- Manhattan Island was once home to as many different species as Yellowstone National Park.
- The ridges on the sides of coins are called reeding or milling.
- It takes more water to fill a bathtub than it does to enjoy an average-length shower.
- The oldest living animal ever found was a 405-year-old clam, named Ming by researchers.
- Over half of the world's geysers are found in Yellowstone National Park.
- Women's hearts beat faster than men's hearts.
- Children grow faster during springtime.
- The chicken is the closest living relative of Tyannosaurus Rex.
- Most lipstick contains fish scales.
- All scorpions glow.
- Vultures can fly for six hours without flappingtheir wings.
- Alaska was bought from Russia for about 2 cents an acre.
- Tug-of-war was an Olympic sport in the early 1900s.
- The lollipop was named after one of the most famous racehorses in the early 1900s, Lolly Pop.
- Miami installed the first ATM for rollerbladers.
- The scientific term for a sneezing is sternutation.
- India has a Bill of Rights for cows.
- If done perfectly, any Rubick's Cube combination can be solved in 17 turns.
- Fresh apples float because 25 percent of their volume is air.
- The number sign # is called an octothorpe.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Snapple Real Facts #4
Snapple Real Facts #3
- Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
- Manufacturing recycled goods uses up to 95% less energy than using raw materials.
- On average, a laptop uses half as much energy as a desktop computer.
- When thirsty, a camel can drink 25 gallons of water in less than three minutes.
- The term rookies comes from a Civil War term, "reckie", which was short for recruit.
- The quartz crystal in your wristwatch vibretes 32,768 times a second.
- The average person takes 23,000 breaths a day.
- The hippopotamus has the capability to remain underwater for as long as five minutes.
- The first TV toy commerical aired in 1946 for Mr. Potato Head.
- Clearwater, Flordia has the highest rate of lightening strikes per capita in the U.S.
- President Warren G. Harding once lost White House china in a poker game.
- The most widely-eaten fruit in America is the banana.
- South Carolina is home to the first tea farm in the U.S.
- Some dinosaurs were as small as chickens.
- The average housefly lives for one month.
- Unlike a normal housecat, the Siberian tiger loves to swim.
- George Washington was the only unanimously elected President.
- Only male fireflies can fly.
- Penguins can jump 6 feet.
- Turning the faucet off while brushing your teeth can save up to five gallons of water.
Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (Week Ending Jan. 18, 2013)
Warming's Dark Side
Black soot spewedinto the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, wood and cropland has a far greater impact on climate than previously thought, according tonew research. In a report published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, scientists say the pollutant is second only to carbon dioxide as the most powerful driver of climate change. They add that black carbon also kills more than a million people each year who breathe it in. Beijing is currently suffering its worst bout of hazardous air pollution on record sending people to hospitals with respiratory problems and keeping most people indoors. The report says tackling soot would have an almost immediate cooling effect on the planet because of the brief time it remains suspended in the atmosphere. But Piers Forster, from the Universityof Leeds, says that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the only way to really ease global warming.
Climate Consequences
The U.S. government warns that the country will face more frequent outbreaks of severe weather and other adverse conditions over the coming decades as climate change raises temperatures far beyond levels currently being prepared for. The Third National Climate Assessment directly attributes the increase in heat waves and storms expected later this century on greenhouse gas emissions. The report said there is "strong evidence" that human activity has already roughly doubled the likelihood of more excessive heat, like Texas and Oklahoma suffered in 2011. The report concludes that climate change "threatens human health and well-being in many ways," especially due to more frequent storms, wildfires, diseases and unhealthful air quality.
Tuna Peril
Decades of overfishing in the Pacific have caused populations of tuna and similar species there to plummet, according to a new report. The International Scientific Committee to Study the Tuna and Tuna-Like Species of the North Pacific Ocean paints a grim picture of the future for what are the most popular fish sold in markets around the world. The joint Japan-U.S. fisheries research organization cautions that Pacific bluefin "is near historically low levels and being fished beyond its ability to reproduce. Most international attention to overfishing has been focused recently on varieties in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. But overfishing to meet the demand for sushi has put all of the world's fish in the mackerel, tuna and bonito family on the endangered list. The latest U.S.-Japan warnings highlight just how severely overfishing is affecting the world's oceans.
Strombolian Blasts
Italy's Stromboli volcano north of Sicily produced spectacular lava flows and plumes of ash that soared high above the island that shares its name. The volcano has been in a nearly continous state of eruption since 1934, but the latest activity was so intense that it frightened even long-term residents. Mayor Marco Giorgianni had to assure the island's 500 inhabitants that they were not at risk.
Tropical Cyclones
Former Category 5 Cyclone Narelle remained well off the Western Australia coast as it moved southward across the far eastern Indian Ocean. The storm was a threat only to shipping lanes.
* Tropical Storm Emang passed over open waters of the Indian Ocean.
Earthquakes
A mild earthquake jolted the site of the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The 3.8 magnitude jolt was felt on the upper floors of tall buildings in the Black Sea resort. A suspected underwater volcano was reported during the previous week to have melted a fiber-optic cable running off the coast of Sochi, affecting communications between the city and neighboring Georgia.
* Earth movements were also felt in northern Tasmania, south-central Alaska, central Oklahoma and the coast of Maine.
A Human Introduction
A remote and previously unknown colony of about 9,000 emperor penguins has received its first human visitors after being discovered in astellite images. Three Antarctica experts from Belgium's Princess Elisabeth polar research station became the first people to visit and photograph the massive colony. "It was almost midnight when we succeeded in finding a way down to the ice through crevasses and approached the first of five groups of more than a thousand individuals, three-quarters of which were chicks," said expedition leader Alain Hubert. "This was an unforgttable moment." The colony was detected when satellllite image analysts spotted the dark telltale tracks of droppings the birds leave behind on the snow and ice. The Belgium researches happened to have been studying ice loss nearby and decided to make a detour to explore the colony. Emperor penguins spend much of their lives feeding in the sea. But they gather in often great numbers on ice when it comes time to breed.
Black soot spewedinto the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, wood and cropland has a far greater impact on climate than previously thought, according tonew research. In a report published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, scientists say the pollutant is second only to carbon dioxide as the most powerful driver of climate change. They add that black carbon also kills more than a million people each year who breathe it in. Beijing is currently suffering its worst bout of hazardous air pollution on record sending people to hospitals with respiratory problems and keeping most people indoors. The report says tackling soot would have an almost immediate cooling effect on the planet because of the brief time it remains suspended in the atmosphere. But Piers Forster, from the Universityof Leeds, says that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the only way to really ease global warming.
Climate Consequences
The U.S. government warns that the country will face more frequent outbreaks of severe weather and other adverse conditions over the coming decades as climate change raises temperatures far beyond levels currently being prepared for. The Third National Climate Assessment directly attributes the increase in heat waves and storms expected later this century on greenhouse gas emissions. The report said there is "strong evidence" that human activity has already roughly doubled the likelihood of more excessive heat, like Texas and Oklahoma suffered in 2011. The report concludes that climate change "threatens human health and well-being in many ways," especially due to more frequent storms, wildfires, diseases and unhealthful air quality.
Tuna Peril
Decades of overfishing in the Pacific have caused populations of tuna and similar species there to plummet, according to a new report. The International Scientific Committee to Study the Tuna and Tuna-Like Species of the North Pacific Ocean paints a grim picture of the future for what are the most popular fish sold in markets around the world. The joint Japan-U.S. fisheries research organization cautions that Pacific bluefin "is near historically low levels and being fished beyond its ability to reproduce. Most international attention to overfishing has been focused recently on varieties in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. But overfishing to meet the demand for sushi has put all of the world's fish in the mackerel, tuna and bonito family on the endangered list. The latest U.S.-Japan warnings highlight just how severely overfishing is affecting the world's oceans.
Strombolian Blasts
Italy's Stromboli volcano north of Sicily produced spectacular lava flows and plumes of ash that soared high above the island that shares its name. The volcano has been in a nearly continous state of eruption since 1934, but the latest activity was so intense that it frightened even long-term residents. Mayor Marco Giorgianni had to assure the island's 500 inhabitants that they were not at risk.
Tropical Cyclones
Former Category 5 Cyclone Narelle remained well off the Western Australia coast as it moved southward across the far eastern Indian Ocean. The storm was a threat only to shipping lanes.
* Tropical Storm Emang passed over open waters of the Indian Ocean.
Earthquakes
A mild earthquake jolted the site of the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The 3.8 magnitude jolt was felt on the upper floors of tall buildings in the Black Sea resort. A suspected underwater volcano was reported during the previous week to have melted a fiber-optic cable running off the coast of Sochi, affecting communications between the city and neighboring Georgia.
* Earth movements were also felt in northern Tasmania, south-central Alaska, central Oklahoma and the coast of Maine.
A Human Introduction
A remote and previously unknown colony of about 9,000 emperor penguins has received its first human visitors after being discovered in astellite images. Three Antarctica experts from Belgium's Princess Elisabeth polar research station became the first people to visit and photograph the massive colony. "It was almost midnight when we succeeded in finding a way down to the ice through crevasses and approached the first of five groups of more than a thousand individuals, three-quarters of which were chicks," said expedition leader Alain Hubert. "This was an unforgttable moment." The colony was detected when satellllite image analysts spotted the dark telltale tracks of droppings the birds leave behind on the snow and ice. The Belgium researches happened to have been studying ice loss nearby and decided to make a detour to explore the colony. Emperor penguins spend much of their lives feeding in the sea. But they gather in often great numbers on ice when it comes time to breed.
LINE DRIVES & LIPSTICK
A new Mercer Museum exhibit focuses on the history of women in baseball
In 1866, students at the prestigious all-women's Vassar College in New York put down their books and picked up bats and balls.
Wearing caps and ankle-length dresses, they organized what is believed to be America's first women's baseball team.
In the nearly 150 years since, women have continued to play America's great pastime, traveling the country to face men's teams, showcasing their talents in the World War II-era All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and achieving some truly amazing feats.
In 1931, for instance, pitcher Jackie Mitchell became the second woman to sign a minor-league contract. As if that weren't remarkable enough, the young southpaw delivered back-to-back strikeouts to Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig during an exhibition game between her Chattanooga Lookouts and the New York Yankees.
And it is a woman, Sophie Kurys of the Racine Belles, who holds the record for most stolen bases in one season in any professional league, male or female. In 1946, she swiped 201 bags in 203 attempts, and she did it while wearing a skirt.
But these women have been nearly forgotten by history; most fans of the game don't know their names.
A new exhibit at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, opening Saturday and running through March 17, is trying to change all that.
The traveling exhibit, called "Line Drives and Lipstick: The Untold Story of Women's Baseball," features more than 60 artifacts tracing the history of women and the game, starting with the Vassar team in 1866.
Exhibit curator and archivist John Kovach says most people now know about the All-American Girls Baseball League thanks to the 1992 film "A League of their Own."
"But there's lots of stuff in between. It's not just a very limited period of time like the 1940s," he said. "We wanted to show this timeline."
Kovach is an archivist at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Ind. In 2004, the avid baseball fan and longtime coach pitched the idea to ExhibitsUSA, a Kansas City-based traveling exhibition program managed by Mid-America Arts Alliance, a nonprofit regional arts organization.
In 2008, the exhibit hit the road with many artifacts Kovach had collected personally. Included in the collection are gloves, a 1930s rule book, photographs, jerseys and baseballs.
"It's much more than a history lesson," said Dee Harris, director of visual arts and humanities at Mid-America Arts Alliance. "It's a message about determination and achievement in which everyone, especially young women, will discover encouragement for their hopes and dreams."
The Mercer Museum will add some local flavor to the exhibit, including materials from West Rockhill native Ruth Richard, who played for the Rockford Peaches in the All-American Girls League. The museum will also include a section called "Greater Philadelphia Baseball," featuring men's and women's baseball memorabilia, including a ball signed by the Phillies' 2008 World Championship team.
Part of the exhibit, says Kovach, portrays a story of struggle. Women have faced discrimination in baseball. Even today, young girls are encouraged to play softball not baseball.
"It's still a huge issue," said Kovach. "So many athletic directors say, 'It's great that your daughter played baseball until she was 14. But now she can play softball."
The women's rights movement of the 1970s and the development of Title IX have improved the situation, he said, but problems still exist.
Kovach should know. He's a board member with Baseball for All, which seeks to expand opportunities for girls in baseball. Kovach has served as a consultant in more than 140 cases in which girls were denied the opportunity to play. Each year he gets emails from families looking for help.
"It hasn't dissuaded females who want to play baseball," he said.
Kovach believes the answer is to start with the youth organizations, encouraging them to support girls baseball.
"It's got to start from the bottom up," he said.
In 1866, students at the prestigious all-women's Vassar College in New York put down their books and picked up bats and balls.
Wearing caps and ankle-length dresses, they organized what is believed to be America's first women's baseball team.
In the nearly 150 years since, women have continued to play America's great pastime, traveling the country to face men's teams, showcasing their talents in the World War II-era All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and achieving some truly amazing feats.
In 1931, for instance, pitcher Jackie Mitchell became the second woman to sign a minor-league contract. As if that weren't remarkable enough, the young southpaw delivered back-to-back strikeouts to Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig during an exhibition game between her Chattanooga Lookouts and the New York Yankees.
And it is a woman, Sophie Kurys of the Racine Belles, who holds the record for most stolen bases in one season in any professional league, male or female. In 1946, she swiped 201 bags in 203 attempts, and she did it while wearing a skirt.
But these women have been nearly forgotten by history; most fans of the game don't know their names.
A new exhibit at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, opening Saturday and running through March 17, is trying to change all that.
The traveling exhibit, called "Line Drives and Lipstick: The Untold Story of Women's Baseball," features more than 60 artifacts tracing the history of women and the game, starting with the Vassar team in 1866.
Exhibit curator and archivist John Kovach says most people now know about the All-American Girls Baseball League thanks to the 1992 film "A League of their Own."
"But there's lots of stuff in between. It's not just a very limited period of time like the 1940s," he said. "We wanted to show this timeline."
Kovach is an archivist at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Ind. In 2004, the avid baseball fan and longtime coach pitched the idea to ExhibitsUSA, a Kansas City-based traveling exhibition program managed by Mid-America Arts Alliance, a nonprofit regional arts organization.
In 2008, the exhibit hit the road with many artifacts Kovach had collected personally. Included in the collection are gloves, a 1930s rule book, photographs, jerseys and baseballs.
"It's much more than a history lesson," said Dee Harris, director of visual arts and humanities at Mid-America Arts Alliance. "It's a message about determination and achievement in which everyone, especially young women, will discover encouragement for their hopes and dreams."
The Mercer Museum will add some local flavor to the exhibit, including materials from West Rockhill native Ruth Richard, who played for the Rockford Peaches in the All-American Girls League. The museum will also include a section called "Greater Philadelphia Baseball," featuring men's and women's baseball memorabilia, including a ball signed by the Phillies' 2008 World Championship team.
Part of the exhibit, says Kovach, portrays a story of struggle. Women have faced discrimination in baseball. Even today, young girls are encouraged to play softball not baseball.
"It's still a huge issue," said Kovach. "So many athletic directors say, 'It's great that your daughter played baseball until she was 14. But now she can play softball."
The women's rights movement of the 1970s and the development of Title IX have improved the situation, he said, but problems still exist.
Kovach should know. He's a board member with Baseball for All, which seeks to expand opportunities for girls in baseball. Kovach has served as a consultant in more than 140 cases in which girls were denied the opportunity to play. Each year he gets emails from families looking for help.
"It hasn't dissuaded females who want to play baseball," he said.
Kovach believes the answer is to start with the youth organizations, encouraging them to support girls baseball.
"It's got to start from the bottom up," he said.
Snow Day
Tips on dealing with winter's little surprises
'Tis the season for bad weather and snow to shovel. This task alone sends more than 11,000 adults to the hospital every year. The most common issues are back strain and sprains, followed by broken bones, head injury and more severely, heart attack. Shoveling snow is slippery business and you need to take certain steps to make sure that you are not adding to the statistics.
Here are some helpful hints to keep you healthy this shoveling season :
Preventing Back Sprain & Strain : Use good body mechanics
'Tis the season for bad weather and snow to shovel. This task alone sends more than 11,000 adults to the hospital every year. The most common issues are back strain and sprains, followed by broken bones, head injury and more severely, heart attack. Shoveling snow is slippery business and you need to take certain steps to make sure that you are not adding to the statistics.
Here are some helpful hints to keep you healthy this shoveling season :
Preventing Back Sprain & Strain : Use good body mechanics
- Keep your back straight ----- Don't bend over the pick up the snow.
- Bend your knees to lift ------- The large muscle groups in your thighs (the quadriceps) and buttocks (the gluteal muscles) should be doing the majority of the work during shoveling.
- Keep a wide base of support ----- It is important to stay balanced while lifting. The surface will already be wet and slippery, reduce your risk of slipping with the weight of the snow in your arms by keeping your feet in a wider than normal stance.
- Tighten your abdominal muscles prior to lifting the load ----- this will create a natural brace for your back and support the spine.
- Test the load ------- All snow is not created equal, snow weight can vary depending on its liquid content, and so one shovel full of wet snow can be much heavier than a shovel full of dry snow. Also, if the snow is deep, remove it in levels; test the weight of the snow to see what you can manage.
- Wear appropriate clothing and footwear ------ It is important to not only stay warm while out shoveling snow, it is important to wear boots with treads to reduce the risk of falls.
- Use rock salt as you go ------ Make sure that once an area is cleared of snow that you follow with rock salt to prevent the wet surface from freezing under you. it can also give you some traction to stand and shovel on.
- Seek immediate medical attention when falling and striking your head ------ Many head injuries are minimized because people do not always lose consciousness. It is important to seek medical attention if you have sustained a significant blow to the head, regardless of loss of consciousness.
Take the Oath of Office Quiz!
As President Obama solemnly swears to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States to the best of his ability, try to answer these 10 trivia questions to the best of yours.
1. In which city did the first inauguration take place?
a) Richmond, Va.
b) New York City
c) Philadelphia
2. Which president gave the longest Inaugural Address?
a) Bill Clinton
b) George Washington
c) William Henry Harrison
3. Who was the only president to take the oath of office from a woman?
a) Lyndon B. Johnson
b) Ronald Reagan
c) George H.W. Bush
4. African-American soldiers first marched in whose inauguration parade?
a) Abraham Lincoln's
b) Ulysses S. Grant's
c) Theodore Roosevelt's
5. Which chief justice administered the most presidential oaths?
a) John Jay
b) John Marshall
c) Earl Warren
6. Inauguration Day was officially changed from March 4 to Jan. 20 thanks to the passage of the 20th Amendment in 1933. Why?
a) It often rained on March 4.
b) Congress did not want the inauguration to fall during Lent.
c) The transition period between the election and the inauguration of the president-elect was deemed too long.
7. Which president tossed the Super Bowl coin the same day as his swearing-in?
a) Richard Nixon
b) Gerald Ford
c) Ronald Reagan
8. Which president administered the oath of office to two of his successors?
a) George Washington
b) John Quincy Adams
c) William Howard Taft
9. Who was sworn in on a Bible written in a modern foreign language?
a) Thomas Jefferson
b) Franklin D. Roosevelt
c) John F. Kennedy
10. Which president was given the oath of office by his own father?
a) John Quincy Adams
b) Calvin Coolidge
c) George W. Bush
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. (b) New York City was the temporary capital of the United States when Washington took the oath on April 30, 1789.
2. (c) Harrison's speech in 1841 was more than 8,000 words long and took nearly two hours to deliver on a cold, windy day. He fell ill with pneumonia and died one month later. (The shortest inaugural address ---- just 135 words long --- was Washington's second).
3. (a) After the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Johnson was sworn in aboard Air Force One by Sarah T. Hughes, a U.S. district judge.
4. (a) At Lincoln's second inauguration, in 1865, four companies of African-American troops and lodges of African-American Masons and African-American Odd Fellows joined the procession to the Capitol.
5. (b) Marshall adminstered the oath nine times from Thomas Jefferson's first inauguration, in 1801, to Andrew Jackson's second, in 1833.
6. (c) The old March 4 inaugural date had been selected when travel and communications were much slower, and the "lame duck" period for the outgoing president rarely caused problems. But the long transition became an issue in 1932 during the Gereat Depression, because it meant that the next president would be unable to act until four months after his election. The 20th Amendment, first proposed in March of that year, changed the date but didn't go into effect in time for Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term. In 1937, he became the first president inaugurated under the new rule.
7. (c) On Jan. 20, 1985, Reagan took the oath privately in the Entrance Hall at the White House, and later went to the Map Room to flip the coin on live television via satellite. (The 49ers won the toss, and the game.)
8. (c) Taft was appointed chief justice in 1921 --- eight years after his presidency --- and administered the oath of office to both Coolidge (in 1925) and Hoover (in 1929).
9. (b) Roosevelt used an old family Bible written in Dutch at all four of his inaugurations.
10. (b) Coolidge was sworn in by his father, a justice of the peace, at the Coolidge family homestead in rural Vermont on Aug. 3, 1923, after he was informed that President Harding had passed away.
1. In which city did the first inauguration take place?
a) Richmond, Va.
b) New York City
c) Philadelphia
2. Which president gave the longest Inaugural Address?
a) Bill Clinton
b) George Washington
c) William Henry Harrison
3. Who was the only president to take the oath of office from a woman?
a) Lyndon B. Johnson
b) Ronald Reagan
c) George H.W. Bush
4. African-American soldiers first marched in whose inauguration parade?
a) Abraham Lincoln's
b) Ulysses S. Grant's
c) Theodore Roosevelt's
5. Which chief justice administered the most presidential oaths?
a) John Jay
b) John Marshall
c) Earl Warren
6. Inauguration Day was officially changed from March 4 to Jan. 20 thanks to the passage of the 20th Amendment in 1933. Why?
a) It often rained on March 4.
b) Congress did not want the inauguration to fall during Lent.
c) The transition period between the election and the inauguration of the president-elect was deemed too long.
7. Which president tossed the Super Bowl coin the same day as his swearing-in?
a) Richard Nixon
b) Gerald Ford
c) Ronald Reagan
8. Which president administered the oath of office to two of his successors?
a) George Washington
b) John Quincy Adams
c) William Howard Taft
9. Who was sworn in on a Bible written in a modern foreign language?
a) Thomas Jefferson
b) Franklin D. Roosevelt
c) John F. Kennedy
10. Which president was given the oath of office by his own father?
a) John Quincy Adams
b) Calvin Coolidge
c) George W. Bush
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. (b) New York City was the temporary capital of the United States when Washington took the oath on April 30, 1789.
2. (c) Harrison's speech in 1841 was more than 8,000 words long and took nearly two hours to deliver on a cold, windy day. He fell ill with pneumonia and died one month later. (The shortest inaugural address ---- just 135 words long --- was Washington's second).
3. (a) After the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Johnson was sworn in aboard Air Force One by Sarah T. Hughes, a U.S. district judge.
4. (a) At Lincoln's second inauguration, in 1865, four companies of African-American troops and lodges of African-American Masons and African-American Odd Fellows joined the procession to the Capitol.
5. (b) Marshall adminstered the oath nine times from Thomas Jefferson's first inauguration, in 1801, to Andrew Jackson's second, in 1833.
6. (c) The old March 4 inaugural date had been selected when travel and communications were much slower, and the "lame duck" period for the outgoing president rarely caused problems. But the long transition became an issue in 1932 during the Gereat Depression, because it meant that the next president would be unable to act until four months after his election. The 20th Amendment, first proposed in March of that year, changed the date but didn't go into effect in time for Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term. In 1937, he became the first president inaugurated under the new rule.
7. (c) On Jan. 20, 1985, Reagan took the oath privately in the Entrance Hall at the White House, and later went to the Map Room to flip the coin on live television via satellite. (The 49ers won the toss, and the game.)
8. (c) Taft was appointed chief justice in 1921 --- eight years after his presidency --- and administered the oath of office to both Coolidge (in 1925) and Hoover (in 1929).
9. (b) Roosevelt used an old family Bible written in Dutch at all four of his inaugurations.
10. (b) Coolidge was sworn in by his father, a justice of the peace, at the Coolidge family homestead in rural Vermont on Aug. 3, 1923, after he was informed that President Harding had passed away.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
POP Quiz (Mark Their Words)
With a presidential inaugural address to be delivered Monday Jan. 21st, a look at some passage from previous speeches.
Match the quote with the president.
1. "In each generation, with toil and tears, we have had to earn our heritage again. If we fail now then we will have forgotten in abundance what we learned in hardship: that democracy rests on faith, that freedom asks more than it gives, and the judgement of God is harshest on those who are most favored."
2. "In pursuing our goals of full employment, better housing, excellence in education; in rebuilding our cities and improving our rural areas; in protecting our environment and enhancing the quality of life ---- in all these and more, we will and must press urgently forward."
3. "The collection of any taxes which are not absoutely required, which do not beyond reasonable doubt contribute to the public welfare, is only a species of legalized larceny."
4. "Our thought has been 'Let every man look out for himself, let every generation look out for itself,' while we reared giant machinery which made it impossible that any but those who stood at the levers of control should have a chance to look out for themselves."
5. "The best way for the government to maintain its credit is to pay asit goes ----- not by resorting to loans, but by keeping out of debt ---- through an adequate income secured by a system of taxation, external or internal, or both."
6. "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."
a) Calvin Coolidge, 1925
b) Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965
c) William McKinley, 1897
d) Richard M. Nixon, 1969
e) Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1937
f) Woodrow Wilson, 1913
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. b ; 2. d ; 3. a ; 4. f ; 5. c ; 6. e
Match the quote with the president.
1. "In each generation, with toil and tears, we have had to earn our heritage again. If we fail now then we will have forgotten in abundance what we learned in hardship: that democracy rests on faith, that freedom asks more than it gives, and the judgement of God is harshest on those who are most favored."
2. "In pursuing our goals of full employment, better housing, excellence in education; in rebuilding our cities and improving our rural areas; in protecting our environment and enhancing the quality of life ---- in all these and more, we will and must press urgently forward."
3. "The collection of any taxes which are not absoutely required, which do not beyond reasonable doubt contribute to the public welfare, is only a species of legalized larceny."
4. "Our thought has been 'Let every man look out for himself, let every generation look out for itself,' while we reared giant machinery which made it impossible that any but those who stood at the levers of control should have a chance to look out for themselves."
5. "The best way for the government to maintain its credit is to pay asit goes ----- not by resorting to loans, but by keeping out of debt ---- through an adequate income secured by a system of taxation, external or internal, or both."
6. "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."
a) Calvin Coolidge, 1925
b) Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965
c) William McKinley, 1897
d) Richard M. Nixon, 1969
e) Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1937
f) Woodrow Wilson, 1913
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. b ; 2. d ; 3. a ; 4. f ; 5. c ; 6. e
F. Y. I.
Point of Origin
Cantaloupes are named for the papal gardens of Cantaloupe, Italy, reportedly where they were first grown.
Say What?
by Celine Dion
"For me, singing was real life, not two plus two equals four."
Still on the Books
In Hollywood, Calif., it is illegal to drive more than 2,000 sheep down Hollywood Boulevard at one time.
Mineral Content
Your body has enough iron in it to make a nail 3 inches long.
So Called
Baby owls are called owlets.
Underwater Wonder
The sailfish, the fastest fish in the ocean, can travel at speeds of almost 70 miles an hour.
Cantaloupes are named for the papal gardens of Cantaloupe, Italy, reportedly where they were first grown.
Say What?
by Celine Dion
"For me, singing was real life, not two plus two equals four."
Still on the Books
In Hollywood, Calif., it is illegal to drive more than 2,000 sheep down Hollywood Boulevard at one time.
Mineral Content
Your body has enough iron in it to make a nail 3 inches long.
So Called
Baby owls are called owlets.
Underwater Wonder
The sailfish, the fastest fish in the ocean, can travel at speeds of almost 70 miles an hour.
Dung beetles look to the stars
A species of South African dung beetle has been shown to use the Milky Way to navigate, making it the only known animal that turns to the galactic spray of stars across the night sky for direction.
Researchers have known for several years that the inch-long insects use the sun or moon as fixed points to ensure they keep rolling dung balls in a straight line - the quickest way of getting away from other beetles at the dung heap.
But scientists have puzzled over how the beetles, which perform an orientation dance on top of their dung balls before setting off, achieve a straight line on moonless nights.
To prove the Milky Way theory, scientists at Johannesburg's Wits University took beetles into the university planetarium to see how they fared with a normal night sky, and then one devoid of the Milky Way.
"The dung beetles don't care which direction they're going in. They just need to get away from the bun fight at the poo pile," Wits professor Marcus Byrne said. "But when we turned off the Milky Way, the beetles got lost."
And on cloudy nights without a moon or stars?
"They probably just stay at home," Byrne said.
Researchers have known for several years that the inch-long insects use the sun or moon as fixed points to ensure they keep rolling dung balls in a straight line - the quickest way of getting away from other beetles at the dung heap.
But scientists have puzzled over how the beetles, which perform an orientation dance on top of their dung balls before setting off, achieve a straight line on moonless nights.
To prove the Milky Way theory, scientists at Johannesburg's Wits University took beetles into the university planetarium to see how they fared with a normal night sky, and then one devoid of the Milky Way.
"The dung beetles don't care which direction they're going in. They just need to get away from the bun fight at the poo pile," Wits professor Marcus Byrne said. "But when we turned off the Milky Way, the beetles got lost."
And on cloudy nights without a moon or stars?
"They probably just stay at home," Byrne said.
Obama the fly swatter strikes again
There was a buzz at the White House on Thursday when President Barack Obama announced the nomination of two top financial regulatory officials.
A large fly interrupted the president as he presented his picks to head the Securities and Exchange Commission and a watchdog for financial consumer products.
Under bright television lights, the fly darted around the president's head as he spoke in the White House's ornate State Dining Room, alighting briefly on the middle of his forehead.
"We need cops on the beat to enforce the law," the president said, speaking about SEC nominee Mary Jo White and Richard Cordray, who he renominated to continue as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Obama broke off to swat at the intruder, which flew away.
"This guy is bothering me here," Obama said, glaring at his staff.
The insect was luckier than a fly that harassed Obama in 2009 while taping a television interview.
"Get out of here," he said, before smacking and killing the fly. "I got the sucker," he said at the time. An animal rights group protested.
A large fly interrupted the president as he presented his picks to head the Securities and Exchange Commission and a watchdog for financial consumer products.
Under bright television lights, the fly darted around the president's head as he spoke in the White House's ornate State Dining Room, alighting briefly on the middle of his forehead.
"We need cops on the beat to enforce the law," the president said, speaking about SEC nominee Mary Jo White and Richard Cordray, who he renominated to continue as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Obama broke off to swat at the intruder, which flew away.
"This guy is bothering me here," Obama said, glaring at his staff.
The insect was luckier than a fly that harassed Obama in 2009 while taping a television interview.
"Get out of here," he said, before smacking and killing the fly. "I got the sucker," he said at the time. An animal rights group protested.
"Disrespectful" IKEA ad touches nerve with Thai transsexuals
A Thai man and his girlfriend are shopping at a furniture store. She sees pillows on sale and gets excited, her feminine voice falls suddenly to a deep male-like tone.
Shocked and horrified, her boyfriend runs off.
The advertisement by IKEA, the world's biggest furniture retailer, has incensed a Thai transgender group which called it "negative and stereotypical" and "a gross violation of human rights" in an open letter to the Swedish retail giant.
The 20-second commercial shown on YouTube (http://link.reuters.com/gyz45t) and on Bangkok's trains in December and January entitled "Luem Aeb" ("Forget to Keep Hidden"), was disrespectful to transsexuals, according to the Thai Transgender Alliance, which demanded an explanation from IKEA.
Transgenders, or "Ladyboys" as they are often referred to, are widely accepted in Thailand and are commonplace in the fashion, beauty and entertainment industries, but are not officially recognized as women.
A marketing official at IKEA Thailand, which opened its first store in the country in November 2011, said on Thursday it had talked with the group in response to its January 9 complaint.
"IKEA has spoken to the group over the telephone and the conversation went very smoothly. We are now drafting a letter in response," the official said, declining to be identified.
Shocked and horrified, her boyfriend runs off.
The advertisement by IKEA, the world's biggest furniture retailer, has incensed a Thai transgender group which called it "negative and stereotypical" and "a gross violation of human rights" in an open letter to the Swedish retail giant.
The 20-second commercial shown on YouTube (http://link.reuters.com/gyz45t) and on Bangkok's trains in December and January entitled "Luem Aeb" ("Forget to Keep Hidden"), was disrespectful to transsexuals, according to the Thai Transgender Alliance, which demanded an explanation from IKEA.
Transgenders, or "Ladyboys" as they are often referred to, are widely accepted in Thailand and are commonplace in the fashion, beauty and entertainment industries, but are not officially recognized as women.
A marketing official at IKEA Thailand, which opened its first store in the country in November 2011, said on Thursday it had talked with the group in response to its January 9 complaint.
"IKEA has spoken to the group over the telephone and the conversation went very smoothly. We are now drafting a letter in response," the official said, declining to be identified.
German court rules internet "essential"
A German court ruled on Thursday that people have the right to claim compensation from service providers if their Internet access is disrupted, because the Internet is an "essential" part of life.
The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe made the ruling after hearing the case of a man who was unable to use his DSL connection, which also offered a telephone and fax line, for two months from late 2008 to early 2009.
He had already received compensation for the cost of having to use a mobile phone, but wanted to be compensated for not being able to use the Internet. Under German law the loss of use of essential material items can be compensated.
"The Internet plays a very important role today and affects the private life of an individual in very decisive ways. Therefore loss of use of the Internet is comparable to the loss of use of a car," a court spokeswoman told Germany's ARD television.
The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe made the ruling after hearing the case of a man who was unable to use his DSL connection, which also offered a telephone and fax line, for two months from late 2008 to early 2009.
He had already received compensation for the cost of having to use a mobile phone, but wanted to be compensated for not being able to use the Internet. Under German law the loss of use of essential material items can be compensated.
"The Internet plays a very important role today and affects the private life of an individual in very decisive ways. Therefore loss of use of the Internet is comparable to the loss of use of a car," a court spokeswoman told Germany's ARD television.
Thousands of crocodiles on the loose after South Africa floods
Some 15,000 crocodiles escaped from a South African reptile farm in flood waters this week and were on the loose in and around one of southern Africa's biggest rivers, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
"There used to be only a few crocodiles in the Limpopo River. Now there are a lot," Zane Langman, whose in-laws own the farm in the northern part of the country told Beeld newspaper.
Langman said only half the escaped crocodiles from the Rakwena Crocodile Farm close to the Botswana border had been recaptured, the report said.
Langman added that farm gates were opened out of fear the rushing flood water would crush the crocodiles.
Officials from the farm were not immediately available for comment.
One crocodile apparently from the farm was captured about 120 km (75 miles) away at a school rugby field, it said.
Heavy rains and flooding have claimed at least 20 lives in Mozambique and South Africa and led to the evacuations of thousands.
"There used to be only a few crocodiles in the Limpopo River. Now there are a lot," Zane Langman, whose in-laws own the farm in the northern part of the country told Beeld newspaper.
Langman said only half the escaped crocodiles from the Rakwena Crocodile Farm close to the Botswana border had been recaptured, the report said.
Langman added that farm gates were opened out of fear the rushing flood water would crush the crocodiles.
Officials from the farm were not immediately available for comment.
One crocodile apparently from the farm was captured about 120 km (75 miles) away at a school rugby field, it said.
Heavy rains and flooding have claimed at least 20 lives in Mozambique and South Africa and led to the evacuations of thousands.
Belgian trainee teachers fail in basic general knowledge
A large number of Belgium's future secondary school teachers struggle with basic concepts of geography, politics and history, a study published on Wednesday has shown.
Among final year teaching students involved in the study, one in three could not identify the United States on a map and almost half did not know where the Pacific Ocean was.
Shown a picture of Mao Zedong, two in three could not recognize the Chinese Communist leader, with the most common response being that it was the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Researchers at the Limburg Catholic University College tested 1,000 students in eight teacher training colleges in Belgium's Flemish region.
The test, which asked 114 multiple choice questions, was carried out because students often showed gaps in their general knowledge, the researchers conducting the test said.
"Nobody is completely taken aback by the results," Erik De Winter of the Limburg Catholic University College said.
When asked which political ideology stood for the redistribution of wealth, higher taxes and state involvement only one in two answered socialism.
Students who followed the news and read newspapers scored better in the test than those who said they did not, De Winter said. He added the college would now carry out further research to see how the situation could be improved.
The Flemish education ministry said it was already rethinking the training of its future teachers and would, if necessary, make adjustments by summer 2013.
Among final year teaching students involved in the study, one in three could not identify the United States on a map and almost half did not know where the Pacific Ocean was.
Shown a picture of Mao Zedong, two in three could not recognize the Chinese Communist leader, with the most common response being that it was the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Researchers at the Limburg Catholic University College tested 1,000 students in eight teacher training colleges in Belgium's Flemish region.
The test, which asked 114 multiple choice questions, was carried out because students often showed gaps in their general knowledge, the researchers conducting the test said.
"Nobody is completely taken aback by the results," Erik De Winter of the Limburg Catholic University College said.
When asked which political ideology stood for the redistribution of wealth, higher taxes and state involvement only one in two answered socialism.
Students who followed the news and read newspapers scored better in the test than those who said they did not, De Winter said. He added the college would now carry out further research to see how the situation could be improved.
The Flemish education ministry said it was already rethinking the training of its future teachers and would, if necessary, make adjustments by summer 2013.
Smallest house in Brussels up for auction
Cosy might be the best word to describe the smallest house in Brussels, which is about to go up for auction.
The centuries-old former furniture workshop and creperie a stone's throw from the Belgian capital's picturesque central square is just 2.75 meters wide and has a ground floor only 1.75 meters (5 foot 9 inches) across.
"There's a lot of interest and there are also a lot of tourists who want to see it," said Claude Rotsart de Hertaing, a Brussels pensioner who works part time showing prospective buyers around houses.
The dilapidated five-floor Belgian townhouse, just off the central Grand Place square, has "La plus petite maison de Bruxelles" (The smallest house in Brussels) written across a faded wooden sign above the entrance.
It is not Europe's narrowest however, which tourist officials in Slovakia believe could be a 1.3 meter wide house in its capital Bratislava.
The Brussels house, squeezed between a pizzeria and a souvenir shop, has floors each of about 16 meters squared, apart from the ground floor which is even tighter as it has a pathway running to a courtyard down the side.
On one floor it has a potentially inviting fireplace, but you might singe your knees if you sat facing it on an armchair.
The house will be auctioned on February 6, starting at a price of 146,200 euros ($194,700).
($1 = 0.7510 euros)
The centuries-old former furniture workshop and creperie a stone's throw from the Belgian capital's picturesque central square is just 2.75 meters wide and has a ground floor only 1.75 meters (5 foot 9 inches) across.
"There's a lot of interest and there are also a lot of tourists who want to see it," said Claude Rotsart de Hertaing, a Brussels pensioner who works part time showing prospective buyers around houses.
The dilapidated five-floor Belgian townhouse, just off the central Grand Place square, has "La plus petite maison de Bruxelles" (The smallest house in Brussels) written across a faded wooden sign above the entrance.
It is not Europe's narrowest however, which tourist officials in Slovakia believe could be a 1.3 meter wide house in its capital Bratislava.
The Brussels house, squeezed between a pizzeria and a souvenir shop, has floors each of about 16 meters squared, apart from the ground floor which is even tighter as it has a pathway running to a courtyard down the side.
On one floor it has a potentially inviting fireplace, but you might singe your knees if you sat facing it on an armchair.
The house will be auctioned on February 6, starting at a price of 146,200 euros ($194,700).
($1 = 0.7510 euros)
Berkshire Hathaway adds 5k race to sugar-filled weekend
Warren Buffett, the famed investor and notorious lover of cheeseburgers and cherry-flavored sodas, a competitive runner?
Not exactly. But his face is on a new running shoe.
Buffett's conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, on Tuesday said it will add a 5-kilometer run to the festivities at its annual shareholder weekend this coming May.
Buffett will fire the starting gun and also hand out awards to the winners, Berkshire said. To commemorate the occasion, Berkshire subsidiary Brooks Running Co said it would produce a sneaker featuring a caricature image of Buffett crossing the tape at the finish line.
Brooks plans to sell the running shoe from its booth at the annual meeting, which draws more than 40,000 people to Omaha's convention center.
The "Invest in Yourself" race will be held May 5, the day after the shareholder meeting. Buffett, who is aggressively hands-off with the managers of Berkshire's dozens of businesses, said he would encourage them all to participate in the run.
For some, the event will follow a weekend of serious indulgence. Buffett himself is known to start off the day of the meeting with a Dilly Bar from his Dairy Queen business, followed by multiple pounds of peanut brittle from See's Candies, another company Berkshire owns.
He also routinely encourage shareholders to frequent his favorite steakhouses while in Omaha, where he commands them to sample only the larger-sized portions.
Not exactly. But his face is on a new running shoe.
Buffett's conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, on Tuesday said it will add a 5-kilometer run to the festivities at its annual shareholder weekend this coming May.
Buffett will fire the starting gun and also hand out awards to the winners, Berkshire said. To commemorate the occasion, Berkshire subsidiary Brooks Running Co said it would produce a sneaker featuring a caricature image of Buffett crossing the tape at the finish line.
Brooks plans to sell the running shoe from its booth at the annual meeting, which draws more than 40,000 people to Omaha's convention center.
The "Invest in Yourself" race will be held May 5, the day after the shareholder meeting. Buffett, who is aggressively hands-off with the managers of Berkshire's dozens of businesses, said he would encourage them all to participate in the run.
For some, the event will follow a weekend of serious indulgence. Buffett himself is known to start off the day of the meeting with a Dilly Bar from his Dairy Queen business, followed by multiple pounds of peanut brittle from See's Candies, another company Berkshire owns.
He also routinely encourage shareholders to frequent his favorite steakhouses while in Omaha, where he commands them to sample only the larger-sized portions.
Racy Victorian divorces online at genealogy website
The original Mrs Robinson's diary and scandalous suggestions about a former heir to the British throne are all part of the latest ancestral revelations to go online.
British genealogical website Ancestry.co.uk said on Tuesday it has put the transcripts of thousands of Victorian divorce proceedings online, which reveal the racy details of an era that most modern Britons consider to have been dominated by imperial duty, a stiff upper lip and formal familial relations.
The UK Civil Divorce Records, 1858-1911 date from the year when the Matrimonial Causes Act removed the jurisdiction of divorce from the church and made it a civil matter.
Before this, a full divorce required intervention by Parliament, which had only granted around 300 since 1668. The records also include civil court records on separation, custody battles, legitimacy claims and nullification of marriages, according to the website.
Primarily due to their high cost, divorces were relatively rare in the 19th century, with around 1,200 applications made a year, compared to approximately 120,000 each year today, and not all requests were successful due to the strength of evidence required.
The rarity of such cases, combined with the fact that it was wealthy, often well-known nobility involved, made the divorce proceedings huge public scandals, played out in the press as real life soap operas.
Famously high-profile divorces included that of Henry and Isabella Robinson, the inspiration for the novel "Mrs Robinson's Disgrace", by Kate Summerscale.
Henry Robinson sued for divorce after reading his wife Isabella's diary, which included in-depth details of her affair with a younger married man.
The diary was used as court evidence and when reported by the media became a huge scandal, partly because of the language used within the journal. Isabella, however, claimed the diary was a work of fiction, which led to her victory in court.
Conservative MP and baronet, Charles Mordaunt, filed for divorce in 1869 from his wife Harriet who stood accused of adultery with multiple men.
The case became national news when the Prince of Wales was rumored to be among the men who had had an affair with her. This rumor was never proven and Lady Mordaunt was eventually declared mad and spent the rest of her life in an asylum.
"At the time, such tales often developed into national news stories, but now they're more likely to tell us something about the double standards of the Victorian divorce system or help us learn more about the lives of our sometimes naughty ancestors," Ancestry.co.uk UK Content Manager Miriam Silverman said in a statement on Tuesday.
When the divorce laws first came into effect, men could divorce for adultery alone, while women had to supplement evidence of cheating with solid proof of mistreatment, such as battery or desertion.
Despite this double standard, roughly half of the records are accounts of proceedings initiated by the wife. Many of the nullifications of marriages fall into this category, with failure to consummate the nuptials a common reason.
One such example in the records shows a Frances Smith filing for divorce in 1893 under such grounds.
In the court ledgers it is noted that the marriage was never consummated, with the husband incapable "by reason of the frigidity and impotency or other defect of the parts of generation" and "such incapacity is incurable by art or skill" following inspection.
British genealogical website Ancestry.co.uk said on Tuesday it has put the transcripts of thousands of Victorian divorce proceedings online, which reveal the racy details of an era that most modern Britons consider to have been dominated by imperial duty, a stiff upper lip and formal familial relations.
The UK Civil Divorce Records, 1858-1911 date from the year when the Matrimonial Causes Act removed the jurisdiction of divorce from the church and made it a civil matter.
Before this, a full divorce required intervention by Parliament, which had only granted around 300 since 1668. The records also include civil court records on separation, custody battles, legitimacy claims and nullification of marriages, according to the website.
Primarily due to their high cost, divorces were relatively rare in the 19th century, with around 1,200 applications made a year, compared to approximately 120,000 each year today, and not all requests were successful due to the strength of evidence required.
The rarity of such cases, combined with the fact that it was wealthy, often well-known nobility involved, made the divorce proceedings huge public scandals, played out in the press as real life soap operas.
Famously high-profile divorces included that of Henry and Isabella Robinson, the inspiration for the novel "Mrs Robinson's Disgrace", by Kate Summerscale.
Henry Robinson sued for divorce after reading his wife Isabella's diary, which included in-depth details of her affair with a younger married man.
The diary was used as court evidence and when reported by the media became a huge scandal, partly because of the language used within the journal. Isabella, however, claimed the diary was a work of fiction, which led to her victory in court.
Conservative MP and baronet, Charles Mordaunt, filed for divorce in 1869 from his wife Harriet who stood accused of adultery with multiple men.
The case became national news when the Prince of Wales was rumored to be among the men who had had an affair with her. This rumor was never proven and Lady Mordaunt was eventually declared mad and spent the rest of her life in an asylum.
"At the time, such tales often developed into national news stories, but now they're more likely to tell us something about the double standards of the Victorian divorce system or help us learn more about the lives of our sometimes naughty ancestors," Ancestry.co.uk UK Content Manager Miriam Silverman said in a statement on Tuesday.
When the divorce laws first came into effect, men could divorce for adultery alone, while women had to supplement evidence of cheating with solid proof of mistreatment, such as battery or desertion.
Despite this double standard, roughly half of the records are accounts of proceedings initiated by the wife. Many of the nullifications of marriages fall into this category, with failure to consummate the nuptials a common reason.
One such example in the records shows a Frances Smith filing for divorce in 1893 under such grounds.
In the court ledgers it is noted that the marriage was never consummated, with the husband incapable "by reason of the frigidity and impotency or other defect of the parts of generation" and "such incapacity is incurable by art or skill" following inspection.
Cheese fire causes traffic meltdown in Norway tunnel
A truckload of burning cheese has closed a road tunnel in Arctic Norway for the last six days.
Some 27 metric tons of flaming brown cheese (brunost), a Norwegian delicacy, blocked off a three-km (1.9 mile) tunnel near the northern coastal town of Narvik when it caught fire last Thursday. The fire was finally put out on Monday.
"This high concentration of fat and sugar is almost like petrol if it gets hot enough," said Viggo Berg, a policeman.
Brown cheese is made from whey, contains up to 30 percent fat and has a caramel taste.
"I didn't know that brown cheese burns so well," said Kjell Bjoern Vinje at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.
He added that in his 15 years in the administration, this was the first time cheese had caught fire on Norwegian roads.
Berg said that no one was injured in the fire, only one other vehicle was in the area at the time and that the accident had luckily happened close to one of the tunnel's exits.
The tunnel will closed for repairs for at least a week.
Some 27 metric tons of flaming brown cheese (brunost), a Norwegian delicacy, blocked off a three-km (1.9 mile) tunnel near the northern coastal town of Narvik when it caught fire last Thursday. The fire was finally put out on Monday.
"This high concentration of fat and sugar is almost like petrol if it gets hot enough," said Viggo Berg, a policeman.
Brown cheese is made from whey, contains up to 30 percent fat and has a caramel taste.
"I didn't know that brown cheese burns so well," said Kjell Bjoern Vinje at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.
He added that in his 15 years in the administration, this was the first time cheese had caught fire on Norwegian roads.
Berg said that no one was injured in the fire, only one other vehicle was in the area at the time and that the accident had luckily happened close to one of the tunnel's exits.
The tunnel will closed for repairs for at least a week.
Rotten eggs stench reaches UK after French gas leak
A cloud of harmless gas smelling of sweat and rotten eggs leaked out of a chemicals factory in northwest France and wafted across the English Channel as far as London on Tuesday.
The leak occurred on Monday morning at a Lubrizol France plant near Rouen, 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Paris, and winds blew the invisible gas cloud south over northern France on Monday night and then up into England on Tuesday.
The fire brigade in the county of Kent, southeast of London, warned residents to keep their doors and windows closed due to a gas cloud it believed had come from France and London police said it had reports of an acrid smell in southeast London.
Lubrizol France, which makes additives for industrial lubricants and paint, said the gas was mercaptan, also known as methanethiol, a colorless additive used in natural gas because its sulphurous smell enables gas leaks to be detected.
Internal operations director Pierre-Jean Payrouse said the company was battling to plug the leak, as the cloud spread over some 350 km (220 miles), but said it might take until the evening. The cause of the leak was still unknown.
"It's not so much a leak as a product that has decomposed, which smells very bad and which is escaping," Payrouse told RTL radio. "An investigation is under way (into what happened) but our priority is to deal with the problem."
The gas, which is non-toxic but is flammable in strong concentrations, prompted a flood of phone calls to emergency services in France in the early hours of Tuesday.
The Paris police department issued a statement saying the gas posed no health risks but warned that it smelled like a mixture of "sweat, garlic and rotten eggs".
A French Cup soccer match between Rouen and Olympique Marseille had to be postponed because of the stink, the French federation said.
A local news website said the gas had caused migraines, irritations and nausea among some residents of Rouen.
Britain's National Grid, which receives emergency phone calls when people smell gas, said it was experiencing a large volume of calls, as did smaller gas providers across southeast England.
London's Metropolitan Police tweeted: "We are aware of reports of a strong, noxious, gas-like smell in some South East London boroughs. No risks to public."
Ohio-based Lubrizol, founded in 1928 and part of U.S. conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc since 2011, has production facilities in some 19 countries.
Payrouse said the last time the company had experienced a similar incident was in the late 1980s.
The leak occurred on Monday morning at a Lubrizol France plant near Rouen, 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Paris, and winds blew the invisible gas cloud south over northern France on Monday night and then up into England on Tuesday.
The fire brigade in the county of Kent, southeast of London, warned residents to keep their doors and windows closed due to a gas cloud it believed had come from France and London police said it had reports of an acrid smell in southeast London.
Lubrizol France, which makes additives for industrial lubricants and paint, said the gas was mercaptan, also known as methanethiol, a colorless additive used in natural gas because its sulphurous smell enables gas leaks to be detected.
Internal operations director Pierre-Jean Payrouse said the company was battling to plug the leak, as the cloud spread over some 350 km (220 miles), but said it might take until the evening. The cause of the leak was still unknown.
"It's not so much a leak as a product that has decomposed, which smells very bad and which is escaping," Payrouse told RTL radio. "An investigation is under way (into what happened) but our priority is to deal with the problem."
The gas, which is non-toxic but is flammable in strong concentrations, prompted a flood of phone calls to emergency services in France in the early hours of Tuesday.
The Paris police department issued a statement saying the gas posed no health risks but warned that it smelled like a mixture of "sweat, garlic and rotten eggs".
A French Cup soccer match between Rouen and Olympique Marseille had to be postponed because of the stink, the French federation said.
A local news website said the gas had caused migraines, irritations and nausea among some residents of Rouen.
Britain's National Grid, which receives emergency phone calls when people smell gas, said it was experiencing a large volume of calls, as did smaller gas providers across southeast England.
London's Metropolitan Police tweeted: "We are aware of reports of a strong, noxious, gas-like smell in some South East London boroughs. No risks to public."
Ohio-based Lubrizol, founded in 1928 and part of U.S. conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc since 2011, has production facilities in some 19 countries.
Payrouse said the last time the company had experienced a similar incident was in the late 1980s.
Subway given sandwich course in measuring feet and inches down under
The U.S. fast-food chain Subway got caught up in an online furor after an Australian teenager measured his "footlong" Subway sandwich and found that it was an inch short.
Matt Corby's photo of the sandwich next to a tape measure attracted hundreds of thousands of likes and hundreds more comments when he posted it on Subway's Facebook fanpage.
In response, Subway Australia said the "Subway Footlong" was a registered trademark "as a descriptive name for the sub sold in Subway restaurants and not intended to be a measurement of length."
"Looking at the photo doing the rounds, showing a slightly undersized sub, this bread clearly is not baked to our standards," the company said in a statement posted on the Facebook fanpage.
Angry sandwich fans quickly took to the internet to knock the company's response.
"I refuse to eat at restaurants where I need to bring a measuring tape to choose my bread," said Phil Tripp.
And John Ralph made the case for the necessity of that extra inch: "An inch or two can mean a big difference ... if the Titanic had missed the iceberg by an inch or two it wouldn't have sunk."
Matt Corby's photo of the sandwich next to a tape measure attracted hundreds of thousands of likes and hundreds more comments when he posted it on Subway's Facebook fanpage.
In response, Subway Australia said the "Subway Footlong" was a registered trademark "as a descriptive name for the sub sold in Subway restaurants and not intended to be a measurement of length."
"Looking at the photo doing the rounds, showing a slightly undersized sub, this bread clearly is not baked to our standards," the company said in a statement posted on the Facebook fanpage.
Angry sandwich fans quickly took to the internet to knock the company's response.
"I refuse to eat at restaurants where I need to bring a measuring tape to choose my bread," said Phil Tripp.
And John Ralph made the case for the necessity of that extra inch: "An inch or two can mean a big difference ... if the Titanic had missed the iceberg by an inch or two it wouldn't have sunk."
Library prank sends Armstrong books to fiction section
A prank note in an Australian library declaring that disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong's books would be moved to the fiction section has gone viral on the Internet, with one commentator declaring: "Hell hath no fury like a librarian".
"All Non-Fiction Lance Armstrong Books, including 'Lance Armstrong - Images of a Champion', 'The Lance Armstrong Performance Program and 'Lance Armstrong: World's Greatest Champion,' will soon be moved to the fiction section," read the sign posted at Sydney's Manly Library on Saturday.
A photograph of the sign posted on the Internet quickly sparked heated debate over whether Armstrong's fight against cancer and motivation of people outweighed his drug cheating in a sport rife with doping.
"As a cyclist the guy's work was inspiring, his foundation do amazing work and his story was great. ... You feel embarrassed for recommending his book to people, you stare at the books on the shelf questioning if the lessons and the inspiration is honest and real," said one commentator.
Manly Library said the printed notice, which was placed in a plastic stand on a bookshelf in the library, was a prank and that an internal review was underway.
"Libraries can't arbitrarily reclassify categories of books, because that depends on the ISBN number that is issued by the National Library," a spokesman at Manly Council, which runs the library, said on Monday.
"All Non-Fiction Lance Armstrong Books, including 'Lance Armstrong - Images of a Champion', 'The Lance Armstrong Performance Program and 'Lance Armstrong: World's Greatest Champion,' will soon be moved to the fiction section," read the sign posted at Sydney's Manly Library on Saturday.
A photograph of the sign posted on the Internet quickly sparked heated debate over whether Armstrong's fight against cancer and motivation of people outweighed his drug cheating in a sport rife with doping.
"As a cyclist the guy's work was inspiring, his foundation do amazing work and his story was great. ... You feel embarrassed for recommending his book to people, you stare at the books on the shelf questioning if the lessons and the inspiration is honest and real," said one commentator.
Manly Library said the printed notice, which was placed in a plastic stand on a bookshelf in the library, was a prank and that an internal review was underway.
"Libraries can't arbitrarily reclassify categories of books, because that depends on the ISBN number that is issued by the National Library," a spokesman at Manly Council, which runs the library, said on Monday.
Gambia's public sector to have 4-day working week
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has decreed a four-day working week for public officials, making Friday a day of rest to allow residents in the small West African state more time for prayer and agriculture.
Jammeh said in statement the decision was made in light of demand from the general public. The shorter working week will take effect from February 1.
The new public sector working times in Gambia, a sliver of land stretching inland from the West African coast along the river Gambia, will be Mondays to Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
"This new arrangement will allow Gambians to devote more time to prayers, social activities and agriculture - going back to the land to grow what we eat and eat what we grow for a healthy and wealthy nation," the presidential statement said.
Though it has a secular state, Gambia's population is overwhelmingly Muslim. Jammeh seized power in the popular European tourist destination in a bloodless military coup in 1994.
He has since been accused by activists of human rights abuses during his rule. In August, his government drew international condemnation for executing nine death-row inmates by firing squad, prompting it to suspend 38 other planned executions.
The government warned, however, that the executions would go ahead if the crime rate increases.
One of Africa's more controversial rulers, Jammeh said in 2007 he had found a remedy of boiled herbs to cure AIDS, stirring anger among Western medical experts who claimed he was giving false hope to the sick.
Jammeh said in statement the decision was made in light of demand from the general public. The shorter working week will take effect from February 1.
The new public sector working times in Gambia, a sliver of land stretching inland from the West African coast along the river Gambia, will be Mondays to Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
"This new arrangement will allow Gambians to devote more time to prayers, social activities and agriculture - going back to the land to grow what we eat and eat what we grow for a healthy and wealthy nation," the presidential statement said.
Though it has a secular state, Gambia's population is overwhelmingly Muslim. Jammeh seized power in the popular European tourist destination in a bloodless military coup in 1994.
He has since been accused by activists of human rights abuses during his rule. In August, his government drew international condemnation for executing nine death-row inmates by firing squad, prompting it to suspend 38 other planned executions.
The government warned, however, that the executions would go ahead if the crime rate increases.
One of Africa's more controversial rulers, Jammeh said in 2007 he had found a remedy of boiled herbs to cure AIDS, stirring anger among Western medical experts who claimed he was giving false hope to the sick.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
$aving Bucks
during a power outage
When Superstorm Sandy struck, I was left in the dark in many ways.
But I only have myself to blame for the lack of preparation that had me feeling my way to the bathroom for too many days. We had talked about buying batteries to power the flashlights. We didn't. We had talked about filling the bathtubs with water so we could flush the toilets. We didn't. We had thought about packing the refrigerator with frozen water bottles to preserve the food. We didn't.
We had dreamed about buying a generator. Financially, we couldn't.
Then I met Peg Haskell, who gave me a glimpse into a world where darkness is commonplace come storm time. When I met Haskell, she had been without power for more than a week. The Tinicum woman had no idea when power would be restored, yet she was calm and optimistic.
A simple reason explained why: She was prepared.
Haskell and her husband, Ron, didn't face the last-minute rush to the hardware store to buy batteries because they had stocked up during the year when they were on sale. She kept her closet full of canned soups and other nonperishable meals. She filled containers with water. She gathered candles and had them ready. She charged her phones at work, powered her radio with batteries and fueled her kerosene heaters.
And, not once, did she feel left out in the cold.
Haskell's approach to preparing for a power outage was smart and affordable. I knew I could learn from her. So before the next storm strikes, gather the canned foods, batteries and water, and consider these other suggestions from Haskell and a few online sources:
1. Add bottles of ice to your freezer: It will keep food cold longer while the power is out. Once it warms, you can drink the water. If you have a deep freezer, put all the food from the fridge in the deep freeze to minimize loss.
2. Fill plastic zipper bags with water: Put them between food in your freezer if you know a power outage may be imminent so they'll freeze and keep items in your freezer cooler for longer.
3. Provide flashlights or light sticks: to each child to keep by their beds and in their backpacks. And get battery-operated lanterns.
4. Keep yourself entertained: Locate books, board games, toys, and other entertainment that doesn't require electricity.
5. Have a camp stove ready: Invest in a propane-powered camp stove and bottled propane so you'll have a way to cook. Use it outdoors or at the edge of the garage. And don't heat with a gas stove or run a generator indoors (including in the garage).
6. Stay informed: Know the power company's phone number and report the outage immediately.
7. Candles, lighters, flashlights, and batteries: Stockpile 20 or more large, cheap candles for use as light sources, along with matches and batteries.
8. Insulate your home from the cold: This will keep as much heat as possible inside. In advance, caulk cracks around doors and windows. If the outage is upon you, use towels and blankets or buy sealing tape.
When Superstorm Sandy struck, I was left in the dark in many ways.
But I only have myself to blame for the lack of preparation that had me feeling my way to the bathroom for too many days. We had talked about buying batteries to power the flashlights. We didn't. We had talked about filling the bathtubs with water so we could flush the toilets. We didn't. We had thought about packing the refrigerator with frozen water bottles to preserve the food. We didn't.
We had dreamed about buying a generator. Financially, we couldn't.
Then I met Peg Haskell, who gave me a glimpse into a world where darkness is commonplace come storm time. When I met Haskell, she had been without power for more than a week. The Tinicum woman had no idea when power would be restored, yet she was calm and optimistic.
A simple reason explained why: She was prepared.
Haskell and her husband, Ron, didn't face the last-minute rush to the hardware store to buy batteries because they had stocked up during the year when they were on sale. She kept her closet full of canned soups and other nonperishable meals. She filled containers with water. She gathered candles and had them ready. She charged her phones at work, powered her radio with batteries and fueled her kerosene heaters.
And, not once, did she feel left out in the cold.
Haskell's approach to preparing for a power outage was smart and affordable. I knew I could learn from her. So before the next storm strikes, gather the canned foods, batteries and water, and consider these other suggestions from Haskell and a few online sources:
1. Add bottles of ice to your freezer: It will keep food cold longer while the power is out. Once it warms, you can drink the water. If you have a deep freezer, put all the food from the fridge in the deep freeze to minimize loss.
2. Fill plastic zipper bags with water: Put them between food in your freezer if you know a power outage may be imminent so they'll freeze and keep items in your freezer cooler for longer.
3. Provide flashlights or light sticks: to each child to keep by their beds and in their backpacks. And get battery-operated lanterns.
4. Keep yourself entertained: Locate books, board games, toys, and other entertainment that doesn't require electricity.
5. Have a camp stove ready: Invest in a propane-powered camp stove and bottled propane so you'll have a way to cook. Use it outdoors or at the edge of the garage. And don't heat with a gas stove or run a generator indoors (including in the garage).
6. Stay informed: Know the power company's phone number and report the outage immediately.
7. Candles, lighters, flashlights, and batteries: Stockpile 20 or more large, cheap candles for use as light sources, along with matches and batteries.
8. Insulate your home from the cold: This will keep as much heat as possible inside. In advance, caulk cracks around doors and windows. If the outage is upon you, use towels and blankets or buy sealing tape.
POP QUIZ (When slavery was ended)
In this month marking the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, here's a look at slavery around the world.
Match the nation with the year it abolished slavery.
1. Brazil a) 1723; serfs in 1861
2. China b) 1761
3. Haiti c) 1804
4. Iran d) 1888
5. Korea e) 1894
6. Mauritania f) 1897
7. Portugal g) 1906
8. Russia h) 1928
9. Saudi Arabia i) 1962
10. Zanzibar j) 1981
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. d ; 2. g ; 3. c ; 4. h ; 5. e ; 6. j ; 7. b ; 8. a ; 9. i ; 10. f
Match the nation with the year it abolished slavery.
1. Brazil a) 1723; serfs in 1861
2. China b) 1761
3. Haiti c) 1804
4. Iran d) 1888
5. Korea e) 1894
6. Mauritania f) 1897
7. Portugal g) 1906
8. Russia h) 1928
9. Saudi Arabia i) 1962
10. Zanzibar j) 1981
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. d ; 2. g ; 3. c ; 4. h ; 5. e ; 6. j ; 7. b ; 8. a ; 9. i ; 10. f
F. Y. I.
Still on the Books
In Grand Haven, Mich., throwing an abandoned hoop skirt onto the street or sidewalk is punishable by a $5 fine per offense.
Fruit Fun
The paisley pattern, developed in India is based on the shape of a mango.
Say What?
by Mariah Carey, pop star
"I disregard time. You don't see me wear a watch. I don't have birthdays."
Back Then
In ancient times, Egyptians used honey as a sacrifice to their river gods.
Presidents' Files
Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president, once got a $20 speeding ticket for riding his horse too fast down a Washington street.
Switching Shades
Walruses can change color from a reddish brown in the sun to almost white in the cold.
In Grand Haven, Mich., throwing an abandoned hoop skirt onto the street or sidewalk is punishable by a $5 fine per offense.
Fruit Fun
The paisley pattern, developed in India is based on the shape of a mango.
Say What?
by Mariah Carey, pop star
"I disregard time. You don't see me wear a watch. I don't have birthdays."
Back Then
In ancient times, Egyptians used honey as a sacrifice to their river gods.
Presidents' Files
Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president, once got a $20 speeding ticket for riding his horse too fast down a Washington street.
Switching Shades
Walruses can change color from a reddish brown in the sun to almost white in the cold.
THE (Partial) MINDSET LIST
FOR THE CLASS OF 2016
For this generation of entering college students, born in 1994, Kurt Cobain, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Richard Nixon and John Wayne Gacy have always been dead.
1. They have always lived in cyberspace, addicted to a new generation of "electronic narcotics.
2. Robert DeNiro is thought of as Greg Focker's long-suffering father-in-law, not as Vito Corleone or Jimmy Conway.
3. Bill Clinton is a senior statesman of whose presidency they have little knowledge.
4. They have never seen an airplane "ticket".
5. They can't picture people actually carrying luggage through airports rather rolling it.
6. Their folks have never gazed with pride on a new set bound encyclopedias on the bookshelf.
7. Gene therapy has always been an available treatment.
8. Before they purchase an assigned textbook, they will investigate whether it is available for rent or purchase as an e-book.
9. They watch television everywhere but on a television.
10. Thousands have always been gathering for "million-man" demonstrations in Washington, D.C.
For this generation of entering college students, born in 1994, Kurt Cobain, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Richard Nixon and John Wayne Gacy have always been dead.
1. They have always lived in cyberspace, addicted to a new generation of "electronic narcotics.
2. Robert DeNiro is thought of as Greg Focker's long-suffering father-in-law, not as Vito Corleone or Jimmy Conway.
3. Bill Clinton is a senior statesman of whose presidency they have little knowledge.
4. They have never seen an airplane "ticket".
5. They can't picture people actually carrying luggage through airports rather rolling it.
6. Their folks have never gazed with pride on a new set bound encyclopedias on the bookshelf.
7. Gene therapy has always been an available treatment.
8. Before they purchase an assigned textbook, they will investigate whether it is available for rent or purchase as an e-book.
9. They watch television everywhere but on a television.
10. Thousands have always been gathering for "million-man" demonstrations in Washington, D.C.
Hundreds of animals removed from Ohio man's house
Humane society members wearing protective masks removed nearly 300 animals including pigeons, chickens and rabbits from an Ohio man's reeking house this week.
Most of the animals are expected to survive including some that were sick, Sheila Marquis, an officer with the Humane Society of Dayton, Ohio, told Reuters on Saturday.
Workers on Thursday took away 60 pigeons, chickens and roosters from the house in Huber Heights, a suburb of Dayton. They returned the following day for 223 animals including 100 pigeons and 30 rabbits.
The sheer number of pigeons, which can carry airborne diseases, created a health hazard inside the house, Marquis said.
Authorities were tipped off by complaints about a stench coming from the property.
The animals' owner, who has not been identified, was very cooperative and knowledgeable about the birds, which included homing pigeons, Marquis said.
She said she thinks he just got overwhelmed taking care of so many animals.
"He told us he took some animals from other people and other pigeon organizations. That's how the cycle happens. He kept getting more birds and building more cages," Marquis said.
The man will be allowed to keep two dogs and some cats living in the house.
There was no word on whether he will be charged with animal neglect or abuse, a misdemeanor for the first offense in Ohio. Huber Heights has a ban on farm animals but does not limit the number of pets residents can own.
Most of the animals are expected to survive including some that were sick, Sheila Marquis, an officer with the Humane Society of Dayton, Ohio, told Reuters on Saturday.
Workers on Thursday took away 60 pigeons, chickens and roosters from the house in Huber Heights, a suburb of Dayton. They returned the following day for 223 animals including 100 pigeons and 30 rabbits.
The sheer number of pigeons, which can carry airborne diseases, created a health hazard inside the house, Marquis said.
Authorities were tipped off by complaints about a stench coming from the property.
The animals' owner, who has not been identified, was very cooperative and knowledgeable about the birds, which included homing pigeons, Marquis said.
She said she thinks he just got overwhelmed taking care of so many animals.
"He told us he took some animals from other people and other pigeon organizations. That's how the cycle happens. He kept getting more birds and building more cages," Marquis said.
The man will be allowed to keep two dogs and some cats living in the house.
There was no word on whether he will be charged with animal neglect or abuse, a misdemeanor for the first offense in Ohio. Huber Heights has a ban on farm animals but does not limit the number of pets residents can own.
Canada put "wrong" maple leaf on new Canadian dollar 20 bill: expert
The Bank of Canada has barked up the wrong maple tree with its new plastic banknotes, using a foreign Norway maple leaf as the emblem on the notes instead of the sugar maple that the country has on its national flag, an eagle-eyed Canadian botanist says.
The untrained eye might not at first spot the difference between the maple leaf on the new $20, $50 and $100 bills and the North American sugar maple.
But it is clear to Sean Blaney, a botanist who tracks plants for the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Center in New Brunswick, and who brought it first to the attention of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
"The maple leaf (on the currency) is the wrong species," he told Reuters on Friday.
He said the Norway maple has more lobes or sections and has a more pointed outline than the sugar maple, and the lobe that rises in the center is shorter than the sugar maple's.
The Norway maple was imported from Europe and is now also common in North America. Blaney said it was probably the most popular tree along streets in central and eastern Canada.
"It has naturalized to Canada," he said. But it's not the grand sugar maple.
The central bank said the image on the new bills was purposefully designed not to represent any specific species but rather to be a combination of various kinds.
"It is not a Norway maple leaf. It is a stylized maple leaf and it is what it ought to be," said Bank of Canada currency spokesman Julie Girard.
She said the banknote designers created the image with the help of a dendrologist, a botanist who specializes in trees and shrubs.
"On the advice of this expert, steps were taken to ensure that the design of the leaf in the secondary window is not representative of a Norway maple," she said, adding that it was less rectangular than a Norway maple.
Blaney is not buying the explanation. "I think it's just an after-the-fact excuse," he said.
"That may have been their intention, to not have it be a specific species of maple, but they should have drawn it differently if that were the case, because the maple that they've drawn is quite clearly a Norway maple."
The Bank of Canada had to apologize in August after news broke that it replaced the picture of an Asian lab assistant on its new C$100 banknote with a woman who looked more Caucasian.
Focus groups said Asians should not be the only group represented. Critics then accused the bank of racism.
The untrained eye might not at first spot the difference between the maple leaf on the new $20, $50 and $100 bills and the North American sugar maple.
But it is clear to Sean Blaney, a botanist who tracks plants for the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Center in New Brunswick, and who brought it first to the attention of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
"The maple leaf (on the currency) is the wrong species," he told Reuters on Friday.
He said the Norway maple has more lobes or sections and has a more pointed outline than the sugar maple, and the lobe that rises in the center is shorter than the sugar maple's.
The Norway maple was imported from Europe and is now also common in North America. Blaney said it was probably the most popular tree along streets in central and eastern Canada.
"It has naturalized to Canada," he said. But it's not the grand sugar maple.
The central bank said the image on the new bills was purposefully designed not to represent any specific species but rather to be a combination of various kinds.
"It is not a Norway maple leaf. It is a stylized maple leaf and it is what it ought to be," said Bank of Canada currency spokesman Julie Girard.
She said the banknote designers created the image with the help of a dendrologist, a botanist who specializes in trees and shrubs.
"On the advice of this expert, steps were taken to ensure that the design of the leaf in the secondary window is not representative of a Norway maple," she said, adding that it was less rectangular than a Norway maple.
Blaney is not buying the explanation. "I think it's just an after-the-fact excuse," he said.
"That may have been their intention, to not have it be a specific species of maple, but they should have drawn it differently if that were the case, because the maple that they've drawn is quite clearly a Norway maple."
The Bank of Canada had to apologize in August after news broke that it replaced the picture of an Asian lab assistant on its new C$100 banknote with a woman who looked more Caucasian.
Focus groups said Asians should not be the only group represented. Critics then accused the bank of racism.
Brazil judge removes "Fifty Shades of Grey" from town's shops
A judge in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state has confiscated copies of wildly-popular trilogy "Fifty Shades of Grey" and other erotic books from two stores, saying proprietors must seal the novels to prevent children leafing through them.
Police and judicial officials in the Rio town of Macae seized 64 books including 11 copies of the "Fifty Shades of Grey" series by British author E.L. James after the shops flouted Brazilian laws by failing to conceal erotic images and content deemed inappropriate for under-18s.
Officials will return the books within five days if the bookshop proprietors ensure they are sealed before being put back on display.
Judge Raphael Baddini de Queiroz Campos from the local family tribunal acted after finding a group of children gathered around a window display at one of the town's bookshops where erotic content was on display, the Rio de Janeiro justice service's web site said.
Police and judicial officials in the Rio town of Macae seized 64 books including 11 copies of the "Fifty Shades of Grey" series by British author E.L. James after the shops flouted Brazilian laws by failing to conceal erotic images and content deemed inappropriate for under-18s.
Officials will return the books within five days if the bookshop proprietors ensure they are sealed before being put back on display.
Judge Raphael Baddini de Queiroz Campos from the local family tribunal acted after finding a group of children gathered around a window display at one of the town's bookshops where erotic content was on display, the Rio de Janeiro justice service's web site said.
Cleaner not at fault for Swedish train crash-prosecutors
The crash of a train into a low-rise apartment building in Sweden this week was an accident and not the fault of a cleaner who was the only person hurt, state prosecutors said on Friday.
Swedish police and prosecutors began an investigation into the accident on Tuesday in which a train ploughed past the end of the line at a depot, vaulted a narrow sidestreet and crashed into an apartment block in the upscale Stockholm suburb of Saltsjobaden.
"Several circumstances point now to the fact that the train began moving due to an accident," the state prosecution service said in a statement. "There is no longer anything which indicates that the woman drove the train away on purpose."
The service said it had found serious breaches of security on the train. The woman, who is still in hospital and with whom prosecutors have not been able to speak, was no longer suspected of committing a crime and an order for her detention has been lifted.
Prosecutors began investigating the case as one of endangering the public, but that might now be changed to one of a breach of laws on working conditions, the prosecution service said.
Swedish police and prosecutors began an investigation into the accident on Tuesday in which a train ploughed past the end of the line at a depot, vaulted a narrow sidestreet and crashed into an apartment block in the upscale Stockholm suburb of Saltsjobaden.
"Several circumstances point now to the fact that the train began moving due to an accident," the state prosecution service said in a statement. "There is no longer anything which indicates that the woman drove the train away on purpose."
The service said it had found serious breaches of security on the train. The woman, who is still in hospital and with whom prosecutors have not been able to speak, was no longer suspected of committing a crime and an order for her detention has been lifted.
Prosecutors began investigating the case as one of endangering the public, but that might now be changed to one of a breach of laws on working conditions, the prosecution service said.
With an air kiss or empty hug, Te'oing is Twitter craze
Manti Te'o, the Notre Dame linebacker entangled in a girlfriend hoax that gives a whole new meaning to the term "air kiss," is inspiring a new fad racing through social media: Te'oing.
An avalanche of pictures of people hugging empty chairs or puckering up to an otherwise empty room were posted to Twitter with the hashtag #Te'oing days after the college football star's story about his girlfriend's cancer death was exposed as a fraud. Not only did she never have leukemia, she never existed.
Notre Dame officials said Te'o told them he had been duped into believing he had an online relationship with the fictitious woman.
"Te'oing - Mile High Club edition" read one tweet with a photo of a man hugging the air in an airplane bathroom, an apparent reference to the whispered practice of having sex in mid-flight.
Clint Eastwood was hailed in several tweets as a "Te'oing" pioneer for the actor's interlude with an empty chair at the 2012 Republican Convention. Other tweets showed Ronald McDonald Te'oing on his cozy bench and President Barack Obama spending quality time Te'oing with a vacant seat.
"Just some afternoon bubbly with my baby" said one Te'oing tweet with a photo of a man clinking his champagne flute against another that appeared to be suspended in mid-air.
The snarky social media frenzy recalled another similar trend called the "Tebowing," named for New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow, who frequently kneeled for on-field prayers and inspired copy-cat poses by people whose pictures flooded social media last year.
In its own riff on emptiness and romance, a Kentucky minor league baseball team, the Florence Freedom, has announced it will give away Manti Te'o Girlfriend Bobblehead dolls - actually empty boxes - to the first 1,000 fans at the May 23 game.
One section of the Florence, Kentucky, stadium has been reserved "for fans to sit with their imaginary friends, girlfriends/boyfriends or spouses" who may be caught on the "pretend kiss cam" and are invited to compete in an air guitar contest or an imaginary food fight.
An avalanche of pictures of people hugging empty chairs or puckering up to an otherwise empty room were posted to Twitter with the hashtag #Te'oing days after the college football star's story about his girlfriend's cancer death was exposed as a fraud. Not only did she never have leukemia, she never existed.
Notre Dame officials said Te'o told them he had been duped into believing he had an online relationship with the fictitious woman.
"Te'oing - Mile High Club edition" read one tweet with a photo of a man hugging the air in an airplane bathroom, an apparent reference to the whispered practice of having sex in mid-flight.
Clint Eastwood was hailed in several tweets as a "Te'oing" pioneer for the actor's interlude with an empty chair at the 2012 Republican Convention. Other tweets showed Ronald McDonald Te'oing on his cozy bench and President Barack Obama spending quality time Te'oing with a vacant seat.
"Just some afternoon bubbly with my baby" said one Te'oing tweet with a photo of a man clinking his champagne flute against another that appeared to be suspended in mid-air.
The snarky social media frenzy recalled another similar trend called the "Tebowing," named for New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow, who frequently kneeled for on-field prayers and inspired copy-cat poses by people whose pictures flooded social media last year.
In its own riff on emptiness and romance, a Kentucky minor league baseball team, the Florence Freedom, has announced it will give away Manti Te'o Girlfriend Bobblehead dolls - actually empty boxes - to the first 1,000 fans at the May 23 game.
One section of the Florence, Kentucky, stadium has been reserved "for fans to sit with their imaginary friends, girlfriends/boyfriends or spouses" who may be caught on the "pretend kiss cam" and are invited to compete in an air guitar contest or an imaginary food fight.
Notre Dame hoax tip was emailed: Deadspin.com editor
The tip that led to the revelation that one of the most widely recounted U.S. sports narratives of the past year was a hoax came to the editors of an online sports blog as many of their news tips do: an unsolicited email.
That email led Deadspin.com assignment editor Timothy Burke on the hunt of a story that exposed the heart-wrenching tale of standout Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend as a fabrication, Burke said on CNN on Thursday.
Te'o sprang to national prominence last fall when the senior co-captain was seen heroically leading the Fighting Irish to an underdog victory against the Michigan State Spartans within days of learning his grandmother had died. Moreover, it was widely reported, Te'o's girlfriend had died of leukemia just hours after his grandmother's death.
From that point, Te'o's narrative was a prominent feature in coverage of the team, which has a dedicated following and whose games are televised nationally each week.
Notre Dame went on to an undefeated regular season, culminating in a berth in the national championship game, which the Fighting Irish lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide on January 7.
"We got an email last week at Deadspin.com that said 'Hey, there's something real weird about Lennay Kekua, Manti Te'o's allegedly dead girlfriend. You guys should check it out,'" Burke said.
The email prompted Burke and co-author Jack Dickey to begin searching online for background on Kekua. "So we start Googling the name Lennay Kekua. We can't find any evidence of this person that wasn't attached to stories about her being Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend."
Their investigation led about a week later to a 4,000-word expose, published Wednesday under the headline "Blarney," that painstakingly debunked the story of Kekua's existence. The story went viral online.
Within hours of its publication, officials at Notre Dame, one of the most powerful institutions in college football and U.S. collegiate athletics overall, held a hastily organized press conference to assert that Te'o had been duped in a hoax perpetrated by a friend of his.
The girlfriend, who called herself Kekua and claimed to be a Stanford University graduate, was merely an online persona who "ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia," university spokesman Dennis Brown said in a statement.
Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said the university learned of the hoax from Te'o on December 26. Te'o answered questions forthrightly and private investigators uncovered several things that pointed to Te'o being a victim in the case, Swarbrick said.
Deadspin's Burke said he remains skeptical of this being a hoax perpetrated on Te'o rather than by Te'o.
"Ask yourself why and what incentive a person would have to execute such a lengthy, time-consuming and expensive con that would involve multiple people and essentially consume his entire life just to screw around with a guy that he knows?" Burke said on CNN.
Deadspin.com said the woman whose photograph was frequently shown on TV and in news reports about Kekua was actually a young California woman who had never met or communicated with Te'o. The website declined to identify her by name.
On Thursday, TV newsmagazine "Inside Edition" said the woman in the photograph was a 23-year-old marketing professional in Los Angeles named Diane O'Meara. Inside Edition, which is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution, said O'Meara was a former classmate of one of Te'o's friends. It Aredid not give the friend's name.
In the expose published Wednesday, Deadspin.com said a friend of Te'o's named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was "the man behind" the hoax.
Outside Tuiasosopo's home in Palmdale, California on Thursday, a member of his family who did not identify himself told reporters, "Please, we have no comment. Please respect that."
The Te'o hoax is the latest black eye Notre Dame's legendary football program has suffered in recent years.
In 2011, the school was fined $42,000 by an Indiana agency over the death of football videographer Declan Sullivan, 20, who died in October 2010 after a hydraulic lift he was using to record practice toppled over in high winds.
In 2010, Elizabeth "Lizzy" Seeberg, a freshman at nearby St. Mary's College, killed herself ten days after accusing a Notre Dame football player of sexual battery. Her family began questioning the campus police department's reluctance to gather evidence and a 15-day delay in interviewing the accused.
After a federal investigation into the matter, the school agreed to revise its policies on sexual misconduct.
That email led Deadspin.com assignment editor Timothy Burke on the hunt of a story that exposed the heart-wrenching tale of standout Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend as a fabrication, Burke said on CNN on Thursday.
Te'o sprang to national prominence last fall when the senior co-captain was seen heroically leading the Fighting Irish to an underdog victory against the Michigan State Spartans within days of learning his grandmother had died. Moreover, it was widely reported, Te'o's girlfriend had died of leukemia just hours after his grandmother's death.
From that point, Te'o's narrative was a prominent feature in coverage of the team, which has a dedicated following and whose games are televised nationally each week.
Notre Dame went on to an undefeated regular season, culminating in a berth in the national championship game, which the Fighting Irish lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide on January 7.
"We got an email last week at Deadspin.com that said 'Hey, there's something real weird about Lennay Kekua, Manti Te'o's allegedly dead girlfriend. You guys should check it out,'" Burke said.
The email prompted Burke and co-author Jack Dickey to begin searching online for background on Kekua. "So we start Googling the name Lennay Kekua. We can't find any evidence of this person that wasn't attached to stories about her being Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend."
Their investigation led about a week later to a 4,000-word expose, published Wednesday under the headline "Blarney," that painstakingly debunked the story of Kekua's existence. The story went viral online.
Within hours of its publication, officials at Notre Dame, one of the most powerful institutions in college football and U.S. collegiate athletics overall, held a hastily organized press conference to assert that Te'o had been duped in a hoax perpetrated by a friend of his.
The girlfriend, who called herself Kekua and claimed to be a Stanford University graduate, was merely an online persona who "ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia," university spokesman Dennis Brown said in a statement.
Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said the university learned of the hoax from Te'o on December 26. Te'o answered questions forthrightly and private investigators uncovered several things that pointed to Te'o being a victim in the case, Swarbrick said.
Deadspin's Burke said he remains skeptical of this being a hoax perpetrated on Te'o rather than by Te'o.
"Ask yourself why and what incentive a person would have to execute such a lengthy, time-consuming and expensive con that would involve multiple people and essentially consume his entire life just to screw around with a guy that he knows?" Burke said on CNN.
Deadspin.com said the woman whose photograph was frequently shown on TV and in news reports about Kekua was actually a young California woman who had never met or communicated with Te'o. The website declined to identify her by name.
On Thursday, TV newsmagazine "Inside Edition" said the woman in the photograph was a 23-year-old marketing professional in Los Angeles named Diane O'Meara. Inside Edition, which is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution, said O'Meara was a former classmate of one of Te'o's friends. It Aredid not give the friend's name.
In the expose published Wednesday, Deadspin.com said a friend of Te'o's named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was "the man behind" the hoax.
Outside Tuiasosopo's home in Palmdale, California on Thursday, a member of his family who did not identify himself told reporters, "Please, we have no comment. Please respect that."
The Te'o hoax is the latest black eye Notre Dame's legendary football program has suffered in recent years.
In 2011, the school was fined $42,000 by an Indiana agency over the death of football videographer Declan Sullivan, 20, who died in October 2010 after a hydraulic lift he was using to record practice toppled over in high winds.
In 2010, Elizabeth "Lizzy" Seeberg, a freshman at nearby St. Mary's College, killed herself ten days after accusing a Notre Dame football player of sexual battery. Her family began questioning the campus police department's reluctance to gather evidence and a 15-day delay in interviewing the accused.
After a federal investigation into the matter, the school agreed to revise its policies on sexual misconduct.
Y'all come to Texas, state official tells New York gun owners
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has a message for New York gun owners: Come to Texas, and bring your guns with you.
"Texas is better than New York, and New York just gave us another excuse to say that," Abbott, a Republican, said on Thursday, after ads extolling Texas appeared on several media websites.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed sweeping gun-control legislation earlier this week expanding the state's ban on assault weapons and putting limits on ammunition capacity in the wake of last month's school shootings in Connecticut.
Abbott, a possible candidate for governor of Texas in next year's election, used campaign money to buy ads on websites of news organizations in New York City and Albany.
One ad says in classic Western script: "WANTED: Law abiding New York gun owners seeking lower taxes and greater opportunities."
Clicking on the ad leads to a Facebook page touting the virtues of Texas, including the fact that the state has no income tax so "you'll be able to keep more of what you earn and use that extra money to buy more ammo."
Abbott told Reuters the ads are a "way to tweak our liberal friends up in the Northeast."
"It is tongue in cheek, but there is a deeper message here," he said. "Texas really does stand as the last bastion of ultimate freedom in this country. Over the last decade, more than 4 million people moved to this state, and one reason is freedom and one reason is economic opportunity."
Abbott has said he will file a federal lawsuit to throw out any nationwide gun restrictions implemented by Congress.
A Cuomo spokesman did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
"Texas is better than New York, and New York just gave us another excuse to say that," Abbott, a Republican, said on Thursday, after ads extolling Texas appeared on several media websites.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed sweeping gun-control legislation earlier this week expanding the state's ban on assault weapons and putting limits on ammunition capacity in the wake of last month's school shootings in Connecticut.
Abbott, a possible candidate for governor of Texas in next year's election, used campaign money to buy ads on websites of news organizations in New York City and Albany.
One ad says in classic Western script: "WANTED: Law abiding New York gun owners seeking lower taxes and greater opportunities."
Clicking on the ad leads to a Facebook page touting the virtues of Texas, including the fact that the state has no income tax so "you'll be able to keep more of what you earn and use that extra money to buy more ammo."
Abbott told Reuters the ads are a "way to tweak our liberal friends up in the Northeast."
"It is tongue in cheek, but there is a deeper message here," he said. "Texas really does stand as the last bastion of ultimate freedom in this country. Over the last decade, more than 4 million people moved to this state, and one reason is freedom and one reason is economic opportunity."
Abbott has said he will file a federal lawsuit to throw out any nationwide gun restrictions implemented by Congress.
A Cuomo spokesman did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Antarctica and a llama for UK queen in jubilee year
A piece of Antarctica named after her, a baby llama, tea from Sri Lanka and her own set of Olympic medals were just some of the gifts given to Britain's Queen Elizabeth during her 2012 diamond jubilee year.
Foreign leaders, emissaries, luxury goods businesses and members of the public gave the British monarch a treasure trove of gifts from jewels given by the Emir of Kuwait to a wind chime from a nursery school near her Sandringham estate, according to a list released by Buckingham Palace.
The list documents more than 140 gifts given to the queen in honor of her 60 years on the throne from world leaders such as U.S. President Barack Obama (1950s Tiffany & Co silver compact) to the president of Sri Lanka (a portrait and a special box of tea).
Unsolicited gifts included 436 books, 235 CDs and DVDs, 81 pieces of embroidery or knitting - including a tea cosy of the queen with her corgis - 78 portraits of the queen, 40 digital photograph books, 28 wall hangings or bunting, 19 tea towels and nine jigsaws.
Other gifts included honorary ownership of a baby llama and adoption of a baby Asian elephant.
Her husband Prince Philip also received a number of gifts over the period including Swarovski binoculars, a wooden cigar box from the King of Jordan, a "Highland Gentleman" made from biscuits, beer and a large gold sword in a leather box
Buckingham Palace release a list every year detailing gifts received by the queen and the royal family, although a separate list is released for heir-to-the-throne Charles and his children.
Foreign leaders, emissaries, luxury goods businesses and members of the public gave the British monarch a treasure trove of gifts from jewels given by the Emir of Kuwait to a wind chime from a nursery school near her Sandringham estate, according to a list released by Buckingham Palace.
The list documents more than 140 gifts given to the queen in honor of her 60 years on the throne from world leaders such as U.S. President Barack Obama (1950s Tiffany & Co silver compact) to the president of Sri Lanka (a portrait and a special box of tea).
Unsolicited gifts included 436 books, 235 CDs and DVDs, 81 pieces of embroidery or knitting - including a tea cosy of the queen with her corgis - 78 portraits of the queen, 40 digital photograph books, 28 wall hangings or bunting, 19 tea towels and nine jigsaws.
Other gifts included honorary ownership of a baby llama and adoption of a baby Asian elephant.
Her husband Prince Philip also received a number of gifts over the period including Swarovski binoculars, a wooden cigar box from the King of Jordan, a "Highland Gentleman" made from biscuits, beer and a large gold sword in a leather box
Buckingham Palace release a list every year detailing gifts received by the queen and the royal family, although a separate list is released for heir-to-the-throne Charles and his children.
Australian outlaw Ned Kelly to be laid to rest, 132 years later
The remains of Australia's most famous outlaw, Ned Kelly, are finally to be laid to rest, 132 years after he was hanged for murder.
Kelly's descendants, who received the bushranger's remains after they were exhumed from a mass prison grave, said on Wednesday they will hold a private church memorial service on Friday before the burial in an unmarked grave on Sunday.
The homemade armor and helmet Kelly wore during his last violent shootout with police and his reported final words before he was hanged at Melbourne Gaol on November 11, 1880 -- "such is life" -- helped make him an iconic figure in Australian history.
His family, the Kelly Gang, became a symbol for social tensions between poor Irish settlers and the wealthy establishment at the time, and Kelly himself became a folk hero to many for standing up to the Anglo-Australian ruling class.
Kelly's descendants said the private farewells were in keeping with the outlaw's requests.
"The descendants of the Kelly family wish to give effect to Ned Kelly's last wish and that he now be buried in consecrated ground with only his family in attendance in order to ensure a private, respectful and dignified funeral," the family said in a statement.
"The family wish for their privacy to be respected so that they may farewell a very much loved member of their family."
One Australian media outlet reported that Kelly will be buried at Greta, near Glenrowan, north-east of Victoria, where his mother is buried in an unmarked grave.
Kelly's remains have made a circuitous journey to their final resting place.
They were first buried in a mass grave at Melbourne Gaol. When that closed in 1929, Kelly's bones were exhumed and reburied in another mass grave at the newer Pentridge Prison.
All the bones buried in Pentridge yard were exhumed in 2009 and Kelly's skeleton was positively identified in 2011 by scientists after DNA tests against a descendant. The Victoria state government said in August it would return the skeleton to the family.
Kelly's skull remains missing. It was believed to have been separated from his skeleton during the transfer.
His life story inspired the novel "True History of the Kelly Gang" by author Peter Carey, which won the 2001 Booker Prize, and the late actor Heath Ledger played him in a 2003 movie.
Kelly's descendants, who received the bushranger's remains after they were exhumed from a mass prison grave, said on Wednesday they will hold a private church memorial service on Friday before the burial in an unmarked grave on Sunday.
The homemade armor and helmet Kelly wore during his last violent shootout with police and his reported final words before he was hanged at Melbourne Gaol on November 11, 1880 -- "such is life" -- helped make him an iconic figure in Australian history.
His family, the Kelly Gang, became a symbol for social tensions between poor Irish settlers and the wealthy establishment at the time, and Kelly himself became a folk hero to many for standing up to the Anglo-Australian ruling class.
Kelly's descendants said the private farewells were in keeping with the outlaw's requests.
"The descendants of the Kelly family wish to give effect to Ned Kelly's last wish and that he now be buried in consecrated ground with only his family in attendance in order to ensure a private, respectful and dignified funeral," the family said in a statement.
"The family wish for their privacy to be respected so that they may farewell a very much loved member of their family."
One Australian media outlet reported that Kelly will be buried at Greta, near Glenrowan, north-east of Victoria, where his mother is buried in an unmarked grave.
Kelly's remains have made a circuitous journey to their final resting place.
They were first buried in a mass grave at Melbourne Gaol. When that closed in 1929, Kelly's bones were exhumed and reburied in another mass grave at the newer Pentridge Prison.
All the bones buried in Pentridge yard were exhumed in 2009 and Kelly's skeleton was positively identified in 2011 by scientists after DNA tests against a descendant. The Victoria state government said in August it would return the skeleton to the family.
Kelly's skull remains missing. It was believed to have been separated from his skeleton during the transfer.
His life story inspired the novel "True History of the Kelly Gang" by author Peter Carey, which won the 2001 Booker Prize, and the late actor Heath Ledger played him in a 2003 movie.
Theft of $400,000 in diamonds reported in Florida
A diamond wholesaler visiting Florida reported the theft of $400,000 worth of loose gems in what could amount to a well-orchestrated crime or the case of an ordinary burglar who got incredibly lucky, police said on Wednesday.
Jain Rajesh, 47, of New Jersey told police he left the diamonds in a red bag in his Orlando rental car for 13 minutes on Monday evening outside a buffet restaurant and the bag and diamonds were gone when he returned.
"They took the whole bag. That's why at this point we don't know whether he was targeted or was it a random vehicle burglary?" Orlando Police Sergeant Jim Young told Reuters. He added that investigators were looking into all possible angles in the case.
Investigators do not know how a thief might have entered or exited the car, which was outfitted with an alarm system, because all doors remained locked. The driver's side window was cracked, but not enough to gain entry, according to the police report.
Police said the only items reported missing were the red bag containing the loose diamonds and three blank checks from the front passenger-side floorboard. Nothing else appeared to have been taken or disturbed, including a GPS device on the windshield, the report said.
Young said he did not know whether any identifiable marks would make the gems particularly difficult to sell at a fair market price.
"In law enforcement experience, anything can be sold on the street," Young said.
Rajesh could not be located for comment.
Jain Rajesh, 47, of New Jersey told police he left the diamonds in a red bag in his Orlando rental car for 13 minutes on Monday evening outside a buffet restaurant and the bag and diamonds were gone when he returned.
"They took the whole bag. That's why at this point we don't know whether he was targeted or was it a random vehicle burglary?" Orlando Police Sergeant Jim Young told Reuters. He added that investigators were looking into all possible angles in the case.
Investigators do not know how a thief might have entered or exited the car, which was outfitted with an alarm system, because all doors remained locked. The driver's side window was cracked, but not enough to gain entry, according to the police report.
Police said the only items reported missing were the red bag containing the loose diamonds and three blank checks from the front passenger-side floorboard. Nothing else appeared to have been taken or disturbed, including a GPS device on the windshield, the report said.
Young said he did not know whether any identifiable marks would make the gems particularly difficult to sell at a fair market price.
"In law enforcement experience, anything can be sold on the street," Young said.
Rajesh could not be located for comment.
Cheesecake Factory pasta on list of caloric "food porn"
A Cheesecake Factory pasta dish with more than 3,000 calories - or more than a day and a half of the recommended caloric intake for an average adult - is among the headliners on this year's Xtreme Eating list of the most unhealthy dishes at U.S. chain restaurants.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer-focused nonprofit group that promotes healthier eating, compiles an annual list of "food porn" to alert consumers to menu items with eye-popping levels of calories, saturated fat, sugar and/or sodium.
"You'd think that the size of their profits depended on their increasing the size of your pants," CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson said of the industry's Xtreme Eating winners. The list was released on Wednesday.
CSPI for years has used the "awards" to raise awareness and drum up support for calorie disclosure on restaurant menus - something that larger chains soon will be required to do under the U.S. health reform law.
The Cheesecake Factory's Bistro Shrimp Pasta, made with a butter and cream sauce and topped with battered, fried shrimp, has 3,120 calories and 89 grams of saturated fat and 1,090 milligrams of sodium, said CSPI, which said it confirmed nutritional data with companies on the list.
Cheesecake Factory said that dish has 3,020 calories, 79 grams of saturated fat and 1,076 milligrams of sodium.
Typical adults are advised to consume no more than 20 grams of saturated fat and 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day.
"It's like eating three orders of Olive Garden's Lasagna Classico plus an order of tiramisu for dinner," CSPI said. Some in the food and beverage industries have dubbed the Washington-based group the "food police."
More than one-third of Americans are obese, and about 10 percent of the nation's healthcare bill is tied to obesity-related diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and hypertension, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The nation's food and beverage industries are under increasing pressure from consumer, health and parents' groups to offer more healthy alternatives.
Restaurant companies say it is their job to give consumers choices. Many, including Cheesecake Factory, have lower-calorie sections on their menus alongside the indulgent offerings.
Cheesecake Factory is known for its ample portions and wide array of cheesecakes - many of which weigh in at around 1,000 calories per slice.
It makes regular showings on the Xtreme Eating list, but since August 2011 has promoted its "SkinnyLicious" menu of entrees with 590 or fewer calories, including salmon rolls and a pear and endive salad.
Jayne Hurley, CSPI's senior nutritionist and an author of this year's Xtreme Eating report, said such lower-calorie items should be recategorized as "normal" rather than "diet."
"It's the steady stream of high-calorie foods that sabotage your diet not just for the day, but for the entire week," Hurley said.
"The Cheesecake Factory has always been about choices. Many of our guests come in and want to celebrate and not be concerned with calories," Donald Evans, the company's chief marketing officer, said in a statement.
Evans also said Cheesecake Factory diners often share their dishes or take home leftovers.
Other Xtreme Eating winners for 2013 include:
- Johnny Rockets' Bacon Cheddar Double Hamburger with 1,770 calories, 50 grams of saturated fat and 2,380 milligrams of sodium. For comparison, three Quarter Pounders with Cheese from McDonald's have 1,570 calories.
- Cheesecake Factory's Crispy Chicken Costoletta with 2,610 calories, 89 grams of saturated fat and 2,720 milligrams of sodium. CSPI said an entire 12-piece bucket of KFC Original Recipe fried chicken has about the same number of calories but less than half the saturated fat. Cheesecake Factory told Reuters that dish has 2,560 calories, 86 grams of saturated fat and 2,767 milligrams of sodium.
- Smoothie King's Peanut Power Plus Grape Smoothie, which includes peanut butter, banana, sugar and grape juice. A 40-ounce, large size of that drink has 1,460 calories and 22 teaspoons of added sugar plus 29 teaspoons of naturally occurring sugar.
The U.S. government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that women consume no more than six teaspoons of added sugars per day and that men consume no more than nine.
- Chocolate Zuccotto Cake from Maggiano's Little Italy. One slice weighs nearly one pound and has 1,820 calories, 62 grams of saturated fat and 26 teaspoons of added sugar - or 15 Hostess Ho Hos, CSPI said.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer-focused nonprofit group that promotes healthier eating, compiles an annual list of "food porn" to alert consumers to menu items with eye-popping levels of calories, saturated fat, sugar and/or sodium.
"You'd think that the size of their profits depended on their increasing the size of your pants," CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson said of the industry's Xtreme Eating winners. The list was released on Wednesday.
CSPI for years has used the "awards" to raise awareness and drum up support for calorie disclosure on restaurant menus - something that larger chains soon will be required to do under the U.S. health reform law.
The Cheesecake Factory's Bistro Shrimp Pasta, made with a butter and cream sauce and topped with battered, fried shrimp, has 3,120 calories and 89 grams of saturated fat and 1,090 milligrams of sodium, said CSPI, which said it confirmed nutritional data with companies on the list.
Cheesecake Factory said that dish has 3,020 calories, 79 grams of saturated fat and 1,076 milligrams of sodium.
Typical adults are advised to consume no more than 20 grams of saturated fat and 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day.
"It's like eating three orders of Olive Garden's Lasagna Classico plus an order of tiramisu for dinner," CSPI said. Some in the food and beverage industries have dubbed the Washington-based group the "food police."
More than one-third of Americans are obese, and about 10 percent of the nation's healthcare bill is tied to obesity-related diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and hypertension, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The nation's food and beverage industries are under increasing pressure from consumer, health and parents' groups to offer more healthy alternatives.
Restaurant companies say it is their job to give consumers choices. Many, including Cheesecake Factory, have lower-calorie sections on their menus alongside the indulgent offerings.
Cheesecake Factory is known for its ample portions and wide array of cheesecakes - many of which weigh in at around 1,000 calories per slice.
It makes regular showings on the Xtreme Eating list, but since August 2011 has promoted its "SkinnyLicious" menu of entrees with 590 or fewer calories, including salmon rolls and a pear and endive salad.
Jayne Hurley, CSPI's senior nutritionist and an author of this year's Xtreme Eating report, said such lower-calorie items should be recategorized as "normal" rather than "diet."
"It's the steady stream of high-calorie foods that sabotage your diet not just for the day, but for the entire week," Hurley said.
"The Cheesecake Factory has always been about choices. Many of our guests come in and want to celebrate and not be concerned with calories," Donald Evans, the company's chief marketing officer, said in a statement.
Evans also said Cheesecake Factory diners often share their dishes or take home leftovers.
Other Xtreme Eating winners for 2013 include:
- Johnny Rockets' Bacon Cheddar Double Hamburger with 1,770 calories, 50 grams of saturated fat and 2,380 milligrams of sodium. For comparison, three Quarter Pounders with Cheese from McDonald's have 1,570 calories.
- Cheesecake Factory's Crispy Chicken Costoletta with 2,610 calories, 89 grams of saturated fat and 2,720 milligrams of sodium. CSPI said an entire 12-piece bucket of KFC Original Recipe fried chicken has about the same number of calories but less than half the saturated fat. Cheesecake Factory told Reuters that dish has 2,560 calories, 86 grams of saturated fat and 2,767 milligrams of sodium.
- Smoothie King's Peanut Power Plus Grape Smoothie, which includes peanut butter, banana, sugar and grape juice. A 40-ounce, large size of that drink has 1,460 calories and 22 teaspoons of added sugar plus 29 teaspoons of naturally occurring sugar.
The U.S. government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that women consume no more than six teaspoons of added sugars per day and that men consume no more than nine.
- Chocolate Zuccotto Cake from Maggiano's Little Italy. One slice weighs nearly one pound and has 1,820 calories, 62 grams of saturated fat and 26 teaspoons of added sugar - or 15 Hostess Ho Hos, CSPI said.
Cyprus man unwittingly brings bomb into police station
A man triggered a major security scare in Cyprus on Wednesday when he walked into a police station carrying a bomb he found on his driveway, saying he wanted officers to examine it.
Police said the 33-year old man discovered a suspicious device on the back window of his car and after drawing a blank on what it was doing there, decided to take it to a police station in the capital Nicosia for further scrutiny by experts.
It didn't take long for police to discover it was a makeshift bomb which had failed to go off, triggering the evacuation of the complex.
"He obviously didn't know what it was," a police source told Reuters.
Police said the object was a "makeshift high intensity explosive" attached to a detonator and a fuse. It was defused on site by explosives experts.
Police said the 33-year old man discovered a suspicious device on the back window of his car and after drawing a blank on what it was doing there, decided to take it to a police station in the capital Nicosia for further scrutiny by experts.
It didn't take long for police to discover it was a makeshift bomb which had failed to go off, triggering the evacuation of the complex.
"He obviously didn't know what it was," a police source told Reuters.
Police said the object was a "makeshift high intensity explosive" attached to a detonator and a fuse. It was defused on site by explosives experts.
Woman crashes train into house in Sweden
A cleaning lady stole a train and drove it off the end of the tracks and smashed into a house in Sweden on Tuesday, injuring only herself in an incident police are investigating.
It was not clear how the woman, around 20, got access to the key needed to start the train. She was taken to hospital with serious injuries, but the train was carrying no other passengers as it was in the early hours and no one in the house was hurt.
"The cleaner drove the train at high speed, considerably higher than normal on that stretch, to where the rails end and crashed into a house," said Jesper Pettersson, spokesman at Stockholm Public Transport (SL).
The train ploughed past the end of the line and vaulted over a street separating the house from the depot, crashing through a balcony and into a downstairs room in the upscale suburb of Saltsjobaden. SL and police were investigating how she had gained access to the cabin and been able to drive the train.
It was not clear how the woman, around 20, got access to the key needed to start the train. She was taken to hospital with serious injuries, but the train was carrying no other passengers as it was in the early hours and no one in the house was hurt.
"The cleaner drove the train at high speed, considerably higher than normal on that stretch, to where the rails end and crashed into a house," said Jesper Pettersson, spokesman at Stockholm Public Transport (SL).
The train ploughed past the end of the line and vaulted over a street separating the house from the depot, crashing through a balcony and into a downstairs room in the upscale suburb of Saltsjobaden. SL and police were investigating how she had gained access to the cabin and been able to drive the train.
Pope's secretary "Gorgeous George" on Vanity Fair cover
Archbishop Georg Ganswein, Pope Benedict's private secretary, who has been dubbed "Gorgeous George" by the Italian media, is now a real-life cover boy.
The prelate has landed on the cover of Vanity Fair.
The cover on the Italian edition of the magazine shows the 56-year-old archbishop smiling, his blue eyes beaming, above a headline that reads "Father Georg - It's not a sin to be beautiful."
The magazine calls Ganswein "The George Clooney of St Peter's" and says it dedicated a cover story to honor his recent promotion to the rank of archbishop and as recognition of his growing power in the Roman Catholic Church.
A spokeswoman for the magazine said Ganswein was not interviewed for the article and did not pose for the cover photo, which she said was a close-up of an existing picture.
Ganswein, who has been Benedict's personal secretary since the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Roman Catholic leader in 2005, was elevated to the rank of archbishop earlier this month.
A German like the pope, he was also promoted to the job of Prefect of the Pontifical Household, a position that will significantly increase his power as the pope gets older and frailer.
As prefect, Ganswein - already one of the most recognizable and powerful figures in the papal court - will arrange all the pope's private and public audiences and his daily schedule.
And, because he will be keeping his job as chief private secretary, he will have even more power in deciding who has access to the 85-year-old pope.
Vanity Fair said the article about Ganswein was a "close up profile of a particular monsignor". The magazine goes on sale on Wednesday.
The prelate has landed on the cover of Vanity Fair.
The cover on the Italian edition of the magazine shows the 56-year-old archbishop smiling, his blue eyes beaming, above a headline that reads "Father Georg - It's not a sin to be beautiful."
The magazine calls Ganswein "The George Clooney of St Peter's" and says it dedicated a cover story to honor his recent promotion to the rank of archbishop and as recognition of his growing power in the Roman Catholic Church.
A spokeswoman for the magazine said Ganswein was not interviewed for the article and did not pose for the cover photo, which she said was a close-up of an existing picture.
Ganswein, who has been Benedict's personal secretary since the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Roman Catholic leader in 2005, was elevated to the rank of archbishop earlier this month.
A German like the pope, he was also promoted to the job of Prefect of the Pontifical Household, a position that will significantly increase his power as the pope gets older and frailer.
As prefect, Ganswein - already one of the most recognizable and powerful figures in the papal court - will arrange all the pope's private and public audiences and his daily schedule.
And, because he will be keeping his job as chief private secretary, he will have even more power in deciding who has access to the 85-year-old pope.
Vanity Fair said the article about Ganswein was a "close up profile of a particular monsignor". The magazine goes on sale on Wednesday.
U.S. Supreme Court sinks Florida city over floating home
When is a floating home not a vessel? The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday told a Florida city its argument did not hold water, and that an abode on water was nothing but a home.
In a 7-2 decision, the court ruled that a gray, two-story home that its owner said was permanently moored to a Riviera Beach, Florida, marina was not a vessel, depriving the city of power under U.S. maritime law to seize and destroy it.
Justice Stephen Breyer said nothing about former Chicago trader and Marine pilot Fane Lozman's home that would have led a "reasonable observer" to conclude it could be used to transport people or things over water, but for the fact that it floated.
"Not every floating structure is a 'vessel'," Breyer wrote for the majority. "To state the obvious, a wooden washtub, a plastic dishpan, a swimming platform on pontoons, a large fishing net, a door taken off its hinges, or Pinocchio (when inside the whale) are not 'vessels'."
Riviera Beach, near Palm Beach, had seized Lozman's home after he resisted a court order that he pay $3,040 in dockage fees, and destroyed it after being unable to sell it.
Tuesday's decision reversed a lower-court ruling upholding the fees, and clears the way for Lozman to seek compensation.
Pamela Ryan, the city attorney for Riviera Beach, said in a statement she was disappointed with the ruling but accepts it, and that the city will revise its marina policies.
Lozman, 51, cheered the decision. "I feel like I'm floating on a cloud," he said in a phone interview. "I have been fighting this city for 6-1/2 years and it is humbling to get a reversal."
He said he now lives in North Bay Village, a suburb of Miami, and owns a financial software display company.
The definition of "vessel" is particularly important, given that admiralty law imposes different obligations on owners with respect to such things as staffing and taxation.
It is also a victory for the casino industry, which in court papers argued that more than 60 riverboat casinos should not be subject to U.S. maritime laws designed to protect seamen, on top of state laws to license and regulate the gaming business.
The decision limits special rules and remedies of maritime law to matters that "genuinely involve maritime commerce and transportation," Jeffrey Fisher, a Stanford University law professor who represented Lozman, said in a phone interview. "That something floats and might be towed from Point A to Point B does not mean those rules and remedies should apply."
COURT SEEKS CONSISTENCY
Lozman bought the 60-by-12 foot home in 2002. Four years later, he towed it to a Riviera Beach marina, where he kept it docked.
Although he was able to move the home in this manner, Lozman said it should not be covered by maritime law because it lacked the usual seafaring features such as a motor and GPS device, and needed land-based sewer lines and an extension cord for power.
The legal battle started after Lozman resisted new rules governing houseboats at his marina and opposed a proposed $2.4 billion luxury redevelopment of the marina.
In his opinion for the court, Breyer said the decision was consistent with the laws of California and Washington that also treat structures like Lozman's as land-based homes.
"Consistency of interpretation of related state and federal laws is a virtue" because it makes the law easier to understand and follow, Breyer said.
Joining Breyer's opinion were Chief Justice John Roberts, and Associate Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Anthony Kennedy, dissented, in the term's first dissenting votes from a full court opinion. Sotomayor objected to the "reasonable observer" standard adopted by the majority.
The case is Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Florida, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 11-626.
In a 7-2 decision, the court ruled that a gray, two-story home that its owner said was permanently moored to a Riviera Beach, Florida, marina was not a vessel, depriving the city of power under U.S. maritime law to seize and destroy it.
Justice Stephen Breyer said nothing about former Chicago trader and Marine pilot Fane Lozman's home that would have led a "reasonable observer" to conclude it could be used to transport people or things over water, but for the fact that it floated.
"Not every floating structure is a 'vessel'," Breyer wrote for the majority. "To state the obvious, a wooden washtub, a plastic dishpan, a swimming platform on pontoons, a large fishing net, a door taken off its hinges, or Pinocchio (when inside the whale) are not 'vessels'."
Riviera Beach, near Palm Beach, had seized Lozman's home after he resisted a court order that he pay $3,040 in dockage fees, and destroyed it after being unable to sell it.
Tuesday's decision reversed a lower-court ruling upholding the fees, and clears the way for Lozman to seek compensation.
Pamela Ryan, the city attorney for Riviera Beach, said in a statement she was disappointed with the ruling but accepts it, and that the city will revise its marina policies.
Lozman, 51, cheered the decision. "I feel like I'm floating on a cloud," he said in a phone interview. "I have been fighting this city for 6-1/2 years and it is humbling to get a reversal."
He said he now lives in North Bay Village, a suburb of Miami, and owns a financial software display company.
The definition of "vessel" is particularly important, given that admiralty law imposes different obligations on owners with respect to such things as staffing and taxation.
It is also a victory for the casino industry, which in court papers argued that more than 60 riverboat casinos should not be subject to U.S. maritime laws designed to protect seamen, on top of state laws to license and regulate the gaming business.
The decision limits special rules and remedies of maritime law to matters that "genuinely involve maritime commerce and transportation," Jeffrey Fisher, a Stanford University law professor who represented Lozman, said in a phone interview. "That something floats and might be towed from Point A to Point B does not mean those rules and remedies should apply."
COURT SEEKS CONSISTENCY
Lozman bought the 60-by-12 foot home in 2002. Four years later, he towed it to a Riviera Beach marina, where he kept it docked.
Although he was able to move the home in this manner, Lozman said it should not be covered by maritime law because it lacked the usual seafaring features such as a motor and GPS device, and needed land-based sewer lines and an extension cord for power.
The legal battle started after Lozman resisted new rules governing houseboats at his marina and opposed a proposed $2.4 billion luxury redevelopment of the marina.
In his opinion for the court, Breyer said the decision was consistent with the laws of California and Washington that also treat structures like Lozman's as land-based homes.
"Consistency of interpretation of related state and federal laws is a virtue" because it makes the law easier to understand and follow, Breyer said.
Joining Breyer's opinion were Chief Justice John Roberts, and Associate Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Anthony Kennedy, dissented, in the term's first dissenting votes from a full court opinion. Sotomayor objected to the "reasonable observer" standard adopted by the majority.
The case is Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Florida, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 11-626.
Shipment of 18 human heads found at Chicago's O'Hare airport
Investigators probing a shipment of 18 human heads intercepted at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport have determined they came from bodies donated for scientific research and were being transported for disposal, officials said on Tuesday.
U.S. Customs agents discovered the grisly package, which was shipped to Chicago from Italy shortly before Christmas, on Monday. Because the shipment's paperwork was not in order, agents confiscated the heads and sent them to the Cook County Medical Examiner for safekeeping, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner said.
The heads, which had been used by a medical research facility in Rome, were properly embalmed, wrapped and labeled when they arrived at the airport, said Mary Paleologos, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner. Foul play has been ruled out, she said.
On Tuesday, the cremation company that was supposed to take delivery of the heads and dispose of them presented the missing paperwork to the medical examiner, Paleologos said.
The medical examiner said the remains would not be released to the company until federal authorities verified the paperwork.
In the meantime, the medical examiner is photographing and x-raying the embalmed heads for record-keeping purposes, Paleologos said.
U.S. Customs agents discovered the grisly package, which was shipped to Chicago from Italy shortly before Christmas, on Monday. Because the shipment's paperwork was not in order, agents confiscated the heads and sent them to the Cook County Medical Examiner for safekeeping, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner said.
The heads, which had been used by a medical research facility in Rome, were properly embalmed, wrapped and labeled when they arrived at the airport, said Mary Paleologos, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner. Foul play has been ruled out, she said.
On Tuesday, the cremation company that was supposed to take delivery of the heads and dispose of them presented the missing paperwork to the medical examiner, Paleologos said.
The medical examiner said the remains would not be released to the company until federal authorities verified the paperwork.
In the meantime, the medical examiner is photographing and x-raying the embalmed heads for record-keeping purposes, Paleologos said.
New York to use GPS-fitted bottles to track stolen pain pills
New York police will begin asking city pharmacies to stock decoy bottles fitted with GPS devices among powerful painkillers like Oxycontin and oxycodone in the latest bid to combat gunpoint robberies of drug stores.
Police hope that in the event of a robbery, the 'bait bottles', which will be labeled as painkillers but filled with harmless placebos, will lead them back to large stocks of stolen prescription drugs.
Last year, federal and New York Police Department investigators seized 9,000 painkillers being sold at an open-air drug market in northern Manhattan.
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is expected to unveil the new initiative, called 'Operation Safety Cap,' at a conference in California on Tuesday sponsored by former president Bill Clinton's foundation. An advance copy of his prepared remarks was released late Monday.
The initiative follows last week's announcement by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg that the city's public hospitals will begin restricting emergency room patients to a three-day supply of opioid painkillers to limit abuse - since most addicts get their pills from family and friends who have leftover supplies from legitimate prescriptions, experts say.
Oxycontin is a long-acting form of the opioid oxycodone, a highly-addictive prescription drug.
The NYPD's initiative is a response to a growing black market of stolen prescription painkillers.
In 2011, a 33-year-old military veteran with no prior criminal record fatally shot four people while robbing a Long Island pharmacy of about 10,000 pain pills.
"The gunman in that case ... was desperate to obtain prescription drugs to feed both his and his wife's painkiller habit," said Kelly in a prepared statement to be delivered later Tuesday.
Even the police force itself has been haunted by prescription drug abuse.
"One of our own retired police officers who became addicted to the pills after incurring an injury on the job began robbing drug stores at gunpoint," Kelly said in the statement.
In addition to the 'bait bottle' program, New York police have created a database of the 6,000 pharmacies in the New York City area, many of which police plan to visit to recommend improved security measures.
Police hope that in the event of a robbery, the 'bait bottles', which will be labeled as painkillers but filled with harmless placebos, will lead them back to large stocks of stolen prescription drugs.
Last year, federal and New York Police Department investigators seized 9,000 painkillers being sold at an open-air drug market in northern Manhattan.
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is expected to unveil the new initiative, called 'Operation Safety Cap,' at a conference in California on Tuesday sponsored by former president Bill Clinton's foundation. An advance copy of his prepared remarks was released late Monday.
The initiative follows last week's announcement by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg that the city's public hospitals will begin restricting emergency room patients to a three-day supply of opioid painkillers to limit abuse - since most addicts get their pills from family and friends who have leftover supplies from legitimate prescriptions, experts say.
Oxycontin is a long-acting form of the opioid oxycodone, a highly-addictive prescription drug.
The NYPD's initiative is a response to a growing black market of stolen prescription painkillers.
In 2011, a 33-year-old military veteran with no prior criminal record fatally shot four people while robbing a Long Island pharmacy of about 10,000 pain pills.
"The gunman in that case ... was desperate to obtain prescription drugs to feed both his and his wife's painkiller habit," said Kelly in a prepared statement to be delivered later Tuesday.
Even the police force itself has been haunted by prescription drug abuse.
"One of our own retired police officers who became addicted to the pills after incurring an injury on the job began robbing drug stores at gunpoint," Kelly said in the statement.
In addition to the 'bait bottle' program, New York police have created a database of the 6,000 pharmacies in the New York City area, many of which police plan to visit to recommend improved security measures.
Something for everyone in Italy's record 215 political logos
From right-wing gays of the "Black Rose" movement, to parties seeking to dump the euro, to the "Ordinary Guy Front", there is something for everyone in the dazzling array of groups seeking to contest Italy's elections.
The Interior Ministry, which will oversee the February 24-25 vote, has received a record 215 logos from parties, movements, associations, local and special interest groups of all sizes and colors - anyone who wants to be put on posters or ballot slips.
All manner of logos were displayed for public viewing on Monday in a long corridor in the ministry's ground floor: a red heart, a tramp carrying a sack with his belongings hanging from a stick on his back, a heavily made-up former porn star.
"Some of this is pure exhibitionism but still, it is part of democracy," said a ministry employee perusing the logos. He and his colleagues declined to give their names.
"This just shows the level of dissatisfaction today. The traditional parties don't responded to malaise about pensions, environment, taxes, everything. No one is happy," another ministry employee said.
Apart from many logos from the main parties and their offshoots, there is a dizzying display of symbols pushing every position, cause, protest and desire under the political sun.
An Italian who feels the squeeze of the tax man in the current recession can find a home either in the "Stop Taxes and Banks" movement, the "Halve the Salaries of Politicians" group or even the "Look What a Mess They've Got Us Into" group.
Total disaffection with the system is clearly expressed on the logo of the "Ordinary Guy Front" - a drawing of a man screaming in tortured pain while squeezed in a vice.
The ministry, using a 1957 law, will decide which logos it allows, depending mainly on the number of signatures backing them. In the last national elections in 2008, 153 out of 181 were approved.
Many are civic lists and special-interest groups which will only appear locally. Most will then link up with larger parties or any coalition and give them their votes.
The symbol of "Democracy, Nature and Love" (DNA) movement features former porn star Ilona Staller, who went by the screen name of Cicciolina (little cuddly one) and was elected to parliament for the Radical Party in 1987.
SEX, SPORT AND RELIGION
Staller has retired from both politics and the porn industry but her picture graces the logo of the libertarian movement. Posted nearby is the logo of the "Gays of the Right - Black Rose" movement.
Catholic voters unhappy with the values espoused by mainstream centrist parties can find a home in either the "Party of Catholics", the "Sacred Roman Empire" movement or even two groups with identical names: "The Militia of Christ". The logo of one sports a red heart while the other is a red anchor.
At least two groups are associated with Rome's rival soccer teams - "Forza Roma" and "Forza Lazio".
A voter who feels Italy thirsts for muse-like inspiration to solve its problems might be lured by the "Poets of Action Movement", the "Art, Freedom and Democracy" group or the "Party of the Cultural Revolution"
Its logo is a human brain with the command: "Think about your future!".
Some logos are provocations whose shelf life is dubious.
One is the "Bunga Bunga Movement," which takes its name from the wild parties held by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Perhaps one of the logos encapsulates best the mood of frustration many Italians feel. Its promoters call themselves a national civil list and its message is very clear: "I don't vote".
The Interior Ministry, which will oversee the February 24-25 vote, has received a record 215 logos from parties, movements, associations, local and special interest groups of all sizes and colors - anyone who wants to be put on posters or ballot slips.
All manner of logos were displayed for public viewing on Monday in a long corridor in the ministry's ground floor: a red heart, a tramp carrying a sack with his belongings hanging from a stick on his back, a heavily made-up former porn star.
"Some of this is pure exhibitionism but still, it is part of democracy," said a ministry employee perusing the logos. He and his colleagues declined to give their names.
"This just shows the level of dissatisfaction today. The traditional parties don't responded to malaise about pensions, environment, taxes, everything. No one is happy," another ministry employee said.
Apart from many logos from the main parties and their offshoots, there is a dizzying display of symbols pushing every position, cause, protest and desire under the political sun.
An Italian who feels the squeeze of the tax man in the current recession can find a home either in the "Stop Taxes and Banks" movement, the "Halve the Salaries of Politicians" group or even the "Look What a Mess They've Got Us Into" group.
Total disaffection with the system is clearly expressed on the logo of the "Ordinary Guy Front" - a drawing of a man screaming in tortured pain while squeezed in a vice.
The ministry, using a 1957 law, will decide which logos it allows, depending mainly on the number of signatures backing them. In the last national elections in 2008, 153 out of 181 were approved.
Many are civic lists and special-interest groups which will only appear locally. Most will then link up with larger parties or any coalition and give them their votes.
The symbol of "Democracy, Nature and Love" (DNA) movement features former porn star Ilona Staller, who went by the screen name of Cicciolina (little cuddly one) and was elected to parliament for the Radical Party in 1987.
SEX, SPORT AND RELIGION
Staller has retired from both politics and the porn industry but her picture graces the logo of the libertarian movement. Posted nearby is the logo of the "Gays of the Right - Black Rose" movement.
Catholic voters unhappy with the values espoused by mainstream centrist parties can find a home in either the "Party of Catholics", the "Sacred Roman Empire" movement or even two groups with identical names: "The Militia of Christ". The logo of one sports a red heart while the other is a red anchor.
At least two groups are associated with Rome's rival soccer teams - "Forza Roma" and "Forza Lazio".
A voter who feels Italy thirsts for muse-like inspiration to solve its problems might be lured by the "Poets of Action Movement", the "Art, Freedom and Democracy" group or the "Party of the Cultural Revolution"
Its logo is a human brain with the command: "Think about your future!".
Some logos are provocations whose shelf life is dubious.
One is the "Bunga Bunga Movement," which takes its name from the wild parties held by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Perhaps one of the logos encapsulates best the mood of frustration many Italians feel. Its promoters call themselves a national civil list and its message is very clear: "I don't vote".
Maine men accused in lobster crime face possible $190,000 fine
A Maine lobsterman and his son pleaded not guilty on Monday to illegally possessing more than 400 protected egg-bearing female lobsters and face a possible $190,000 fine, authorities said.
Marine patrol officers discovered the lobsters, marked with a v-shaped notch in their tails or mutilated to remove the notch, during an inspection last year of a boat owned by Ricky Curtis, the state Department of Marine Resources said in a statement.
Maine requires lobstermen to notch the tails of egg-bearing female lobsters before returning them to the ocean as a conservation measure. The lobsters may then reproduce several more times.
"We consider this a very serious crime," Colonel Joseph Fessenden, Marine Patrol chief, said in the statement.
"The illegal taking of any lobsters negatively affects the resource and is a direct theft from those lobstermen who abide by the laws every day that they fish," Fessenden said.
Ricky Curtis, 48, and his son Todd Curtis, 29, entered a not guilty plea through the mail at Knox County District Court in Rockland, Maine, a court clerk said.
They face a fine of more than $190,000 if they are convicted of the crime, the statement from wildlife authorities said.
Their attorney, Philip Cohen, declined to comment on the charges.
Marine patrol officers discovered the lobsters, marked with a v-shaped notch in their tails or mutilated to remove the notch, during an inspection last year of a boat owned by Ricky Curtis, the state Department of Marine Resources said in a statement.
Maine requires lobstermen to notch the tails of egg-bearing female lobsters before returning them to the ocean as a conservation measure. The lobsters may then reproduce several more times.
"We consider this a very serious crime," Colonel Joseph Fessenden, Marine Patrol chief, said in the statement.
"The illegal taking of any lobsters negatively affects the resource and is a direct theft from those lobstermen who abide by the laws every day that they fish," Fessenden said.
Ricky Curtis, 48, and his son Todd Curtis, 29, entered a not guilty plea through the mail at Knox County District Court in Rockland, Maine, a court clerk said.
They face a fine of more than $190,000 if they are convicted of the crime, the statement from wildlife authorities said.
Their attorney, Philip Cohen, declined to comment on the charges.
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