path made it possible to reconstruct the ancient shell’s interior, a feat that normally involves sawing the shell apart or zapping it with X-rays.
Burning bush
Most everyone is familiar with the story where Moses comes across a burning bush which, while clearly alit, doesn’t seem to be consumed by the flame.
It’s supernatural.
Except, it’s real — well, part of it.
There’s a bush called Dictamnus albus, a flowering plant native to parts of Europe and Asia (but not North Africa or the Middle East, and it doesn’t come with the voice of a higher being).
For most of the year it acts as a normal plant, but over the summer months, it develops a sticky, flammable oily substance which sometimes spontaneously sparks in the heat.
The excretion, when lit, burns rapidly — so rapidly, in fact, that the plant itself is typically unscathed.
The oil’s smell is citrus-like, but the plant’s leaves are bitter and inedible. (Why one would want to eat a flammable plant is anyone’s guess — well, anyone other than Homer Simpson.)
It has some archaic medical uses but today is mostly cultivated for its novelty factor — in case you wanted to grow one yourself.
It’s supernatural.
Except, it’s real — well, part of it.
There’s a bush called Dictamnus albus, a flowering plant native to parts of Europe and Asia (but not North Africa or the Middle East, and it doesn’t come with the voice of a higher being).
For most of the year it acts as a normal plant, but over the summer months, it develops a sticky, flammable oily substance which sometimes spontaneously sparks in the heat.
The excretion, when lit, burns rapidly — so rapidly, in fact, that the plant itself is typically unscathed.
The oil’s smell is citrus-like, but the plant’s leaves are bitter and inedible. (Why one would want to eat a flammable plant is anyone’s guess — well, anyone other than Homer Simpson.)
It has some archaic medical uses but today is mostly cultivated for its novelty factor — in case you wanted to grow one yourself.
All Life on Earth Could Have Come From Alien Zombies
Scientists have speculated that life could have come to Earth from space — a notion called panspermia — since the 1870s, when Lord Kelvin suggested microbes could have ridden here on a comet or meteor. Others have suggested tiny organisms could cross the galaxy embedded in dust grains, which could be nudged from one planetary system to another by the slight pressure of stars’ radiation.
However, most astrobiologists think that same radiation spells a death sentence for delicate microbes.
“That essentially kills panspermia in the classical sense,” said astrobiologist Rocco Mancinelli of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.
But maybe not, says astronomer Paul Wesson, a visiting researcher at the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Canada. In an upcoming paper in Space Science Reviews, Wesson argues that even if the actual microbes are dead on arrival, the information they carry could allow life to rise from the charred remains, an idea he calls necropanspermia.
Mysterious alien planet found
For the first time ever, astronomers discover a planet born outside the Milky Way.
Also: Valley Devastated by Coal Ash Waste
Photo: Richard Webb, Geograph, CC
Most Americans are hardly aware of what coal ash (also commonly called fly ash) is -- though plenty became more familiar with the stuff around two years ago when a massive slurry of the stuff was unleashed upon Tennessee. The often toxic byproduct of burning coal for electricity, fly ash is usually captured from the chimneys of power plants. Then, it's stored in containment sites -- or dumped. The following video documents the impact that coal ash waste has on a small town community and the surrounding environment. It's not pretty.Article continues: Valley Devastated by Coal Ash Waste (Video)
Months of geologic unrest signaled reawakening of Icelandic volcano
Months of volcanic restlessness preceded the eruptions this spring of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull, providing insight into what roused it from its centuries of slumber.
Dog saved owner from life-threatening asthma attack
A hero dog saved the life of his owner after she had collapsed at her home, by pressing her medical alert alarm button. Ben, a three-year-old fox terrier-chihuahua cross, repeatedly stepped on the button with his paw, after Gina Barratt, 62, was struck down with a severe asthma attack at home and became very ill. Mrs Barratt, of Bideford, Devon, was alone in her home and unable to reach the phone.
Because of her poor health she had an emergency alarm button installed which is monitored at a control center in Sidmouth. But following the attack she was too weak to untangle it from her clothing. Mrs Barratt said: 'That particular day my alarm button got stuck inside my fleece, but Ben is so wonderful. He knows when I am having an attack and he jumped up and pressed it.'
'Thank goodness I am here to talk about it. When I'm that ill I cannot even get to the phone. I keep wondering what would have happened if I hadn't had the button and Ben there.' The alarm button call was picked up by Tracey Morgan at the Home Safeguard call center in Sidmouth, which is linked in to the Red Button Tarka Emergency Helpline.
Karen Witney, manager of the Red Button Tarka Emergency Helpline, said: 'It is a very satisfying job and each time I hear a story of how the button has helped someone I am delighted. This really is a fantastic story and I am so pleased that Mrs Barratt is with us to thank Ben and Tracey today.' Mrs Barratt took Ben along to the Home Safeguard call center in Sidmouth to thank those who had helped her. She added: 'Tracey was a gem and so once I was well enough I wanted to come here in person with Ben and give her my thanks.'
Because of her poor health she had an emergency alarm button installed which is monitored at a control center in Sidmouth. But following the attack she was too weak to untangle it from her clothing. Mrs Barratt said: 'That particular day my alarm button got stuck inside my fleece, but Ben is so wonderful. He knows when I am having an attack and he jumped up and pressed it.'
'Thank goodness I am here to talk about it. When I'm that ill I cannot even get to the phone. I keep wondering what would have happened if I hadn't had the button and Ben there.' The alarm button call was picked up by Tracey Morgan at the Home Safeguard call center in Sidmouth, which is linked in to the Red Button Tarka Emergency Helpline.
Karen Witney, manager of the Red Button Tarka Emergency Helpline, said: 'It is a very satisfying job and each time I hear a story of how the button has helped someone I am delighted. This really is a fantastic story and I am so pleased that Mrs Barratt is with us to thank Ben and Tracey today.' Mrs Barratt took Ben along to the Home Safeguard call center in Sidmouth to thank those who had helped her. She added: 'Tracey was a gem and so once I was well enough I wanted to come here in person with Ben and give her my thanks.'
Crocodile farm entertains chance of first conjoined croc twins as double egg found
An Australian crocodile farm could have a conjoined crocodile on its hands after the discovery of a rare type of egg inside a croc nest. Wildlife keepers from Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures in Cairns have been busy collecting eggs since their saltwater crocodiles started nesting three weeks ago.
In one of the nests was an extremely rare conjoined egg, which has been placed in an incubator, where it will stay until it hatches in February. When it hatches, wildlife keeper Clay Mitchell said there was a possibility it could hold conjoined twins. "I suppose you could call them twins, but not identical, which would be the case if they came from one egg," Mr Mitchell said.
"However, looking at the egg, it could technically be classed as one egg but with two separate yolks." The croc farm, about 40km north of Cairns, has only had a couple of double eggs in the 76 years it has been in operation, but this is the first time a fertile double egg has been found.
Once crocodile eggs are laid, the yolk settles to the bottom of the egg with the embryo sitting on top drawing its nutrients throughout the incubation process. To enhance the chance of the hatchlings in the egg surviving, the egg was collected in the exact position it was laid. "We’ll hopefully get two healthy crocodiles coming out," Mr Mitchell said.
In one of the nests was an extremely rare conjoined egg, which has been placed in an incubator, where it will stay until it hatches in February. When it hatches, wildlife keeper Clay Mitchell said there was a possibility it could hold conjoined twins. "I suppose you could call them twins, but not identical, which would be the case if they came from one egg," Mr Mitchell said.
"However, looking at the egg, it could technically be classed as one egg but with two separate yolks." The croc farm, about 40km north of Cairns, has only had a couple of double eggs in the 76 years it has been in operation, but this is the first time a fertile double egg has been found.
Once crocodile eggs are laid, the yolk settles to the bottom of the egg with the embryo sitting on top drawing its nutrients throughout the incubation process. To enhance the chance of the hatchlings in the egg surviving, the egg was collected in the exact position it was laid. "We’ll hopefully get two healthy crocodiles coming out," Mr Mitchell said.
Asian Nations Aim to Double Tiger Population by 2022
Photo: Babirusa, Wikimedia, CC
It's rare that an entire international summit is put together for the sake of a single species -- but that's what's taking place this weekend, when representatives from 13 Asian nations will head to St. Petersburg to try to map out the future of the tiger. The event is being hosted by Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, and delegates from India, China, Indonesia, and elsewhere will be in attendance. They'll attempt to forge a plan to double the remaining population of tigers -- there's only 3,200 of them left -- over the next 12 years. But given the track record of such international summits, I wouldn't hold your breath.Article continues: Asian Nations Aim to Double Tiger Population by 2022
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