‘1. Flower-Flavored PEZ®
No, that’s not a typo. Although it would be equally disgusting, we’re talking about flower, not flour.
Introduced in the late 1960’s, flower-flavored PEZ was designed to appeal to the hippie generation — complete with a groovy, psychedelic dispenser. But even in the decade of free love, no love could be found for the flavor power of flower.
Floral scents make for great perfume, but nobody eats perfume, and apparently, there’s a reason why. The flower version flopped, and became the next addition to PEZ’s long and disturbing list of flavor failures.’
‘SABLE-3 was launched on Saturday, August 11th, 2007, at 9:31 AM with a payload, consisting of a Nikon Coolpix P2 digital camera set to take 1 image every minute and a Byonics MicroTrak 300 APRS Tracker, that the Kaysam 1200 gram balloon carried to over 117,597 feet. The last payload camera photo from the ground was just before it was launched, at 9:31 AM, and the last photo before the balloon burst was the photo above, at 12:01 PM, exactly 2½ hours or 150 images later. And what a photo. The composition couldn’t have been better or the horizon more level and out of the 196 images taken during the flight, only 1 other image is as good. What are the chances?’
‘A service offering a complete “revenge package” in which people can destroy the financial status and relationships of their enemies at the click of a mouse is being offered over the internet.
For as little as £10 a month, customers of the confidentialaccess.com website can make the credit ratings of people they dislike plummet and even have them suspected of fraud.
Their bank accounts can be shut down remotely and all their essential utilities cut off.
Fake e-mails and text messages which purport to come from someone else, such as the victim’s spouse, can be sent containing false accusations of affairs or sexual liaisons.
The new “revenge” services are the latest example of the harm the internet can cause individuals. ‘
‘Recently released surveillance footage shows just how two trains crashed into a Hammond mother’s minivan Saturday, killing her two daughters.
The video, captured by Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District cameras at the Hammond station parking lot, shows a CSX freight train traveling east, toward Johnson Avenue, near the Hudson Street intersection.
The video, captured by Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District cameras at the Hammond station parking lot, shows a CSX freight train traveling east, toward Johnson Avenue, near the Hudson Street intersection.
Suddenly, a dark-colored minivan driven by Edie Bolanos blurs into the picture. Outpaced by the train, the eastbound van starts to pick up speed in the adjacent parking lot, parallel to the freight train. The van eventually takes the lead.’
(2.7meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘At 76, Doris Anderson has astounded her doctor by surviving nearly two weeks in the thick woods of Eastern Oregon.
Lost on a hunting trip, she was lightly clothed and had no supplies or survival gear as temperatures dropped into the 30s and rescue teams dwindled.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said her emergency room doctor, Steve DeLashmutt. “For being out in the mountains for a couple of weeks she was in pretty good shape, amazingly good shape.”
Anderson was extremely dehydrated, cold and incoherent when she arrived at St. Elizabeth Health Services in Baker City after two law enforcement officers working on their day off found her. [..]
“I would say for her peer group that she did remarkably well,” DeLashmutt said. “Other 76-year-old folks, two weeks in the mountains they wouldn’t have survived.”‘
This fellow jumps off a balcony into a pile of sticks and leaves. Surely there’s nothing in that pile that can penetrate his face? :)
‘I’ve had worse before.’
(1.9meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘Firefighters battling a blaze at a home in the Oakland hills this morning discovered a marijuana-growing operation, authorities said.
The two-story home at 4969 Stoneridge Court was being renovated so the entire second floor could be used to grow pot, fire Capt. Melinda Drayton said. Firefighters found more than 50 plants when they arrived at the home, which was otherwise unoccupied, around 3 a.m.
The fire “appears to have started from electricity being used for the cultivation operation,” Drayton said. “I’m not going to say (the electrical wiring) was illegal, but it looked like it was not up to code.” [..]
“This is becoming very common,” Drayton said of home marijuana-growing operations. She said electrical systems often pose a danger when they are altered for anything other than normal residential use.’
‘Authorities in Wilkinson County say a seventh-grader armed with two steak knives held six fellow students hostage Thursday morning but was disarmed and arrested 45 minutes later.
Officials say the boy brought the knives into Wilkinson County Middle School at about 7:50 a.m. and trapped six students in a classroom with him. But a female student was able to escape and notified a teacher.
Principal Aaron Geter says teachers cleared the hallways of students while he negotiated with the boy, who was using his body to block the door.
The principal said Irwinton and Wilkinson County law officers arrived within minutes. The officers, prinicpal and teachers tried to persuade the boy to surrender.’
‘A pair of former Northeastern University freshmen are facing charges after prosecutors said one leaned out his dorm window Sunday and loudly told a woman in the dorm opposite his that he and his roommate were selling pot.
Oops. Two police officers happened to be nearby.
“If you’re looking for weed, my roommate Ferrante has some for sale,” Michael Emery said out the window, according to the Suffolk district attorney’s office.
Two plainclothes Boston officers in the building overheard the conversation and went to a second-floor room where they arrested Emery, 18, and Matthew Ferrante, 18, after finding about four ounces of marijuana; drug paraphernalia, including a scale; and several bottles of alcohol, prosecutors said.’
AVZ ‘The long-term cancer risk of mobile phone use cannot be ruled out, experts have concluded.
A major six-year research programme found a “hint” of a higher cancer risk.
But the UK Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme (MTHRP) did rule out short-term adverse effects to brain and cell function.
Researchers are now expanding the programme to look at phone use over 10 years, and the specific impact on children, which has not been studied.’
‘A woman who was being mauled by a pit bull terrier stashed her 4-month-old son in a garbage can to protect him from the animal, which remained on the loose Wednesday, authorities said.
Angela Silva, 32, suffered severe injuries to her arms, receiving 50 staples and countless stitches as a result of Tuesday’s attack in her garage. [..]
“He just kept biting … and biting … and biting,” Silva, a special-education teacher, said Wednesday, after an operation at Regional Medical Center in San Jose.
Two men across the street heard Silva’s screams and shooed the dog away using power tools. The baby suffered only a few scratches.’
‘A man who police earlier said had a machete at Sir Goony’s Family Fun Center on Brainerd Road was back in his familiar haunts – General Sessions Court – on Tuesday.
Paul Ralph Vandiver earlier said he was just out looking for his pet racoons who had gotten out at the time he had the machete.
On Tuesday, he was found on Lee Highway with bags of half-empty paint spray cans in each hand that he said he uses to spray cardboard boxes.
An officer said Vandiver had gold spray paint on his hands and his mouth. Police say he has been continually arrested for huffing paint.’
‘The war in Iraq is not over, but one legacy is already here in this city and others across America: an epidemic of brain-damaged soldiers.
Thousands of troops have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, or TBI. These blast-caused head injuries are so different from the ones doctors are used to seeing from falls and car crashes that treating them is as much faith as it is science.
“I’ve been in the field for 20-plus years dealing with TBI. I have a very experienced staff. And they’re saying to me, ‘We’re seeing things we’ve never seen before,'” said Sandy Schneider, director of Vanderbilt University’s brain injury rehabilitation program. [..]
“It’s the so-called invisible injury. It’s where a troop takes 10 times the normal time to pack his rucksack … a complicated injury to the most complicated part of the body,” said Dr. Alisa Gean, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco.’
‘The rapper made his move on the hotel heiress at the launch party for his new album Curtis at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on Saturday night.
A source said: “50 played a few songs and then made straight for Paris. She was laughing and unashamedly flirting and couldn’t keep her hands of him. He nuzzled up to her and they cuddled.” [..]
The Simple Life star has previously confessed to having a crush on 50.
She said: “He’s so cool. He’s really funny and he’s so cute too, and I love his music. I think he would be the best boyfriend a girl could wish for!” [..]
Last week, Paris revealed she has set herself a deadline to be married and pregnant by next year.’
‘Ever since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many Americans have believed that the events of that horrible day changed the United States forever. Each year that has gone by has seen an increase in the number who believe those changes have not been good for the nation.
Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Americans now believe that the events of six years ago changed America for the worse. That’s an increase from 54% a year ago. Just 21% believe that the nation has changed for the better because of that tragedy.’
Maybe it’s Osama who needs a big “Mission Accomplished” banner.
‘A double-decker is driven through London’s streets yesterday — carrying an obscene jibe about Mayor Ken Livingstone on its roof.
Office staff roared with laugher on reading “Livingstone is a cunt!” in 3ft-high letters.
Vandals’ cruel handiwork went unseen at Wood Green bus depot as it was not visible at street level.
Matt Arney, 26, took the snap near the Thames Embankment.
He said: “Everyone dashed to the window. It was hilarious.”‘
see it here »
‘A mysterious gooey material burst into flames after being hauled into a trash boat on the Charles River on Thursday, injuring three crew members.
The crew had picked up what they described as a taffy-like substance about eight inches long along with other trash and placed it in a container on their boat. It caught fire as the boat returned to the center of the river near the Massachusetts Avenue bridge connecting Boston and Cambridge, said Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk District Attorney’s office.
Wark said two crew members had first- and second-degree burns that were not life-threatening. A third crew member had minor burns, as did two emergency medical technicians who came into contact with the substance, he said.’
‘For most of his life the Shetland pony, who has both male and female genitalia, was thought to be a mare and went by the name of Amy.
And to add to his confusion he has been taken into care, undergone a sex change operation and been re-homed – only to be shunned by his peers.
But now Tootsie – named after Dustin Hoffman’s cross-dressing character in the film of the same name – finally appears to be settling in at the Bransby Home of Rest for Horses, near Lincoln.
And he has found an unlikely friend – in stablemate Derek the donkey.’
‘Meet Carlton Davis. The Minnesota man, 26, is facing felony charges for allegedly stealing a cell phone and purse from a woman he mugged on a St. Paul street early Saturday morning. According to police, after the woman turned over her belongings, Davis announced, “Now I’m going to suck your feet.” Which he did, after the 24-year-old victim removed her shoes. Davis, who fled when passerby approached, was apprehended by cops a few blocks from the crime scene. He was booked into the Ramsey County lockup, where the below mug shot was snapped.’
see it here »
cyB kdz‘The kid who got superman tackled off the dock gets hiss revenge by putting on a mascot mask and scaring the crap out of his fishing friend.’
Includes the original dock tackle video.
(1.6 and 1.2meg Flash videos)
see it here »
‘A man cut off his own penis and threw it in a toilet ‘so he would stop sinning’.
The 30-year-old was recovering in the Hospital Clinico Universitario in Salamanca in western Spain.
Doctors said his condition was ‘stable’ and he was not in danger of losing his life. [..]
The newspaper said it was not known if the man’s penis could be sewn back.
There was also a suggestion he may be suffering from psychological problems.’
‘Livingston County police are looking for the person who dumped an estimated “couple hundred pounds” of human waste on Highlander Way near Highland Road (M-59) Tuesday morning. The smelly discovery was found at about 9:45 a.m. and closed the road for some time. It took Howell Area Fire Authority firefighters about 15 minutes to clean the mess.
Anyone with information on who dumped the sewage or septage is asked to call the Livingston County Sheriff’s Department at (517) 546-2440.’
sNws Fk eQsQ mYRi J hjXNG‘When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved implanting microchips in humans, the manufacturer said it would save lives, letting doctors scan the tiny transponders to access patients’ medical records almost instantly. The FDA found “reasonable assurance” the device was safe, and a sub-agency even called it one of 2005’s top “innovative technologies.”
But neither the company nor the regulators publicly mentioned this: A series of veterinary and toxicology studies, dating to the mid-1990s, stated that chip implants had “induced” malignant tumors in some lab mice and rats. [..]
Leading cancer specialists reviewed the research for The Associated Press and, while cautioning that animal test results do not necessarily apply to humans, said the findings troubled them. Some said they would not allow family members to receive implants, and all urged further research before the glass-encased transponders are widely implanted in people.’
‘A man robbing a bank demanded the money by writing a note on one of his own checks, authorities say. Not surprisingly, he was caught soon afterward.
Forest Kelly Bissonnette, 27, apparently tried to cover his name on the check, then handed the note to a teller Sept. 5 at the Bank of the West in Englewood, according to authorities.
“We could still make it out even though he blacked it out,” FBI agent Rene VonderHaar said. Nearly $5,000 was taken.’
‘You’re gonna break your neck..’
(1.2meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘Police are putting out an urgent warning to the public to avoid vials of a deadly drug that were stolen from a veterinary office overnight.
Several 100-milliliter vials of Euthasol, used to euthanize animals, were stolen from a veterinary clinic, according to Bourne Police Sgt. Christopher Farrell. Police declined to name the clinic, but said it was on the Cape side of the canal.
The break-in was reported when employees opened up this morning, and the missing medication, a liquid with extremely high concentrations of Phenobarbital, was discovered.
“It’s deadly. That’s the only way to put it,” Farrell said. The liquid was contained in small brown glass vials with red caps and is labelled Euthasol.’
LGRV tpOGU‘Police said a Springfield teenager claims she dropped a toddler from a second-story window in part because two kids younger than 10 told her to.
Rebecca Woods, 18, is facing child endangerment charges after a 2-year-old boy was dropped two stories from an apartment Saturday.
The child was caught by two boys below and was not seriously hurt. [..]
A probable cause statement said the girl told police she thought throwing the child out the window was a bad idea. But then she held the baby out the window and dropped him about 14 feet.’
‘Federal health experts declared a small victory against a fatal and untreatable virus on Friday, saying canine rabies has disappeared from the United States.
While dogs may still become infected from raccoons, skunks or bats, they will not catch dog-specific rabies from another dog, the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
“We don’t want to misconstrue that rabies has been eliminated — dog rabies virus has been,” CDC rabies expert Dr. Charles Rupprecht told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Rabies evolves to match the animals it infects, and the strain most specific to dogs has not been seen anywhere in the United States since 2004, Rupprecht said. [..]
“Even though we still live in a sea of rabies and even though we have rabies viruses circulating among raccoons and foxes and bats, the dog rabies virus, which is the most responsible for dog-to-dog transmission and which is still the greatest burden to humans … it is that virus that has been eliminated.”‘
