Smelley Woman in Custody After Standoff with Police

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma - A woman is in custody after a more than five hour standoff with police at a South Post Road residence. Police said Wanda Smelley called 911 complaining of chest pains. When medics arrived at 3620 S. Post Rd., Smelley fire several shots but did not hit anyone. More…
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Man Kills 4 People - Thinks They Stole His Watch

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin - A Milwaukee man was found guilty in the shooting deaths of four people - two men and two women outside a house party. He was looking for revenge against rival gang members because he believed that they stole his watch. More…Twitter Political Roast---Domain Names

Man assaults 9-year-old girl - Said it was her fault

RACINE, Wisconsin - A man accused of repeatedly molesting a 9-year-old girl told police the abuse was the girl?s fault. He admitted to a host of abuses against the girl, starting when she was 6 years old. The story he gave police portrayed himself as the girl?s victim, and he said she asked him to touch her.

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Man offers drugs to agent at rummage sale

CALEDONIA, Wisconsin - A county agent reportedly found drugs and sex for sale at a rummage sale. A Racine County Metro Drug Unit agent went to 4549 Lora St. when David M. Neau, 25, held a rummage sale. Neau reportedly told the agent he could get anything he wanted, including ?marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, prescription pills, guns and prostitutes,? according to the complaint. Click Here For More

Did Mexico beat it? Fans go for Thriller record

MEXICO CITY (From AP and CS) -- They say they beat it. Thousands of Mexicans claimed they broke the record for most people dancing to "Thriller" simultaneously in one place on Saturday, which would have been Michael Jackson's 51st birthday....

But thousands allowed America's cultural hegemony to seep in on Saturday, as Mexicans from all walks of life gathered to retrace the dance steps in Michael Jackson's hit 1983 video "Thriller" to mark what would have been the pop star's 51st birthday.

In doing so they claimed to break the Guinness Book of World Records for number of people dancing to Thriller in a single gathering, surpassing attempts in both Spain and England. (The previous record was apparently set by a mere 242 students from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. in May. Guinness will make a final determination later.)

Part homage, part Halloween, the event drew more than 50,000 people (including over 12,000 dancers), according to city officials.

Grown Mexican women got their faces painted as zombies (some paid an extra $1 to have a scar or wound added for ghoulish effect). Kids donned sunglasses, hats, and white gloves, running around as miniature Michael Jacksons in a sea of dancers carrying out the zombie moves of the hit video and belting out lyrics in English. All this in front of Mexico's iconic Monument of the Revolution, no less.

MJ's special status

This might be sacrilege for any other star, but not Michael Jackson.

"He transcends borders," says Fabiola Aguilar, decked out in the red get-up that Michael Jackson wore in the original video. She crouched over, next to her 9-year-old son in an identical outfit, and both simulated arising from the dead, as they rehearsed moves they'd practiced for two weeks. "Dancing brings us all together."

Birthday celebrations and memorials across the globe came as Jackson's June 25 death was officially ruled a homicide.

Mexico City's event had the full backing of the capital, which marveled at the spontaneity of a grassroots effort turned mega. "Many of these kids weren't even alive when Thriller came out," says the head of the city's youth institute, Javier Hidalgo, sporting a white glove.

Facebook's role in the record

Record-breaking was helped by the phenomenon of social networking. The day after Jackson's death, Mexico City resident Carlos Contreras was talking with his friends about a birthday tribute on August 29. "We thought we'd be 20 people," he says. But thanks to Facebook, word spread, choreographers were brought on board, and Sunday rehearsals leading up to the event drew as many as 2,500 people.

Michael Jackson mania was a balm to a city battered by swine flu and its reputation for violence, one so desperate for tourists that it has offered them free health insurance on visits here. "It shows we are a city that is tranquil, full of life, one that wants to have fun," says Alejandro Rojas, the city's tourism director.

Yet as city officials celebrate – finally – some fun news out of Mexico, not all viewed the event as pure fiesta. Hector Jackson, Mexico's premier impersonator who led the choreography, reminded solemnly: "This is first of all an homage to the king of pop."

Couple loses their home in foreclosure scam

Nebraska - Denise and Kevin Barret thought they had found a solution after they fell behind on their mortgage. They saw a television ad for the Federal Loan Modification Law Center that promised it could reduce homeowners? payments while saving their homes from foreclosure. They were told that for an initial payment of $995 the company could renegotiate the couple?s delinquent mortgage. More?

Schoolboy beaten to death over lunch seat

Australia - A student said the fight was between two school gangs. The student said: ?One of the gangs stole a seat from our eating area. We stole it back and it turned into an all-out brawl (and) the teachers did nothing?. A school nurse gave first aid until paramedics arrived, but witnesses said Jai was frothing at the mouth and non-responsive.

Wolves kill 120 sheep at ranch

HELENA, Montana - While the debate about how many wolves are enough to ensure a healthy population will again come to a head in a federal courtroom. A Dillon-area ranch is picking up the pieces from the largest known wolf depredation in recent history. In a highly unusual move for wolves, they killed about 120 adult male sheep in one incident on a ranch south of Dillon.

Woman had boyfriend killed for $200

DAVIE, Florida - Police have arrested a 21-year-old woman accused of having her boyfriend killed for $200. Jose Manuel Matute-Hernandez was fatally shot on his living room couch. Authorities arrested his girlfriend, Sibia Martinez, Jose Suarez and Cesar Banegas for orchestrating the death. All three have been charged with premeditated murder.

Your Next Pet - The Giant Burrowing Cockroach

Australia - Meet the giant burrowing cockroach and contender for the title of world?s heaviest insect. Australia?s giants give birth to live young, look after them in a burrow, make great pets and dine on leaves. They are the world?s heaviest cockroach and if not the heaviest of all insects, they are certainly a contender.

Voice from the grave helps convict killer

Florida - A Florida plumber was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering a police detective?s daughter at a trial in which his victim?s voice filled the courtroom as her desperate 911 call was played to the jury. Jurors deliberated just two hours before finding Michael L. King, 38, guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery.

Man stole woman?s car on 1st date

FERNDALE, Michigan - Police say a first date went from bad to worse when a man skipped out on the restaurant bill, then stole his date?s car. Police say 23-year-old Terrance Dejuan McCoy had dinner with a woman in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale. The woman told police that McCoy said he left his wallet in her car and asked for keys. He then sped away in the 2000 Chevrolet Impala.

Second Michael Jackson Doctor Facing Heat

California - The heat is on for Michael Jackson’s longtime friend and dermatologist Arnold Klein who investigators believe facilitated the years-long drug abuse that could have caused the death of Jackson. According to the warrant and affidavit for the on Mickey Fine Pharmacy in Beverly Hills investigators were searching for records of medication Klein allegedly prescribed to himself then gave to Jackson. More…
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Man swats one bee

LAGRANDE, Oregon - Nearby workers rescued an 18-year-old LaGrande, Oregon, man after he swatted one bee and was swarmed by others that stung him more than 200 times. Zach Gray says he’s grateful to the men who picked him up in their truck and then hosed the bees off while they called 911. More…
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Teen kills baby - Afraid mother would throw her out of house

HENDERSON, Nevada - A 19-year-old Las Vegas-area woman has been arrested on allegations that she hid her pregnancy and then killed her newborn son because she was afraid her mother would be mad at her for giving birth out of wedlock. She was booked into jail on suspicion of murder....More
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CDC leery of estimates about swine flu's toll | Comcast.net

Don't Panic, 90,000 people might die!Thats a whole city gone...WTF

WASHINGTON — Government health officials are urging people not to panic over estimates of 90,000 people dying from swine flu this fall. "Everything we've seen in the U.S. and everything we've seen around the world suggests we won't see that kind of number if the virus doesn't change," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

He made the comment in a C-SPAN interview taped Wednesday.

While the swine flu seems quite easy to catch, it so far hasn't been more deadly than the flu strains seen every fall and winter — many people have only mild illness. And close genetic tracking of the new virus as it circled the globe over the last five months so far has shown no sign that it's mutating to become more virulent.

CDC leery of estimates about swine flu's toll | Comcast.net

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New park offers X-rated views of NYC hotel guests

NEW YORK — Some guests at a New York City hotel near an elevated park have been offering unobstructed views of themselves.

Guests at the Standard Hotel in Manhattan keep failing to close the curtains as they frolic naked in front of their rooms' floor-to-ceiling windows, easily viewed from the High Line park below. The park recently opened atop an abandoned elevated rail line.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has called the hotel's window action "unacceptable."

Aaron Lipman works in the neighborhood and says the shows are "healthy and fun." He says they're like TV's "Wild Kingdom."

The hotel issued a statement Monday saying its managers will try to "remind guests of the transparency" of the windows.

The hotel won an award from the Municipal Arts Society of New York for best new building erected last year.

On the Net:
Standard Hotel: http://www.standardhotels.com/new-york-city/
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Chicken owner shoots own leg while hunting opossum

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — A northwest Washington man is recovering after accidentally shooting himself in the leg while hunting an opossum that had been snatching his chickens.

Larry Tenbrink of Mount Vernon was watching TV when he heard his chickens "carrying on" late Sunday. He figured the problem was the opossum that had already killed more than a dozen of his chickens over the past few months.

Tenbrink grabbed his .22 caliber pistol, headed outside and spotted an opossum the size of a large cat wandering his property. But he accidentally pulled the trigger too early, sending a bullet through his lower right thigh.

The 61-year-old handyman told the Skagit Valley Herald on Monday that he's back home after a trip to the hospital. And though the opossum is free for now, he'll be hunting it again. But next time, he says he'll use a trap.
Information from: Skagit Valley Herald, http://www.skagitvalleyherald.com/
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Police say speeder claimed to be CIA official

MOUNT CARMEL, Tenn. – Police in northeast Tennessee say Scott Gibson isn't the deputy director of the CIA — and he'd have to pay his $75 speeding fine even if he were.

On June 29, a Mount Carmel speed camera clocked the 56-year-old Rogersville resident going 66 mph in a 55 mph zone. He was sent a ticket.

Assistant Police Chief Mike Campbell says Gibson mailed back a copy of the citation with a handwritten note, claiming he wasn't subject to local speed zones because he was the deputy chief of the CIA.

The federal agency told police Gibson never had been an employee.

Gibson was arrested for criminal impersonation and released on $500 bond. Campbell says federal charges are also pending.

A telephone listing for Gibson did not take incoming calls.

Information from: WJHL-TV, http://www.wjhl.com/
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Suspicious FedEx package contains live snakes

HAMILTON, Ohio – Police said a suspicious package at a shipping store turned out to be a box of live boa constrictors. Fairfield Township police said they were called Tuesday after FedEx Office employees saw two pillowcases moving when they got curious and opened the parcel at a store about 20 miles north of Cincinnati.

Officer Justen McDade said he looked in one pillowcase, saw a snake and quickly tied the pillowcase closed. A reptile rescue group was contacted and took custody of the snakes.

A local man was listed on the shipping label, and the package was addressed to a man in Phoenix, Ariz. He's been told he may not get the snakes.

McDade said authorities are trying to verify if the sender had a license for shipping snakes. No charges have been filed.

Information from: The JournalNews of HamiltonTwitter Political Roast---Domain Names

Man convicted on drug charges wants his drugs returned

Tulare County - A Tulare County Superior Court judge will hear arguments today on whether a man convicted of illegally possessing and transporting marijuana should get back a portion of the pot seized by Exeter police. Southfield said he plans to ask for the return of his 4 pounds of marijuana and for the rest to be given to the three people for whom he grew it.
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Feds pull air traffic controllers to staff Cash for Clunkers

Washington DC - Employees of the FAA’s air-traffic-control unit were asked to help, but the Transportation Department stressed that essential safety personnel were not diverted from their duties. A total of 1,200 workers are now working seven days a week to review applications and reimburse auto dealers for rebates advanced to customers.
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Barber Robs Store Over Bad Beef Jerky

Cleveland - Police say a Cleveland barber got so upset by what he considered bad beef jerky that he returned to the store where he bought it and tried to rob the owner. Police say the 28-year-old barber walked into the store where he bought the snack, just two doors down from his barbershop, and tried to rob the owner.
The owner told the man he recognized him and chased him outside with a baseball bat.
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Comedian Robin Williams was hospitalized-Not Dead

Comedian Robin Williams was hospitalized over heart trouble while in South Florida Wednesday, Miami media outlets report. Williams cancelled four scheduled performances of his one-man show.

Robin Williams in the Hospital
Robin Williams reportedly went to the intensive care unit at a hospital in the area after complaining of shortness of breath. Doctors recommended he take a full week of rest, the Los Angeles Times learned.

Williams, 57, has been touring with his “Weapons of Self Destruction” show since September. The show is set to go through 80 different cities.

As of now, Williams is scheduled to take the stage in Jacksonville, Fla. next Monday.

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Man with Spears tattoo steals earring-wearing dog

WILTON MANORS, Fla. – A man with a tattoo of Britney Spears' name on his arm or neck allegedly stole a Chihuahua with pink earrings from a South Florida gay bar. Brian Dortort, 48, said Thursday he has spent weeks searching for his 4-month-old pooch, named Hudson Hayward Hemingway. The dog, about the size of a softball, was in a specialty pet bag.Twitter Political Roast---Domain Names

Britain rejects talk of deal in Lockerbie release

LONDON – Britain rejected Saturday any suggestion it had struck a deal with Libya to free the Lockerbie bomber — questions that arose when Moammar Gadhafi publicly thanked British officials as he embraced the man convicted of killing 270 people in the 1988 airline bombing.
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NYC man killed 4 of girlfriend's cats

Unsuspecting woman continued to adopt new ones over four-month period

NEW YORK - A self-employed graphic designer methodically killed at least four of his girlfriend's cats and tortured two others while the unsuspecting woman continued to adopt new ones over a four-month period, authorities said Friday.

Sean Lynde was arrested Friday on charges including six counts of felony animal cruelty. He pleaded not guilty at state Supreme Court in Manhattan and was freed on $5,000 bond.

His lawyer, Elliot Kay, said Lynde is looking forward to a trial, not a plea deal.
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Taliban militants cut off Afghan voters’ fingers

Election monitors also report that some officials were not impartial

KABUL - Taliban militants cut off the ink-stained fingers of two Afghan voters in the militant south during the presidential election, the country's top election monitoring group said Saturday.

Two voters who had dipped their index fingers in purple ink — a fraud prevention measure — were attacked in Kandahar province shortly after voting Thursday, said Nader Nadery, the head of the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan. Kandahar is the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban.

Rumors that militants would cut off voters' ink-stained fingers spread before the vote. A Taliban spokesman had said militants would not carry out such attacks, but the Taliban is a loose organization of individual commanders who could carry out the threat on their own.
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An homage to Homer, African style

An Angolan advertising agency has given Homer Simpson and his family an African makeover, raising eyebrows among fans of one of America's most cherished sitcoms.

The Simpsons, broadcast in more than 90 countries, have always been portrayed as yellow but the advertising agency, Executive Center in Luanda, decided to turn them brown in a promotional video aired by Africa's digital satellite TV service DSTV in Angola.

Homer, Marge, Lisa and Bart are portrayed as Africans sitting on their over-used family couch. The family is shown wearing African-inspired clothing and their living room has little more than two huge loud speakers.

Even Homer's cherished beer has been replaced by Cuca, the Budweiser of Angola.

"Couldn't they have left Marge's hair blue?" said Ryan, a blogger, in a post below a picture of Marge with a jet black afro hairdo.

The creative director of Executive Center, Antonio Pascoa, said: "Our goal was to adapt the satirical parody of the typical middle-class American family to Angola.

"If people don't like it than I guess they don't have a sense of humor big enough to enjoy the Simpsons."

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Pack your trunk and leave the beach!

A French town has banned circus elephants from bathing at its beaches over concerns the animals' excrement could pollute the water and pose a health hazard to other swimmers.

Last year, elephants from one of the circuses that tour many French towns in the summer months were allowed on to the beach at Granville, in Normandy, to exercise and paddle in the waves.

But inspectors checking water quality found traces of their droppings in the sea and issued a warning over health standards at the beach, which is popular with French and foreign holidaymakers.

"Circuses are more than welcome," said Roland Huet, an official at Granville's town hall. "But this year the rules governing their stay clearly specify they cannot allow any animals, including elephants, to bathe on our beaches because of the risk of pollution," he added.

Granville is particularly susceptible to this type of contamination due to its sheltered location in the bay of Mont Saint Michel, according to Huet.

A repeat of last year's incident would prompt the closure of the beach and could seriously damage Granville's reputation as a seaside resort.

"Imagine having to explain to thousands of holidaymakers that the beach has been closed due to animal droppings," he said.
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Sheriff reprimands deputies over waitress photo

MIDLAND, Texas – An embarrassed Sheriff Gary Painter fired one Midland County deputy and suspended three others without pay after a scantily dressed waitress holding a rifle posed for photographs on the hood of a patrol vehicle. Round Rock officers were dispatched to the restaurant after someone reported the waitress with the weapon, which had been given to her by one of the deputies who had been attending a training session near Austin. Twitter Political Roast---Domain Names

Cincinnati man arrested 146 times since 1998

CINCINNATI – Authorities said Bennie Crabtree is the most-arrested man in the county. Records show he has been arrested 146 times since 1998, when Hamilton County's record-keeping system was updated. Veteran police officers said he was arrested many more times in the decades before that.

Crabtree's record includes criminal trespassing, disorderly conduct and theft. Police say he steals food and intrudes in places such as the University of Cincinnati, hospitals and businesses. He's never done anything serious enough to be sent to prison.

Because of jail overcrowding, he's now often released hours after arrest.

Police say the 61-year-old man has lived mostly on the streets and has some mental problems.

A social worker says Crabtree is lonely.

Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer

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Man's love runs deep in search for ring

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – A New Zealand man has been dubbed the Lord of the Ring after he searched and found his wedding ring more than a year after it slipped off his finger and sank to the sea floor.

The ring was lost for 16 months in the harbour of the country's capital city, Wellington, before Aleki Taumoepeau found it shining on the sea floor, the DominionPost newspaper reported on Thursday.

"The whole top surface of the ring was glowing," Taumoepeau, an ecologist, said.

Taumoepeau had been married for just three months when he lost the wedding ring while conducting an environmental sweep of the harbour.

He roughly marked the spot where the ring had flown from his finger, but was unable to find it despite returning to the area many times.

Taumoepeau's wife offered to buy another ring, but he refused, pledging to find the ring.

But, equipped with new global satellite based coordinates and offering up a quick prayer, he found the ring after an hour's search.

"I couldn't believe that I could see the ring so perfectly," Taumoepeau said.

He said those with him on the boat at the time the ring flew off his finger had likened it to a similar, slow motion shot from The Lord of the Rings, much of which was filmed in Wellington by local director Peter Jackson.

(Reporting by Michael Dickison; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)Twitter Political Roast---Domain Names

Sock it to me! Ariz. man's socks stolen from yard

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. – Someone must have really needed some socks.

A southern Arizona man is out a dozen pairs of socks after someone sneaked into his back yard early Monday and stole socks off a clothesline.

He told the Cochise County Sheriff's Office that at some point between late Sunday and early Monday, someone entered his fenced-in back yard and made off with 12 pairs of white athletic socks that were hanging on a clothesline. A motion sensor light was also damaged.

Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Carol Capas said the lost and damaged property totaled about $50.
Information from: Sierra Vista Herald, http://www.svherald.com
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It's a howl: NYC artist compiles album of screams

NEW YORK – This new album is a scream — and more.

"Favorite Recorded Scream" is a compilation of 74 brief howls, whoops, cries and other guttural exclamations from songs by the Who, the Pixies, Slayer, Bjork and dozens of others.

New York City artist LeRoy Stevens came up with the idea while listening to "A Change Is Going to Come" by the 1960s soul singer Baby Huey. The song climaxes in a series of screeches.

He later asked Manhattan record shop clerks to choose their favorite song scream and to tell him why.

With their suggestions, he pressed 500 copies of a 12-inch vinyl record.

The record is for sale for about $15 at Manhattan stores and online.

Information from: The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com
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New Jersey City Considers Curfew for Adults

Patterson, New Jersey - Curfews might not be just for kids anymore. Seeking to curb violence after a spate of deadly summer shootings, officials are considering an unusual ordinance that would prevent people of all ages from gathering outside in public late at night...More
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Your flip-flops can kill you

Florida - The University of Miami emergency mobile flip-flop lab, tested some footwear and found that there were more than 18,000 bacteria on just one pair of flip-flops. Even more shocking than the number of germs were the types represented — bacteria from fecal matter, skin and respiratory germs. One pair of 6-year-old flip-flops had germs that cause yeast infection and diaper rash...More
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11-foot python unexpected guest for Calif. family

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California family got a slithery surprise when an 11-foot python turned up in their front yard.

Francisco Delgadillo says he was chatting with his sister on their porch Sunday night in Lake Elsinore when he saw an enormous snake moving across the fenced yard.

The first animal control officer who saw the size of the critter had to call for backup. Two officers then wrangled the 50-pound snake into a truck and took it to a shelter.

Authorities say the Burmese python probably was somebody's pet. If the owner doesn't claim it by the end of the week, it probably will be given to a snake rescue group.

Feed the seagulls - Pay $4,085 fine

ALDEBURGH, England - Athorities in an English resort town are warning tourists they could face fines of up to $4,085 for feeding seagulls. The Suffolk Coastal District Council and Aldeburgh Town Council have posted warning signs around the town of Aldeburgh informing tourists seagulls have become a serious pest in the resort town and people caught feeding the birds could face the steep fines...More
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Mother gets 99 years for mutilating son

HOUSTON, Texas - A Houston-area mother convicted of mutilating her infant by cutting off his genitals two years ago was sentenced Monday to 99 years in prison. Minutes after the jury’s sentence was read, Katherine Nadal, 28, yelled out that she did not hurt her son, prompting the boy’s father to storm out of the courtroom...More
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Space elevator faces reality - Cosmic Log - msnbc.com

We don't have all the questions, let alone all the answers," Michael Laine, head of the LiftPort Group, told an audience of about 50 people on Saturday during the 2009 Space Elevator Conference on Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Wash. (Microsoft is a partner in the msnbc.com joint venture.)

Laine probably knows as well as anyone how few answers are available.

LiftPort's Web site is still counting down toward his goal of putting a real live space elevator into operation by 2031. But Laine's years-long quest to turn the concept into an actual business left him hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt by 2007, with a legal cloud hanging over his head.

Laine put LiftPort into mothballs and laid low for two years, spending part of that time in the International Space University's study program. It's only been in the past few months that he's been able to lift his head above the clouds again. "We went through some difficult times," he wrote last month in a newsletter, "but are beginning to get all those issues settled to the point where LiftPort will rise again (pun intended)."

Laine told me today that his legal troubles are "kind of in a strange point of limbo," and that he's still massively in debt. But he has enough hope for future ventures that he's willing to get back into the space elevator game rather than moving on to more conventional business ventures.

"I'm actually really happy to be back out there," he said.

Still a laughable idea?
The space elevator concept is one of the highest-flying ideas out there: Imagine a super-strong tether swinging out, say, 100,000 miles from Earth's surface, with laser-powered robots shuttling up and down from a ground- or sea-based station to an orbital platform. If such a thing could be built, the idea's proponents say the system could cut the cost of putting cargo into space from $10,000 to $100 per pound.

The idea is at least a century old - and was most famously popularized by science-fiction guru Arthur C. Clarke, who once said the space elevator would succeed "50 years after everyone has stopped laughing."

At last year's Space Elevator Conference, pioneer researcher Bradley Edwards said the first elevator could be built within 15 years, at a cost of $7 billion to $10 billion. The speakers at this year's conference took a far more sober view of the financial and technical resources that would be required. "They're not the rosy numbers that you hear," said Ben Shelef of the Spaceward Foundation, who manages two NASA-backed contests for space elevator technologies.

In a technical paper presented at the conference, Shelef concludes that the conditions required for a working space elevator are "actually very difficult to satisfy" at any price. That's the bad news. The good news is that the technologies needed for a theoretical space elevator project could well lead to payoffs - even if the elevator itself never gets built.

S. Korea, U.S. kick off war game amid DPRK's

South Korea and U.S. kicked off annual computer-simulated war game Monday.
·The exercise will mobilize 56,000 South Korean and 10,000 U.S. troops.
·DPRK said it put 1.2 million troops on a "special alert" in response to the exercise.

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Diamonds: A girl's best compensation for infidelity - Yahoo! News

Every time British businessman Robert Charlton cheated on his wife, he bought her some extravagant jewellery to try to make amends. After 26 years of marriage, long-suffering Elizabeth Charlton had more than 40 glittering pieces.

Charlton's infidelity cost him nearly 300,000 pounds it emerged last month, when his daughter auctioned off the late couple's jewellery collection.

"He bought her a lot of things to keep her happy and to ease the pain of his many affairs," said Clare Durham, a spokeswoman for Woolley & Wallis, the auction house that handled the sale. "I think everybody knew it was a fairly open secret."

Over the course of his romances, Charlton, who died in 1974, bought his wife antique diamond earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces. One piece, a riviere necklace made up of 54 diamonds, was the most expensive item auctioned, fetching 50,000 pounds.

The riviere was once bought in the 1900s for around 400 pounds, the auction house said, a sum that would have made it extremely expensive when Charlton bought it in the 1960s.

"The big diamonds were Edwardian and Victorian so they were antique pieces when he bought them for her in the 60s and 70s," said Durham.

Charlton's daughter chose to auction a total of 43 pieces from the guilt-ridden collection after other family members declined to accept them. The family kept other pieces.

"He didn't just buy her jewellery when he played away. He did buy her gifts for birthdays and Christmas and things like that. I don't think he was that bad," said Durham.

It's a howl: NYC artist compiles album of screams - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK – This new album is a scream — and more.

"Favorite Recorded Scream" is a compilation of 74 brief howls, whoops, cries and other guttural exclamations from songs by the Who, the Pixies, Slayer, Bjork and dozens of others.

New York City artist LeRoy Stevens came up with the idea while listening to "A Change Is Going to Come" by the 1960s soul singer Baby Huey. The song climaxes in a series of screeches.

He later asked Manhattan record shop clerks to choose their favorite song scream and to tell him why.

With their suggestions, he pressed 500 copies of a 12-inch vinyl record.

The record is for sale for about $15 at Manhattan stores and online.

Suicide bomb kills 20, injures over 100 in Russia

NAZRAN, Russia – A suicide bomber attacked a police station in Russia's North Caucasus with an explosives-laden truck Monday, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 100 others, officials said.

The bombing was the deadliest in years in the restive southern region, denting Kremlin claims that the area was stabilizing after two wars in Chechnya and mounting violence in surrounding provinces since 1994. While most fighting in Chechnya has ended, Islamic militants continue to mount regular hit-and-run attacks and skirmishes in neighboring provinces.

The attacker on Monday rammed the truck through the gates of the Nazran city police headquarters, in Ingushetia province, and detonated about 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of explosives as police officers were lining up in the internal courtyard for a morning check, said Svetlana Gorbakova of the federal investigative office.

Police had fired shots at the truck, but failed to stop it before it exploded in the middle of the courtyard. The blast left a huge crater and triggered a raging fire that destroyed a weapons room where ammunition detonated.

It took rescue teams several hours to search for victims in the rubble. A nearby apartment building and several office buildings were also damaged, and burned-out cars littered the street. The attacker and the truck were pulverized by the blast, Gorbakova said.

At least 20 people were killed and 60 wounded, she said. But Aslan Ozdoyev, a spokesman for the Emergency Ministry's branch in Ingushetia, said 118 people were injured and about 100 of them remained hospitalized.

Russia's Emergency Ministry sent a special plane to bring some of the wounded to Moscow for treatment.

An Associated Press reporter saw 11 badly burned bodies at a morgue in Nazran, the largest city in Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya to the west.

Local authorities announced a three-day mourning.

Ingushetia's Kremlin-appointed president, badly wounded in another suicide bombing in June, said Monday's attack had been organized by militants trying to avenge recent security sweeps in the forests along the mountainous border with Chechnya.

"It was an attempt to destabilize the situation and sow panic," Yunus-Bek Yevkurov said in a statement issued through his spokesman.

He blamed Chechen separatist warlord Doku Umarov for the June attack on his convoy, saying the perpetrators had been be tracked down, according to an interview with Russian News Service radio. He vowed to hunt down Umarov and other rebel warlords.

He also accused the United States, Britain and Israel of fomenting instability in the North Caucasus, saying "the West will try to prevent Russia from restoring its Soviet-era might." He did not elaborating.

Rights groups said arbitrary arrests, torture and killings by security forces had helped swell the ranks of rebels in Ingushetia under Yevkurov's predecessor, Murat Zyazikov.

Yevkurov, a former officer of the Russian GRU military intelligence service, has promised to end abuses and sought to negotiate pardons for some rebels who would agree to put down their weapons.
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Go-Carts Stolen, Raced Down Interstate

INDEPENDENCE, Missouri - Police said teens stole two go-carts from Cool Crest overnight and raced them down Interstate 70. Police said the thieves broke a window in a storage shed and stole the carts, which sounded the alarms at the entertainment park. Witnesses reported seeing the go-carts driving down the highway.
http://www.kmbc.com/news/20400305/detail.html
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Man jailed because his laptop was stolen

UK - A British man has been sentenced to three-and-a-half-years in prison after burglars found images of child pornography on his stolen laptop and turned it over to the police. Richard Coverdale was convicted of downloading pictures of child abuse as well as exposing himself to an unsuspecting teenage girl over the internet
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,539861,00.html?test=latestnews
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Two bodies found in house full of exotic animals

Orlando, Florida - Police are investigating a College Park home after two people’s bodies and numerous exotic animals were found inside. Two bodies were inside the home at 303 W Par Street. Animal control reports finding a spider monkey, 3 capuchin monkeys, 20 birds, 5 cats, and at least 3 dogs.

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Court says Nazi slogan is legal in English

BERLIN (Reuters) – Nazis slogans banned in Germany may be legal if they are translated from German into English, one of the country's highest courts has ruled.

The Federal Court of Justice said it had rescinded a conviction against a man fined 4,200 euros ($5,993) for possessing 100 T-shirts due for sale emblazoned with the words "Blood & Honor" -- a translation of the Hitler Youth slogan "Blut und Ehre."

The display of Nazi symbols is forbidden in Germany, but the court said the= context of the original phrase had been sufficiently distorted to render its usage legal.

"By translation into another language, the Nazi slogan, which is characterized not just by its meaning but also by the German language, is fundamentally transformed," it said.

The court added, however, that the man could still be convicted of using the English phrase "Blood & Honor" because it was also the name of a far-right organization that is banned in Germany, but that the original verdict had not considered this.

(Writing by Dave Graham; editing by Robin Pomeroy)Twitter Political Roast---Domain Names

Least Competent Criminals

Recurring Themes: Lonnie Meckwood, 29, and Phillip Weeks, 51, were arrested in Kirkwood, N.Y., in June after allegedly robbing the Quickway Convenience Store. Their getaway ended about a mile from the crime scene as their car ran out of gas, even though the Quickway is also a gas station. [WMAR-TV (Baltimore)-
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Human Rights For Murders

Relatives of two British convicted murderers, claiming a breach of "privacy" under the European Convention on Human Rights, filed lawsuits recently against the Greater Manchester Police over a crime-prevention campaign. High-profile gangbangers Colin Joyce, 29, and Lee Amos, 32, had been sentenced to long prison terms, and the GMP, trying to turn youths away from gangs, created computer images on billboards of the two men as they might look when they are released, sometime after the year 2040. Their families were outraged. (GMP reported that gang-related shootings are down 92 percent since Joyce and Amos were caught.) [Daily Telegraph
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Church Going Killers

In July, Mexican authorities accused one of the country's newer drug cartels, La Familia, of murdering 12 federal agents following a 2007 debut in which it rolled five severed heads into a dance hall in a show of intimidation. According to an April Reuters report, captured documents indicate that La Familia gang members are strictly required to attend regular prayer meetings, to never drink alcohol or take drugs, and to attend classes in "ethics" and "personal improvement."
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Stall Peeper

In Britain's Chelmsford Crown Court in July, Sultan Al-Sayed, 40, was convicted of peeping under the next stall in a department-store changing room despite his claim that the only reason he placed his face on the floor was to relieve pain from a toothache.
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Artist's fake drug dealing riles NYC residents

NEW YORK – Brooklyn residents are riled over a performance artist who's been delivering bags of fake crack. The Daily News reported that Nate Hill makes the deliveries dressed in a white tuxedo and a dolphin headpiece. He shows up between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., like a real drug pusher.

Enrica Serrero said she ordered the "candy crack" at a Williamsburg party last Sunday. Says the 21-year-old: "I'd definitely do it again."

Hill calls it "amusing theater."

Ismael Torres, who's president of a tenant association, is not amused. "I've seen too many cemeteries, too many hospitals, too many funeral parlors," Torres said.

Kevin Wadalavage of Outreach Project, which treats substance abusers, said he is "dumbfounded."

Information from: Daily News, http://www.nydailynews.com

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Fla. man accused of swindling women out of $400K

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A 55-year-old South Florida man allegedly swindled some $400,000 from two New York women he was engaged to at the same time. Authorities said Paul R. Francois coaxed one to move to Florida after she met him on vacation, and the other into taking out a $100,000 home equity loan on her Elmont, N.Y. place.

Francois was arrested Wednesday on two counts of first-degree theft and one of organized scheme to defraud. His attorney didn't immediately return a telephone message Thursday morning.

Investigators said both women thought they'd spend the rest of their lives with Francois. He allegedly hit one and threatened to kill the other when they became suspicious.

The woman who moved to Florida said she's penniless and facing foreclosure on the Miramar home she and Francois bought.
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Woman nabbed twice for DUI on same night in 2 cars

LINCOLN, Neb. – Police arrested a woman twice in one night in two different cars for driving drunk. Police spokeswoman Katie Flood said the woman was pulled over at 1:13 a.m. Wednesday after she allegedly made an illegal turn and was spotted swerving down a south Lincoln street.

The officer who stopped her said her blood-alcohol level was .19. That's more than twice the legal limit. The woman was cited on suspicion of driving under the influence and negligent driving and taken to a detoxification center.

Flood said the same officer stopped the woman again about two hours later. This time she was driving her boyfriend's car. She was arrested for driving under the influence and negligent driving and taken to jail. Her blood-alcohol level then tested at .154.

Information from: KOLN-TV, http://www.kolnkgin.com

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Odd News:Winnie the Pooh pulls bank job in Chicago

CHICAGO – The man who robbed a suburban Chicago bank at gunpoint last Friday looks like a hard-boiled, tough guy straight out of pulp fiction. Except for his sweatshirt, which featured a picture of Winnie the Pooh, the lovable Bear who's a classic of children's fiction.

FBI agents on Wednesday dubbed him the Winnie the Pooh Bandit and released surveillance photos from the Park Ridge bank in hopes the public might help to identify him.

They described his as a white male, 35 to 40 years old, 6-feet, 225 pounds, and medium build.

FBI agents like to give bank robbers monickers — such as the Scarecrow Bandit who looked like a character from the "Wizard of Oz" and the Groucho Bandit who wore a fake mustache — in hopes of generating public interest and assistance.


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Lost and found: Kaka gets police escort back to hotel

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil's Kaka got lost walking around Tallinn Tuesday ahead of their friendly against Estonia and needed a police escort back to the team's hotel, Brazilian media reported.

The Real Madrid midfielder took an early morning walk around the old town on his own and was spotted by two policemen in a patrol car who stopped to talk to him.

On learning Kaka had actually lost his way back to the hotel, the officers took him there in the patrol car, the press office of the city's police department said.

Brazil play Estonia Wednesday in a warm-up for their World Cup qualifier against Argentina on September 5.

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Chief: Tasing 76-year-old probably not 'best way'

GLENROCK, Wyo. – Glenrock Police Chief Tom Sweet said two officers "probably didn't do things the best way" when they used a Taser on a 76-year-old man driving an antique tractor in a parade. Sweet spoke at a packed town hall meeting Monday, nine days after Bud Grose was hit with a Taser during the town's annual Deer Creek Days.

The officers are on paid leave while state Division of Criminal Investigation agents investigate.

Mayor Steve Cielinski and most of the Town Council apologized to residents and asked for patience. Cielinski promised the findings will be made public.

"If we have to stand up and take it on the chin, we will," Cielinski said.

State investigator Tim Hill has said the two officers contend Grose disobeyed orders. Grose hasn't commented publicly, however, and investigators have not disclosed many details of what happened.

Sweet originally said it didn't appear any policies were violated.

Some at Monday's meeting called for the two officers to be fired. Several people who witnessed the event told the crowd police repeatedly shocked Grose with a taser.

"Those two were the most out-of-control officers I've ever seen in my life," said Scott McWilliams, a witness who said he was shoved by one of the officers. "These two guys got to go."

Mike Pyatt, a former Glenrock police officer, called on town leaders to make changes at the department.

"We will hold you accountable," he said.

Sweet, however, said he won't act before receiving the DCI report, expected by the beginning of next week.

"I don't want to take a knee-jerk reaction now," he said.

Information from: Casper Star-Tribune - Casper
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Nude drunk loses way in New Zealand hotel

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – An extremely drunk, naked man lost his way at a New Zealand hotel and ended up sleeping in the wrong room, forcing its female occupant to hide in the bathroom, local media reported.

The 29 year-old Australian man had gone back the hotel in the resort town of Queenstown with a woman, but got up in the night and wandered into a bedroom where a couple were sleeping.

"He was a bit surprised that there were two people in his room and he was butt naked," Sergeant Steve Watt of Queenstown police told the Southland Times.

As the intruder slept, the startled woman took refuge in the bathroom as her husband summoned hotel staff.

The man, who could not remember whom he had been with nor what room he had been in, and had no clothes or wallet.

Police gave him a ride home clad in a hotel bathrobe, but let him off after the guests and hotel decided not to press charges.

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Japanese women getting maternity photos

Japan - An increasing number of women who have just one child later in life are flocking to photo studios to have their pregnant bellies photographed to celebrate their bodies during a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The trend of taking pregnant nude photos has been growing over the past few years.
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