‘Staffing was so inadequate at a California senior center that a rat crawled into an Alzheimer’s patient’s mouth and died there before staff noticed, a lawsuit claims. [..]
“The facility so literally ignored the needs of their residents … as to allow vermin in the form of a rat to become lodged in the mouth of Sigmund Bock and die therein,” the lawsuit alleges.
Melody Chatelle, a spokeswoman for Sunwest Management Inc., the Oregon-based company that operates Paragon, denied the allegations.
“We take care of our residents, and find this negative publicity to be a disheartening affront to our professional caregivers and most especially to our residents and their loved ones,” she said.’
‘It’s 11:30 at night; the kids are on the floor of a yellow school bus that’s parked not in Manhattan but a desolate lot in Williamsburg; and everyone on the bus, including the storyteller, is in high school. Oh, one more thing: they’re all on 5-methoxy-N N-diisopropyltryptamine, better known as the club drug Foxy.
Every two weeks, in some forsaken corner of the city, New York’s privileged teenagers go to “Sindergarten,” a traveling party for 17-year olds who, for a few carefree hours, want to feel like they’re five again. Nursery school-style accessories—snacks, children’s music, storybooks, finger-paints—are supplemented with multiple doses of Foxy methoxy, a hallucinogen similar to Ecstasy said to facilitate a childlike sense of wonder with the world.’
Tryptamines rarely make the news.
‘On March 23, an 11-year-old girl woke up in the middle of the night to find a long pole sticking through her bedroom window.
The pole had a hook on the end and the hook was pulling the comforter off her bed.
Naturally, the girl screamed. Then she ran to get her mother, according to the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities searched the neighborhood in the town of Hernando looking for Peeping Toms and checking up on neighborhood sex offenders, but found no suspect.
But deputies did find semen on the outside of the girl’s house, just below her window, according to the Sheriff’s Office.’
‘A Chinese woman survived a plunge from a sixth-floor balcony thanks to a convenient pile of excrement which broke her fall, local media said.
The accident happened when the woman was hanging out laundry on Monday in Nanjing, capital of the eastern province of Jiangsu, the Kuaibao tabloid said on its Web site (www.kuaibao.net).
“Workers happened to be emptying the building’s septic tank, which had not been tended for a long time and had regularly blocked sewage pipes,” the newspaper said.
“She probably stretched out too far and fell … right on to a 20 cm-thick heap of excrement.”‘
‘Nine young adults face criminal charges Wednesday night after breaking into a group of buildings owned by video game mogul Richard Garriott.
The suspects were identified because of pictures on a digital camera that was left at the crime scene.’
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‘The Big Brother nightmare of George Orwell’s 1984 has become a reality – in the shadow of the author’s former London home. [..]
According to the latest studies, Britain has a staggering 4.2million CCTV cameras – one for every 14 people in the country – and 20 per cent of cameras globally. It has been calculated that each person is caught on camera an average of 300 times daily.
Use of spy cameras in modern-day Britain is now a chilling mirror image of Orwell’s fictional world, created in the post-war Forties in a fourth-floor flat overlooking Canonbury Square in Islington, North London.
On the wall outside his former residence – flat number 27B – where Orwell lived until his death in 1950, an historical plaque commemorates the anti-authoritarian author. And within 200 yards of the flat, there are 32 CCTV cameras, scanning every move.’
‘You’ve heard the legend: Cue up Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz, and trippiness ensues. Now we’ve set it up so you can judge for yourself.
Watch the four creepiest sync-ups, right now!’
I like number 3.
‘A tour guide in southwest China stabbed 20 tourists and locals in an attack blamed on a row over kickbacks from souvenir shops and possibly linked to an unhappy childhood, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.
Xu Minchao, 25, was leading 40 tourists through Lijiang, a World Heritage-listed tourist destination in mountainous Yunnan province, on Sunday when he suddenly ran into a souvenir shop and demanded a knife, Xinhua said.
“Not realising the man was ready to kill, a girl in the shop gave him one and was stabbed immediately in the arm,” Xinhua said.’
‘More than 4,000 clubbers danced through the rush hour at Victoria station in Britain’s biggest flash mob stunt.
Revellers responded to e-bulletins urging them to “dance like you’ve never danced before” at 6.53pm.
There were knowing looks and giggles among the casually dressed crowd that gathered from 6.30pm, wearing earphones.
A deafening 10-second countdown startled station staff and commuters before the concourse erupted in whoops and cheers. MP3 players and iPods emerged and the crowd danced wildly to their soundtracks in silence – for two hours.’
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I was a few percent away at the end of the clock.
‘A suspended Toronto elementary school principal has pleaded guilty to throwing feces (excrement) on a child.
Maria Pantalone, 49, was charged with two counts of assault – one against that child and one against another – but only admitted to one of the charges today.
“I couldn’t take it any more,” she testified, in describing the provocative circumstances leading up to the incident last June 30.
But she agreed it wasn’t in any way justified.’
‘An Arcadia man who is paralyzed from the neck down and his caregiver were jailed this afternoon in connection with the rape and incest of three children, Bienville Sheriff John Ballance said.
Bienville sheriff’s investigators have charged Michael Lee Smudricks, 57, with one count of aggravated rape and three counts of aggravated incest. His caregiver, Lynn Swan West, who turns 59 Thursday, also of Arcadia, is charged with one count of principal to aggravated rape and three counts of principal to aggravated incest.
The alleged assault involves children under the age of 15. They are in state custody.
Arrest warrants for Smudricks were signed March 5, but authorities could not pick him up until today after seeking the state’s help in locating a jail or prison that could house him. [..]’
21 Gay Street is, I assume, the lesbian version of 21 Jump Street.
‘A horror movie fanatic who repeatedly slashed his terrified friend with a home-made Freddy Krueger glove was jailed for life yesterday.
Jason Moore was obsessed with the Nightmare on Elm Street killer and spent hours crafting various recreations of his ‘horrific’ weapon.
His final model featured four curved steel blades – each as sharp as a cut-throat razor – that were attached to a welded brass amulet.
Deranged Moore, 37, used the glove to attack his friend John Skamarski as he slept, causing slash wounds to his face, neck and hands. [..]
Moore – who was originally charged with attempted murder – phoned 999 himself, telling the operator he didn’t know why he carried out the attack.
He said: “I almost stabbed him to death. I’m going out of my mind. For some unbeknown reason I attacked him in the chest. I tried to stab his heart.”‘
‘Three Japanese naval officers who swapped pornography on their computers triggered a scandal over a possible leak of sensitive data linked to Japan’s missile defense system, a newspaper said Thursday.
Police launched a probe last week after a navy officer married to a Chinese woman was found to have taken home a computer disk containing information about the high-tech Aegis radar system, domestic media said.
Aegis is used on Japanese destroyers that are to be fitted with SM-3 missile interceptors from this year as part of the missile defense program.
The officer told police he accidentally copied the confidential data onto his computer’s hard disk when copying porn from a computer belonging to a crew member from another destroyer, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.’
This is the fish of doom.
I’ve got a fair few things to do over the next few days. I’ll try and post when I have the time.
‘Grapefruit juice has been shown to affect the metabolism of several drugs. Included in the list of potential target drugs are diazepam, cisapride, cyclosporine, felodipine and other dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers, midazolam, nisoldipine, triazolam, saquinavir, lovastatin, and atorvastatin. The mechanism of this interaction appears to primarily result from inhibition of enzymes in the intestinal wall.
Several constituents of grapefruit juice have been implicated including the flavonoids naringin and naringenin, along with the furanocoumarins, bergapten and 6,7-dihydroxybergamottin. Unfortunately, the content of these varies between different grapefruit juices and varieties of fruit, making it impossible to determine if one is safer than another.’
Balls of Steel always make me laugh.
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I plan to put some old Preservation Hall Jazz Band stuff up when I can find some too. And possibly some more Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht things too.
see it here »
‘Police said an 18-year-old Suffolk man battered a 4-week-old baby who reminded him of a guy he doesn’t like.
Breon Lashawn Perry, who caused a brain injury to the infant, was charged with felony child abuse and aggravated malicious wounding, Suffolk Police Lt. Debbie George said. [..]
After investigating, police found out the baby and his 3-year-old sister were left in the care of Perry, the mother’s boyfriend, while the mother was at work. Perry struck the baby several times in the face and head because the child reminded Perry of the child’s father, whom Perry did not like, George said.’
aka Super Horse Saves The Day
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‘A worker was injured this afternoon when his penis became caught in machinery at a northern suburbs saw mill.
The man, 30, was working at the Parafield Gardens Saw Mill at about 1.50pm when his crotch and penis became caught in the chain of a piece of machinery.
He was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital. It is believed his injuries are not life threatening but he initially suffered uncontrollable bleeding.
A company spokesman said the man’s injuries were not serious.
“He got caught in the log moving mechanism on one of the saws,” he said.’
‘I made this tutorial to help you guys create fake cumshots in Photoshop. It’s pretty fast, easy and fun thing to do. I used Photoshop CS2 but I’m sure that it will work on older versions of Photoshop as well.’
‘A Half Moon Bay man who shot an ostrich to death after the flightless bird pummeled him and his friend when they trespassed on a coastal ranch was ordered released today after serving five months in jail for animal abuse.
Jonathon Porter, 20 — who prosecutors say killed for revenge after the bird humiliated him in front of women he was trying to impress — was sentenced today by Judge John Grandsaert effectively to time served. [..]
McKevitt was kicked in the ribs and knocked to the ground, according to a police report. Porter suffered scrapes and bruises when the ostrich kicked him, the report said.
“And at that point, the crucial thing happened,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. “Apparently the girls started laughing.”
Porter and McKevitt drove away with the women, then allegedly armed themselves with a rifle and shotgun.’
‘The needle tears a hole, the old familiar sting..’
Johnny Cash does a good version of it too. :)
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‘Doctor Who David Tennant loves having farting competitions in the Tardis.
The actor, 36, says that he takes on co-star John Barrowman who plays Captain Jack in trumping contests.
Speaking on tonight’s Graham Norton Show, he laughed: “We get very competitive about farting in the Tardis. Farting before performing is a kind of exorcism.
“John feels the same way. It’s our Glasgow heritage.”
However, David joked that Freema Agyeman, who plays new assistant Martha Jones when the sci-fi drama returns to BBC1 this Saturday, isn’t impressed.
David added: “Freema really didn’t like it, which spurred us on.”’
