Swiss man sets record for personal powered flight
Technology - GatoMalodoro - 7 Comments
Tags: wings, inventor, Yves Rossy, Fusion Man, jetpack
05/16/08 -  -  - (Link)
It's a bird, it's a plane ... it's a crazy Swiss guy with four jet engines strapped to his back flying above the Alps! A dedicated inventor has set a new record for powered personal flight.
Girl's twin found inside her stomach
Living Health - Harry - 9 Comments
Tags: 9-year-old girl, stomach pains, embryonic twin, formed fetus
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
A nine-year-old girl who went to hospital suffering from stomach pains was found to be carrying her embryonic twin, doctors in central Greece said Thursday.
GOP Stunned By Loss of Congressional Seat in Mississippi
Government Elections - GatoMalodoro - 0 Comments
Tags: Conservative, Congress, Mississippi, special election, Travis Childers
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
In a major blow to national Republicans, a Mississippi congressional seat that once voted for President Bush by a twenty-five point margin elected a Democrat on Tuesday. Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers beat out Republican candidate Greg Davis, the mayor of Southaven, by a 54%-46% margin, a spread that several Republican strategists on Capitol Hill characterized as a startling wake-up call for a party in dire straits.
Bush: Talking to 'terrorists' like talking to Nazis before WWII
Government Politics - Harry - 5 Comments
Tags: Terrorists, George W. Bush, Middle East, negotiate, foolish delusion
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
In his first address to Israel's parliament Thursday, President Bush reiterated the United States' "unbreakable" alliance with the Jewish state and denounced calls to negotiate with "terrorists and radicals."
n a speech before the Knesset, Bush compared calls to talk with unnamed terrorist groups as a "foolish delusion" that was suggested before World War II.
"As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared, 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided,' " Bush said. "We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."
911 Operator Fired for Not Giving a S**t
Living - Temple - 0 Comments
Tags: 911, fired, operator, nashville, swearing
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
A Nashville 911 operator has been fired after he was recorded saying that he didn't "give a s---" about what happened to a woman who had just called to report her ex-boyfriend was threatening her.
California's top court overturns gay marriage ban
Government Laws - merricat - 12 Comments
Tags: Supreme Court, marriage, California, gay rights, legalized union
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
California's Supreme Court declared gay couples in the nation's biggest state can marry — a monumental but perhaps short-lived victory for the gay rights movement Thursday that was greeted with tears, hugs, kisses and at least one instant proposal of matrimony.
Dallas club where 12-year-old danced nude surrenders license for 30 days
Followup - Barathrum - 0 Comments
Tags: strip club, Dallas, 12-year-old, underage nude dancer
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
A northwest Dallas strip club where a 12-year-old girl was found to have been dancing nude over a two-week period last year has agreed to surrender its sexually oriented business license for 30 days.
Original Story:
Dallas club where girl, 12, stripped will keep license
Judges rule it is legal to ogle male breasts
Government Laws - Not The Real Jacques Cousteau - 2 Comments
Tags: Breasts, voyeurism, private parts, moobs, sexual allure
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
It is a subject that most men manage to keep under wraps - or at least under their shirts.
But yesterday male breasts, or moobs as they are sometimes known, were right out in the open in one of the highest courts in the land.
United Church of Canada to Sponsor "Darwin" exhibition at ROM
Living Religion - Dan Druff - 2 Comments
Tags: charles darwin, Church, Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, sponsorship
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
My colleague Rev. Lee Simpson called to me from her office one morning late last winter. “Did you hear William Thorsell on the radio last night?” she asked.
Thorsell runs the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Lee, The Observer’s operations director, had heard Thorsell on CBC’s weekday drive-home show plugging a new visiting exhibit about the life and work of Charles Darwin. In the course of the interview, Thorsell mentioned that the museum had been unable to secure any corporate sponsorship for the exhibit, which was highly unusual. Follow-up news stories painted an even starker picture: major corporate sponsors had shunned “Darwin and the Evolution Revolution” everywhere else it had been mounted — in New York, where it originated, in Chicago, in Boston. The consensus was that Darwin and evolution were “too hot to handle.”
Delaying Puberty in Transgender Children
Living Health - Sweater Undulations - 17 Comments
Tags: treatment, Transgender, puberty, Gender Identity Disorder, postpone puberty
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
Robert and Danielle instituted an "only-in-the-house" rule when their son Armand was around 5, a modest effort to save him from himself.
By that point, Robert and Danielle were exhausted. They had tried for years to steer Armand away from female clothing, fearing their young son would become the object of neighborhood ridicule. But nothing they said or did seemed to make any difference. There was no dissuading him, and so the only-in-the-house rule seemed like reasonable compromise.
Armand agreed — he even seemed comfortable with it. He spent hours in the basement and backyard, playing with his sister's cast-offs.
But one day, Robert came home early and found Armand out front in the middle of their cul-de-sac. He was wearing a poodle skirt, swaying back and forth, singing. Wanting, Robert says he thought, the whole world to see.
"That caught me by surprise," Robert says. "There was worry."
Curious George publisher may sue over T-shirt
Government Politics - denspark - 0 Comments
Tags: racist, T-shirt, Barack Obama, Curious George
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
The publishing company that owns the Curious George image says it is considering legal action to stop the sale of a T-shirt depicting Barack Obama as the monkey from children's books.
The T-shirts are being peddled by Marietta bar owner Mike Norman at his Mulligan's Bar and Grill in Cobb County. They show a picture of Curious Georgie peeling a banana, with the words "Obama '08" underneath.
Obama's lead very hard for journalist to stretch into baseball terms.
Government Elections - Aquillion - 1 Comment
Tags: Hillary Clinton, Baseball, Barack Obama, 2008 Presidential Elections, Democratic primaries
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
If the 2008 Democratic presidential race were a baseball season, Hillary Clinton would need the greatest comeback in major league history to clinch the nomination.
In a campaign that has been consumed by mathematical projections—and admittedly overrun by sports metaphors — that's perhaps the easiest way to understand the odds facing the New York senator who entered the campaign looking like a 1927 Yankees-style lock to carry the party banner in November.
Google kills Anonymous AdSense account
Living Religion - Jimmy The Headless Frog Boy - 0 Comments
Tags: Google, Church of Scientology, AdSense, anti-Scientology sites, Enturbulation.org
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
Google has murdered the AdSense account run by one of the web's most influential anti-Scientology sites.
Yesterday, the search giant cut off all ads served to Enturbulation, a fledgling site dedicated to promoting activism against the Church of Scientology and all its related organizations. This could have something do with the nature of the ads Google was serving. Many of the Google-driven ads funding the anti-Scientology site were paid for by the Church of Scientology.
Teacher Caught Masturbating at School With Child Porn
Living Education - Mordant - 0 Comments
Tags: Child Porn, teacher, masturbation, Idiot
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
Four North Shore High School students claim they caught one of their teachers watching porn and masturbating in a school classroom Wednesday afternoon.
500 Scientists with Documented Doubts - about the Heartland Institute?
News Buzz - dbtng - 0 Comments
Tags: Global Warming, slanted study, Heartland Institute
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
Dozens of scientists are demanding that their names be removed from a widely distributed Heartland Institute article entitled 500 Scientists with Documented Doubts of Man-Made Global Warming Scares.
'Crazy' ants wreaking havoc in Houston-area households
Living Nature - GatoMalodoro - 1 Comment
Tags: texas, invasive species, crazy ants, crazy Raspberry ants, idestructible
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
In what sounds like a really low-budget horror film, voracious swarming ants that apparently arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship are invading homes and yards across the Houston area, shorting out electrical boxes and messing up computers.
Psychologist Warns German Shop Assistants: Don't Smile Too Much
Living Health - GatoMalodoro - 0 Comments
Tags: Germany, Customer Service, stress, smile, unnecessary advice
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
A German psychologist has warned "professional smilers" such as flight attendants and shop assistants that too much forced smiling can cause stress, depression and even heart problems. It's unlikely to become a major health issue though -- German customer service isn't renowned for its friendliness.
Indians Find U.S. at Fault in Food Cost
Living Food - Big Beef Burritos Supreme - 1 Comment
Tags: india, obesity, America, name calling, food prices
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
Instead of blaming India and other developing nations for the rise in food prices, Americans should rethink their energy policy — and go on a diet.
That has been the response, basically, of a growing number of politicians, economists and academics in this country, who are angry at statements by top United States officials that India’s rising prosperity is to blame for food inflation.
Mom indicted in MySpace suicide case
Followup - delicatessen - 0 Comments
Tags: Suicide, myspace, Lori Drew, false-identity, Megan Meier
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
A Los Angeles federal grand jury indicted a Missouri woman on Thursday over an alleged role in a MySpace online hoax played on a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide.
Lori Drew of suburban St. Louis was indicted on one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress.
Original Story:
Sickened, Devastated': Parents on MySpace Suicide
Surgical robot gives hair transplants a natural look
Technology - enki don't - 0 Comments
Tags: robot apocalypse, balding, hair transplant, head gardener
05/16/08 - - - (Link)
A robot that can pluck and move individual hair follicles on a person's head makes hair transplants look more natural than those performed by humans, a US company claims.
Fresh Baked Bread, Anyone? Gruesome Body Bakery
Living Art - Albuquerque Halsey - 25 Comments
Tags: art, horror, bread, baker, death bakery
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
Imagine running up to the bakery around the corner and coming across bread shaped like body parts. Sound yummy? Artist Kittiwat Unarrom creates just that; gruesome works of art out of bread.
Feds: Drugs Made at Kosher Meat Plant
Crime - Jimmy The Headless Frog Boy - 12 Comments
Tags: methamphetamine laboratory, kosher slaughterhouse, Agriprocessors, Postville, Iowa.
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
Federal authorities charged that a methamphetamine laboratory was operating at the nation's largest kosher slaughterhouse and that employees carried weapons to work.
The charges were among the most explosive details to emerge following the massive raid Monday at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa.
Ex-Fed Chief Warns That ’70s-Style Inflation Is Possible
Business - Jimmy The Headless Frog Boy - 4 Comments
Tags: Inflation, oil prices, Federal Reserve, Paul A. Volcker, 1970s-style
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
Paul A. Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned on Wednesday the United States could face a 1970s-style period of skyrocketing inflation if investors lost confidence in the buying power of the dollar.
Escaped Tibetan rioter tells of Chinese repression
Government - dorje - 0 Comments
Tags: china, Refugees, Tibet, riots, Beijing
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
Before fleeing across a mountainous border, Kusang Sonam says he hid for 12 days from Chinese forces searching for Tibetans who rioted against Beijing's rule in the Himalayan region.
"I knew I would be dead if they had caught me," the 38-year-old clothes trader and father-of-one told AFP in his first media interview at a refugee centre in India.
Why no child is safe from the sinister cult of emo
Followup - Corporate God King - 21 Comments
Tags: Suicide, 13-year-old girl, emo, cult conspiracy, my chemical romance
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
Eight months have now passed since 13-year-old Hannah Bond committed suicide, but for her parents the questions continue.
Original Story:
Emo Blamed For Teenager's Suicide
World's Biggest Bullock
Living Nature - Corporate God King - 14 Comments
Tags: giant, bullock, Guinness world record, Chilli, enjoys the occasional swede
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
Chilli the giant bull is set to stampede into the record books as Britain's tallest bovine.
Pregnant Girl, 14, strangled, burned, thrown down well by suspected fathers
Crime Violent - Corporate God King - 8 Comments
Tags: murder, well, teenage pregnancy, teenage Mafia, Italian Trio
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
Three teenage boys have confessed to killing a pregnant 14-year-old in a murder which has shocked a nation.
The Italian trio, aged 15, 16 and 17, said yesterday that they strangled Lorena Cultruro before setting her body on fire and throwing it down a well, fearing one of them was the father.
'Shamed' Austrian man kills family with ax
Crime Violent - Corporate God King - 10 Comments
Tags: shame, Vienna, ax murderer, financial difficulties, public relations consultant
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
An Austrian man has confessed to killing five members of his family with an ax, Vienna police said Wednesday.
The man walked into a Vienna police station early Wednesday and told authorities he had killed his wife and 7-year-old daughter early Tuesday, police spokesman Michael Braunsperger said.
Woman admits 'rough-sex' stabbing
Living Sex - Name Brand Aspirin - 11 Comments
Tags: death, Winnipeg University, rough-sex, knife play, consensual
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
A Winnipeg university student who nearly stabbed her boyfriend to death during a bizarre act of consensual "knife play" has been spared a jail sentence.
DEA wants hikers to be on lookout for marijuana in backcountry
Crime - Name Brand Aspirin - 17 Comments
Tags: marijuana, DEA, backcountry, fish hook, machine guns
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
If you're out hiking or hunting in the backcountry this summer, watch for a big cash crop, one that's not entirely legal.
It's been a big water year, so the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) suspects that Utah's backcountry will be in high demand for marijuana growers.
Grave situation
Crime - Name Brand Aspirin - 0 Comments
Tags: marijuana, cocaine, Cemetery, Buda man, scale
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
All was not quiet in an area cemetery late one night last week.
Caldwell County deputies arrested a 35-year-old Buda man on May 9 after finding him apparently intoxicated in a Reedville Cemetery and in possession of cocaine, marijuana, cash, a scale and packaging materials.
Amateur video captures moment quake struck China
Living Disaster - Cody Garrett - 2 Comments
Tags: video, china, Earthquake, amateur, quake video
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
The video begins with hills shaking forcefully as panic ensues. Rubble from houses and broken trees are strewn on the road.
Extra:
Damn good quake video.
Medic saw her duty, and did it
Government War - happy trauma - 0 Comments
Tags: Iraq, war, roadside bomb, medic, women in combat
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
Three weeks ago Cpl. Jessica A. Ellis escaped with cuts and bruises when her heavily armored vehicle was destroyed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
"She told me on the phone, this is a very dangerous place to be," her father, Steve Ellis of Baker City, said Tuesday. "She told us on the phone it was heating up again."
Sunday night, two uniformed officers knocked on the front door of Steve and Linda Ellis' rural home to notify them that their 24-year-old daughter did not survive a blast Sunday that once again destroyed her Buffalo armored vehicle.
Vatican Says Aliens Could Exist
Living Religion - Babies Ate My Dingo - 10 Comments
Tags: Aliens, pope, vatican, Mars, darwin
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
The Pope's chief astronomer says that life on Mars cannot be ruled out.
Writing in the Vatican newspaper, the astronomer, Father Gabriel Funes, said intelligent beings created by God could exist in outer space.
10-year-old scholar takes Calif. college by storm
Living Education - FeeFiFoFoTheFifeFifeBrown - 7 Comments
Tags: child prodigy, Moshe Kai Cavalin, Buckaroo Banzai: The Next Generation
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
With the end of another school year approaching, college sophomore Moshe Kai Cavalin is cramming for final exams in classes such as advanced mathematics, foreign languages and music.
But Cavalin is only 10 years old. And at 4-foot-7, his shoes don't quite touch the floor as he puts down a schoolbook and swivels around in his chair to greet a visitor.
Child 'Forrest Gump' actor leaving Army
Movies News - Zatoichi Jones - 3 Comments
Tags: army, Forrest Gump, movie Iraq, unpopular war
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
As a boy, Michael Conner Humphreys made a splash on the silver screen as "Young Forrest Gump." As an adult, he somewhat mirrored the life of his movie character: He joined the Army and fought in an unpopular war.
'Darth Vader' Spared Jail in Jedi Church Attacks
Crime Stupid - Elvis Hitler - 4 Comments
Tags: Darth Vader, jedi church, whacked, metal crutch
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
A man who dressed up as Darth Vader, wearing a garbage bag for a cape, and assaulted the founders of a group calling itself the Jedi church was given a suspended sentence Tuesday.
'My daughter deserved to die for falling in love'
Crime Violent - RomancingTrain - 24 Comments
Tags: islam, Iraq, father, Honor Killing, remorseless
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
For Abdel-Qader Ali there is only one regret: that he did not kill his daughter at birth. 'If I had realised then what she would become, I would have killed her the instant her mother delivered her,' he said with no trace of remorse.
Two weeks after The Observer revealed the shocking story of Rand Abdel-Qader, 17, murdered because of her infatuation with a British soldier in Basra, southern Iraq, her father is defiant. Sitting in the front garden of his well-kept home in the city's Al-Fursi district, he remains a free man, despite having stamped on, suffocated and then stabbed his student daughter to death.
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Gang beating death batters Cleveland
Crime Violent - Chet - 0 Comments
Tags: Cleveland, gang, beating, urination, 15 people
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
Even by tough, urban-crime standards, it was a grisly attack: Up to 15 people chased a man, then kicked and beat him to death on the street. Before police arrived, one attacker urinated on the victim's head.
Some Detainees are Drugged for Deportation
Living Legal - vulvacide - 6 Comments
Tags: deportation, foreigners, injection, psychotropic drugs, human rights violation
05/15/08 - - - (Link)
The U.S. government has injected hundreds of foreigners it has deported with dangerous psychotropic drugs against their will to keep them sedated during the trip back to their home country, according to medical records, internal documents and interviews with people who have been drugged.
Extra:
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