Iranian Cleric Site Seeks Volunteers To Combat Israel

A group of conservative Iranian clerics have launched an online registration drive seeking volunteers to fight Israel. About 3,550 people registered on Monday with the Combatant Clergy Society’s Web site.

The site gives volunteers three ways to fight Israel; military, money and using propaganda.

Volunteers are asked for their phone numbers and addresses on the web site. There are no further details on the site on how the group plans to fight.

The site was launched after a decree by Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated Sunday all that are killed while defending the Gaza Strip would be considered martyrs.

The degree was not considered a government decision but rather a religious one. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not asking the government to launch an attack against Israel.

From Asharq Al-Awsat:

“From Monday the Combatant Clergy Society has activated its website www.rohaniatmobarez.com for a week to register volunteers to fight against the Zionist regime (Israel) in either the military, financial or propaganda fields,” the semi-official Fars news agency said.

Iran is sending a ship on Monday stocked with aid for the Gaza Strip. Protesters of the bombing in Iran burned both American and Israeli flags on Monday.

Windows 7 Beta 1 Set To Go to Beta Testers This Month

Windows 7 beta 1 is about to be hit retailer shelves within a year. It’s already popping up as an ISO file on bit torrent sites

ZDNet’s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has a copy of the beta for testing. He has called the new version “solid and fast” but like the betas of other versions there are still some issues with it.

The new taskbar is easier to use except for it tries to do to much. It’s hard to figure out which apps are really running and which are just shortcuts pinned to the taskbar.

Last month Microsoft used the Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles to demo the new version of Windows. Many though could not tell Vista apart from Windows 7.

Next week Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO is planning on talking up Windows 7 during his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics.

The first beta will be distributed in early January to beta testers. That hasn’t stopped users of bit torrent from snagging a copy of the beta version. A few copies of the ‘alpha’ version made their way out in December. The latest version for the peer-sharing groups is ‘Build 7000.’ The 2.44GB-download has a listing of almost 2000 seeder versions on Pirate Bay. Close to 10,000 leechers have a part of the file downloaded.

The new version is getting praise from at least one blogger. Paul Thurrott wrote on his blog SuperSite for Windows:

“Windows 7 is much further along now than was any other Windows version when it reached its first beta release,” he writes.

“In fact, this build is much closer to a release candidate (RC) build than a beta from a quality standpoint. It is feature complete, it is reasonably stable, and it is highly compatible with the software and hardware I use on a regular basis.”

Gastric By-Pass May End Diabetes For Obese Teens

For the obese child with diabetes obesity surgery may reverse the disease just as it does with adults. A new study on type two diabetes studied 11 morbidly obese teens.

All but one of the 11 teens who underwent weight reduction surgery were free of diabetes a year after their surgeries. The eleventh patient, while still diabetic had a much reduced need for insulin. Dr. Thomas Inge of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center tracked the 11 patients for a year following their surgeries. Inge believed prior to the study that like adult diabetics, weight loss surgery could be a cure for diabetes.

Because of the successful outcome from the study more morbidly obese teens with diabetes may be candidates for gastric by-pass. Because of the long term side effects of the surgery teenage patients must be carefully selected.

The 11 teens in the study ranged in age from 14 to 21. They weighed between 250 to 403 pounds. All were taking diabetes pills and one was having to take insulin to control their type-2 diabetes. The operations took place at five different medical centers. The 11 were then studied along with 67 mostly obese teens with diabetes at Cincinnati Children’s. The patients in the study who did not have the surgery had their blood sugar controlled by diet and medication.

Those who underwent the surgery had lost between 72 and 218 pounds within the year. None of them were at a normal weight yet ten of the patients were no longer diabetic. The one patient that still had the disease also had a younger sibling and his mother who were diabetic. Three years after surgery he was no longer overweight but still needed to take insulin.

Inge also coincided that the teen’s diabetes may have been more advanced than the other teens. It has been noted in adult studies the best chances of eliminating diabetes through gastric by-pass happens soon after diagnosis.

Mother Of 3 Bleeds To Death In Bizarre Pub Accident

A young mother innocently chatting with friends at a Greater Manchester pub died when a beer bottle thrown during Boxing Night celebrations slashed her neck.

The man who hurled the bottle had been refused entry in the Queen Anne after arguing with bouncers just a few minutes before the incident. The bottle was smashed when it hit a pillar near where Emma O’Kane, 27, was standing. A piece of the smashed bottle pierced arteries in her neck.

O’Kane was at the pub with her partner, Michael Shepherd, who was celebrating his 38th birthday and four friends when she died. She was employed as a barmaid at the pub.

O’Kane and Shepherd have three young children, 6, 2 and one.

Shepherd was in another part of the pub when O’Kane went to bid farewell to some of their friends in the main area of the establishment. Shepherd’s words of grief were reported by the Guardian.

“We had all gone out for a drink to celebrate my birthday and went back to the pub where Emma works as a barmaid for one last drink to end the night. I was in the snug room and Emma wandered into the main bar. Everyone knows her in the pub and she was saying goodbye to some of her friends. I heard something and then saw Emma on the floor. I just thought that she had fallen over. But then I realised that she was not moving and that her eyes were open and there was blood all over the place.”

O’Kane was taken to Fairfield Hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Several floral tributes have been placed in front of the pub honouring the beloved waitress.

A nineteen-year-old man has been arrested for suspicion of murder. He remains in police custody.

Brain Injuries And Cooling The Body After A Heart Attack

Cooling saves lifes after a heart attack. Taking the body down to a hypothermic state within hours can save not only heart muscle but improve the severity of a brain injury. Within four minutes of a heart attack brain cells begin to die off.

Doctors have had the technology for several years for therapeutic hypothermia. An increase of using the procedure though has only taken off in the past 18 months. There are risks involved when the body core temperature is reduced. It requires a team of experts to control all the factors.

The Tennessean reports:

“It’s not as simple as just cooling somebody’s body temperature down — it requires intense training and action by nursing staff, cardiologists, respiratory care providers and intensive care specialists,” said Dr. John McPherson, medical director of the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit at Vanderbilt.

“We were like all medical centers in that we knew this was the right thing to do, but the experience was limited nationwide on how to do this appropriately.”

Starting this year New York City heart attack victims will only be transported to hospitals that use the cooling method. That is already in place in Seattle, Boston and Miami.

When a person suffers a cardiac arrest their heart’s electrical system goes on the fritz. The heartbeat aburtly stops during this process. When the heart beat is not operating correctly or stops completely oxygen rich blood is not being pumped into the brain causing cells to die. Often those who survive the heart attack itself are left with lasting brain injuries which run the gamut.

The patient is given medicine to paralyze them to prevent shivering. After the patient is immobile specialized pads, blankets and wraps cover the body except for the face. The body is cooled to about 89 degrees Fahrenheit in about six hours.

After 24 hours the patient who has been cooled begins the warming process. The body gains about a half a degree increase in temperature an hour.

“A lot of permanent brain injury does not happen at the exact moment the brain is deprived of oxygen — a lot of that brain injury occurs within the first 24 hours after the event,” McPherson said. “Cooling the body temperature down stabilizes some of those brain cells to prevent that cell death and prevents ongoing injury that can occur from inflammation in the first 24 hours after brain injury.”

The process can be the cause of serious risks including an increased rate of infections. Changes to the blood sugar, fluid balance, blood pressure, heart rhythms and abnormal clotting are all concerns with the cooling and rewarming process.

Not every patient is eligible for the procedure. A patient’s pulse has to be regained first and they have to have a stable starting blood pressure.

“We’re learning more and more about resuscitating patients after cardiac arrest and this is an important part in their treatment,” McPherson said. “I think, going forward, you’re going to see more sophisticated ways of how to improve heart and brain functions in these patients and I think this is a great first step.”

The procedure is a stable for heart attack victims at Saint Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. The team works like a well oiled machine as the cooling process begins. The patient is constantly monitored during the 24 hours to make sure changes are taken care of quickly.

While it can not stop brain injuries that have already taken place it does give the brain a fighting chance at recovery.

Opinion: The War Of Intolerance That Will Not End

Can the world expect a more peaceful 2009? If the past week is any indicator then the answer is no, and it’s about to get worse. It’s the way of man to lean towards violence instead of peace.

As Israel plummets the Gaza Strip, Afghans and Iraqis bomb their own and the rest of the world deal with in country crime and violence the future may look bleak.

The answer is as long as intolerance prevails the war will be rocked with violence. Intolerance is often the root to war. It is always the root to hate crimes.

Sadly the ways of man lead to intolerance. Each human on the planet tends to believe in their own beliefs and thinks that others are wrong. That ideal divides families, communities and countries.

Mankind will continue to attack one another for a difference of opinion be it religion, race, gender or a handful of other options. Man likes to be on top. It’s part of the king of the hill game many play during childhood.

Childhood is perhaps the only time period in a human’s life where tolerance is the normal instead of the exception. Children will play with any other child unless they have been preconditioned to hate. By the time a child becomes an adult hate has seeped through their pores filtering out tolerance. This is not true of all but sadly many that walk planet Earth are intolerant of others.

Can this be changed? As much as I would like to see such a change it is doubtful. It’s the way of man. To change a person would have to acknowledge that others have the right to their own beliefs and to have respect for those beliefs.

What do you think? Have I become to jaded as I read stories on children killed for being gay and nations plummeting others with bombs meant to kill?

Recycle In Winter Haven, Florida and You Could Get A Free Lunch

Recyclers in Winter Haven are about to get a free lunch. Beginning in January, the city and Florida Refuse will be handing out gift cards for a local diner to five random solid waste customers who put their blue bins on the curb.

The Recycling Rewards program will be running until the end of February with the hopes that the gift card will build up the program.

The Lakeland Ledger reports:

“We want to get people into the habit of recycling,” said Donna Sheehan, the city’s communications and marketing director

Winter Haven averages about 80 tons of recycled material per month that would otherwise be filling landfills. The program in the central Florida city started in November 2007. Since that time 935 tons of material has been recycled.

The gift cards also are a help to local restaurants that are facing a hit during the economical crisis. This is the second such program in Polk County according to Jean Wilson, Florida Refuse’s municipal marketing coordinator. When the company won a contract with the city a character dressed as one of the Blues Brothers rode through Polk County handing out gift cards.

Because of the holiday season Sheehan says this is the perfect time to promote the program. The packaging of gifts from the season fits snugly in the blue bins provided to solid waste customers.

In Winter Haven customers are charged $2.05 a month for the program whether or not they partake.

The city is turning green with city employees having recycling bins at their work stations.

Even the city parks are becoming greener. Florida friendly landscaping is replacing sod that is less drought-tolerant.

Opinion: Save The Plastic Bag Movement Is More Than Meets The Eye

Stephen Joseph started the SaveThePlasticBag.com. In April 2007 after San Francisco banned plastic bags he was approached by plastic bag manufacturers who wanted him to help them defeat the bans.

Joseph had assumed the press about plastic bags on the internet was correct. In March 2008 after reading an article published in the London Times he begun researching the subject. He found that most of the information about plastic bags was false and that paper bags were actually much more harmful to the environment. With that knowledge he agreed to represent the plastic bag industry.

His website Save the Plastic Bags.com compares the use of plastic against paper bags. He assesses which is more harmful to the environment including the space that they both take up in landfills. Paper bags fill more than twice the space in landfills than plastic. Paper bags also are the largest source of landfill methane. Plastic bags are not made from oil but from ethane, a waste product of polyethylene. Unused ethane is burned off. Other than ethylene there are no uses for this gas waste because it burns to hot to be used as a fuel. The United States exports polyethylene and does not import it. using this product does not have any impact on the dependence on foreign oil according to Joseph’s site. But according to the American Chemist that’s not exactly the truth. There are a variety of products made from ethane.

The ban on plastic bags though isn’t about using paper bags instead of plastic. The goal is for people to use cloth bags that are reusable thus completely eliminating the waste that fills landfills.

Still if the only choice one has is plastic or paper, plastic may be the better choice for the environment. Reusing those plastic bags makes a larger impact still. Reusing paper bags is not generally a viable option. Plastic bags on the other hand can and are being reused.

In the end there is no question of what is the best for the environment, reusable cloth bags are the best choice. But after reading though Joseph’s site I have to admit that the plastic bag is not as ‘evil’ as I had thought in the past. As long as you reuse or recycle them the overall impact may not be as huge as the media as stated in the past.

American Medical Trash Saving African Lives

Everyday medical equipment deemed to old for American hospitals is put out for trash to make room for newer models. That ‘trash’ is sent to Africa saving countless lives there.

Cardiologist Dr. Bruce Charash had a great idea in 2005. Instead of letting dumps get unused medical supplies that were out-dated perhaps they could be used in Africa. He founded Docs to Docks, a non-profit organization that has so far sent 12 tons of supplies to third world countries.

CBS News reports:

“Our philosophy is, as long as we’re throwing it out, we might as well save lives overseas by giving them to people who need them,” Charash said.

“This load right here would’ve ended up going into the garbage. As you see, you have some equipment here that hasn’t even been opened yet. Still completely closed,” said one delivery man.

Due to United States hospital regulations the old equipment is not allowed to be used. In other parts of the world though the kits contain everything that a doctor needs to perform an operation and is totally sterile.

Everything is up for graps from walkers to catheters.

“I’m the surgeon, I’m the obstetrician, and I’m the only gynecologist there,” said Dr. Isaac Boateng, who has been delivering 50 to 60 babies a week. But he’s never had a sonogram – until now.

“We say that you are going to save millions of people,” he said.

You don’t have to work at a hospital to help this organization, the group accepts money. Money is used to ship needed supplies around the world.

Mexico Bans U.S. Meat From 30 Plants

Mexico has banned 30 United States meat plants for being unsanitary. That ban sent hog and cattle prices spiraling downward sharply in the US. It is thought that the action comes in retaliation against a U.S. labeling law.

The labeling law, Country-of-Origin Labeling requires meat packages in the United States to carry a label of what country meat is raised in.

Reuters reports:

“Countries would go through dispute settlement under either (the North American Free Trade Agreement) or (World Trade Organization) — not use the action of plant-by-plant delistment,” said Amanda Eamich of USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Many of the plants now banned in Mexico include the largest United States meat processing centers. Mexico is the largest importer of American meat. By Monday though it is thought that Mexico will resume purchasing the meat.

Mexico states that the problems do not stem from the labelling law. Rather they state that the meat plants fall short on their standards of packaging, labeling and transportation conditions.

Both Mexico and Canada opposed the newly instated labeling rules. Both countries fear that the labeling will reduce in a buying out of country meat.

“It appears they (Mexican officials) are using this to send a signal to our government that they don’t like COOL,” Don Roose, analyst at U.S. Commodities, said earlier on Friday.

Earlier this year, Mexico had warned many U.S. meat plants of alleged “point of entry violations” and Friday’s suspensions may have been related to that, Jim Herlihy, spokesman for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, said early on Friday.

Bubble Wrap Yourself Through The New Year

Fans of popping bubble wrap on packages may fall in love with a new calendar out for 2009. Stephen Turbek is selling poster-sized calendars covered with plastic bubbles just waiting for their day to be popped.

The Bubble Calendars are being sold by the thousands according to the Brooklyn man. Ones with paperbacking sell for $30 while plastic versions go for $50 from his online shop.

The calendar is perfect for your friends who are obsessive unless they go a bit mad. It’s one pop a day, not a year in an hour.

Home Burials A Way To Save Money During The Final Passage

With the cost of funerals hovering around $10,000 many simply can’t afford the frills a funeral director tacks on the final passage of life. Some are even opting to bury their own as in olden days. In most areas this is legal.

Perhaps dying in these times of economic stress is too costly. More funerals and burials are being held at home instead of lining greedy funeral directors pockets. Being greener and the economic status of the nation is pushing the need for alternative ways of burial. Using less frills like embalming and grave liners families save money while at the same time not being a burden on the environment. Building a casket from cardboard or wood is legal for anyone.

Jerrigrace Lyons is a “death midwife” in the growing business of home funerals. Her tool kit includes makeup, cardboard caskets and a handbook on the proper way to ice and move bodies.

The LA Times reports:

“People want something that is in line with what their loved ones would have wanted,” Lyons said by telephone from Hawaii, where she was teaching a sold-out workshop. “But they also want something that they can afford.”

Lyons started the nonprofit organization Final Passages. The group holds workshops on how to care for a body that’s being kept in a family home and burying a body outside of the traditional graveyard. She also helps families with the legal paperwork that comes when someone dies. Instead of forking over $10,000 though her services run from $500 to $1,500.

“As a death midwife, I’m helping to usher a person out of this world and into the next,” said Lyons. “It is really the same threshold as birth. I think of it as the comings and goings of our spirit. We come in and we go out. But it is the same doorway.”

For families are opting for cremation. Thirty-five percent of deaths last year finalized the last journey by becoming ashes.

In most states it is legal for a body to remain in the home for at least 24 hours un-embalmed. Some areas allow for home burials also.

In California the rules for burial are;

“The law allows consumers to prepare their own dead for disposition. If you choose to do this, you must provide a casket or suitable container and make arrangements directly with the cemetery or crematory. A properly completed Certificate of Death, signed by the attending physician or coroner, must be filed with the local registrar and a Permit for Disposition obtained before any disposition can occur.”

Pedal Power Will Light 2-0-0-9 At Times Square

This year when the ball drops in Times Square it will be with greener alternatives. The 2-0-0-9 sign will be lit by people pedaling away on bikes.

Reuters reports:

“This is our way of involving consumers in the whole process of powering the 2009 lighting when the ball drops on New Year’s Eve,” said Kurt Iverson, spokesman for Duracell, a unit of Procter & Gamble Co and which supplied the batteries.

Visitors to Times Square can be a part of history if they choose to go to the “power lodge.” The lodge houses a row of bicycles with generators connected to a set of huge batteries.

So far 95 hours of pedal power has been collected. That’s only 35 percent of the power that is needed. The goal of 230 hours of people power should be all that is needed to power the lights signaling the new year at the stroke of midnight December 31, 2008.

“We estimate our goal is to get 230 hours of people doing the cycle over the course of December and then we will have enough charge in the batteries for at least 10 to 15 minutes during the live telecast,” said Iverson.

Pretend Baby Sends Miami Police On Wild Goose Hunt

A woman in Miami, Florida had the police searching for an infant that was never born. Megan McCormic wanted to get an ex-boyfriend to return to her from Boston so she made up a missing baby.

McCormic told Miami police that a baby sitter stole her 6-month-old infant Christmas Eve. For two days the police spent resources searching for the made up infant.

On Friday the police discovered that McCormic was lying. She had hoped that the thought of being a father of a missing infant would get a former boyfriend to leave his Boston home to rejoin her. The man had come to visit his son for Christmas.

McCormic has been charged with giving false information to police officers. The police want the woman to have to pay for the resources that were used to located the pretend child. 20 detectives spent Christmas Eve and Christmas working on the case.

Violent End To Christmas Party as Man Dressed as Santa Kills Six

Bruce Pardo’s anger turned deadly at a Christmas Eve party in Covina, California. After plotting revenge on his ex-wife, Pardo killed six people before turning the gun on himself hours later while dressed as Santa.

Pardo showed up at his former in-laws Wednesday night on a mission of death. Six people were gunned down and three are now missing. The three missing are his ex-wife and her parents. They are feared to be in the ashes of the house which Pardo set ablaze using a homemade device which sprayed flammable liquid.

The 45-year-old Pardo had never been in trouble with the law before. He is said to have been extremely angry about his divorce settlement from a marriage that lasted just a year.

In years past a neighbour played the role of Santa but he had moved away this year. Pardo went to his former in-laws dressed as Santa. He knew that the yearly Christmas party was a favorite of the family.

An eight-year-old answered Pardo’s knock on the door. The child never knew what hit her as Pardo pulled a handgun out of what appeared to be a large present shooting her in the face. As the other 25 or so partygoers attempted to flee Pardo started firing into the crowd.

The child and two others, a 16-year-old shot in the back and a 20-year-old who broke her ankle jumping out of a second story window, are expected to recover. That can not be said for six others who died at his hands.

The box Pardo was carrying was a device that sprayed a liquid that quickly set the home ablaze. Pardo was a recent employee in the aerospace industry.

Three charred bodies were found in the morning after the blaze was put out. It is not known yet if they died from the fire or from being shot. None of the dead or missing have been identified.

Pardo quickly discarded the Santa suit and drove to his brother’s empty home. Early Thursday morning the police were called to the home when Pardo was discovered dead with a single bullet to the head.

Bruce Jeffrey Pardo had planned to flee to Canada after shooting up his former in-laws Christmas party. Police found a plane ticket to Canada and $17,000 on his body Thursday.

Pardo was aware of the family’s tradition of a huge Christmas Eve party. CNN reports:

Referring to Pardo, Buchanan said, “We don’t know at this point whether he was aware that there was a Santa Claus in years past. We’re assuming that he did, and that’s the reason for the outfit.”

The homemade device that sprayed racing fluid around his former in-laws home also caught the man on fire. Part of the Santa Claus suit that he had been wearing was melted into his own flesh.

Police say that Pardo suffered from third degree burns on both of his arms.

Pardo is responsible for nine deaths Christmas Eve. The ninth body was found in the rubble of the burnt home of Pardo’s ex-in-laws.

On Thursday night a car bomb exploded outside of the Sylmar, California home belonging to Pardo’s brother. The police had been trying to render the device in the rental car safe when it erupted into flames.

The bomb squad had not turned up any devices at Pardo’s home. The street had been evacuated as police searched the area for devices. Late Thursday the street was reopened.

Judge Refuses To Allow Lesbian Couple To Spend the Night Together

A Tennessee judge went over the wishes of a father by refusing to allow a divorced mother the right for her partner of nine years to spend the night.

The woman and her girlfriend are requesting the Tennessee Court of Appeals to remove an overnight “paramour” clause in a child custody agreement.

The clause was put in place even though the father of the two children did not request it by Chancellor George Ellis of the 28th Judicial District in West Tennessee. An evaluation had also shown that the children were not harmed by the relationship. The clause has been in effect since May of the year according to mother Angel Chandler.

Tennessean.com reports:

“This decision has been disruptive to our family,” she said. “We lived together in a stable, functioning family, and this was rather shocking to all of us. This is about the person we choose to be with, not about what my ex-husband asked for or what’s in the best interest of the children.

“The judge decided to interfere, and it’s had a very negative affect in our lives.”
Efforts to reach Ellis were unsuccessful. According to the appeal filing, he cited local law and precedent for the paramour clause.

The ACLU believe that Ellis has violated the constitutional rights of Chandler.

The paramour clause is a tool that is used in the state to affect same-sex couples who have children by another marriage. While it is also used with heterosexual couples they can marry to get around it. In Tennessee that is an option not allowed gay couples.

“A straight couple in the same situation would have a constitutional claim,” Cates said. “But they can get married. Same-sex couples don’t have that, and Tennessee doesn’t recognize (gay) marriage outside of the state.”

After Ellis imposed the rule on the couple chandler’s partner moved out of their home to Asheville, North Carolina. Chandler and her 13-year-old daughter followed her. Chandler’s 15-year-old son lives with his father. The couple spends the day together but at night Chandler’s partner goes to the other side of a duplex they own to sleep.

“Unfortunately, this case is an all-too-familiar example of how unfairly lesbian and gay parents are treated in custody and visitation proceedings,” said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee.

“All the children’s health and welfare organizations have long recognized that lesbian and gay parents are just as capable of being good parents as straight couples, and their children are just as well adjusted.

“We’re hopeful the Tennessee courts will come to that realization, too.”

Eartha Kitt Died On Christmas

Singer, dancer and actress Eartha Kitt died at the age of 81 on Christmas 2009 with her daughter by her side. Kitt had suffered from colon cancer and was being treated in New York.

The woman Orson Welles called the most exciting woman in the world came along way in her 81 years.

Kitt was Catwoman in the Batman television series during the 1960’s.

Kitt grew up in the cotton fields of South Carolina escaping to become a popular actress. She was known as a “sex kitten” because of her catlike purr.

Last week her Christmas song “Santa Baby” was certified gold. Just six weeks ago she had taped a PBS special in Chicago which is set to air in February.

She was one of the most versatile American performers winning two Emmys, three total Emmy nominations, a Grammy nomination and two Tony nominations.

Kitt resided in Connecticut near her daughter and four children.

Casey Anthony Denied Attending Caylee Anthony’s Funeral

Casey Anthony has been denied from attending her daughter’s funeral. Anthony remains in custody in Orange County, Florida charged with first degree murder of 3-year-old Caylee Anthony.

There has yet to be a funeral scheduled for the toddler whose remains were found last week close to her grandparents home.

Caylee was reported missing in July. Last week her death was ruled a “homicide of undetermined means” by Orange County Chief Medical Examiner Jan Garavaglia.

Casey Anthony has plead no guilty to the crime.

Elsie Aslett Is Four Days Younger Than She Thought

For 99 years Elsie Aslett has been celebrating her birthday on the wrong day. She discovered the error when her family asked her to receive a telegram from Queen Elizabeth.

For Elsie’s entire life she had been blowing out the candles on December 14. It was only when she looked at her birth certificate this year that she noticed that her true date of birth was December 18, 1908.

It’s believed her mum Elizabeth White had too many kids to keep track of the actual birthday of her eighth child.

Ananova reports:

Elsie’s daughter Brenda, said: “It was a complete surprise to her. Everyone always told her she was born on the 14th. Apparently her mum was rather fond of a drink so she may have been a bit confused.”

Burnley, U.K.’s Special Delivery Milk Man

Robert Holding is in trouble tonight for adding a special ’sell’ in with his daily milk run. The milkman was supplying many of his elderly customers with cannabis to help their aches and pains.

Holding, 72, was giving his 17 customers a little extra service in a business he had built up through “word of mouth.”

The man from Fair View Road, Burnley admitted to the Burnley Crown Court that he indeed was supplying cannabis. He also admitted to possessing cannabis resin. He has been released on bail. His sentencing hearing will take place on February 6.

The BBC reports:

Judge Lunt warned him: “You must understand these are serious offences and in my judgment the likely outcome is an immediate custodial sentence.”

Tam Needs To Get ‘Lucky” To Save His Species

Calling all female Borneo Sumatran rhinos, Tam needs to get lucky. Could you fill the bill? Twenty-year-old Tam hasn’t dated much from the looks of things but that doesn’t mean he’s not a great catch.

Last August Tam was found wandering in an oil palm plantation limping on an infected leg. He has been resettled in a wildlife preserve in the Sabah state of Malaysia.

The Borneo Sumatran rhino is critically endangered. Tam may be the beginning of a comeback.

Authorities are hoping to bring at least five male and female rhinos into the reserve over the next few years to reproduce. At this time scientists believe that there numbers are down to 10 or 30 individuals.

The Borneo Sumatran rhinos has disappeared as logging, plantations and other human developments have taken over their habitat. Poachers are also put of the problem, hunting them for their horns used in traditional medicines.

The hope is once the rhinos are wandering the reserve is that they link up for some hanky-panky on their own. If they don’t within ten years the species will be extinct.

The Associated Press reports:

“Their numbers are so low that they might drift into extinction if no one does anything,” Junaidi Payne, the senior technical adviser for the World Wildlife Fund’s Malaysian Borneo chapter told The Associated Press.

“If they are not stressed out by people, the chances of success should be better, he said.

Snowzilla Is Back

For the past three years Snowzilla has been appearing in an east Anchorage, Alaska neighbourhood. This year the giant snowman is back and estimated to be 25 feet tall with a stovepipe hat and eyes made out of beer bottles.

Last year Snowzilla disappeared after being handed a cease-and-desist order, but you can’t keep a giant snowman down. Snowzilla came back to life in spite of City Hall before dawn on Tuesday morning.

Snowzilla has come to Billy Powers’ front yard for the past three years appearing out of nowhere. In 2005 he was just a little thing, a mere 16 feet. He always has his carrot nose, corncob pipe and those beer bottle eyes.

Powers believes the big guy is rather handsome. He and his seven children have helped bring the snowman to life every year gathering snow from neighbour’s yards to help ole Snowzilla get bigger.

City officials have already issued a cease-and-desist order tacked publicly on Powers’ door. The official stance is that Snowzilla isn’t safe and he brings in so much traffic to the street its an endangerment.

The Associated Press reports:

This property owner has repeatedly ignored city attempts to find ways to accommodate his desire to build a giant snowman without affecting the quiet, residential quality of the neighborhood,” said the statement from Mayor Mark Begich’s office. “This is a neighborhood of small homes on small lots connected by small streets. It can’t support the volume of traffic and revelers that are interested in Snowzilla.”

Powers said the city is making him jump through goofy hoops. It could be also that the city is upset over the 13 years of violated land use codes and the unpaid $100,000 in fines and other assessments that the man owes. Then again it could be because he seems to be running a large junk and salvage operation from his residence.

I have tried to jump through every goofy hoop they have sent to me. I have never been confrontational and it goes on and on and on and it is so goofy,” he said. “Some of it is unfounded, some is just outrageous.”

Snowzilla may have a few days of rest before clearing out of town for the year, the city doesn’t plan to take further action until after Christmas.

Holiday Miracle, Donna Molnar Survives Three Days Lost In Canada

The holidays are a time of wonder. Such is the case for a Canadian woman who survived for three days buried in a snowbank.

Police say that the snow that trapped 55-year-old Donna Molnar who lives west of Toronto, Canada saved her as well by insulating her from the cold.

Molnar was last seen Friday as she drove from her home to get baking supplies. The next day her van was found along a rural road abandoned.

For two days rescue crews searched for the woman without finding her. All hope was gone when on Monday search dog Ace began barking about 200 meters from where the van had been found.

Molnar was recovered suffering from hypothermia. She has lost several of her digits but is in serious but stable condition.

Reuters reports:

“That deep snow may very well have been what insulated her enough to keep her core temperature high enough that she survived the three days,” said Staff Sergeant Mark Cox of the police force in Hamilton, Ontario.

It is thought that Molnar got distracted by the heavy snow and left her van to find help.

Ace the search dog was to be rewarded with a T-bone dinner for his good work.

Lincoln Bible To Be Used During Obama Inauguration

Barack Obama will be using Abraham Lincoln’s Bible when it is time to be sworn in on January 20. Not only is the Bible being used but the route Lincoln took by train will be repeated.

Obama plans to host a welcome event at the Lincoln Memorial before the big day.

The Lakeland Ledger reports:

“President-elect Obama is deeply honored that the Library of Congress has made the Lincoln Bible available for use during his swearing-in,” Presidential Inaugural Committee Executive Director Emmett Beliveau said in a statement Tuesday.

Obama will be the first since Lincoln himself to use the burgundy velvet Bible purchased by William Thomas Carroll, clerk of the Supreme Court. The Bible is part of the collection of the Library of Congress.

The Bible will be on display from February 12 to May 9 at the Library of Congress, part of the “With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition.” After the Washington D.C. run the exhibit will travel to five other American cities to celebrate this year being the bicentennial year of Lincoln’s birth.

Remembering Those Who Died In 2008

This like every year people who have made a special mark on the world have passed away. From the untimely death of Heath Ledger to the passing of “Deep Throat” 2008 has lost many who made a difference.

Journalists and Writers

Living life to the fullest John McWethy, a retired ABC News correspondent died after a ski accident on February 6.

William F. Buckley, Jr. from the show “Firing Line” passed away on Febuary 27 at the age of 82. He often wrote his column’s for the National Review in a mere 20 minutes.

Arthur C. Clarke died on March 18 at the age of 90. He wrote more than 100 books in the science fiction genre.

Tim Russert of “Meet the Press” died suddenly from a heart attack on June 13. He was 58.

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Founding editor of New York magazine Clay Felker died on July 1. He was 82.

On July 5 Thomas M. Disch committed suicide in New York City. He was considered on of the most important science fiction writers of his generation.

Leroy Sievers, a National Public Radio commentator who turned his battle with cancer into a radio and online series died from the disease on August 15. He was 53.

An apparent suicide claimed the life of “Infinite Jest” author David Foster Wallace on September 12. He was 47.

The author of “Jurassic Park” and “The Andromeda Strain,” Michael Crichton passed away on November 5. He was 66.

The name who coined the phrase “sci-fi” Forrest J. Ackerman died December 4 at the age of 92. Although not a mainstream author his work was legendary in science-fiction circles.

Sports

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On January 17 chess master Bobby Fischer died. He was just 64.

Georgia Frontiere passed away on January 18. She rescued the Los Angeles Ram’s by buying the team, making her a hometown hero.

Jim McKay, the man who uttered “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” for “Wide World of Sports” passed away on June 7. He was 86.

Sports announcer Charlie Jones passed away June 12 at the age of 77.

NFL union boss Gene Upshaw died on August 21 at the age of 63. He helped players get free agency.

Football great Dick Lynch died on September 24. He was a member of the New York Giants broadcasting team. He was 72.

Music

John Stewart, of the Kingston Trio, passed away at the age of 68 on January 19.

Dave Clark Five singer Mike Smith died on February 28 at the age of 64. He passed away just two weeks before his band was inducted into the Pock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Swedish jazz pianist Esbjorn Svensson passed away at the age of 44 on June 14 in a diving accident.

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Issac Hayes, the voice of “Theme From Shaft”, passed away on August 10. He was 65.

One of the founders of Atlantic Records, Jerry Wexler passed away on August 15 at the age of 91.

The voice of such hits as , “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot,” “East Bound and Down,” and “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft),” Jerry Reed died September 1. He acted with Burt Reynolds in the “Smokey and the Bandit” movies. He was 71.

Nick Reynolds of the Kingston Trio died on October 2 at the age of 75.

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Drummer Mitch Mitchell died November 13 at the age of 61. He was the last surviving member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Rapper MC Breed died November 24 at a friend’s home He was 37 years old.

Actors

On January 10 Vampira left this Earth. Actress Maila Nurmi was 85 and lived in Hollywood. She is thought to be the inspiration of Morticia Adams in the television show “The Addams Family.”

On January 17 Sam the Butcher passed away. Allan Melvin was 84. His character on “The Brady Bunch” as Alice’s butcher boyfriend will be remembered.

Suzanne Pleshette died on Jan. 19 of respiratory failure. She is best remembered as the wife of Bob Newhart on the long-running “The Bob Newhart Show.”

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Heath Ledger died from an accidental drug overdose on January 22. His young life has been honoured throughout the past year. One of his last roles, the Joker may win him an Oscar this coming year.

Shell Kepler of General Hospital died at the age of 49 on February 1.

On February 10 Roy Scheider passed away at the age of 75. His most memorable role could be the police chief in “Jaws.”

David Groh died at the age of 68 on February 12 from kidney cancer. He played Valerie Harper’s husband in the 1970’s hit “Rhonda.”

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On April 5 Charlton Heston passed away at the age of 84. His most memorable role was that of Ben-Hur in the Hollywood classic. He was active in NRA.

On June 2 Paul Sills, co-founder of Second City, passed away. His comedy group introduced some of North America’s favorite comedians including John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Stephen Colbert and Mike Myers. He was 80.

Director and actor, Mel Ferrer, passed away on June 2. He was 90.

Special effects guru Stan Winston died June 15 at the age of 62. His talent raised the dinosaurs for the film “Jurassic Park”.

Cyd Charisse passed away on June 17 at the age of 86. She danced with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelley during the 1940’s and 1950’s in countless movies.

Dody Goodman, on of the star’s from the show “Mary Hartman, Mary hartman” passed away on June 22. She was 93.

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The man who told the world what not to say during his comedy routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television”, George Carlin passed away on June 22. he was 71.

Bozo, Larry Harmon, died on July 3. He was 53.
the voice on more than 350,000 commericals Don LaFontaine died on September 1. He was 68.

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Old Blue Eyes, Paul Newman passed away on September 26. The 83-year-old is widely remembered for his work on films such as “Hud,” “Cool Hand Luke” and “The Color of Money,” his racing career and his charity work. The loving husband of Joanne Woodard was 83.

“Mr. Clean,” House Peters, Jr. died on October 1. He was 92.

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Van Johnson died December 12. He was a major star during the 1940’s and 1950’s. He was 92.

Artist

Tasha Tudor, whose beautiful drawings illustrated children books passed away at the age of 92 on June 18.

Sculptor Tina Allen died from a heart attack on September 9. she was 58.

Adventure

On January 10 Sir Edmund Hillary died at the age of 88. He took life to it’s most extreme fullest as he aided those living in Nepal. He considered himself an ordinary beekeeper.

Dungeons and Dragons creator Gary Gygax passed away on March 4.

Religion

Gordon B. Hinckley, a leader in the Morman Church, passed on January 27. He was the oldest president of the church at the age of 97. Under his care the membership grew to about 13 million.

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On February 5 the guru to the Beatles, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi passed away. He is considered to be the person who introduced the West to transcendental meditation.

Imam W. Deen Mohammed died on September 9. He guided his followers towards main stream Islam. He was 74.

Politics

Former Indonesian President Suharto passed away on January 27. He was a Cold War ally of the United States. His military regime killed hundreds of thousands of left-wing political opponents.

Johnnie Carr who joined her childhood friend Rosa Parks in the Montgomery bus boycott died on Febuary 22. She was a civil rights activist until her death at 97.

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Jesse Helms died on July 4. The 86-year-old was a senator for 3 decades.

The first black woman to represent Ohio Stephanie Tubbs Jones died on August 20. She was 58.

W. Mark Felt, “Deep Throat”, died on December 18 at the age of 95. His tips led to the Watergate scandal ending Ricard Nixon’s time as president.

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Fashion

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One of fashion’s icons, Yves Saint Laurent passed away on June 1 from brain cancer. He was 71.

20-year-old model Ruslana Korshunova’s suicide fall from a Manhattan building claimed her life on June 28.

The model whose photographs helped launch the 1960’s sexual revolution, Bettie Page died December 11 at the age of 85.

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The Notorious Bettie Page.

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Frank Alford Pays His Tax Bill the Heavy Way

Frank Alford owns several rental homes in New Albany, Indiana. At property tax time those homes add up. This year he owed $21,333. He paid in full at the city county building in New Albany using coins.

Alford used Susan B. Anthony dollar coins to pay off his taxes and make a statement at the same time. He carried a sign stating “Property taxes gone wild” when he toted a coin-filled garbage can into the building.

WFTV reports:

“I’m letting them know I’m a very unhappy taxpayer,” he said.

Since 2006 the man claims his property taxes have increased 48 percent. Recent tax relief passed in Indiana Legislature overlooks those with rental property. Alford says that if you don’t live in property you own you’re paying double the tax.

Alford is a retiree who has had two hip replacements. That may have made toting the 400 pounds of coins to the tax man a bit more difficult.

Deputy clerk Bette Buechler tallied up the Susan B. Anthony coins quickly after getting a Floyd County deputy sheriff’s help getting the can to the bank.

Last year Alford paid his tax in dollar bills. He has said that next year’s protest of taxes may be a little heavier. While the office doesn’t accept pennies that leaves him quarters, dimes and nickles to pay his outrageous tax bills.

Paris Turns Barbie In New Ride

When you’re American’s Barbie doll you just have to have a super pink car. Paris Hilton is sporting around town in a £135,000 pink Bentley Continental GT with new BFF Brittany Flickinger.

Hilton gifted herself this holiday season with the pricey British auto. One of the first trips for the pink sports car was to West Coast Customs to pimp the car out. Paris wanted her car to be cherry blossom pink down to the hubcabs.

Once the Bentley was perfected Hilton took her new BFF Brittany Flickinger, winner of her reality show, My New BFF out on the town.

This is one ride that Paris will be sure to be seen in. With her initals all over the car there is no doubt who is behind the wheel. The paparazzi may need shades as they click away.

Hilton is quoted by the Daily Mail about her new car.

‘I love pink so I met up with Ryan (Friedlinghaus) and brought him this pink clock from the Disney store and got him to make this exact colour and we just designed it all together.

‘I love it, its so pretty. I’ve just always wanted a pink car.

‘I think when you’re a little girl and you have the Barbie corvette you’re like, “I wish I had a car like this one.” So I think just being a fan of Barbie for so long.’

Middle School Student Charged With Making Threats At Lake Gibson

A twelve-year-old has been accused of writing threats on his school’s bathroom walls. The threats at Lake Gibson Middle School in Lakeland, Florida disrupted classes on December 12.

Because of the boy’s charge of only a misdemeanor his name is not being released to the press. The youth was charged with disrupting a school function. That charge was filed with the State Attorney’s Office this past Friday.

The child whose actions prompted parents to keep their kids out of school in droves will get a slap on the wrist if found guilty. He could be made to enter a diversion program where he would be forced to write a letter of apology or perform community service.

The wall threat was similar to another at Lake Gibson High School found on November 18. The high school threat warned of a shooting spree with the shooter committing suicide in the end. Another threat came days later about a possible bombing.

The middle school student’s threat was less graphic. It was written in pencil simply saying that something would happen on Friday. Principal John Barber alerted parents of the threat by automated message.

Because of the threat additional police were at the school. According to school officals the middle school student was a copycat who wanted a day off.

Students have been warned that they could be expelled if they were found making threats. The middle school student’s light possible punishment does not reflect what the school has said would happen to students making threats.

Ketamine Is The Hip Drug of Choice Among the Young British Elite

The young elite in Britain are chancing their life’s with a horse tranquilizer. Ketamine is the new vague drug on the party scene in London. While the drug has been around since the 1960’s it has recently gained popularity.

Party food is being replaced by lines of fine white powder at wealthy homes in Britain. The elite party-goers make their way to the tables to snort ketamine the way their parents may have made with cocaine.

At one time this drug was only for the hardcore party scene but over the past decade it has become increasingly popular with the upper classes. Mild doses produce euphoria and boost energy. Those who ingest more face an altered reality complete with hallucinations and delusions. Users at times are virtually paralyzed, unable to speak, trapped in a K-hole.

The Daily Mail reports on one user named Sienna. The hedge fund manager from Surrey started using the drug three months ago.

‘I’d been doing cocaine for years and needed a new buzz,’ she tells me unashamedly, ’so I didn’t need much persuasion to try K.

‘It was love at first snort. It’s great fun and a completely different high to anything else. It’s like an out-of-body experience that sends you a little bit crazy. Now I always keep a spare bag at home with a bottle of Rioja.’

Ketamine is a Class C drug as of two years ago. If one is caught with it in their possession they face a two-year prison term and a huge fine.

It’s easier to obtain than cocaine. With a price of £20 per gram it is half the cost of the latter drug.

The drug was first developed in the United States in 1962. It’s original use was on the battlefield. Surgeons were able to amputate without general anaesthetics because of the hallucinogenic effects.

The drug went on to be used on horses. In current times the only time ketamine is used on humans is by ambulance crews in extreme circumstances or when morphine is ineffetive in a hospital setting.

Because the drug is used in medical settings many believe that it is completely safe. That is far from the truth. It is used so rarely because of the side effects, one being psychosis, which is common.

(An American ketamine research scientist named John Lilly was driven insane by his obsessive consumption of the drug. He developed paranoid fantasies that a form of artificial intelligence was out to destroy humanity, and was confined to a psychiatric ward, where he died in 2001.)

Heavy users also face extreme stomach cramps and urinating blood. With prolonged use the kidneys and bladder can be damaged. It can also reduce blood pressure, slow down the heart or speed it up, bring on vision problems and increase pressure on the brain.

Overdoses are quite possible causing strokes and heart attacks.

Opinion: Do Medical Teleivision Shows Teach Or Confuse?

In the past few months I have been had first hand experience at being a patient advocate for my husband. We are fans of the television show “House,” a show one nurse in the ICU unit told me to not watch until life was saner. I listened to that advice.

Still I am glad I had some of the knowledge of a hospital setting prior to the insanity that is ICU.

The latest issue of American Journal of Bioethicsjust released a study on the effects of watching medical dramas on the ethical reasoning of medical and nursing students. The study was the result of research done at Johns Hopkins. Science Blogs reported on the study showed that there are pluses and minuses for those students that view these types of shows.

Television medical dramas frequently depict the practice of medicine and bioethical issues in a strikingly realistic but sometimes inaccurate fashion. Because these shows depict medicine so vividly and are so relevant to the career interests of medical and nursing students, they may affect these students’ beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions regarding the practice of medicine and bioethical issues. We conducted a web-based survey of medical and nursing students to determine the medical drama viewing habits and impressions of bioethical issues depicted in them. More than 80% of medical and nursing students watch television medical dramas. Students with more clinical experience tended to have impressions that were more negative than those of students without clinical experience. Furthermore, viewing of television medical dramas is a social event and many students discuss the bioethical issues they observe with friends and family. Television medical dramas may stimulate students to think about and discuss bioethical issues.

Another recent study by Kirby Goidel and Matthew C. Nisbet, Ph.D of the School of Communication at American University was published last year in the Public Understanding of Science showed that viewers of science fiction shows were more supportive of therapeutic cloning research than those who watched other genre of television.

That study and the one by Johns Hopkins show that rather than turning their viewers away from controversial biomedical research it may open the door for moral debates on ethical questions.

The study by Nisbet and Goidel even leads to the theory that television shows centering on science fiction and medicine could be added to the general curricula.

Yet the nursing staff disagrees family members with patients in acute care from watching such shows.

The staff is partly correct on this matter. True recovery in acute situations is not a quick process like it is on House or Grey’s Anatomy. Weeks, even months pass as a patient recovers. Television shows give an unrealistic time frame when it comes to recovery.

Still there is something to be said for having some basic knowledge of the equipment and the science involved in patient care. Shows that focus on teaching hospitals give a realistic view of rounds and studies that are ongoing. By being slightly familar with the ways of a hospital the environment is not as frightening. Knowing that an advocate does have the right to know what is going on and being aware enough to question is a good thing.

Watching medical dramas by no means makes one educated enough to do the work of the staff in a hospital. It can however give one the knowledge to understand what is going on in a crazed time. A little knowledge can be powerful.

Tennessee Dam Bursts In Harriman, Tennessee

Monday morning an earthen dam broke at the nation’s largest public utility in Harriman, Tennessee. Twelve homes were damaged and hundreds of acres are under water.

The Tennessee Valley Authority uses the 40-acre retention pond to hold ash generated by the coal-burning Kingston Steam Plant about 50 miles west of Knoxville. The road and railroad tracks leading to the plant were buried under several feet of dark gray ashy mud.

According to the authorities no one was injured when the dam gave way at 1 a.m.

An investigation is now underway to determine why the dam was breached. Heavy rains and freezing temperatures may hold one of the reasons.

MSNBC reports of one resident whose husband was trapped inside of their home while she was returning from Knoxville:

“I am still in shock,” said Crystell Flinn, 49, whose ranch-style house was pushed off its foundations and driven more than 30 feet onto a road. “I don’t think it really has hit me yet.”

Two people were rescued from partially collapsed homes. Using four-wheel drives the workers retrieved others who couldn’t get out of their driveways.

Those who are unable to live in their homes are being put up by the plant in motel rooms.

Nearly 100 people using 30 pieces of heavy equipment are involved in the cleanup effort. A dam on the Clinch River has been reduced in an effort to prevent pollution from the runoff of the flood.

Nine Headless Bodies Found In Drug Torn Mexico

Mexico’s war on drugs may be the factor of nine decapitated bodies found close to a highway in the state of Guerrero. The bodies are just the latest random killings in a nation whose drug operations have violence spiraling out of control.

A local official stated that some of the nine bodies that were found belonged to the military. Nine heads had been found earlier warning that more decapitations were to follow.

On Saturday nine soldiers were abducted as they left a miliary base close to the city of Chilpancingo.

As the drug wars rage on in Mexico thousands of soldiers have been deployed to stop drug smuggling operations. The innocent are caught in a violent circle, unable to live without fear.

Classrooms are empty with residents fearing to allow their children to trek to school. Recent kidnapping threats outweigh parents desire for their children’s education. 90 percent of parents are keeping their children off of the dangerous streets.

Murders have become commonplace in Mexico. the drug related violence has been ongoing since 2006 when President Felipe Calderon deployed about 40,000 troops against the drug cartels. The outlook for the coming year is bleak as drug gangs are split and fighting for turf lines.

In Juarez at least 1,530 people have died this year at the hands of drug cartels. Nightly beheadings, hangings and mass executions are becoming a way of life for those caught in the line of fire. More than 300 women have been murdered with their killers at large.

On a recent Sunday 19 people were killed. Gunmen attacked police in four different locations. One attack was outside an emergency room at a local hospital. Four police officers died at that location.

Hours later as a decapitated body was dumped on the street three men were lined against a wall to be executed. The gunmen left behind a banner listing 28 policemen they planned to kill.

Bush Insider Dead,Velvet Revolution Says Life Had Been Threatened

Michael Connell died December 19 in a plane crash just three miles short of the Akron airport. He was scheduled to tell everything about his work with George Bush and his implications of rigging both the 2000 and 2004.

Prior to his death Connell had told a close associate that he feared that George Bush and Dick Cheney would “throw him under the bus.”

For the past two years Connell was under investigation by Velvet Revolution (VR) , a non-profit group.

In July VR was informed by a tipster within the McCain campaign that Connell and his wife had been threatened by Karl Rove. At that time Cliff Arnebeck, attorney for VR, notified the United States Attorney General, Ohio law enforcement and the federal court about those threats. He demanded that Connell be placed in protective custody. Connell had been warned not to fly his plane because it could be sabotaged. Two previous flights this year had to be abandoned because of suspicious problems with the plane. Connell was an experienced pilot. He flew to Washington, D.C. on December 18 to meet some people. The crash happened on the return home.

On October 31 Connell appeared before a federal judge in Ohio after being subpoenaed in a federal lawsuit investigating the rigging of the 2004 election under the direction of Karl Rove. He was ordered to testify under oath at a deposition on November 3. VR received information that the White House was nervous about that testimony. Two Bush/Cheney 04 attorneys were sent to represent him.

Connell was involved with the destruction of White House emails and setting up an off-grid email system for the White House.

Connell handled all of John McCain’s computer work during the recent election.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Shirin Ebadi’s Offices Closed By Iran

The offices of Iran’s Nobel Peace Laureate have been closed by Iranian security forces. Shirin Ebadi’s office was entered by 10 to 15 security agents on Saturday as the staff was preparing to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Human Rights Day.

According to Payvand.com:

“I asked them to show their legal warrants,” Narges Mohammadi, the deputy head of the Human Rights Defenders Center told RFE/RL, “but they declined to show any authorization. Now, there are 10 to 15 agents in the building, and they are filming us.”

“This is an illegal act,” she said. “They had no kind of authorization of any kind. They are sealing the office, and our resistance is useless.”

There were 200 to 300 guests who had been waiting to join the celebration. The security agents barred them from entering the building.

Ebadi has used a UN forum in Geneva on Human Rights Day to condemn hard-liners in power of some Muslim countries as abusers of human rights. She claimed that dictatorships use religion as a way to underpin their own power.

Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer and human rights campaigner won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003.

The Center for Protecting Human Rights had already been banned last year by Iranian authorities but had continued to operate out of its office in Tehran. The offical word for the closing of the office in Tehran is that the required legal permits were not in place. Ebadi has stated that her group will continue to work despite the raid.

The Associated Press reports:

“Shutting down our offices won’t make us stop our human rights activities. We will meet again somewhere else and will continue to support the rights of activists and political prisoners,” she told The Associated Press.

Wall Street Still Living The Mile High Life

Wall Street bigwigs may have begged poverty earlier this fall but that doesn’t mean that they are going to live like paupers. Corporate jets are still their mode of transportation.

Six of the financial firms that received billions to bail them out still operate jet fleets to carry their executives to events and on personal trips.

The jets are equipped as offices making them time-savers for the bigwigs whose time is big money. Some firms, though, are cutting back, either by selling their jets or leasing them out.

American International Group, Inc. was granted $150 million in bailout money. It would make sense that the company would try to find ways of cutting corners but they have no intentions it appears from cutting their fleet. They own seven planes according to the Federal Aviation Administration. They do claim to have reduced the amount of air time their fleet is used though. Two jets were sold earlier this year and they have canceled plans to obtain four more planes that had been ordered to increase their fleet.

Those planes cost a lot of money. Just one cross-country trip takes about $20,000 out of the wallet. That is not including the costs of maintaining, storing and paying pilots.

Some of the biggest companies are now requiring their employees to fly commercial. Intel is one of those. They do though charter jets for execs when they fly overseas for security reasons.

The revelations about the big banks comes on the heels of Congress berating car companies on their use of company aircraft.

Theun reports that the car companies were shamed by members of Congress when they arrived via private fleets to ask for bailout money:

Couldn’t you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled, or something, to get here?” Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., asked the CEOs.

An AP investigation founds that Citiflight Inc. is owned by Citigroup. In 2007 alone former CEO Charles Prince’s trips cost the company $170,972. Since being appointed in November 2007 current CEO Vikram Pandit reimburses the company for all personal travel on company planes. Only a few select executives are allowed on the fleet. They have been encouraged to fly commercial though whenever possible.

Morgan Stanley is down a plane since 2005. They now operate two jets. In 2007, CEO John Mack used those two jets for a total of $355,882. He is required for security reasons to use the fleet even for personal trips.

JPMorgan owns four Gulfstream jets. The most current one obtained in 2007 for the sum of $47.5 million dollars. CEO Jamie Dimon is required to fly exclusively on the company’s jets even for personal trips because of security.

The Bank of America owns nine planes. Scott Silvestri, the company’s spokesman has refused to discuss whether there have been any changes on corporate aircraft use after they accepted $25 billion in bailout monies.

Wells Fargo owns one single jet that is only for business purposes. They do not use government funds for corporate travel expenses.

While the SEC requires publicly held companies to disclose executives’ personal use of corporate aircraft there is a gray area on what is actually disclosed.

“If you use the plane for a personal trip but make one business call, should you report it?” David Yermack, a finance professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University said. “Or if you’re playing golf with potential business partners, does a company report that as business or personal?”

Study Shows Most Would Torture Another Person If Ordered To

Would you torture another person if you were ordered to? According to a study by researchers at Santa Clara University in California most would.

The experiment partially explains why prisoners have been abused at the hands of American troops at the U.S. run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

70 per cent of volunteers after being encouraged by authority to administer electric shocks did so even when an actor working in the study expressed being in pain.

The Daily Mail reports:

Jerry Burger said: ‘What we found is validation of the same argument – if you put people into certain situations, they will act in surprising, and maybe often even disturbing, ways.

‘This research is still relevant.’

The experiment was first published in 1961 by Yale professor Stanley Milgram. That experiment had volunteers deliver electrical shocks to people if questions were answered incorrectly. That study showed that the volunteers heard the actor cry out in pain at 150 volts. 82.5 per cent of those in the study continued shocking the actors, most to the maximum 450 voltage.

‘When you hear the man scream and say, “let me out, I can’t stand it,” that is the point when the real stress that people criticised Milgram for kicked in,’ Burger said.

‘It was a very, very, very stressful experience for many of the participants. That is the reason no one can ethically replicate the experiment today.’

Burger modified the study using 150 volts as the maximum shock for the 29 men and 41 women in his study. He measured how many of his volunteers went to give another shock when prompted by the leader of the experiment. He then stopped them instead of allowing the participants continue to shock the actors.

In the original experiment the turning point appeared to be 150 volts.

The participants in Burger’s experiment were aged 20 to 81. He screened them to make sure they were an average representative of the United States public.

He says that his study can only partly explain why prisoners can be abused as they have been at Abu Ghraib prison or events that took place during World War II.

Burger wrote: ‘Although one must be cautious when making the leap from laboratory studies to complex social behaviors such as genocide, understanding the social psychological factors that contribute to people acting in unexpected and unsettling ways is important.

‘It is not that there is something wrong with the people.

‘The idea has been somehow there was this characteristic that people had back in the early 1960s that they were somehow more prone to obedience.’

Healthy Produce Is Hard To Find In US Inner Cities

Inner cities are having a tough time finding fresh produce in the United States. The gloat of grocers that have small corner shops are a staple of the inner city. Those little stores though don’t stock fresh produce.

In West Los Angeles, home to 395,000 there are only 19 supermarkets. In South Los Angeles where 688,000 people live there are only six supermarkets.

Because of the high employment turnover and the lack of space in these areas retailers tend to head to different markets.

Some areas are trying to get more supermarkets into the inner cities. In Pennsylvania they got 61 supermarkets to move to the city but that was only after investing $30 million five years ago. New Orleans and Chicago are considering programs like that. Los Angeles though is not.

The areas in L.A. that lack supermarkets are also prone to violence. Residents in the Watts area complain of stale bread, rancid meat and rotten produce.

Healthy food is hard to come by but fattening fast food is not.

Still there is hope in Los Angeles. The city has the California Endowment program. It’s a private health foundation that gives grants to small grocers that promotes healthy food.

The Associated Press tells how one shop, Los Compadres Market and Restaurant changed their image with a grant. They removed chips and candy from the front aisles and a large cooler was added for fresh fruit and vegetables. Milk and cheese now is stored along side beer.

“These problems are really killing our communities,” said Marion Standish, a program director for the endowment. “They’re really disabling young people all over the state and limiting their potential in very serious ways, and limiting all of our potential as a result.”

Grace Community Church Demands That Rebecca Hancock, 49, Break Up With Boyfriend

A church in Florida is threatening a former member of airing her ’sins’ in public. The Grace Community Church has deemed Rebecca Hancock sinful because she’s not married to the man she is living with.

The non-denominational church in Jacksonville, Florida believes it has the right to have the former member face public humiliation if she doesn’t end the relationship. She had already left the church when church elders had previously demanded that she leave her lover. Her two children are active members.

Fox News reports:

“Bottom line, on January they 4th they are going to the church publicly with my sins, and my children will be sitting in church at the time,” Hancock told FOXNews.com.

While a church leader would not commit to an interview with Fox News on thursday the Rev. T. Scott Christmas, pastor of the church, stands behind the position his church has taken.

The pastor told the Florida Times-Union that the “process of loving accountability” is made very clear to members, and the church is doing “nothing more than following the practices of what biblical churches have done through history.”

Last March Hancock started having problems with the church. She had told her church mentor about the relationship believing that their conversations were confidential. The mentor told her to end the relationship because it was biblically wrong. She knew the relationship was against the rules of the church but she did not know that it would be the start of a personal attack.

Hancock tried to end the relationship with boyfriend Frank Young several times but they are in love. Love won out in the end for the couple but hasn’t stop the onslaught of Grace Community Church’s attack on Hancock.

The beginning of the end of Hancock’s membership in the church came when her mentor took her into a church room filled with other female church members.

“In the room, there were several women that I never told my business to. And they proceeded to tell me about my business and what I was doing and what a sinner I was — just persecuting me.” Hancock said. “One of the ladies was even saying ‘I was at your house when you didn’t come home all night.’”

Hancock choose that moment to leave the church. After announcing she was not returning to the church she figured that she was rid of the problem. Young prepared her that the church would not let it end there. He was right. The pastor continued to call even after he was informed that the couple did not want to have contact with him nor any member of his church.

Two months later a letter appeared in the mailbox telling her that the church had no choice bu to continue the disciplinary process.

Your refusal to repent and be restored in your relationship with God and His Church leaves us with no alternative than to carry out the third step of the discipline process,” the letter explained. “In accordance with Matthew 18:17, we intend to ‘tell it to the church.’”

Hancock has sent a formal letter of resignation after the ultimatum was received. She hopes that will stop the church from their personal attack which could be used to hurt her two children, 18 and 20.

I don’t really care what they do to me. But I am concerned about my children sitting in church with their mother being crucified by the church that they trust,” she said. “I am very concerned about how it would affect them.”

Starbucks Donating To Help Save Lives Through Two Projects

From November 27 until January 2 Starbucks will be donating 5 cents for each peppermint mocha twist, gingersnap latte and espresso truffle served in their (Red) Campaign. It only takes 8.6 beverages to pay for one day’s worth of AIDS medicine in Africa.

So far beverage drinkers and Starbucks have made enough to provide a year’s worth of medicine for more than 3,800 people.

On Thursday Starbucks announced that it plans to keep up their commitment through 2009 with the Shared Planet campaigns. Shared Planet is a commitment Starbucks has from buying fair trade coffee to minimizing their environmental footprint.

Since we announced our partnership with (RED) I have been honored by the enthusiasm of our partners and customers who recognize their daily coffee routine could directly support communities in Africa,” said Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, president and ceo. “Now more than ever, it is important to continue to be a responsible global company. We have a deep partnership with coffee growing regions in Africa and are proud to partner with our customers to contribute toward an AIDS-free Africa.”

If being part of the (RED) movement is something that appales to you this visit their website on ways to help.

Mark Felt, Watergate’s ‘DeepThroat,’ dead at 95

The man who tipped reporters off about the Watergate scandal has died at the age of 95. W. Mark Felt, the former FBI second-in-command, known only as “Deep Throat” during the Watergate Era kept his identity secret until 2005.

Felt’s true identity was only revealed in 2005 although many speculated that he was the source of information that Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward used that helped topple Nixon’s time in office.

In 2005, his friend John D. O’Connor wrote the Vanity Fair article that revealed Felt’s role. He then wrote his memoir.

The Associated Press quotes:

“People will debate for a long time whether I did the right thing by helping Woodward,” Felt wrote in his 2006 memoir, “A G-Man’s Life: The FBI, `Deep Throat’ and the Struggle for Honor in Washington.” “The bottom line is that we did get the whole truth out, and isn’t that what the FBI is supposed to do?”

The Watergate scandal may not have broke the way it did had Felt not already been a mentor to the young Woodward. Felt was able to keep the facts and vital information for Woodward and partner Carl Bernstein earning the The Post a Pulitzer Prize.

“He reminded me how he disliked phone calls at the office but said that the Watergate burglary case was going to `heat up’ for reasons he could not explain,” Woodward wrote after Felt was named. “He then hung up abruptly.”

To ensure that conversations with the reporters would not involve tapped phones, Felt meet with the reporters in settings right out of a spy novel. While he was the one feeding information to the Post he was also a FBI agent. One of the assignments he had was to ferret out the newspaper’s source of information. The investigation never went anywhere leading many to believe that Felt may be acting as a double agent.

Felt left the FBI in 1973 and joined the lecture circuit.

In recent months Felt had suffered from congestive heart failure. He leaves behind his two children: Joan Felt and Mark Felt, Jr., in addition to four grandchildren. His wife, Audrey Felt died in 1984.

Study: Most Weight Gain Hits Kids Before Age of 5

That baby fat your child is toting around could signal obesity. Scientists have found that the majority of weight gain happens before kiddies even hit the school trail.

This finding is raising doubts over UK government policies that target fatter children only when they start their school years. The researchers have asked for new policies to target children in pre-school who are overweight.

In England about a quarter of kids aged four to five are overweight. Of those children about 10 per cent are considered obese, which is a medical danger.

Experts blame the standard diet in England for the vast numbers of fat children. Diets high in salt, fat, sugar and easy to prepare processed foods added with unhealthy eating habits of parents are to blame.

The journal Paediatrics published the recent findings from the EarlyBird study of 233 children from birth to puberty. Those findings were presented Wednesday to ministers.

The average weight of a newborn in the UK is much the same as 25 years ago. That can not be said of the average weight of children hitting puberty. Most of the additional weight was put on before the age of five. Birth weight is not an indicator of what a child will weigh at 9 but the weight at the age of five is.

The Daily Mail reports:

Lead researcher Professor Terry Wilkin, of Plymouth’s Peninsula Medical School, said: ‘When they reach five, the die seems to be cast, at least until the age of puberty.’

The good news is that obesity can be treated fairly quickly. It’s one of the few serious medical problems that can.

The Department of Health said: ‘We have made obesity prevention, nutrition and physical activity a priority in the updated Child Health Promotion Programme.

‘In addition, the Healthy Start scheme provides vouchers to put towards the cost of milk, fresh fruit and vegetables or infant formula to around half a million pregnant women and children under four in low income and disadvantaged families.’

New Book ‘Hope Endures’ Shows Another View Of Mother Teresa

There’s a new book out about Mother Teresa by a nun who’s time with the Sisters of Charity was not the virtuous life many envision. Colette Livermore spent 11 years devoted to the poor in India with the order.

In the book Hope Endures Livermore details some of the darker sides of life within the Sisters of Charity.

Livermore gave up a scholarship to study medicine to devote her life to serving God in India. She now lives in New South Wales.

The Courier Mail meet up with the nun turned author and asked her why she choose to become a nun.

“When I was a kid, the Biafran famine was in the news. Kids were dying on the television set in front of you. I thought to myself that this couldn’t be right and then I saw a Mother Teresa film and thought: ‘That’s the way to go! Get out there and do something!’ I was very naive. I didn’t appreciate the implications,” she says.

Livermore learned that the media persona of Mother Teresa differed from the real life woman. According to the nun Mother Teresa required her charges to give up their brain, will and everything. She required total surrender of the person.

Livermore recalls her new life at a tender 18 years old with the order. A new novitate, she dealt with huge changes in her life and world view.

Once you’re within that sort of organization, it’s hard to get your bearings. You’re off balance because Mother Teresa is a saintly person and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and all that sort of thing so you think that if you disagree with things, there must be something wrong with you rather than the organisation.

“We did our training and then I was sent to the Gulf province of New Guinea without any warning or preparation and nearly died of cerebral malaria.

“I was there for a few years and then transferred to Manila and worked in a garbage dump looking after people with tuberculosis. I wasn’t even trained to the level of a barefoot doctor.”

Livermore was sent to Calcutta from Manila. Once there she tried and failed to leave the order. She was told that her wanting to leave the order was because of the devil. The order does not allow for radio, newspapers or even conversing with friends. There was little contact even with the young woman’s own family.

She fought against Mother Teresa about helping the sick children on holy days. The practice was not allowed.

A ruling was made that on this recollection day, this day of prayer, children were not to be admitted to the Home for the Children.

“This really sick child came in with stick arms, breathing really fast and dehydrated and I was told he couldn’t stay. I had this internal conflict and eventually the child was admitted but only after I’d had a big fight.

“These sorts of things happened time and time again because there was this rigid obedience and timetable, so I wrote to Calcutta and said: ‘This can’t be right.’

She claims that Mother Teresa said that she should be able to watch the death of a child if she was asked to. That ideal came from the fact that the Virgin Mother watched her son, Jesus die on the cross. Livermore countered the wizened woman with, ‘That’s against the gospel’ and they said that even the devil could quote scripture.”

According to Livermore Mother Teresa was plagued by her own spiritually and that took her to some dark places. She talked of her own inner emptiness and misery.

The young woman’s own mother had been upset when her daughter joined the order. Livermore didn’t tell her mother of her trials during this time period.

“My family wasn’t aware because you weren’t supposed to tell anyone. It was a secret.

“Mum was disappointed I’d thrown away the chance to do medicine because our family struggled. My father had left us and she was struggling to support four kids and for her eldest to take off was hard.”

Livermore finally wrote Mother Teresa telling her she could no longer cope with living in the order at the age of 30. The Mother Superior told her it was the devil trying to rob her of her vocation.

Livermore now says that Mother Teresa’s one sightedness on obedience over compassion was a mistake.

“That’s not something that’s widely known and not part of what the media says about her. It was dictatorial. I should have got out sooner,” she says, shaking her head.

Since leaving the order Livermore has completed her medical degree and has worked in Timor, the Northern Territory, the Congo, Sudan and Darfur. She is no longer Catholic. Her personal faith suffered so much that she now describes herself as agnostic.

In the end Livermore blames only herself for the time she spent in Calcutta.

“After all,” she says, smiling, “no one handcuffed me. It was my own silly choice. My mother told me I was a drongo but once I was in there, I couldn’t get free.

“That’s part of the reason I wrote the book – to tell religious people not to give up that inner compass that they have. You can’t live your life with all these excluding rules.”

Chrysler Closing All Plants For A Month

For the next month all Chrysler plants will be closed starting on Friday. The surprise announcement will help the automaker adjust production to slowing demands and conserve its cash flow.

The plants generally take a two-week holiday during this time of year.

Chrysler says that the tighter credit markets are keeping would-be buyers away. Because of the newer standards many dealers are unable to close sales because a lack of financing. The company estimates that 20 to 25 percent of their volume has been hit by the credit situation. In November sales for Chrysler slid 47.1 percent.

Without help from Washington both Chrysler and General Motors Corp. have said they will run out of cash within weeks. Chrysler says its cash flow will be down to $2.5 billion by December 31. That is the bare minimum to meet payroll, pay suppliers and run the company. By the beginning of January the company may not be able to keep up with the bills.

When the closing bells whistle on December 19 the plants will close for at least a month. A few of the plants will reopen on January 19, 2009 with others reopening on January 26.

The company is pleading for a $7 billion government loan to survive the recession. This is the worst slump in auto sales in the last 26 years.

Some of the plants will be down one shift when they reopen, including the Toledo Jeep plant in Ohio. More than 750 workers have had to be laid off to help the company survive. About 550 workers took an early retirement package and the other 200 have been laid off indefinitely.

Jolie-Pitt Children Not Likely To Get Big Ticket Christmas Presents

They have all the money in the world yet the kids of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt exchange home-made gifts at Christmas time. The six kids will not be getting the latest and greatest toys this year from Mom and Dad partly because they don’t ask for them.

Brad Pitt talked about the gifting practices of his large family with Hello! Magazine. He revealed that his kids don’t watch American cartoons shows because of the advertising that comes with the programming. He believes the ads are manipulative.

The Daily Mail quotes Pitt:

‘The kids don’t ask for big gifts for the reason that they don’t see a lot of the American cartoon television, which is packed with all those manipulative commercials for big toys that look so fantastic.

‘When they do see that stuff is when they start asking for the toys, so we figure if they don’t see them they won’t know they’re there.

Pitt says the rule is you have to make something for someone else when it comes to presents.

The family embraces the idea that they area rainbow tribe. Right now Jolie and Pitt are in the planning stages of a ceremony for everyone during the holiday season but it has yet to be finalized.

While their house is chaotic they have no plans at stopping with just the six kids. The joy in the home out weighs the chaos. All of the children hail from different parts of the world.

‘They are all the same blood. It is such elation to see them all living together, and getting along together, and to know that we were able to give them a home – in some cases, to give them a life.

‘It’s a wonderful thing that we are able to do this because of the jobs we have – and it’s a selfish thing, too, because the rewards are extraordinary.

‘We’ve always said that we’ll carry on until we find a reason to stop doing this – and, no, we haven’t found that reason yet.’

Pitt also reveals that speed is the trick to successful diaper changes.

Jolie is slowly trying to fade from being in front of the cameras to have more time for the couple’s growing family. She doesn’t rule out nteresting projects though. When asked if her looks fading could present problems with acting roles she laughed and stated she doesn’t plan on acting very much longer.

Laughing, she continued: ‘I’m ready to do a few things now and fade away and get ready to be a grandma one day.’

In Boston The Recession Is Hitting Pets, More Animals Are Being Surrendered

When people lose their homes due to foreclosure they often have no where to take their pets. In Boston many of those pets are now at the Animal Rescue League of Boston.

The shelter in Boston is not alone. Around the United States pets are being abandoned or surrendered by owners who can’t afford to take care of them. The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been tracking the increase of pets being given up due to the recession. This year there was a 45 percent increase due to economic or housing issues.

Boston.com reports:

“This is something that tears people up when they have to surrender the animal,” said MSPCA spokesman Brian Adams. “These have been part of the family for years.”

When a family brings their pet to the Boston shelter they pay $25 and up depending on how many pets are brought in. The MSPCA asks pet owners for a voluntary donation.

Not all pet owners take their animals to shelters. Some leave their dogs and cats behind when they are forced from their homes. There are reports that animals are left with a supply of food or turned loose.

It’s not just dogs and cats though filling up the shelters. In 2007 the MSPCA took in 21 horses that owners could no longer afford. $1,800 is the bare minimum it costs to take care of a horse, not including vet and ferrier fees.

The Merrimack River Feline Rescue is another shelter that is being overwhelmed because of the recession. It is housing more than 60 cats, up from 40 last year at this time according to president Annamarie Taylor.

“As soon as we place a cat, there’s another 10 waiting,” Taylor said. “We don’t know where to put them. We’re all overwhelmed. They’re even leaving them outside the shelter door. People are so emotionally upset because they’re losing their homes. The last straw is they’re also losing the cat they’re very attached to.”

There are more adoptions taking place at the shelters but that increase does not keep up with the sheer number of surrenders.

Victoria, Australia Soon To Offer Humanist Curriculum

Students in Victoria, Australia primary schools will soon be offered to take religious education courses that teach that their is no evidence that God exists. The curriculum is being drawn up by the Humanist Society of Victoria.

The state government accreditation body has said that they intend to approve the new curriculum according the The Sunday Age newspaper.

Volunteers who have accreditation will teach their philosophy during class time that has been allotted for religious education. The lessons will be delivered by faith groups. Parents have the option to request their children not attend the classes.

News.com.au reports:

“Atheistical parents will be pleased to hear that humanistic courses of ethics will soon be available in some state schools,” Victorian Humanist Society president Stephen Stuart said.

The society does not deem itself a religious organization. It believes ethics have “no necessary connection with religion”. Humanists believe that people have responsibility for their own destiny and reject the belief that a supernatural force of God is in control.

Reporter Throws Shoe At George During Farewell Vist In Iraq

Iraq is being called to release a journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush. While the act is being called shameful many in the Middle East say that it was the ideal parting gift for the United States President.

Many in the Middle East place blame on George Bush for turmoil in the region. The invasion of Iraq has caused many to have a sheer disgust for the American president who will be leaving office in January.

The AFP reports:

“Throwing the shoes at Bush was the best goodbye kiss ever… it expresses how Iraqis and other Arabs hate Bush,” wrote Musa Barhoumeh, editor of Jordan’s independent Al-Gahd Arabic newspaper.

Reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi, who works for independent Iraqi television station Al-Baghdadia, had planned the shoe throwing for months. He was not alone in protesting Bush’s farewell visit to Iraq. Hundreds of Iraqis attended anti-US demonstrations on Sunday.

The government in Iraq is calling the actions shameful and demanding an apology from his Cairo-based employer. His employer in turn is demanding his release from jail. He is being jailed in an undisclosed location.

“Al-Baghdadia television demands that the Iraqi authorities immediately release their stringer Muntazer al-Zaidi, in line with the democracy and freedom of expression that the American authorities promised the Iraqi people,” it said in a statement.

“Any measures against Muntazer will be considered the acts of a dictatorial regime.”

In Arab culture the soles of shoes are considered the ultimate insult. When Saddam Hussein’s statue was fallen in Baghdad in April 2003 many of those in attendance beat the statue’s face with the soles of their shoes.

In Sadr City protesters have thrown their shoes at passing US military vehicles while chanting “Down with America.”

“All US soldiers who have used their shoes to humiliate Iraqis should be brought to justice, along with their US superiors, including Bush,” said Ali Qeisi, head of a Jordan-based Iraqi rights group, calling for Zaidi’s release.

“The flying shoe speaks more for Arab public opinion than all the despots/puppets that Bush meets with during his travels in the Middle East,” said Asad Abu Khalil, a popular Lebanese-American blogger and professor at Stanislaus University in California at angryarab.blogspot.com

The programming director for the television station Zaidi works for fears for their comrade. He has worked for Al-Baghdadia the past three years. He has been described as being an open-minded proud Arab.

“We fear for his safety,” he told AFP, adding that Zaidi had been arrested twice before by the Americans and that there were fears that more of the station’s 200 correspondents in Iraqi would be arrested.

“As far as I’m concerned, as he long as he hit him using a shoe it’s perfect,” said Cairo shoeshiner Ahmed Ali.

Does Slain Drug Lord’s Brother Hold The Cure For AIDS?

Roberto Escobar has announced that he has found the cure for the AIDS. Of course until the patent is processed that is all he is saying. Escobar is the brother of slain drug lord Pablo Escobar.

The announcement came on Tuesday December 9, 2008 on Medellin television. He told the local station that he has been working on the research since the 1980’s.

Escobar is trying to make contract with members of recently elected Barack Obama’s administration to gain funds for the project. If he is granted those funds he will build an AIDS clinic in Medellin.

If Roberto is on the right track he could save not only 33 million people infected with the virus but also restore the family name. His slain brother Pablo is being held responsible for the death of 4,000 people.

Colombia Reports quotes Escobar;

“You can already tell the world that for a while already none of the patients using the medicine has died and after being cured they won’t be contaminating anyone,” Escobar said.

McCain Visits Letterman, Refuses To Talk About The Bleeping Campaign

John McCain appeared on the David Letterman Show Thursday night in a light-hearted mood. He joked with the late night talk show host that he wasn’t going to talk about the “bleeping” campaign.

McCain praised Obama for his staff choices during the interview. He agreed with Letterman about the incredulous at Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

During the height of the economic crisis McCain cancelled an appearance on the show saying he was stopping his campaign to focus on his Senate positon in Washington. He then stopped by to see Katie Couric. For that Letterman mocked the former candiate. Three weeks after the incident McCain apologized to Letterman.

After he lost the election McCain appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Letterman asked Thursday night what the transition to a slower pace of life was like. The Associated Press quotes McCain’s answer.

“I don’t want to talk about the bleeping campaign,” McCain said with a smile. “Understand? If you think I’m going to go back to that bleeping situation, then bleep you.”

While McCain does not agree with Obama politically he does agree with his selections for his cabinet. On Clinton as Secretary of State McCain had this to say;

“She is extremely knowledgeable on the issues,” he said. “I think it’s a good team and I think it’s a very wise choice. And I would like to say that I think President-elect Obama has made a number of very wise choices which I think shows a centrist approach to government, which, obviously, the way America and the world is today, is necessary.”

McCain also told Letterman that “You know, you don’t get a lot of statues” referring to the statue at the site in Hanoi where he was taken prisoner in October, 26, 1967. On the statue he is called a famous air pirate.

Visa Boss Loses His Credit Cards

Joseph Saunders forgot his plastic the other day. That wouldn’t make a big deal if Saunders was any other man but when you’re the Chief Executive for Visa Inc it’s worth noting.

Thursday morning Saunders was due to speak at a Goldman Sachs financial services conference in New York. He had to leave his headquarters in San Francisco to do that. He made the trip but his credit cards didn’t.

As Reuters reports:

“I’m supposed to start off, and say that I’m very happy to be here, and I guess I am. But it’s 4:15 in the morning as far as I’m concerned, and I lost my wallet on the way here. It’s rather embarrassing when somebody steals my credit cards.”

Saunders gave his speech at 7:15 am EST. He didn’t elaborate on the incident nor did Visa return a call asking for further comment.

Oops Honey I Lost The Key

On Thursday morning a call came into the Dearborn, Michigan police department that will be the talk around the water cooler for a while. A man in a fit of passion handcuffed his wife to the bed and then lost the key.

The police were able to come and free the woman with a universal key.

I am sure that the hubby has learned an important lesson, hanky and panky are fun as long as you don’t lose your key.

The Detroit Free Press quotes Sgt. Ray Patrick of the Dearborn Police.

“I think it was more of an intimate relationship than an unlawful imprisonment,” Patrick said.

Jet Airlines Fired 1,000 Employees in September Without Media Knowing

Jet Airlines sacked employees in September without letting the media know. Around 1,000 employees were given pink slips before an additional 1,900 were laid off recently.

The company was able to keep the earlier lay-offs out of the media. Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer told investors that the company would be able to synergise after trimming its staff from Jet Airlines and JetLite, the budget branch of the company.

Times of India reports:

“On the staff numbers, we have reduced the headcount in September by further 1,000 entries and now able to synergise the operations between Jet and JetLite,” the sources said quoting Prock-Schauer.

In October another 1,900 were given walking papers cutting staff down to 13,000 employees. Than came the surprise move by Chairman Naresh Goyal. He overruled the Board’s decision of firing employees and reinstated them.

“I apologise for all the agony you had to go through for two days. You can all come back to work from tomorrow. We have decided to take back all the employees,” Goyal had said in a midnight press conference.

Help PETA Out, Buy a Coffin

Everyone dies sometime and now when you’ve taken that last breathe your coffin can benefit People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The worms may not be able to read the slogans of “Lifetime PETA Member” but they will be proud of you.

“Told You I Wouldn’t Be Caught Dead in Fur!”

The coffins are made in New Mexico with no screws, nails, hinges or animal based glues. They are also cheap, only $620 to $670. That price includes a contribution of $75 to PETA.

Standard wood coffins ranges from $350 for a chipboard coffin to $2500 for a cedar coffin.

A former construction worker, Dienna Genther, assembles the boxes for The Old Pine Box in Edgewood. When PETA contacted her she thought they wanted the special coffins to be for pets, a product she offers.

The Associated Press reports:

“But then they sent the designs, the classic toe-pincher style, and I realized they wanted human coffins,” she recalled. “I told them, `We can do it.’”

Genther is not a PETA member but, “I support their cause.”

With about 2 million PETA millions the partnership could make a tidy little profit for Genther. She already has at least one future customer.

Joan Calpin, a 40-year-old health insurance billing clerk and PETA member in Middletown, Del., plans to buy one.

“It’s a great idea,” she said. “For myself and a lot of my friends who are activists, everybody always says, `All my life, I’ve helped animals.’ Well, now you can say it even after your life is over. You’re still helping animals.”

Sheriff Jones Refuses To Evict This Winter In Bulter County, Ohio

Another sheriff has told his deputies to ignore eviction orders when people have no where else to go. Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones will not be party of putting a family out in the cold during this winter season in Hamilton, Ohio.

Like Sheriff Dart in Chicago, Sheriff Jones shows that he has his communities best welfare at heart.

WLWT reports;
http://www.wlwt.com/cnn-news/18243370/detail.html

“It doesn’t cost much for me to be compassionate, and I’m not going to cause somebody to die because I wasn’t compassionate,” Jones said.

Jones has also sent a letter to Govenor Ted Strickland asking for a state order to stop forced evictions during winter months.

Jones himself could face legal trouble on this act of compassion. He could be on the wrong side of a court bench if a bank or landlord challenges his refusal to honor a court order to evict someone.

He says he will face any consequences that may come from his order.

“There has to be some attention drawn to somebody that’s going to be thrown out of their houses that doesn’t have anywhere else to go,” Jones said.

Follow Up: Dollar Tree Decides To Do What’s Right

Just three weeks after an angry grandmother went public about Dollar Tree’s insurance refusing to pay death benefits the company has offered a settlement. Taneka Talley’s son will now have the money to attend college when it’s time.

Talley was killed by a man who wanted to kill a black person while working at Dollar Tree in March 2006. Dollar Tree’s insurance company tried to state because the death was hate related the company was not liable.

Dollar Tree and the insurance company held firm to that decision until Carol Frazier went public on the details. Frazier, mother of Talley, was upset that the company refused to pay death benefits that would ease the load for caring for her grandson.

In a surprise twist the company decided to do the right thing.

ABC News reports:

“While we were advised that the claim would not be covered under the state worker’s compensation law,” Dollar Tree’s vice president of investor relations, Tim Reid wrote, “we feel this is the right thing to do for Taneka’s son.”

For The Man Who Wants A Stepford Wife

Back in 1975 The Stepford Wives was a hot movie featuring robot like wives who tended to their husbands every need. Today those men can pay for a good robot wife named Aiko.

Aiko is the perfect wife with the perfect body. She is skilled in housekeeping skills and doesn’t talk back. She never nags.

She was created by Le Trung. His devoted Aiko appears to be in her 20’s with a perfect 32-23-33 figure.

Ontario bred Le has worked on his prize ‘wife’ for 2 years spending £14,000 on her parts.

Le didn’t start out to make the perfect female companion for himself. He was attempting to make an andriod to care for senior citizens.

But science became love for the computer whiz.

Every morning Aiko reads the headlines to her living mate and then the couple goes for a ride in the countryside. At dinner time they sit together although Aiko doesn’t eat.

So far the relationship hasn’t made it’s way into the bedroom but Le admits a few tweaks could do that trick. He could write code to make her simulate having an orgasm.

Aiko does react to some human stumuli such as touch and tickling. She remembers faces and has enough vocabulary to speak 13,000 sentences.

The one thing she doesn’t do yet is walking like a human. Once Le has that art down he plans to sell clones of Aiko as home helpers.

As the Sun quotes Le:

“Aiko doesn’t need holidays, food or rest, and will work almost 24 hours a day. She is the perfect woman.”

Aiko sparks mixed reactions in public.

Le said: “Women usually try to talk to her. But men always want to touch her, and if they do it the wrong way she slaps them.”

Does An Eraser Make It So? Holidays Scrubbed Off School Calendar

In this time of avoiding offending students one college in Britain went over and beyond. The school calendar for Yorkshire Coast College has removed the terms Christmas and Easter.

In order to avoid bothering students of ethnic minorities the traditional Christian holidays are now called “end of term breaks.”

The school insists that the decision is in line with the offset guidelines. Not everyone is on board with the politically correct calendar.

SIFY News reports:

Tory MP Robert Goodwill said: “We are a Christian country and, to be honest, religious tolerance in this country is about respecting other people’s beliefs.”

“School terms are traditionally separated by Christmas and Easter and they should be referred to as such. It’s political correctness gone mad,” the Daily Sat quoted Goodwill, as saying.

The college’s spokeswoman says that the school in Scarborough, North Yorkshire reviews the ways it communicates to students constantly inorder not to discriminate. Therefore the holidays in question will now be called End of Term Break.

It’s The Gay Flu, Call In Gay Day Set For Wednesday

Supporters of same-sex marriages have proposed people against the vote in California for Proposition 8 to “call in gay” Wednesday. The official title is “Day without A Gay” is set to coincide with International Human Rights Day.

The plan is being modeled after similar work stoppages by Latino immigrants. Those who call in gay are encouraged to use their day off volunteering and not spending their money.

The idea was thought up by West Hollywood comedian Sean Hetherington and his boyfriend Aaron Hartzler. The couple had been reading about angry gay-right activists who were calling for an all day strike after the passage of Proposition 8. On election day voters reversed the Supreme Court decision that allowed for gay marriages.

Thinking instead of an angry protest a peaceful community service day would send out a more powerful message. Dozens of nonprofit agencies agree listing opportunities for volunteers on the couple’s Web site.

The Associated Press reports:

“We are all for a boycott if that is what brings about a sense of community for people,” said Hetherington, 30, who plans to spend Wednesday volunteering at an inner-city school. “You can take away from the economy and give back in other ways.”

While many are in favor of this form of non-violent protest others don’t think that it’s practical.

“It’s extra-challenging for people to think about taking off work as a form of protest, given that we are talking about people who may not be out (as gay) at work, and given the current economic situation and job market,” said Jules Graves, 38, coordinator of the Colorado Queer Straight Alliance. “There is really not any assurance employers would appreciate it for what it is.”

Around the nation people are gearing up to serve their community after they call in Gay to work.

Join The Impact is another online community that is backing tomorrow’s protest. They have a list on their Web site on ways to make an impact.

That said, here are 5 ways you can make an impact tomorrow:
1. Volunteer your time and services after work
2. Do not buy anything
3. Do not watch TV or use your cell phone
4. Do not go online (yup, don’t even visit this site tomorrow)… Online advertising is everywhere and a simple page load could cause money to be spent.
5. Do not buy lunch (and don’t go out today to get what you need for lunch tomorrow), find something you already have and pack your lunch.

Hetherington is urging one sector of the gay community to not make the call though. High school students have been asked to not walk out of their classes and college students should take their final exams without fearing they are being disloyal to the cause.

For those who can’t afford to miss a day of work show your support by spreading the word about Wednesday’s plan and write to members of Congress about federal gay rights legislation.

Did You Hear About The Teens Who Tried To Steal a Police Car?

Some car thieves just don’t have what it takes. Case in point, the three teens from Tampa, Florida who broke into an unmarked police car Monday night.

Two undercover police officers had watched the demented trio wandering around the West Columbus Drive and North Oakdale Avenue area looking for a new car to zip around town in without putting a down payment. Thinking that chances would be high that the teens would want to score on their Dodge Stratus the cops parked in the parking lot of Columbus Court Apartments.

The police knew they were right when they heard one of the teens proclaim, “Hey, how about we get this car?” The trio was armed with the tools of the car stealing trade; flat tip screwdrivers, a flashlight and a piece of concrete rock. With one of the teens shining the flashlight another was about to smash the rear window. That’s when they got a special surprise. The cops jumped out of the car and nabbed two of the three.

The two captured admitted they had plans to steal the car not knowing that it belonged to the police.

The two teens, 15 and 17, have been charged with auto burglary, possession of burglary tools and resisting arrest without violence. The third was faster than his friends and remains at large.

Opinion: The New Privacy, We Allowed It To Happen

Once upon a time privacy was something that we took for granted. We didn’t worry about ID theft or the government listening into our phone calls. It was our right. That right is not in the ballpark anymore.

On December 10, 1948 the United Nations enacted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.


Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.”

Why have people allowed this basic right to be ignored and imposed on? Has the world become so dangerous that we have to bar-code each other?

The basic rights in this document should be considered sacred and yet as the world changes so do the rights of humans. We no longer have the right of privacy. We no longer have the right to be innocent until proven guilty. We have the ‘right’ to not be charged with a crime if the government sees fit. We have the ‘right’ for our private phone conversations to be the entertainment for eavesdroppers in government secret call centers.

And we’ve allowed it.

The British are dealing like the rest of the world with an economic crisis. They are also working hard to delve into their citizens privacy. There were 500,000 requests just last year for phone or Internet firms to look into individual records. Children’s lives are now fodder for data bases. Medical records are no longer a private matter between patient and doctor. The state wants to know all.

And we allowed it.

CNN is reporting that the White House should oversee cybersecurity. In 2007 the National Office for Cyberspace was created to do so. Obama is on board for this one.

President-elect Obama has made detailed cybersecurity proposals, and they are listed on his Web site.

He has called for “strengthening federal leadership on cybersecurity,” supporting an effort “to develop next-generation secure computers and networking for national security applications,” and protecting the IT infrastructure, preventing “corporate cyber-espionage.”

Journalists are being jailed worldwide to hush up government issues. Online journalists are sitting side by side seasoned newspaper reporters. This isn’t happening just in nations known for keeping their citizens in the dark, it’s happening with United States journalists also.

We’ve allowed it to happen.

History has a way of repeating itself. Almost 90 years ago it was allowed to happen. National ID cards that tracked citizens. The nation was Germany. The man in charge was Hitler. Does anyone really need a history lesson on how it turned out that time?

Nagging Wife Root To New Zealand Couple Winning Lottery

A New Zealand man should be glad to have a nagging wife. Her nagging at him to pay a lottery ticket made the couple $7.7 (New Zealand dollar) million richer.

The couple have asked not to be identified. They live in Auckland. The henpecked hubby made it just under the wire to the store with two minutes to spare Saturday night to buy the “golden” ticket.

The Associated Press reports:

“My wife had been nagging me all week to get a ticket, so I when saw the Lotto sign … I sprinted in to get the ticket before they closed,” said the man, who asked not to be identified — normal practice among lottery winners in New Zealand .

“I must have been their last customer of the night,” he said, adding that the young married couple had had a “rough” couple of years, reduced to one income after having children.

On Sunday morning his nagging wife requested a barbecued sausage. He didn’t have the money for the sausage and decided to check the numbers for the Saturday night lottery draw hoping for a small prize to buy the sausage.

Showing the printout to his wife she initally thought they had won a mere NZ $7,700.

“When she realized how much it really was, she fell to the floor, and then said: ‘but all I wanted was a sausage.’”

Military Jet Crashes In San Diego Neighbourhood Killing Three

A military jet crashed Monday in a San Diego neighbourhood claiming three on the ground. The pilot was able to safely eject from the F/A-18D Hornet before it crashed into two homes.

The deaths came from one of the homes that the plane destroyed and ignited into a fireball. At the time of the crash a mother, her two children and their grandmother were inside the house. Three of the bodies have been recovered while a fourth body is missing. The identities of the dead have not been declared at this time.

The neighbourhood were the crash took place is full of upscale homes in the half million dollar range.

The pilot was found hanging by his parachute in a tree in a canyon beneath the neighbourhood. He is in stable condition at a naval hospital in San Diego.

At this time there are no details as a cause of the crash. Information from the black box will be reviewed. There is no suspicion that the pilot was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The toxic smoke that rose from the homes caused 20 homes on the street to be evacuated.

The Associated Press quoted one neighbour about the crash.

“It was quite violent,” said Ben Dishman, 55, who was resting on his couch after having back surgery. “I hear the jets from Miramar all the time. I often worry that one of them will hit one of these homes. It was inevitable. I feel very lucky.”

Proposal Rock Claims Bride-To-Be

On Monday the end was called on a search for Leafil Alforque. What was to be a deadly romantic notion turned deadly as a wave swept a young woman off after she had just accepted a marriage proposal at Proposal Rock in Oregon.

Proposal Rock is located on the coast of Neskowin, Oregon.

Police are not suspecting foul play in the disappearance of Alforque. The young woman from the Phillipines had recently arrived on a visa when Scott Napper, 45, took her to the rock to ask for her hand in marriage.

The couple had dated online since 2005. They had planned on marrying this week but Napper wanted to give her a marriage proposal that she could treasure for her lifetime. Instead the strong waves tore his intended bride from his arms and out to sea.

Alforque, 22, was no match for the sea. She was only 4-foot-11.

The Associated Press reports:

“I turned into it to keep from getting pulled under it,” Napper said. By the time he turned to find Alforque, who was only 4-foot-11, she had been caught by the receding waters.

“She was about 30 feet away, getting swept away,” Napper said.

The 45-year-old Silverton man tore off his jacket to get rid of any extra weight, and when he looked up again she was gone.

“That’s the last I saw of her,” he said Wednesday, breaking into tears.

“I yelled for her,” he said. “I was praying to God.”

Napper’s cell phone had gotten wet during the ordeal and did not work. Someone on the beach called for help. Emergency personnel was on the scene within minutes.

The search was hindered by dangerous water conditions and fog. In cases like this one the body tends to surface seven to 10 days later. The deputies have closed the search but the investigation remains open.

In a telephone interview with sister Nova Alforque the family hopes that Leafil’s body can be recovered.

“My mother is always crying, day and night,” Nova Alforque said by telephone from the Philippines. “She wants my sister back. Even if she is dead, she wants her body to bury.”

Obama May Still Smoke But White House is Off Limits

On Sunday’s “Meet The Press” Obama didn’t admit to being a happy non-smoker but stated that he will not smoke in the White House. He told host Tom Brokaw that at times he’s fallen off the no-smoking wagon.

Reuters reports the conversation between Brokaw and Obama:

Noting that the White House was a no-smoking zone, Brokaw asked Obama, “Have you stopped smoking?”

“I have,” Obama replied, smiling broadly. “What I said was that there are times where I have fallen off the wagon.”

“Wait a minute,” Brokaw interjected, “that means you haven’t stopped.”

“Fair enough,” Obama said. “What I would say is that I have done a terrific job under the circumstances of making myself much healthier. You will not see any violations of these rules in the White House.”

It’s nice to see a leader admitting that he isn’t perfect. Obama knows that not smoking is the right thing to do for his health yet he fails at times. He was often seen on the campaign trail smacking on Nicorette gum to ease the nicotine craving that he has.

He will be the first President since Gerald Ford that smokes in the White House. Well, not in the White House. Government buildings are no-smoke zones. That includes the residence of the President. The no-smoking rule was made by former First Lady Hillary Clinton.

Perhaps the nominee for secretary of state placed the order after hearing of her husband’s cigar practices.

Heiress Martha ‘Sunny’ von Bulow Dead at Age 76

After spending 28 years in a coma Sunny von Bulow died on Saturday at a New York City nursing home. Von Bulow was the subject of a bestselling book and movie.

Sunny von Bulow’s husband was accused of attempting to kill her. Claus von Bulow was charged twice on attempted murder when his wife slipped into a coma 28 years ago.

The couple were the toast of New York in 1966 when they married. Claus von Bulow was a Danish-born financier. At the time of their marriage Sunny’s estimated fortune was $75 million.

To the outside world they lead a charmed life with residences in both New York’s Fifth Avenue and Newport, Rhode Island.

On December 27, 1979 Sunny slipped into a coma. She was quickly revived but almost a year later the heiress slipped into another coma. On December 21, 1980 she was found unconscious on her bathroom floor. She never recovered from that coma.

Mrs. von Bulow’s children from a previous marriage hired a private investigator for $400,000 that led to an attempted murder indictment for Claus von Bulow.

The trial was front page news during the early 1980’s. The scandal included the theory that von Bulow used an overdose of insulin to kill his wife.

As the trial wore on it was revealed that Sunny was an alcoholic and drug abuser. She suffered attacks of hypoglycemia. Friends Joanne Carson, wife of Johnny Carson, and Truman Capote testified that she had used drugs. Her children denied that claim.

The book “Reversal of Fortune” detailed the case. In 1990 the novel was made into a movie starring Glenn Close as Sunny and Jeremy Irons as her husband Claus.

Martha “Sunny” von Bulow leaves behind daughter Cosima Pavoncelli, Annie-Laurie von Auersperg Isham and Alexander von Auersperg.

Child Dies After Being Crushed By Christmas Parade Float In Texas

Aaliyah Carter, 11, died in a horrible accident during the Beaumont, Texas Christmas parade on Saturday. She had been running along side one of the floats when she tripped and fell under the wheels.

The young girl attended Homer Elementary School in Beaumont.

Young Aaliyah tripped over another little girl falling in the road. The driver of the float was unaware that a child laid in the road ran over her with the float wheels crushing her tiny body. Carter was pronounced dead on arrival at Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital from severe head wounds.

Aaliyah had been on a float sponsored by the I-Rule Dance Studio in Beaumont. The girls on the float had been performing at the Beaumont Civic Center as part of the Very merry Main Street Market.

The children were about to get off the float in the staging area when the accident happened. Carter had already been warned not to jump on and off of the truck prior to the accident. While the truck was paused in traffic Carter fell. The truck then restarted completely unaware that the girl was in its path.

A fund will be set up to help the family at Capitol One Bank in Beaumont.

Opinion: Oxford University Press Eliminates Words About Christianity, Monarchy

The Oxford University Press has removed words form its Junior Dictionary that have to do with Christianity and British history.

Gone are words like “aisle”, “bishop”, “chapel”,”abbey” and “saint”. Apparently those are no longer words for kids who use the dictionary. Words that have to do with the internet like “blog” and “broadband” however made the new edition.

The publisher says that the language changes reflect the modern, multicultural, multi-faith society that England has become.
Academics aren’t buying it. They fear that using this edition of the dictionary will short change youth when it come to their British heritage.

The Telegraph reports:

“We have a certain Christian narrative which has given meaning to us over the last 2,000 years. To say it is all relative and replaceable is questionable,” said Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the centre for education and employment at Buckingham University. “The word selections are a very interesting reflection of the way childhood is going, moving away from our spiritual background and the natural world and towards the world that information technology creates for us.”

When words such as abbey and willow are replaced by modern terms like MP3 player and voicemail something is dangerously wrong. Language does change with the times but eliminating words that are still used in society is a step into the world of censorship that we can not take sitting down.

Mother Lisa Saunders is “horrified” by the huge change from 1978 that has taken place with the most current edition of the dictionary.

“I decide to take a closer look and compare the new version to the other editions,” said the mother of four from Co Down, Northern Ireland. “I was completely horrified by the vast number of words which have been removed. We know that language moves on and we can’t be fuddy-duddy about it but you don’t cull hundreds of important words in order to get in a different set of ICT words.”

Oxford defends the changes saying that it selects the words with the aid of the Children’s Corpus. The Children’s Corpus is a list of 50 million words that make up general language from children’s books and terms found in school curriculum. Lexicographers use word frequency as a means of adding and deleting words from the list.

The head of children’s dictionaries at Oxford University Press says that a huge consideration is the size of the volume and little hands that have to handle it.

“When you look back at older versions of dictionaries, there were lots of examples of flowers for instance. That was because many children lived in semi-rural environments and saw the seasons. Nowadays, the environment has changed. We are also much more multicultural. People don’t go to Church as often as before. Our understanding of religion is within multiculturalism, which is why some words such as “Pentecost” or “Whitsun” would have been in 20 years ago but not now.”

Words removed from this edition of the dictionary.

Carol, cracker, holly, ivy, mistletoe

Dwarf, elf, goblin

Abbey, aisle, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, vicar

Coronation, duchess, duke, emperor, empire, monarch, decade

adder, ass, beaver, boar, budgerigar, bullock, cheetah, colt, corgi, cygnet, doe, drake, ferret, gerbil, goldfish, guinea pig, hamster, heron, herring, kingfisher, lark, leopard, lobster, magpie, minnow, mussel, newt, otter, ox, oyster, panther, pelican, piglet, plaice, poodle, porcupine, porpoise, raven, spaniel, starling, stoat, stork, terrapin, thrush, weasel, wren.

Acorn, allotment, almond, apricot, ash, bacon, beech, beetroot, blackberry, blacksmith, bloom, bluebell, bramble, bran, bray, bridle, brook, buttercup, canary, canter, carnation, catkin, cauliflower, chestnut, clover, conker, county, cowslip, crocus, dandelion, diesel, fern, fungus, gooseberry, gorse, hazel, hazelnut, heather, holly, horse chestnut, ivy, lavender, leek, liquorice, manger, marzipan, melon, minnow, mint, nectar, nectarine, oats, pansy, parsnip, pasture, poppy, porridge, poultry, primrose, prune, radish, rhubarb, sheaf, spinach, sycamore, tulip, turnip, vine, violet, walnut, willow

Words added to the dictionary.

Blog, broadband, MP3 player, voicemail, attachment, database, export, chatroom, bullet point, cut and paste, analogue

Celebrity, tolerant, vandalism, negotiate, interdependent, creep, citizenship, childhood, conflict, common sense, debate, EU, drought, brainy, boisterous, cautionary tale, bilingual, bungee jumping, committee, compulsory, cope, democratic, allergic, biodegradable, emotion, dyslexic, donate, endangered, Euro

Apparatus, food chain, incisor, square number, trapezium, alliteration, colloquial, idiom, curriculum, classify, chronological, block graph

Car Buyers Can Buy One Get One Free at Cardoen in Belgium

Ready for a super holiday season sale? Belgians who love sales need to hop over to Cardoen. The Belgian car dealer sells about 10,000 new and almost new cars a year. Until December 15 when you buy one car he will throw in another for free.

There are catches, of course. Customers have to buy a new full price car. The cheapest car is 22,800 euro. Once that step is completed they get to pick a second car from a group of autos under the 14,000 euro range.

Reuters reports:

“People have been coming in from all over Belgium and abroad,” Cardoen’s Commercial Director Ivo Willems said, adding that Cardoen’s eight showrooms had seen more than 10 times their usual number of visitors since the promotion began.

“People will still buy cars, you just have to give them as much advantage as possible, to sell in an innovative way.”

While Cardoen says they have not been hurt by the current economic woes most of Europe’s car industry has. Belgian new car registrations have fallen 16.4 percent in November compared to a year ago. Spanish sales are almost half of last years.

Cardoen’s promotion is using cars bought by distributors in southern Europe eager to rid their lots of cars. They sold the cars to Cardoen at huge discounts.

It’s a win-win situation for all involved. The customer has two cars for one price, the car dealers who sold their stock have money in their pocket and Cardoen remains on top.

Teacher Binds Students During Slavery Lesson

A lesson about slavery has a teacher in hot water. Haverstraw Middle School teacher Eileen Bernstein binded the feet and hands of two girls in her social studies class to show conditions on slave ships.

Bernstein in a white teacher and the two children were black. They were not the only blacks in the class. The girls were traumatized after the incident and their mothers are irate.

The Associated Press reported that one mother, Christine Shand wishes that the teacher be removed from the class. Those wishes were announced during a meeting on Thursday that a local represtative from the NAACP attended.

“I think the teacher should have gotten some discipline,” Shand said. “I know if that was me, I would be uncomfortable going back to that class. Why should my daughter have to switch?”

Superintendent Brian Monahan of the North Rockland School District has refused to announce any actions that are planned to be taken against the teacher. The teacher was still on Friday.

“We encourage our teachers to deliver the curriculum in a variety of ways, to go beyond just reading the textbook,” the superintendent said. “We don’t want to discourage creativity. But this obviously went wrong because the student was upset.”

The incident took place on November 18 during a class about the conditions that Africans underwent while aboard slave ships going to the United States. Bernstein bound the girls and had them crawl under a desk to simulate the experience.

That afternoon Gabrielle Shand broke down in tears upon arriving home.

“There are other ways to demonstrate slavery,” Christine Shand said Friday. “It doesn’t matter the color of the kids, it’s just not right to tie them up. My daughter is still upset, still embarrassed. She didn’t go to school today.”

Wilbur Aldridge, director of the local chapter of the NAACP, says that the lesson on slavery went wrong when the teacher used binding on a student regardless of the colour of the child’s skin colour. He is also concerned that while the teacher apologized to Gabrielle it wasn’t for the wrong she had placed on the child but rather that she had upset her.

Shand is not sure of where this will go but it is possible a lawsuit could happen.

Move Over Tupperware, It’s time for Taser Parties

Selling items at home parties is a fun way for ladies to make a few extra dollars. Makeup, naughty bits and Tupperware have all been passed around living rooms but now it’s time for Tasers to have center stage.

Women are deciding to buy personal Tasers to protect themselves and their families. Some are doing so at home parties.

Feeling the fear of possible attacks is helping women buy into the use of Tasers. Knowing that the Taser is not meant to kill is an added bonus to some.

Tennessee’s WBIR reports:

“I work in healthcare field,” customer Mei Ling said. “I do see a lot of women, especially the young women get assaulted.”

Ling said she knows she could push the button on a Taser, but wouldn’t pull a trigger on a gun.

“A gun could hurt someone or kill someone but the Taser it’s just going to paralyze an individual for some time,” Ling said.

Tammy Hardin and her husband B.K. are Taser distributors. They have Taser parties to homes in East Tennessee. These parties have been popular in other parts of the United States.

Hardin, herself a gun owner, went through a frigthening ordeal while shopping at a local mall.

“I had my keys in my hand, that’s what you’re supposed to do. I picked up my pace got in my car, locked the doors he walked by and grabbed my handle.”

She’s not alone. The fear that many women feel helps drive up the sales for Tasers. The couple sells the Taser C-12 at these parties and show the safe way to operate the device with confidence. The version that is sold for consumers deploys bi-metal probes into an attacker that also gives a 30 second volt. That 30 seconds will down the ‘bad guy’ enabling a person to get away from a risky situation.

“If you deploy your Taser, you deploy it, drop it and run,” B.K said. “No matter how big you are or how strong you are, you will go to the ground. It will drop you because your muscles will tighten up, and you have no control.”

In Tennessee as in some other parts of the nation a permit is not required to carry a Taser. There is however a background check. Without the clearance from that check customers are not provided with the code needed for operating the Taser.

Tasers and cartridge cost roughly $400.

Because the idea behind the Taser is to fire it, drop it and run away the company will replace their product with a police report that verifies the incident.

UK Banking Giant Harassed Dying Man Over Debt More Than 750 Times

Halifax, the banking giant in the UK has been taken to court after harassing David Lloyd and his wife Annette Edwards. The Sale, Greater Manchester couple claim that the bank phoned them 762 times trying to collect on outstanding debts.

Mr. Lloyd, 62, has terminal cancer. After the bank was told that they began to call the couple around 5 times a day for seven months. The couple changed their phone number to escape the harassing calls but that didn’t stop the ringing.

The bank was not satisfied to terrorize just the couple according to Edwards but also their 29-year-old daughter Stefanie Moore. Ms. Moore has alleged the bank called her as many as 100 times. The daughter has no liablity on any of her parent’s debts.

In January 2006 Mr. Lloyd was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The former telesales representative had to leave his job on the advice of his doctors. Mrs Edwards also left her employment in order to tend to her dying husband. The day after the doctors gave the sad news she informed the Halifax branch in Sale of her husband’s grim diagnosis. She asked for time to sort out their financial affairs.

Between the time benefits started and the payment protection insurance they had purchased from the bankers they were unable to make loan and credit card payments. They also had an overdraft on their joint account.

Mrs Edwards believes that they owe the bank £762 not the £4,000 that Halifax claims. She also claims that the bank has refused to give the couple a final balance of what is owed.

They have filed a harassment claim in civil courts under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

Their solicitor has been able to have an injunction granted preventing the bank from contacting them. The bank made a formal promise in court not to have debt collectors bother them.

The bank has been in contact with the couple four times since that promise was made.

Troops Returning With TBI Could Face Long Term Problems

Brain injuries are becoming a common place thing with troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Returning military personnel are facing depression, dementia and other health care problems.

Researchers admit they have no idea how high the risks are for returning troops. With 22 percent of the troops with some form of brain injury doctors are having to make precise steps in seeing the care these men and women face in later years.

The Associated Press reports:

“I don’t think we really knew how big a hole in scientific knowledge there is about blast-induced brain injuries,” said Dr. George Rutherford of the University of California, San Francisco, the report’s lead researcher.

“If you have a gunshot wound to some specific part of your brain, I can tell you the consequences,” Rutherford said. But with blast concussions, it’s not even possible to say “if you have six of these, are you six times more likely to have something bad happen to you than if you’ve had one?”

Many of those returning have reported headaches, dizziness, memory loss, confusion, irritability, insomnia and depression. If you ask the military most will recover with treatment.

Dig deeper and you will discover that patients with even mild TBI have higher than average risks to developing Alzheimer’s-like dementia and Parkinson’s-like seizures. These symptoms hinder social function and add to unemployment.

Depression and acting out aggressively are also behaviours linked to mild TBI.

The report is requesting that every soldier that has been exposed to a blast should be screened for TBI.

Surprise, Surprise Science Nerds In University Have Less Sex Than Art Students

Chances are that nerd in college is a virgin but the hot looking female art student is enjoying sex. There’s a chance that fathers of art school daughters aren’t going to be happy with a new study out.

A study published in the journal Sexual Health on the sexual habits of 16 to 25 year olds showed that males in the study were less likely than females to be having sex.

Stephen Carroll, a Sydney-based psychotherapist says that cultural factors played a role in the results of the study.

Carrol found that boys started having sex later than the girls in university science programs. This could stem from the fact more international students come to Australia to study science. Their devotion and work ethic may keep them in the lab instead of at parties. Science students also tend to be male.

As Carroll says in a Telegraph article:

“And who are the people at unis that go to the rave parties and the bar?

“It’s not the nerdy boy science students.

“They’re carrying on doing their experiments, going to the library or doing their assignments.”

Carroll may have the stats for his study but science students may beg to differ with his results.

Dr Chris Ganora, who studied science for three years, denied the subject put an end to all romantic pursuits.

“Although we may have been a little nerdier than the other students, let’s just say the gender ratio wasn’t as bad as engineering,” he said.

The study also may have a flaw in it. More female students (78 percent) agreed to take the survey.

Simon Cowell’s Lawyers Tell Media Enough is Enough

After a tracking device was found on Simon Cowell’s Rolls Royce his lawyers have warned the UK media to stop harassing their client. The word out is enough is enough.

Law firm Carter-Ruck sent a warning letter to British papers after consulting with publicist Max Clifford.

The letter pointed out to media that by using a tracking device they could find themselves on the wrong side of a judge. The practice is illegal. It is known which journalist put the device on Cowell’s car and he has been spoken to.

The Guardian reports:

“We know who he is and we have marked his card and told him to never do anything like that again,” Clifford said.

“We have always played the game and we are not precious but this is way beyond anything acceptable. So Carter-Ruck has sent a letter out to everybody warning them about this and making clear that it is unacceptable,” he added.

“Simon has been putting up with this for seven years, with people approaching him at all hours and we know that we have got to have working relationships with the papers but within acceptable boundaries.”

Cowell is not stressing over the matter though. He knows the game of being a celebrity and is not into making a huge fuss over these kind of matters. Still his lawyers want it to be clear to media that Cowell should not be pursued or put under surveillance where he should expect to have privacy. That includes entering and leaving his home.

Hourglass Figures May Not Be The Healthiest

Don’t have an hourglass figure? Be glad ladies because that figure isn’t what the doctor ordered. While culture may want women to have big tits, a tiny waist and curvy hips it may not be optimal for health.

The December issue of Current Anthropology’s article by Elizabeth Cashdan of the University of Utah shows that the optimal female body is more cylindrical than hourglass.

A woman’s waist to hip ratio is more likely be larger in the healthiest women. It’s all a hormones game.

When the body has more testosterone there is an increase to the waist-hip ratio because of visceral fat carried around the waist. Those increased androgen levels give women more strength, stamina and competitiveness. When a woman is stressed those higher levels help out.

It appears in cultures that women are less economically independent still favor a lady with a tiny waist. The more a culture is sexually equal the less likely a woman has such a tiny appearance.

Live Science reports:

“Waist-to-hip ratio may indeed be a useful signal to men, then, but whether men prefer a [waist-to-hip ratio] associated with lower or higher androgen/estrogen ratios (or value them equally) should depend on the degree to which they want their mates to be strong, tough, economically successful and politically competitive,” Cashdan writes.

She added, “And from a woman’s perspective, men’s preferences are not the only thing that matters.”

New Security Measures Welcomed By Canadian Greyhound Bus Drivers

Greyhound bus drivers will have some new security rules that should make their job safer. Starting this week hand-held metal detectors will be used on passengers.

Recent attacks by passengers boarding with weapons have not been the reason to overhaul the security on buses.

Passengers will no longer be allowed to bring on more than a purse. All other luggage will be put in the cargo holds of buses.

The security changes come from a company wide review that started in 2006.

The Calgary Herald reports:

Making bus travel even safer is a responsibility we take seriously,” said Greyhound Canada spokesman Stuart Kendrick.

“By taking a leadership position in the industry, we hope to set an example for other carriers to follow.”

The changes will take place this week for passengers boarding in Edmonton, Winnipeg and Calgary. Other locations in Canada will have the measures in place by December 15.

Drivers are welcoming these changes and hope that more measures will follow. The Edmondton Sun reports:

“It’s going to expand, there’s no doubt about that. I’m certainly happy this process did finally come to fruition,” said Jim Higgs, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union chapter that represents about 500 drivers across northern Ontario and Western Canada.

Former UCLA Medical Center Employee Pleads Guilty For Giving Tabloids Information

The lure of big bucks was enough for a former UCLA Medical Center employee to toss out ethics feeding information to the National Enquirer about celebs.

On Monday Lawanda Jackson, 49, plead guilty in U.S. District Court for violating federal medical privacy law for commercial purposes.

The felony could land Jackson in prison for 10 years with another three years of supervised release. The estimated $4,600 she made from the tabloid won’t put much of a dent in the $250,000 maximum fine she could be paying.

Jackson used her position as an administrative specialist to access the medical records of stars like Britney Spears, Maria Shriver and Farrah Fawcett.

Jackson had been an employee at UCLA hospitals for 32 years.

With Fewer Viewers Daytime Soap Stars Are Feeling Economic Pinch

As pink slips float around in most businesses these days many believe the world of entertainment are immune. That’s not the case in the land of daytime love, greed and sex. Soaps are feeling the belt tightening just like the rest of us.

The stars are seeing their pay cheques shrink like a wool sweater thrown in the dryer. Susan Lucci, star of All My Children and cast mates Michael E. Knight and Ray MacDonnell are part of the crowd getting a taste of the simple life. All of ABC’s soaps are cutting costs.

MSNBC reports:

ABC Daytime on Tuesday confirmed a new focus on belt-tightening. A statement from the network spoke of “carefully and responsibly managing our costs, which include some production cuts, but in ways the audience will not see on screen.”

Lucci is lucky. Over at NBC those cuts include a pink slip for some stars. Days of Our Lives Deirdre Hall and Drake Hogestyn have been favorites on the show for decades. That didn’t help them, they will exit the soap in early 2009.

Agnes Nixon, the creator of ‘All My Children, has seen her pay cheque reduce year after year. She is now a paid consultant for the show. Since 2006 her pay has been cut in halves each year.

The soap stars can blame their money woes on O.J. Simpson. Ever since the 1995 trial for the murder of Nicole Simpson that preempted almost the entire year of shows audiences haven’t been as plentiful. Without the core audiences advertising revenue is reduced.

A decade ago a dozen soaps ruled the daytime television world. Now there are only eight shows still on.

The world may turn but it seems viewers want more than a general look at hospitals and young and restless people. Maybe being bold and beautiful just isn’t enough. There’s no guiding light leading us to passion in this one life we live.

Opinion: Patrick Swayze Is Ticked Off At the National Enquirer

It looked like the National Enquirer was reporting the truth when it that patrick Swayze was knocking on heaven’s door. Maybe they should have asked the actor himself though, he’s not amused.

It looked like the National Enquirer was reporting the truth when it that Patrick Swayze was knocking on heaven’s door. Maybe they should have asked the actor himself though, he’s not amused. As he fights the battle of his life once again the tabloid has tried to say the actor isn’t winning his battle. Once again they are wrong.

While it is true that Swayze has a deadly form of cancer, pancreatic cancer has a very low survival rate, he says that he’s not down for the count just yet.

According to the Associated Press Swayze is responding well to his treatments.

Says Swayze: “They’re reporting that I’m on my last legs and saying goodbye to my tearful family! … It’s upsetting that the shoddy and reckless reporting from these publications cast a negative shadow on the positive and good fight I’m fighting.”

It’s good to know that Swayze is doing well. I reported the artice after I read several other papers that had taken the report as truth.

I should have known better, the National Enquirer has a tendency to distort the truth in order to sell newspapers.

Watering Down Infant Formula Is A Deadly Way To Save Money

In these tiring economical times everyone is looking for a way to save a dollar but one way could prove dangerous. Watering down baby formula is deadly.

A Tampa, Florida mother almost lost her 5-month-old after watering down his formula. Last week little La’Damian Barton stopped breathing after having a seizure. He was put in the hospital and should be able to go home today.

The diagnosis was malnourishment and water intoxication.

His mother, Jeri Moss, 23, is in technical college and couldn’t afford to buy more formula than what she was allotted with WIC. The federal WIC program gives supplement foods including formulas to low income families. It is not meant to cover all of a child’s nutritional needs.

The maximum monthly allotment for a woman with a 5-month-old child is as follows:

403 fl.oz of infant formula
286 fl. oz of juice
24 oz. of infant cereal
36 oz of cereal
24 quart of milk
and 2 dozen eggs

Medical Security Number One Health Woe For Americans According To Recent Gallup Poll

Americans used to believe that AIDS was the most important health woe twenty years ago. That has changed as more and more are uninsured. The largest worry facing the overall American public is now health coverage security.

While health care is not a ‘life saver’ the need to have a doctor can delay death and lower the insistances of disability.

The Washington Post quotes Alan Sager, professor of health policy at Boston University.

“Health care has never saved a single life. That’s more of a theological question. What health care is supposed to do is delay death, overcome disability and pain, and provide medical security – confidence you will get competent and timely care when you need it without having to worry about the bill when you’re sick or losing your insurance. Ever,” Mr. Sager said.

“We spend enough already to ensure medical security. But half is simply wasted. We should identify and squeeze out the fat, capture it and recycle it as clinical bone and muscle,” he added.

That need is felt by 55 percent asked in a recent Gallup Poll about what the biggest health woe in the United States is. Compared to a mere 2 percent who are concerned about AIDS, diabetes and heart disease the poll shows a true change in the American people’s ideals of health care from 20 years ago. At that time AIDS topped the list and the cost of care was at a low 1 percent of concern.

As the nation faces economic woes perhaps the overwhelming cost of health care has been exacerbated. There are currently 47 percent who are without insurance in the United States hoping that a major illness does not strike them.

“Americans’ perceptions of the most urgent health problem facing the United States focus on systemic factors such as access to health care and the cost of it rather than specific medical conditions,” said Gallup analyst Jeffrey Jones.

The fears are very reasonable. Right now the United States has some $60 million of unpaid medical bills floating around. The nation is spending enough to ensure medical security according to Sager but half of that money is being wasted.

That waste is reflected in the total health care expenditures that have already been listed for 2007. $2.3 trillion went out in medical expenses last year, that’s 16 percent of the gross domestic product according to the National Coalition on Health Care.

Shouldn’t everyone in the United States have the right to not fear getting sick because of the cost?

Penn State Fans Now Have A Perfume To Savor!

If you have a fan of Penn State on your Christmas list have I got the perfect gift for you! The school has come out with their own perfume and cologne that captures the essence of the school’s colours!

Don’t worry that you’ll smell like the gridiron if you dab a bit of the scent on your pulse points. The $60 perfume is a blend of vanilla, lilac, rose and white patchouli. The cologne is more manly with blue cypress and cracked pepper vapor.

The blends are based on the essence of the school, it’s colours and the flowers and trees on the campus.

Masik is the company that has put out the fragances. Katie Masich is the company president. She has worked with Calvin Klein and Jennifer Lopez for other scents.

Masik also offers perfume and cologne for the University of North Carolina. Next year they are hoping to add six other universities to their collection.

Some of the proceeds from each bottle will go to the school’s scholarship fund.

Thankfully For Scientists Early Men Carried No Toothbrushes

Scientists can be thankful that ancient Peruvians didn’t brush their teeth. That lack of personal hygiene is allowing researchers to know the diet of people in the area thousands of years ago.

Dental plaque has been scraped from the teeth of people who lived in what is now Peru 9,200 years ago. That plaque is giving scientists a glimpse into traces of cultivated crops that were farmed by the ancient people.

Squash and beans appear to have been in their diet as well as peanuts and fruit.

The scientists have been studying 39 teeth found in Peru’s Nanchoc Valley. They are dated to 9,200 to 5,500 years ago.

The Associated Press reports:

Some teeth were dirtier than others. We found starch grains on most of the teeth. About a third of the teeth contained large numbers of starch grains,” Dolores Piperno, a staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the National Museum of Natural History said in a statement.

Piperno and Tom Dillehay of Vanderbilt University wrote a report on their findings that appears in Monday’s online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers hope that their findings will be able to show differences in diets of early modern men and Neanderthals.

The diet of those under research show that they were able to cultivate crops and were stable for some time. They also cooked some of the grains that they ate.

David Duverger Puts Himself Up For Auction On eBay For Charity

If you live in England there’s a chance you could have your Christmas feast prepared by David Duverger, head chef of Papillion. Of course you have to outbid everyone else on E-Bay.

The world renown chef is hoping to make a nice little donation for Children with Leukaemia. The starting bid is set at £800 on eBay.

The winner and seven guest will dine fat on the hog. French chicken, truffles and buche de noel are all on the menu. The four-course lunch will be served promptly at 1pm no matter what size of kitchen you have.

The Telegraph quotes the young chef as to why he put himself up for auction.

“Seven years ago, I lost my three-year-old nephew to cancer.

“Hopefully, I can offer the highest bidder and their guests the best Christmas dinner of their lives.

“It will certainly be a bit different from the roast turkey and cranberries they are probably used to.

“I imagine I will be cooking for around four hours and they are welcome to watch, so it could be as much of a cookery class as a meal.

“And if people want to spend more time with their family than usual on Christmas Day rather than slaving away in the kitchen, they can just let me get on with it for them.”

If the winner lives over 100 miles from London David hopes they will put him up in hotel on Christmas Eve.

The auction began on Sunday and will end in ten days.

Scanners For British IDs Not Ready For Service

Britain may have high tech ID cards but without any scanners to read them how good are they? Britain issued the cards to foreign students and the foreign spouses of British citizens last week.

The first British ID cards were issued last week with facial details and fingerprints. There is one slight problem, the government has yet to issue any scanners in which to read them.

The ministry is promising to send out hundreds of electronic readers but has yet to follow through. What’s more there is no word when these scanners will make it to those who are needing them.

That means hospitals, colleges and police forces have to hope that their eyes are good enough to tell the real cards from the fakes.

Last month documents from Home Office revealed that the biometric details can only be cross referenced with the National Identity Register in a minority of cases.

Live Earth India Halted Because Of Mumbai Violence

The violence in Mumbai has halted Live Earth India. The concert to promote environmental awareness was slated for December 7.

In a statement from the organizers, including former U.S. vice-president Al Gore, the event has been canned as of Friday night. There is no mention of rescheduling the event.

The killing of 195 people during a terrorist siege of the city is the reason behind the cancellation.

The planned acts of the concert included Jon Bon Jovi and Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan. The event was to echo the world-wide concert that took place last year spanning four continents during a 24-hour period. Organizers had chosen India because it was becoming a economic powerhouse.

CBC reports:

It concluded by saying: “our thoughts and our prayers are with the victims of this terrible attack, with the bereaved, with the people of Mumbai and with everyone in India.”

Had the event gone forward all of the proceeds would have benefited various charities within India.

Dangerous Batch Of Cocaine Killing Immune Systems In Alberta

There’s a batch of dangerous cocaine in Alberta that may be damaging users immune systems. Seven people in parts of Alberta have developed a form of immune system suppression after using cocaine.

There’s a batch of dangerous cocaine in Alberta that may be damaging users immune systems. Seven people in parts of Alberta have developed a form of immune system suppression after using cocaine.

Late To Work Because of the NYC Transit? Call For A Late Note

If you are late to school or work because of the New York City subway system you can get a late note. The notes come with official letterhead so this is one you can’t fake on your own.

For decades people have blamed being late to work because of the subway but without proof it was hard to believe them. Now if there is a delay on the system within two weeks a note will be sent in the mail.

Passengers have to call in the late notes to the NYC Transit. The NYC Transit then verifies the date and time of the delay sending an official note within a week or two. The system has been around for some time with 34,000 notes sent out a year.

The NYC Transit is working to have this process go online so the excuse letters can be emailed.

Opinion: This Is Not A Victory, Evil Can’t Win

The sets of two young men walked through a town looking like nice college boys. They know their destinations, their targets, their motive. They know they will make history. They are death.

The first to be hit on Thursday was the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai’s main railway station. Two men lined up in ques ready to kill. They along with their comrades used their backpacks to carry assault rifles.

For three days the sound of gunfire sent terror through Mumbai and the world. If it could happen there, it could happen anywhere.

The gunmen were little more than children. Young men with their lives ahead of them, willing to die for a cause that most of the world can’t understand. Ready to be cold blooded killers, to strike out at innocents.

They were hardly innocent. To be able to shoot from the hip, professional, cool, collected is not a sign of youth. It’s the sign of a killer.

These killers knew what they were doing. This was no first timers mission. The sites had been staked out, the exits learned, the human targets understood. Western, different, foreigners. Who would make the most visible, most painful victims.

They asked for passports. They wanted the Westerns. They came to kill.

In the end 195 targets were on the ground. People with families, loved ones. They didn’t deserve to die.

The authorities had to use wooden baggage carts to clear areas of corpses.

Hotels, hospitals, train stations, police stations…all are targets. Better armed than many that are sent in to protect innocents they have the upper hand to begin with.

They target the Taj Hotel and the Taj Mahal.

To think that a wonder of the world built out of love could be the scene of such carnage.

In the end love though will prevail. Bullets can’t stop the love that families have for each other. Grenades are no match for the spirit of people.

They wanted to spread terror. That they accomplished. They will fail though in the end.

The human spirit can not allow for evil to overcome goodness. For if it does, if the evil wins then this horrible event will be a victory and the bloodied streets of Mumbai will lose more than the souls that died.

Alan Scherr and Daugher Naomi Among The Dead In Mumbai

She was a mischievous thirteen-year-old, he was a peaceful 58-year-old. Together father and daughter died as bullets cut through the dining room of the Oberoi hotel in Mumbai, India.

“People remain unhappy regardless of wealth, leisure time, any attainment of skill or knowledge, or any other conditional state. The miracle of this life continues to unfold for me on a daily basis.”
-Alan Scherr

Alan Scherr and his daughter Naomi are but a few of those who lost their lifes during India’s 9/11.

The pair were in Mumbai as part of a two-week pilgrimage from the the Synchronicity Foundation, a spiritual community in Central Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. They had traveled with 25 others.

Scherr was a former art professor at the University of Maryland. In the 1990’s he and wife Kia moved to the Virginia community founded by Charles Cannon in 1983. There they raised and homeschooled young Naomi and her brothers with about 30 other families.

They were in Mumbai visiting ashrams and holy sites before their planned departure this coming Monday. Scherr was the guide.

Naomi had planned to use her experience in India in an essay for a scholarship application to Emma Willard School in Troy, New York.

Father and daughter were dining with Andreina Varagona when the rampage began. The Associated Press quotes Varagona’s recantation of the night.

“Within two minutes, they were on us,” Varagona told the Associated Press from her bed in a hospital intensive care unit in Mumbai, where she was recovering from arm and leg wounds.

Mother Kia Scherr heard the news of her husband and daughter’s in Florida.

Brooklyn-Raised Rabbi Killed During Mumbai Violence

It has been confirmed that the rabbi who was speaking to the Israeli consultant when the lines went dead at Chabad Lubavitch was killed along with his wife. Their infant son was rescued by his nanny.

Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, and his wife, Rivka and three others were slain during the violence in Mumbai, India. As reported earlier the rabbi was talking to the Israeli consultant about the siege when the line went dead.

Their son Moshe is now an orphan after his nanny bravely escaped the building when terrorists attacked.

The New York Daily News reports:

“Tuesday we put the finishing touches on opening a new branch in Bangalore,” said Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky. “He was the nicest gentleman you can imagine. Never saw him without a smile.”

The rabbi and his wife were inside the building when Indian commandoes tried to save them with a daring raid.

The couple married five years ago in an arranged marriage. They will be buried in Israel. Their infant son will turn 2 on Sunday. He is being cared for by his mother’s parent who are in India.

Toronto’s Subway Pilot Paramedic Program Is A Success

Toronto’s subway system, the TTC will remain safer for sick passengers as a pilot program using paramedics will continue. The program utilized paramedics at the Bloor subway station on weekdays.

The program reduced trains delays while giving much faster care to sick riders.

The leading cause of delayed trains on Toronto’s subway system is sick passengers. More than 49 hours of service was lost just last year due to a sick passenger.

The Toronto Star reports:

“The trains are running on about a two-minute cycle. For us to get from a surface route down into the TTC, it could take us eight, nine, 10 minutes to get right down to the train. With a TTC paramedic on the scene, it may only take them two minutes to get there. So you’re saving in some cases six or eight minutes,” Paul Raftis, manager of EMS operations said.

The new pilot program saw paramedics responding to 70 per cent of all subway passenger illness and injuries from its onset. The paramedics from Toronto Emergency Medical Services are stationed at Bllor subway station during the morning and afternoon rush hours. The goal for for the program is to serve 95 per cent of emergencies.

For every eight-minute delay of service 1,300 people are unable to connect on the trains during rush hour.

The program costs the TTC $150,000.