Friday, February 27, 2009

Stupid News-Vegas casino sells 2-foot, 6-pound burrito at cafe


LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas casino cafe is rewarding patrons who can put away a 2-foot, 6-pound burrito with a most logical prize — free unlimited rides on a roller coaster that runs in both forward and reverse.

The offer comes with a caveat, though: Those who accept the challenge but can't finish "The Bomb" burrito have to take a picture with an extra small, pink T-shirt that says "Weenie."

The NASCAR Cafe at the Sahara Hotel & Casino began selling the cheese-and-guacamole slathered burrito on Thursday for $19.95.

Those who can finish the monstrous entree get it for free, along with two unlimited coaster passes and a T-shirt proclaiming they "Conquered the Bomb."

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Illinois mystery: Placentas found in sewage system


URBANA, Ill. – Someone is disposing of placentas in the sewage system and authorities in central Illinois just want it to stop. Workers in Urbana-Champaign found a placenta Thursday in a filter that keeps large objects out of the sewage treatment plant. It was the third found this year. Officials said it's never happened before. They wonder if a midwife or veterinarian is avoiding the expense of medical waste disposal.

The placenta is an organ that joins mother and fetus and is expelled during birth.

They are potentially infectious, although health officials said the risk to the public is low. State regulations prohibit disposal in sewage systems.

Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup said he's not entirely sure whether the placentas are human or animal. More testing is under way.
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Calif. aquarium blames flooding on curious octopus


SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Staff at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium in California say the trickster who flooded their offices with sea water was armed. Eight-armed, to be exact.

They blame the soaking they discovered Tuesday morning on the aquarium's resident two-spotted octopus, a tiny female known for being curious and gregarious with visitors. The octopus apparently tugged on a valve and that allowed hundreds of gallons of water to overflow its tank.

Aquarium spokeswoman Randi Parent says no sea life was harmed by the flood, but the brand new, ecologically designed floors might be damaged by the water.
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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Stupid News-Missing man gets 7 parking tickets while dead in back seat


Florida - The identity of man found dead inside a car in College Park on Monday afternoon has been confirmed as that of a Gainesville engineer missing since Feb. 11. Now city employees are answering questions about why the man's car was ticketed seven times by city employees, beginning the day after he was last seen alive.
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Too much PlayStation can cause painful lumps?


LONDON (Reuters) – Gamers beware: Keeping too tight a grip on the console and furiously pushing the buttons can cause a newly identified skin disorder marked by painful lumps on the palms, Swiss scientists said Tuesday.

Called "PlayStation palmar hidradentitis" by the scientists, the skin disorder can cause painful lesions on the palms similar to patches found on the soles of children's feet after taking part in heavy physical activity, they said.

"The tight and continuous grasping of the hand-grips together with repeated pushing of the buttons produce minor but continuous trauma to the (palm) surfaces," Vincent Piguet and colleagues at University Hospitals and Medical School of Geneva reported in the British Journal of Dermatology.

A spokesman for Sony Corp, which makes the PlayStation, noted the study involved one person and said the company had sold hundreds of millions of the consoles since the product was introduced in 1995.

"As with any leisure pursuit there are possible consequences of not following common sense, health advice and guidelines, as can be found within our instruction manuals," Sony spokesman David Wilson said.

"We would not wish to belittle this research and we will study the findings with interest, but this is the first time we have ever heard of a complaint of this nature."

Excessive gaming is already seen as a public health issue, sparking addictive behavior that can lead to a range of psychological problems, the researchers said.

Other researchers have identified acute tendonitis from playing too much of Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii, and now a disorder related to the PlayStation can be added to the list, the team said.

Their study described the case of a 12-year-old girl who attended the Geneva hospital with intensely painful lesions on her hands, which she had developed four weeks earlier. She had no other lesions anywhere else on her body.

After questioning, the doctors discovered that several days prior to the appearance of the lesions the girl had started to play a game on her PlayStation for several hours each day.

The researchers suspected that grasping the console's hand-grips together with repeated pushing of the buttons produced minor but prolonged injury to the palm of the girl's hands, which can be made worse by sweating during a tense game.

The doctors recommended the girl stop playing and she recovered fully after 10 days, the researchers said.

"If you're worried about soreness on your hands when playing a games console, it might be sensible to give your hands a break from time to time, and don't play excessively if your hands are prone to sweating," Nina Goad of the British Association of Dermatologists said in a statement.
(Reporting by Michael Kahn, Editing by Will Dunham)Political Roast----Premium Domain Names----Comedy Videos---Comedy Songs----Advertise Here and 24 Other Sites!

Odd Life Found in Great Lakes


Scientists have found some odd life forms in Lake Huron.

Peculiar geological formations are supporting floating plumes and purple mats of microbes dwelling in enclaves of the Great Lake, researchers report. The odd biology is more akin to what is found in some of Earth's most extreme environments.


The mats are located about 66 feet (20 meters) below the surface of Lake Huron - the third largest of North America's Great Lakes - where researchers have found sinkholes made by water dissolving parts of an ancient underlying seabed.


Around these sinkholes are brilliant purple mats of cyanobacteria - cousins of microbes found at the bottoms of permanently ice-covered lakes in Antarctica - and pallid, floating ponytails of other microbial life. The water there is dense, oxygen-free and salty, and therefore hostile to most familiar, larger forms of life in the lakes.


The scientists report that some deep sinkholes act as catch basins for dead and decaying plant and animal matter and collect a soft black sludge of sediment topped by a bacterial film.


These environments are also similar to those around deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, where many odd forms of life have also been found.


In the oxygen-depleted water, cyanobacteria carry out photosynthesis using sulfur compounds rather than water and give off hydrogen sulfide, the smelly rotten-egg gas. Where the sinkholes are deeper still and light fails, microorganisms use chemical means rather than photosynthesis to metabolize the sulfurous nutrients.


Groundwater beneath Lake Huron is dissolving minerals from the defunct seabed and carrying them into the lake to form these exotic, extreme environments, said Bopaiah A. Biddanda of Grand Valley State University, in Muskegon, Mich. Biddanda is one of the leaders of the study of these odd environments.


"You have this pristine fresh water lake that has what amounts to materials from 400 million years ago ... being pushed out into the lake," said team co-leader Steven A. Ruberg of the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).


Biddanda, Ruberg and their colleagues are trying to understand how long ago the minerals were deposited that are now entering the lake and how fast the salty brew containing them is arriving.


The work, described in Eos, a weekly newsletter put out by the American Geophysical Union, "might also lead to the discovery of novel organisms and previously unknown biochemical processes, furthering our exploration of life on Earth," Biddanda said.

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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Topless cafe in Maine gives neighbors the jitters


VASSALBORO, Maine – Cup size has more than one meaning at a new central Maine coffeehouse. Servers are topless at the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop, which opened its doors Monday on a busy road in Vassalboro. A sign outside says, "Over 18 only." Another says, "No cameras, no touching, cash only."

On Tuesday, two men sipped coffee at a booth while three topless waitresses and a bare-chested waiter stood nearby. Topless waitress Susie Wiley said men, women and couples have stopped by.

The coffee shop raised the ire of dozens of residents when it went before the town planning board last month. Town officials said the coffee shop met the letter of the law.
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Woman wins house in raffle after husband laid off


DANVILLE, Calif. – Susan Wells was thrilled to learn she'd won a $2 million house in a raffle days after her husband had been laid off from his job. "I'm floored," said Wells, who bought the ticket as a surprise to celebrate the couple's 16th anniversary. "I can't believe this has happened. Needless to say, my husband is very surprised."

The house is in upscale Marin County, just north of San Francisco. The couple already own a home in Danville, a suburb south of San Francisco, and if they don't want to move they have the option of $1.2 million in cash.

They're still deciding what do, but Brad Wells, who had been a sales executive for a Silicon Valley high-tech company, said the winnings are definitely a boost.

"I got laid off on Wednesday and the company went bankrupt on Friday," he said. The couple got word of their win on Saturday. "It's been a really rough ride for the last year. This gives us an unbelievable lift."

The raffle was held by Community Action Marin, which netted about $1.3 million, down from $2 million last year, the first time the event was held.

"In this economy, we're still very pleased," said Russ Hamel, director of development for the group, a private social services organization.

There were 29,000 tickets sold and prizes in addition to the dream house included $200,000 in cash.

Susan Wells said the couple is celebrating by having dinner with their neighbors.

"We're bringing a very good bottle of champagne," she said.
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Booze bust in Brunei nets 1,382 beer cans on boat


BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei – It was a beer run on the high seas. Brunei's customs officers arrested two men who tried to smuggle 1,382 cans of contraband beer by boat into the Muslim-majority country, a news report said Wednesday.

The men entered Brunei's waters from a neighboring nation Tuesday but tried to flee when they realized they had been spotted, the Borneo Bulletin newspaper reported. It did not identify the neighboring country, but Brunei shares borders with two Malaysian states on Borneo island.

Customs authorities foiled the escape after a high-speed chase, making their biggest seizure of alcohol this year, the report added.

Brunei's laws ban the public sale and consumption of alcohol, though non-Muslim visitors are allowed to bring in limited amounts for private consumption.

Representatives of Brunei's Royal Customs Department could not immediately be reached. The men are expected to be charged with alcohol smuggling, which is typically punished by a fine.
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Superbrain" stuns Britain with genius quiz show run


LONDON (Reuters) – She's being hailed as Britain's cleverest student, a shy, bespectacled and amazingly quick-minded Latin scholar who has romped away to win the country's hardest quiz show almost single-handedly.

Gail Trimble, 26, is playing down the excitement surrounding her team's victory in the annual University Challenge on Monday, but the nation is abuzz at her polymath performance on the quiz, a favourite on TV for nearly 40 years.

Coming from behind, Trimble's four-person team from Corpus Christi college at Oxford University raced away to beat sharp rivals from Manchester by 275-190, with Trimble answering most of the dauntingly difficult questions without hesitation.

It was a typically barnstorming performance from the team captain, who has a tendency to laugh excitedly when she knows the answer, even if she seemed nervous at the start as Manchester moved into the lead and the pressure was on.

"The realm that according to Aristophanes was built by the birds to separate..." the questioner asked, getting only that far before Trimble buzzed to interrupt and correctly answer "Cloud Cuckoo Land" to impressed gasps from the audience.

"Which letter of the alphabet occurs most frequently in the line 'To be or not to be, that is the question?'" she was asked, buzzing immediately to correctly answer 'T'. Her quiz answering technique has been described as "intellectual blitzkrieg."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090224/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_britain_quiz_1

Cops: Man tries to steal laptop to check Facebook


BRADENTON, Fla. – Sheriff's officers said a 19-year-old man snatched a Starbucks customers laptop after being told he could not use it to check his Facebook account. According to officers, the man then grabbed the customer's laptop and ran out of the coffee shop, located in an outlet mall.

Two people in the parking lot tackled the man and held him there until a mall security guard arrived.

The victim got his laptop back and the man was charged Saturday with robbery by sudden snatching, a felony.
Information from: Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Monday, February 23, 2009

South Korean woman fails driver's test 775 times


SEOUL, Feb 21 – A South Korean woman who has failed the driver's exam 775 times is not about give up on her hope of buying a truck one day to go into her own business, whether other drivers want her on the road or not.

Cha Sa-soon, 68, has been trying since 2005 to pass the written portion of the test to get a licence, but she has so far failed to get the 60 percent required to clear it.

"I've looked up some guidebooks to get a driver's licence, and they were saying it takes at most five years to get this," Cha said in North Jeolla province, where farmers on tractors or cows can be just as common on country roads as motor vehicles.

"It's already been four years, so I might pass the test next time. That's what I hope for."

Driving schools in South Korea offer courses to enable applicants to walk away with a licence in a week. Cha has not been fortunate enough to set foot in such a class, which tends to congregate more in busy metropolitan areas, but she remains unfazed, even after having spent more than 10 million won ($6,800) on test applications.

"I believe you can achieve your goal if you persistently pursue it," she says. "So don't give up your dream, like me. Be strong and do your best."($1=1470.8 Won)
(Reporting by Reuters TV, writing by Jack Kiml Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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Stupid News-Nebraska woman, 86, gets $1,000 phone sex bill


BELLEVUE, Neb. – The family of an 86-year-old woman who was billed for over $1,000 in phone sex calls suspects identify theft. Arlene Hald recently received a credit card bill addressed to her husband, Sylvester, who died nearly 20 years ago. Hald said they never had a credit card, yet an account in his name was charged.

Hald's daughter, Peggy Rytych, believes her father was the victim of ID theft. She called the billing company, Preferred Platinum Plan, which agreed to remove the charges.

Rytych says they thought that was the end of it — until another bill arrived for over $70. The California-based company agreed to remove the latest charges and never bill Hald again.Information from: KETV-TV
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Cleaner waters attract sharks


Cleaner waters attract sharks

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Environmental protection of Sydney's beaches and harbor has created a cleaner marine environment, but is attracting sharks closer to shore chasing fish, say marine experts, after two shark attacks in two days.

Fishermen say shark numbers are on the rise, but marine scientists say while there have been more sightings it is unclear whether there are more sharks off Sydney.

A shark almost severed a surfer's arm in an attack just before dark at Sydney's famous Bondi Beach Thursday. The first attack at Bondi since 1929.

A navy diver was attacked in Sydney Harbor near the Opera House Wednesday, losing his hand and he may lose his leg.

New South Wales state Primary Industries Minister Ian MacDonald said Friday he would order a survey of shark numbers off Sydney, after the attacks and as a result of more sightings.

"I think you'll find that the protective measures that have been put in place by governments in recent years have halted the decline of many species of sharks," MacDonald said on Friday.

"Coupled with some improved environment conditions, plus a reduction in fishing efforts in parts of the state, would mean shark numbers could enhance," MacDonald told local radio.

"The reports I am getting from people spotting sharks, there seems to be a build up in sharks in the estuaries, as well as along the ocean shore," he said.

PATROLS INCREASED, BONDI CLOSED

Many shark species, including the Great White, are protected in Australian waters. There are 30 sharks, including the Great White, on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's threatened species list.

Beach rescue helicopter patrols were increased along Sydney's beaches Friday and Bondi Beach was closed for the morning, but some surfers still ventured out into the waves.

"Shark sightings have increased, particularly in the past five to six years," said Harry Mitchell who conducts aerial shark patrols over Sydney's beaches.

Mitchell said cleaner ocean waters had made it easier to spot sharks from the aerial patrol. "Shark sightings do not necessarily mean shark numbers have increased," he said.

Bondi Beach lifeguard Bruce Hopkins said sharks regularly swam into Bondi, despite shark nets aimed at protecting swimmers.

"We usually get all types of sharks come through Bondi. We get hammerheads and the grey nurse ... with the occasional tiger or bull shark. It's nothing out of the ordinary," he said.

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service said sharks were increasingly common in Sydney Harbor, particularly in February and March as they chase seasonal fish into the harbor.

"I guess it's the downside of the environmental controls ... 20 or 30 years ago the harbor was a very difficult place to be for a fish, these days it's actually quite beautiful," said the service's John Dengate.

In the past 10 years Sydney Harbor has become a much clearer marine environment due to a reduction in commercial shipping, less foreshore marine industry, a ban on waste discharge and boat paint containing lead, and better stormwater control measures.

Sydney's beaches have also become cleaner due to the installation of offshore sewage treatment plants and better stormwater controls. While large stretches of Sydney's coastline are now protected marine sanctuaries to encourage marine life.

Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA), whose volunteers patrol beaches, called for calm Friday.

"It is important to recognize that there is always some inherent risk when using an environment inhabited by sharks," said Barry Bruce, a scientist with the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization and SLSA shark advisor.

"The risk of shark-related incidents varies according to the time of day, time of year, the geographic location and species of shark in the area," said Bruce.

The SLSA advises people not to swim at dawn and dusk, when sharks usually feed, or in known shark feeding areas, such as estuaries or harbors.

The last fatal attack occurred in December 2008, when a Great White attacked a 51-year-old man while he was snorkeling off a beach south of Perth in Western Australia.

There have only been a total of 56 fatal shark attacks in Australia in the past 50 years, or an average of about 1 a year, says the Australian Shark Attack File. (Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Teed off man uses golf club in clash over manners


FALMOUTH, Mass. – A man faces assault charges after allegedly striking another man with a golf club in an argument over manners. Police told the Cape Cod Times that a 50-year-old man leaving a gas station in town on Monday morning held the door open for a 38-year-old man.

Police said the 38-year-old man did not thank the other man, who responded by uttering a sarcastic "thank you."

The two men got into an argument before the 38-year-old went to his car to get a golf club, which he allegedly used to strike the victim several times in the stomach and legs. Police said the victim suffered minor injuries.

The 38-year-old man pleaded not guilty to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in Falmouth District Court on Tuesday and was ordered to stay away from the other man.
Information from: Cape Cod Times
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Stupid Stupid-Boy marries dog to ward off tiger attacks


BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) – An infant boy was married off to his neighbors' dog in eastern India by villagers, who said it will stop the groom from being killed by wild animals, officials and witnesses said on Wednesday.

Around 150 tribespeople performed the ritual recently in a hamlet in the state of Orissa's Jajpur district after the boy, who is under two years old, grew a tooth on his upper gum.

The Munda tribe see such a growth in young children as a bad omen and believe it makes them prone to attacks by tigers and other animals. The tribal god will bless the child and ward off evil spirits after the marriage.

"We performed the marriage because it will overcome any curse that might fall on the child as well on us," the boy's father, Sanarumala Munda, was quoted as saying by a local newspaper.

The groom, Sagula, was carried by his family in a procession to the village temple, where a priest solemnized the marriage between Sagula and his bride, Jyoti, by chanting Sanskrit hymns, a witness said.

The dog belongs to the groom's neighbors and was set free to roam around the area after the ceremony. No dowry was exchanged, the witness said, and the boy will still be able to marry a human bride in the future without filing for divorce.

Indian law does not recognize weddings between people and animals, but the ritual survives in rural and tribal areas of the country.(Editing by Matthias Williams, Leslie Gevirtz)
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Stupid News-Candy wrapper trail fingers Fla. burglary suspects


PALM BAY, Fla. – Police say a trail of candy wrappers helped them find five Florida teens suspected of breaking in to a nearby home.

Officers responded to a burglary report Tuesday in Palm Bay on Florida's central Atlantic coast. An officer then followed a trail of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups packages in the backyard. The officer noticed another wrapper on the front porch of a house near the victim's home.

Officers found several juveniles at the other house. Police say the teens confessed to the burglary and informed officers that the stolen property was in the attic.

Three of the teens face armed burglary charges and two others face charges of resisting arrest without violence and tampering with evidence.
Information from: Florida Today
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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Bizarre News Stephen King Killed John Lennon?Santa Rosa Steven Lightfoot's Theory


Santa Rosa Steven Lightfoot's Theory

Santa Rosa resident Steven Lightfoot's calling may be the most bizarre. From the moment John Lennon was killed by deranged gunman Mark Chapman on Dec. 8, 1980, Lightfoot has suspected a cover-up. On his website (www.lennonmurdertruth.com), he presents evidence that has convinced him Lennon was assassinated by horror writer Stephen King, with assistance from the Reagan administration and other government officials. Although Hart hadn't seen Lightfoot at a council meeting for several weeks, Lightfoot has frequently shown up over the years to expound on his theory, which no one has apparently taken very seriously. www.lennonmurdertruth.com
Contrary to all reports about a lone drifter named Mark David Chapman who allegedly shot John Lennon in the back December 8, 1980 you’ll find ample evidence in the back issues of Time, Newsweek, and US News and World Report magazines to suggest otherwise. Namely, that John Lennon was, not only politically assassinated, but that Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and, you’d better sit down, horror novelist Stephen King are the three people who can be proven guilty of the crime.
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Stupid News-They call it Mellow Yellow?


NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A hardline Hindu organization, known for its opposition to "corrupting" Western food imports, is planning to launch a new soft drink made from cow's urine, often seen as sacred in parts of India.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or National Volunteer Corps, said the bovine beverage is undergoing laboratory tests for the next 2 to 3 months but did not give a specific date for its commercial release.

The flavor is not yet known, but the RSS said the liquid produced by Hinduism's revered holy cows is being mixed with products such as aloe vera and gooseberry to fight diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

Many Hindus consider cow urine to have medicinal properties and it is often drunk in religious festivals.

The organization, which aims to transform India's secular society and establish the supremacy of a Hindu majority, said it had not decided on a name or a price for the drink.

"Cow urine offers a cure for around 70 to 80 incurable diseases like diabetes. All are curable by cow urine," Om Prakash, the head of the RSS Cow Protection Department, told Reuters by phone.

Prakash, who is based in Hardwar, one of four holy Hindu cities on the river Ganges where the world's largest religious gathering takes place, said the product will be sold nationwide but did not rule out international success.

"It is useful for the whole country and the world as well. It will be done through shops and through corporates," he said.

The Hindu group has campaigned against foreign imports such as Pepsi and Coca Cola in the past, which it sees as a corrupting influence and a tool of Western imperialism.

The RSS was temporarily banned after a Hindu mob tore down a mosque in 1992 which lead to bloody religious riots.

The Shiv Sena, a hardline Hindu political party also known for attacking what it sees as threats to Indian culture such as Valentine's Day, started a similar initiative last year to appeal to its powerbase in Mumbai.

To promote the food of the native Marathi culture, the Shiv Sena said it was "making a chain like McDonalds" to sell a popular local fried snack.
(Additional reporting by Vipul Tripathi)(Editing by Miral Fahmy)
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Woman uses wedgie to capture suspected thief


SALT LAKE CITY - It took a wedgie and a headlock to pin down a man suspected of breaking into a car. Yvonne Morris, a technician at the Brickyard Animal Hospital, said she chased a man who broke into a co-worker's car, but he kept squirming away from her.Get Sirius----Comedy---2009 Dodge Ram----Advertise Here and 24 Other Sites!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

America's Emptiest Cities


Vacancy rates in these spots spell lots of empty neighborhoods.
Call it a modern-day tale of two cities.

For decades, Las Vegas, ripe with new construction and economic development, burgeoned into a shimmering urban carnival. Detroit, once the fulcrum of American industry, sagged and rusted under its own weight.

These days, it's the worst of times for both.

Las Vegas edged Detroit for the title of America's most abandoned city. Atlanta came in third, followed by Greensboro, N.C., and Dayton, Ohio. Our rankings, a combination of rental and homeowner vacancy rates for the 75 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country, are based on fourth-quarter data released Feb. 3 by the Census Bureau. Each was ranked on rental vacancies and housing vacancies; the final ranking is an average of the two.

Cities like Detroit and Dayton are casualties of America's lengthy industrial decline. Others, like Las Vegas and Orlando, are mostly victims of the recent housing bust. Boston and New York are among the lone bright spots, while Honolulu is the nation's best with a vacancy rate of 5.8% for homes and a scant 0.5% for rentals.

Still, empty neighborhoods are becoming an increasingly daunting problem across the country. The national rental vacancy rate now stands at 10.1%, up from 9.6% a year ago; homeowner vacancy has edged up from 2.8% to 2.9%. Richmond, Va.'s rental vacancy rate of 23.7% is the worst in America, while Orlando's 7.4% rate is lousiest on the homeowner side. Detroit and Las Vegas are among the worst offenders by both measures--the Motor City sports vacancy rates of 19.9% for rentals and 4% for homes; Sin City has rates of 16% and 4.7%, respectively.

"It's a mess," says Vegas developer Laurence Hallier. "Right now, things are just frozen. Everybody's scared."

Hallier, 40, knows from experience. His $600 million Panorama Towers complex was a tremendous success at its inception three years ago. The first of his four planned residential skyscrapers sold out in six months; the second, which opened in 2007, sold out in 12 weeks. As the third tower neared completion last fall, Hallier had sold 92% of its units. Then the recession hit, and only half the units ended up closing. Hallier says it will take years to break even, and plans for the fourth tower have been delayed indefinitely.

There are others who've made--and lost--far worse gambles on Vegas property. In 2007, Israeli billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva and partner Nochi Dankner paid $1.25 billion to buy a 34.5-acre site on the Strip, with plans to build an $8 billion mega-casino modeled after New York's Plaza Hotel. By November, the value of the lot had plummeted to $650 million--half what they paid for it. Groundbreaking on the casino has been pushed back to 2010, and today, the land may be worth less than the $625 million Tshuva and Dankner borrowed to buy it.

The Plaza debacle is emblematic of the problems afflicting millions of property owners in Vegas and around the country--and can explain, in large part, the origins of America's housing crisis.

As real estate prices skyrocketed during the boom, consumers took out massive loans to buy homes, assuming values would continue to rise. Instead they took a nosedive, especially in places like Las Vegas, Florida and Phoenix, where the housing boom had created excess inventory and so-called "bad loans" were rampant. Many homeowners suddenly found themselves with properties worth far less than the mortgages they'd taken out. In the worst cases, banks foreclosed, leaving people without homes--and with more debt than they'd had to begin with.

The situation in places like Las Vegas is bad enough, but Detroit's problems run much deeper. Though its vacancy rates are marginally better than Sin City's, Motown has been on the empty side for decades. An industrial boomtown during the first half of the 20th century, Detroit's population swelled from 285,000 in 1900 to 990,000 in 1920, reaching a peak of 1.8 million in 1950.

But starting in the 1960s, Detroit began a precipitous decline. Detroit's population is now 900,000--half what it was in the middle of the century--and many of its neighborhoods languish in varying states of decay. Most scholars blame rapid suburbanization, outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, and federal programs they say exacerbated the situation by creating a culture of joblessness and dependency.

Yet after more than half a century, countless scholars, politicians, community organizers developers and nonprofit workers have been unable to come up with a solution to fix Detroit.

Will Las Vegas eventually suffer the same fate?

"I don't think Vegas is overbuilt," says Hallier. "Despite what everybody says, Vegas still has 2 million people."

Time will tell if this sort of optimism is warranted. Cynics who've witnessed Detroit's decline might liken Hallier's opinions to another Dickens oeuvre: Great Expectations.

In Depth: America's Emptiest Cities

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Monday, February 16, 2009

British, French nuclear subs collide in Atlantic


LONDON – Nuclear-armed submarines from Britain and France collided in the Atlantic Ocean earlier this month, authorities acknowledged Monday — touching off new concerns about the safety of the world's deep sea missile fleets.

The HMS Vanguard, the oldest vessel in Britain's nuclear-armed submarine fleet, and the French Le Triomphant submarine, which was also carrying nuclear missiles, both suffered minor damage in the collision. No crew members were reported injured.

Britain's most senior sailor, First Sea Lord, Adm. Jonathon Band, said the underwater crash posed no risk to the safety of the submarines' nuclear reactors and nuclear missiles. But he offered no explanation of how the rare incident might have occurred.

"The two submarines came into contact at very low speed," Band said in a statement. "Both submarines remained safe."

France's defense ministry said the ballistic missile submarines had been carrying out routine patrols when they collided.

"They briefly came into contact at a very low speed while submerged. There were no injuries. Neither their ...More

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NYC toy fair vendor offers Madoff doll - to smash


NEW YORK - Mad at disgraced investor Bernard Madoff? There's a toy just for you. One of the vendors at this week's Toy Fair is offering the "Smash-Me Bernie," a $99.95 Madoff lookalike doll that wears a devil-red suit and carries a pitchfork. It comes with its own hammer — so you can pulverize it.
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Shark attacks diver in harbor


SYDNEY (Reuters) – A navy diver punched a shark as he was being attacked in Sydney Harbor on Wednesday, fending off the predator but suffering severe injuries to his right hand and leg.

The 31-year-old man was taking part in anti-terrorism training in waters around the Garden Island Naval Base, near the Sydney Opera House, when the shark attacked.

"The attack occurred very quickly. Our diver punched the shark, I believe, a couple of times. The shark then disappeared very quickly," Australian Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Nigel Coates told reporters.

"It was all over, I'm told, in a few seconds."

There have been at least four other shark attacks in Australia this summer, one of them fatal, sparking a global media frenzy of "Jaws" proportions. Last month, there were three attacks in just two days.

In the latest case, the diver was swimming on the water surface when the attack happened. He was treated on a navy boat, before being rushed ashore and to a nearby hospital for surgery.

Coates said the man was in a serious condition.

"The patient said he saw something big and grey underneath him just before the attack," an ambulance spokesman said, adding the man had severe injuries to his right hand, buttocks and down to his knee on one leg.(Reporting by James Grubel; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)Get Sirius----Comedy---2009 Dodge Ram----Advertise Here and 24 Other Sites!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Weird News-Man bitten by snake at Wal-Mart Lawn and Garden Section


Florida - Wal-Mart is full of signs highlighting low prices, but there should be another warning customers that they might be attacked by snakes on the premises, a bitten shopper says. Hollywood resident Jay Richitelli filed suit against the mega retailer because a venomous pygmy rattlesnake bit him in the lawn and garden section of the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pembroke Pines.....More
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When toddlers point a lot, more words will follow


WASHINGTON – Don't just talk to your toddler — gesture, too. Pointing, waving bye-bye and other natural gestures seem to boost a budding vocabulary. Scientists found those tots who could convey more meaning with gestures at age 14 months went on to have a richer vocabulary as they prepared to start kindergarten. And intriguingly, whether a family is poor or middle class plays a role, the researchers report Friday.

Anyone who's ever watched a tot perform the arms-raised "pick me up now" demand knows that youngsters figure out how to communicate well before they can talk. Gesturing also seems to be an important precursor to forming sentences, as children start combining one word plus a gesture for a second word.

University of Chicago researchers wondered if gesturing also played a role in a serious problem: Children from low-income families start school with smaller vocabularies than their better-off classmates. It's a gap that tends to persist as the students age. In fact, kindergarten vocabulary is a predicter of how well youngsters ultimately fare in school.

One big key to a child's vocabulary is how their parents talked to them from babyhood on. Previous research has shown that higher-income, better-educated parents tend to talk and read more to small children, and to use more varied vocabulary and complex syntax.

Do those parents also gesture more as they talk with and teach their children?

To see, university psychology researchers Susan Goldin-Meadow and Meredith Rowe visited the homes of 50 Chicago-area families of varying socioeconomic status who had 14-month-olds. They videotaped for 90 minutes to count both parents' and children's words and gestures. Quantity aside, they also counted whether children made gestures with specific meanings.

This is not baby sign-language; parents weren't formally training their tots. Instead, they used everyday gestures to point something out or illustrate a concept. A child points to a dog and mom says, "Yes, that's a dog." Or dad flaps his arms to mimic flying. Or pointing illustrates less concrete concepts like "up" or "down" or "big."

The researchers found an income gap with gesturing even in toddlerhood, when children speak few words.

Higher-income parents did gesture more and, more importantly, their children on average produced 25 meanings in gesture during that 90-minute session, compared with an average of 13 among poorer children, they reported in the journal Science.

Then the researchers returned to test vocabulary comprehension at age 4 1/2. The poorer children scored worse, by about 24 points. Researchers blamed mostly socioeconomic status and parents' speech, but said gesturing contributed, too.

It's not just that richer parents gesture more, stressed Peggy McCardle of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which funded the work.

"It's that there's a greater variety of types of gesture that would signal different types of meaning," McCardle said. "It sure looks like the kids are learning that and it's given them kind of a leg-up."

The study doesn't prove gesturing leads to better word-learning, but it's a strong hint. Now scientists wonder if encouraging low-income parents to gesture more could translate to toddlers who do, too, and in turn improve school readiness.

"It wouldn't hurt to encourage parents to talk more and gesture more," Rowe said.
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Trade a gun for a rose in SC on Valentine's Day


COLUMBIA, S.C. – Police in South Carolina gave away roses on Valentine's Day. All you had to do to get one for your sweetie was turn in a gun.

Hoping to get the weapons off the streets with the "Guns for Roses" program, authorities in two central South Carolina cities set up a program where anyone who turned in a gun received a free rose and a Best Buy gift card.

At a Columbia church, five cars lined up to give away guns before the exchange had even started. At the end of the day, Columbia area police had collected 191 weapons and police in Sumter collected 32.

"We've got a great turnout so far," Richland County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Chris Cowan said.

A handgun was worth a $100 gift card, while a rifle or shotgun netted a $50 gift certificate. Cowan said one man turned in six handguns, worth $600 in gift cards.

Cowan did not immediately have a total value for gift cards given out. Sumter Police Chief Patty Patterson said her program gave out $550 in gift cards for long guns and $2,100 for handguns.

There was no amnesty for those turning in the guns. The weapons were being checked to see if they were stolen, names and addresses were jotted down and ballistics tests would also be done to see if the firearm was used in a crime.

Both Cowan and Patterson said there were no incidents and no arrests made Saturday.

Cowan said the idea was spawned in part by Columbia Police Chief T.P. Carter and Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who has made headlines recently for investigating Michael Phelps after a photo surfaced showing the Olympic swimming champion smoking a marijuana pipe. The program was modeled after a California one; similar exchanges have been done in New York and San Francisco.

Cowan said gun donors were young and old, men and woman. Many had a big smile and some said it was a relief to get rid of the weapons.

And did they even care about the rose?

"Most of them have taken it," Cowan said.Get Sirius----Comedy---2009 Dodge Ram----Advertise Here and 24 Other Sites!

China launches campaign to break sex taboos


BEIJING (Reuters) – China on Sunday launched a national sex education campaign aimed at breaking traditional taboos and getting more people to seek treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and infertility.

Just seven percent of women and slightly more than eight percent of men seek immediate medical help for sexual problems, while more a third of people never seek help, said one of the campaign's advisors.

"These numbers are shocking," Xia Enlan, head of the obstetrics and gynaecology department of the Capital University of Sciences' Fuxing Hospital, told a news conference.

"The numbers who get medical attention for sexual problems are extremely small," she added. "This delays treatment for some very serious diseases."

The campaign, called "The sunshine project to care for gender health," will feature posters, competitions and sponsorship of an international sex toy fair in Beijing, organisers said, in a bid to breach "painful topics" of sex.

It will be fronted by Hong Kong starlet Yvonne Yung and her husband Will Liu, who will be the campaign's "image ambassadors."

"Sexual health is an important part of family life and good for helping build a harmonious society," said Cui Yandi of the China Woman and Child Development Centre, one of the programme's main sponsors.

China reported a one-fifth rise in syphilis last year, with a total of 257,474 cases, according to the Health Ministry, though gonorrhoea cases dropped by a tenth.

HIV/AIDS in China is also now mainly sexually transmitted. In the past, most infections were caused by intravenous drug use.

By the end of 2007, China had an estimated 700,000 people infected with HIV, up from an earlier estimate of 650,000, but is believed to have many unreported cases.

While the government has rolled out a television campaign to promote condom use, a major move for a country where talking about sex is problematic for many people, Xia said traditional shyness about discussing sex remains a huge issue.

"It's taboo. The influence of feudalistic thinking has been around for many years. People are not very open," she told Reuters.

"People need to talk about it now that the economy has been growing so fast and we're becoming more and more open," Xia said.

"The traditional way of thinking has not been broken," she added. "We need more publicity, and to talk about these issues in the open. That's why we need this campaign."(Editing by Valerie Lee)
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Friday, February 13, 2009

Stupid News|Bishop arrested for child chimney pot stunt


LONDON (Reuters) – A British bishop was arrested on suspicion of child cruelty after he helped his two young sons to perch on top of the chimney of their house to read a book as part of a school project.

Bishop Jonathan Blake, of the Open Episcopal Church, took pictures of his sons Nathan, eight, and Dominic, seven, while they sat on top of their two-storey home.

The children were calmly holding a book called "The Killer Underpants" for a school competition to find the most unusual place where a pupil had read a book.

After a neighbor alerted the police, the clergyman said he was arrested, driven away in a cage in the back of a van and kept overnight in a cell.

"I was taken out in handcuffs in front of the whole neighborhood while my children were in tears," the 52-year-old told Reuters on Thursday. "I was kept in the cells without any information about what was taking place from 7 p.m. until 10 a.m. the following morning.

"I am appalled and incredulous. I would never have imagined in a thousand years that this could have happened." The children were wearing safety harnesses and got on to the chimney via a flat roof at the back of the house in Welling, southeast London, he added.

Blake said he would make an official complaint and has already contacted London police chief Paul Stephenson and Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "A member of the public reported that two small children had been left unattended on the roof of a house. A 52-year-old man was arrested in connection with the allegation and has since been released without charge."
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Gross News:Woman's record-length fingernails broken in crash


SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah woman listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for her long fingernails has lost them in a car crash. Lee Redmond of Salt Lake City sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the accident Tuesday.

Redmond's nails, which hadn't been cut since 1979, were broken in the crash. According to the Guinness Web site, her nails measured a total of more than 28 feet long in 2008, with the longest nail on her right thumb at 2 feet, 11 inches.

Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson says Redmond was ejected from an SUV in the crash and taken to the hospital in serious condition.

Redmond has been featured on TV in episodes of "Guinness Book of World Records" and "Ripley's Believe It or Not."
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Stupid News:Wind leads police to marijuana-growing operation


SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Mother Nature helped police uncover a home marijuana-growing operation. Police said a gust of wind set off a security alarm at a home in western St. Joseph County on Tuesday, prompting Indiana State Police Trooper Mick Dockery to investigate.

Dockery found the back door of the home open. Inside the home, his police dog indicated the presence of drugs. Police found 19 marijuana plants and 40 grams of processed marijuana.

No arrests have been made, but St. Joseph County prosecutors are reviewing possible charges against the homeowners.
Information from: South Bend Tribune
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Funny News:"Loose" women to send knickers to Hindu group



MUMBAI (Reuters) – Thousands of Indians, many fuming over a recent assault on women in a pub, are vowing to fill bars on Valentine's Day and send cartons of pink panties to a radical Hindu group that has branded outgoing females immoral.

A "consortium of pub-going, loose and forward women," founded by four Indian women on social networking website Facebook has, in a matter of days, attracted more than 25,000 members with over 2,000 posts about the self-appointed moral police.

The women said their mission was to go bar-hopping on February 14 and send hundreds of pink knickers to Sri Ram Sena, the militant Hindu group that has said pubs are for men, and that women should stay at home and cook for their husbands.

The same Hindu group was blamed for attacking women in a bar in the southern city of Mangalore in January, an incident that sparked a national debate about women's freedoms in India.

Collection centers have sprung up in several cities, with volunteers calling for bright pink old-fashioned knickers as gifts to the Sri Ram Sena as a mark of defiance.

"Girl power! Go girls, go. Show Ram Sena... who's the boss," reads one post on Facebook from Larkins Dsouza.

There is a separate campaign to "Walk to the nearest pub and buy a drink (and) raise a toast," that has found supporters from Toronto to Bangkok to Sydney, with even teetotalers saying they will get a drink on Saturday to show solidarity.

"Though I don't promote smoking or drinking for both sexes, we definitely don't need hooligans telling us what to do and what not. Best of luck!," reads one post from Iftehar Ahsan.

There are more heated discussion threads as well that range from the limits of independence to religion and politics, reflecting the struggle facing a country that has long battled to balance its deep-rooted traditions with rapid modernization.

Growing numbers of young and independent urban women have become an easy target for religious fundamentalists and aging politicians trying to force traditional mores on an increasingly liberal, Western outlook.

Not to be outdone, the Sri Ram Sena, which has cautioned shops and pubs in southern Karnataka state against marking Valentine's Day, has promised to gift pink saris to women and marry off canoodling couples to make them "respectable."
(Reporting by Rina Chandran; Editing by Alistair Scrutton and Miral Fahmy)
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Stupid News|Police find 22 dogs in station wagon with owner


North Texas authorities seized 22 dogs found crammed inside a station wagon with their owner. The owner locked the car doors and refused to come out when a constable tried to serve her a warrant for the seizure of the dogs early Monday, said SPCA spokeswoman Maura Davies.

Two puppies and 20 dogs were taken to a shelter until a judge decides who gets custody, the SPCA said. A hearing on the custody of the animals is set for Feb. 16 in Denison.

The dogs were in the car along with a pot of water, blankets and waste.

"The car was soaked with urine and covered in feces. The ammonia level in the vehicle was 23 parts per million even after the doors had been opened for several minutes. As a frame of reference, humans start experiencing health issues at 12 parts per million," Courtney Stevens, SPCA of Texas rescue and investigations supervisor, said in a news release.

The owner does not face charges, Grayson County constable Michael Putman said. She was not coherent and the SPCA said it has contacted Adult Protective Services about the woman.

Pottsboro is about 70 miles north of Dallas.
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Teen charged with billing school for $37K of candy


MIDDLETOWN, Ohio – Police say an Ohio teenager tried to pull off a sweet deal by ordering more than $37,000 of candy online and charging the bill to his former high school.

Police say the 18-year-old used a Middletown High School purchasing number to place orders for thousands of lollipops and candy bars from Michigan-based The Goodies Factory. It wasn't clear how he accessed the number.

The candy company became suspicious, contacted the school and was told by detectives to send an empty box.

Police say he had the order shipped to his home and was arrested after the fake delivery.

The teen faces two counts of felony telecommunications fraud. He was being held in Middletown City Jail on more than $30,000 bond.
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Blast away bad luck with fireworks ritual


TAITUNG, Taiwan (Reuters) – Being burned by fireworks is considered a stroke of bad luck, but for Taiwanese who willingly subject themselves to an explosive barrage, it's all about good fortune.

In one of Taiwan's wildest but least-known rituals to mark the Lunar New Year, five men in the southern city of Taitung asked to be showered with fireworks, and were burned by them.

Traditionally, the targets endure the pain to get rid of evil spirits and change their luck for the year ahead. Today, the men let themselves get burned to show strength and bring prosperity to the local merchant who hired them.

"I'm a thug, and I want to become an official," joked Chen Chin-yi about why he volunteered for a 25th year to get burned in the smoky annual Han Dan ritual. "I won't go to the hospital. I treat my wounds at friends' homes."

The ritual's namesake, Han Dan, is said to be a god of wealth who likes fire but fears the cold, so believers throw firecrackers to please him.

Chen emerged from the ritual with small burns all over his tattooed, largely unclothed body after letting about 30 men throw wads of firecrackers at him while he rode on a sedan carriage. About 1,000 people watched from the street.

This year, a local jeweler hired Chen and the other four men to improve its own fortunes.

"For us, this is to welcome more business," said Hu Dai-fen, 48, whose family runs the shop that requested the show, paying about T$70,000 ($2,100) for the fireworks and the gold medals given out to the wounded volunteers.

All the men were "bombed" for about two minutes each as onlookers applauded, while ducking the flaming debris of firecrackers that missed their marks.

"There is a danger. Sometimes these guys can't walk for a week," said Wang Cheng-fu, an event coordinator. "But one who's experienced can last for more than 10 minutes."

Despite the risks, Taitung, population 240,000, has allowed the ritual to be held for most of the past 50 years and has even started to promote it as a tourist attraction.

Some spectators go just for a blast. Others see the event as maintaining tradition.

"In the past few years the Lunar New Year atmosphere has become diluted, but this won't be forgotten by our children," said Taitung resident Chuang Shu-fen.

Han Dan rituals began this year in Taitung from Friday with local government-sponsored shows that try not to burn anyone.

Taiwan is a hotbed of traditional Chinese culture, honoring the two-week festivities that mark the beginning of the Lunar New Year with mass displays of lanterns, a cow-themed light show for Year of the Ox and other fireworks displays.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Stupid News Gas station robber arrested after getaway car runs out of gas


CAPE HAZE, Florida - A Charlotte County man is arrested for robbery after his car runs out of gas during the getaway.
According to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, deputies arrested 23-year-old David Eric Hampton in connection with a Bowie knife armed robbery of the BP station, 8675 Placida Rd., in Cape Haze early Sunday at 3:30 a.m. More...
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Stupid News:Suspect accused of illegally injecting silicone into women's buttocks


TAMPA -- Sheriff's deputies are seeking a Tampa woman they say illegally injected silicone and saline into two women's buttocks. Sharhonda L. Lindsay, 32, of 9827 Blue Palm Way, left, was not licensed when she administered the cosmetic enhancements on Jan. 29, according to Sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway. More...
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Octuplets Mom On Welfare her publicist confirmed - Publicist?


LOS ANGELES — The Southern California mother of octuplets receives $490 a month in food stamps and three of her first six children are disabled and receiving federal assistance, her publicist confirmed Monday evening.
Spokesman Michael Furtney said Suleman did not want to disclose the nature of the disabilities, or the type or sum of the payments. More...
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Monday, February 09, 2009

Police searching for toilet torcher


SAN FRANCISCO - Construction workers are anxious, and investigators are puzzled. Someone has been sending San Francisco's portable toilets up in flames in a wave of potty pyromania. "It's an outrage," said Scott Johnson, a 57-year-old contractor who has been working on apartment building renovations on Russian Hill, the elegant neighborhood that is home to famously crooked Lombard Street and has had most of the fires. More...
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Sri Lankan watches TV 72 hours to set world record


STOCKHOLM – Suresh Joachim has broken his own Guinness world record for nonstop broadcast-television watching, clocking 72 hours in the Swedish capital.

"I feel fine, I drank between 25 and 30 cups of coffee," Joachim said Sunday.

His previous record was 69 hours, 48 minutes, set in 2005.

Joachim, a Sri Lanka native who lives in Toronto, watched three seasons of the drama series "24" featuring Kiefer Sutherland, said Swedish TV4 spokeswoman Janina Witkowski.Get Sirius----Comedy---2009 Dodge Ram----Advertise Here and 24 Other Sites!

Guinness World Records|Pics

These are some freaky weird pics.Don't get sick!

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Sunday, February 08, 2009

Odd News:Voodoo makes a comeback in Florida


WEST PALM BEACH, Florida - Scholars and voodoo priests said increasing numbers of South Florida Haitian-Americans in their 20s and 30s are turning to the voodoo religion.
Elizabeth McAlister, a professor of religion at Wesleyan University, said voodoo is often practiced at home, making it difficult to measure the number of adherents, but research indicates the religion is growing among first and second generation Haitians. More...
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Stupid Odd News:Man shot twice in two days


Canada - Shot two nights in a row, a man in his mid-20s has survived both attacks.
Police said the victim, who was shot in a car in the southwest Friday night, was again wounded by gunfire last night.
About 8:30 p.m., police were called to the 7-Eleven at 39 Ave. and Macleod Tr. following a complaint from staff that a man came to the store with gunshot wounds. More...
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The price of a pack of cigarettes soars past $10


New york City - With a new 62 cent federal tax on cigarettes added this week with the passage of the State Children's Health Insurance Program law, the new price of a pack of cigarettes will soar past $10 in Manhattan.
The NYC price is higher than anywhere in the country and more than twice the national average. More...
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Stupid News:Drug-dealing milkman spared jail


LONDON (Reuters) – A milkman who admitted he delivered cannabis as well as pints to elderly customers to ease their aches and pains, was spared jail Friday.

Robert Holding, 72, from Burnley, told police he supplied the drug to 17 customers after detectives raided his home and found nearly 6oz (167g) of cannabis in an egg crate in the van he used for deliveries.

"He said he sold the cannabis to existing customers because they were old and had aches and pains," said prosecutor Sarah Statham.

"He said he sold a 9oz (255g) bar about every three weeks and sold it for a relatively cheap value. He said that customers left him notes saying, for example, 'Can I have an ounce this week or can I have an eighth.'"

Holding, who admitted supplying and possession of the drug at a previous hearing, was given a 36-month prison sentence suspended for a year at Burnley Crown Court Friday, the Press Association reported.

Judge Beverley Lunt told him the sentence was "an act of mercy" because he visited his wife, who has Alzheimer's disease, every day in a care home.

"You were not some philanthropist helping out the elderly out of the good of your heart. You dealt drugs for profit in a calculated way. It was a business," the judge told him.

His lawyer Philip Holden said his client "wasn't making much of a profit" and that his oldest client was 92.

"Word had got out that he was a man who could supply cannabis to those of a certain age with aches and pains and he misguidedly believed he was providing a public service," he said.

After the verdict Holding insisted he had not made money from his drug dealing.

"They (the customers) enjoyed it, they saved a lot of money while I was doing it and I only did it for a short time," he said.

However Neil Standage, area crown prosecutor for East Lancashire, said there was no evidence that he was only supplying elderly people with painful ailments.

"This might make it sound like what he was doing was harmless. It wasn't," he said.
(Reporting by Michael Holden)Get Sirius----Comedy---2009 Dodge Ram----Advertise Here and 24 Other Sites!