Protesters prepare for larger NATO demonstration

By doris | Published: May 20, 2012

Full Story at news.Yahoo.com

CHICAGO (AP) — Protesters gathering in Chicago for the NATO summit were gearing up for their largest demonstration Sunday, when thousands are expected to march from a downtown park to the lakeside convention center where President Barack Obama and dozens of other world leaders will meet.

Several hundred demonstrators wound through the city’s streets for hours Saturday, testing police who used bicycles to barricade off streets and horseback officers to coax them in different directions. Increasingly tense clashes between protesters and police resulted in 18 arrests, Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said.

Posted in Leaders, NATO, Presidential, Protesting | Leave a comment

Blind Chinese activist leaves for US

By doris | Published: May 19, 2012

Full Story at news.Yahoo.com

BEIJING (AP) — A blind Chinese activist was hurriedly taken from a hospital Saturday and boarded a plane that took off for the United States, closing a nearly monthlong diplomatic tussle that had tested U.S.-China relations.

Chen Guangcheng, his wife and their two children were on United Airlines Flight 88, which took off late Saturday afternoon from the Beijing airport. The flight was scheduled to arrive in Newark, N.J., Saturday evening.

Posted in Activist, China, Hospital, United States | Leave a comment

Boy finds a piece of finger in Arby’s sandwich

By doris | Published: May 18, 2012

Full Story at msnbc.com

JACKSON, Mich. — A Michigan teen made a gristly discovery after biting into an Arby’s junior roast beef sandwich.

Ryan Hart said he had nearly polished off his sandwich last Friday when he bit into something tough to chew that tasted like rubber, so he spit it out.

Turns out it tasted like finger. The fleshy pad of an unfortunate employee’s finger, apparently.

“I was like, ‘That (has) to be a finger,’” Hart, 14, told the Jackson Citizen Patriot on Wednesday. “I was about to puke. … It was just nasty.”

Posted in Arby's, Body Parts, Children, Food | Leave a comment

Edwards’ conduct was ‘shameful’ but not illegal, attorney tells jurors

By doris | Published: May 17, 2012

Full Story at USNews.msnbc.msn.com

Updated at 3:56 p.m. ET: John Edwards was a bad husband who lied to his family, but he’s not a criminal, his lawyer told jurors Thursday as the former presidential candidate’s corruption trial wrapped up.

“As many are his moral wrongs,” none of Edwards’ misdeeds was “a legal
one,” lead defense attorney Abbe Lowell said in his closing argument.
Drawing a comparison with the chief prosecution witness, Lowell said:
“John’s conduct is shameful, but it’s human. Andrew Young’s lies on the
stand and the government sponsoring those lies is worse.”

Posted in Attorney, Goverment, Illegal | Leave a comment

Coke, Pepsi make changes to avoid cancer warning

By doris | Published: May 16, 2012

Full Story at USATODAY.com

Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. are changing the way they make the caramel coloring used in their sodas as a result of a California law that mandates drinks containing a certain level of carcinogens bear a cancer warning label.

The companies said the changes will be expanded
nationally to streamline their manufacturing processes. They’ve already
been made for drinks sold in California.

The American Beverage Association,
which represents the broader beverage industry, said its member
companies will still use caramel coloring in certain products but that
adjustments were made to meet California’s new standard.

.

Posted in Business, Cancer, Coca-Cola, Food, Pepsi, Warning | Leave a comment

Police: Phony officer could be killing Mississippi drivers

By doris | Published: May 15, 2012

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — Someone who may be posing as a police officer is pulling cars over on Mississippi highways and then shooting drivers dead, authorities said.

After two such shootings this month, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is asking for the public’s help to find the person.

The agency is receiving leads and processing forensic evidence, bureau spokesman Warren Strain said Tuesday.

“There are some similarities between the two incidents, mainly the fact they happened alongside a Mississippi highway,” said MBI director Lt. Col. Larry Waggoner on Monday. “The concern is that someone is posing as a law enforcement officer and that is how these vehicles end up on the side of the road.”

Posted in Cars, Kill, Police, Sex Abuse, Shooting | Leave a comment

Same-sex marriage front-and-center in presidential race

By doris | Published: May 14, 2012

Full Story at CBSNews.com

(CBS News) WASHINGTON – The issue of same-sex marriage is pushing the presidential race in a new direction.

A just-released CBS News/New York Times poll shows 38 percent of Americans say they now believe same-sex couples should be allowed to get married. Twenty-four percent think they shold form civil unions. Thirty-three percent are against any legal recognition at all.

The number in favor of same-sex marriage is 10 percent higher than it was in 2004.

Posted in Presidential, Race, Same-sex marriage | Leave a comment

FBI agent missing, possibly armed, suicidal

By doris | Published: May 13, 2012

Full Story at CBSNews.com

(AP) BURBANK, Calif. – Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials and other law enforcement personnel searched a rugged mountain area Saturday for an FBI agent who had not been seen for more than 24 hours and was said to be despondent and possibly suicidal.

Los Angeles-based Special Agent Stephen Ivens was last seen by family members Thursday evening, KABC-TV reported. He left his Burbank home the next morning on foot and hasn’t been seen since, FBI officials said at a news conference.

Posted in Armed, FBI, Police, Suicide | Leave a comment

JPMorgan lobbied for big loophole on risky trading

By doris | Published: May 12, 2012

Full Story at msnbc.com

WASHINGTON — Soon after lawmakers finished work on the nation’s new financial regulatory law, a team of JPMorgan Chase lobbyists descended on Washington. Their goal was to obtain special breaks that would allow banks to make big bets in their portfolios, including some of the types of trading that led to the $2 billion loss now rocking the bank.

Several visits over months by the bank’s well-connected chief executive, Jamie Dimon, and his top aides were aimed at persuading regulators to create a loophole in the law, known as the Volcker Rule. The rule was designed by Congress to limit the very kind of proprietary trading that JPMorgan was seeking.

Even after the official draft of the Volcker Rule regulations was released last October, JPMorgan and other banks continued their full-court press to avoid limits.

JPMorgan’s blunder amplifies calls for tighter regulation

Posted in Bank, Congress, Lawmakers, Loss, Money | Leave a comment

Fla. teacher faces dismissal over ‘cone of shame’

By doris | Published: May 11, 2012

Full Story at sfgate.com

A Florida high school science teacher faces dismissal amid allegations that she used a “cone of shame” dog collar to discipline students.

Pasco County schools superintendent Heather Fiorentino has recommended firing 47-year-old Laurie Bailey-Cutkomp for putting a dog collar on at least eight of her ninth graders on two days in April.

Posted in Animal, Dismissal, School, Teacher | 1 Comment

Michigan lotto winner charged with welfare fraud

By doris | Published: May 10, 2012

Full Story at azcentral.com

LINCOLN PARK, Mich. — A Michigan woman who continued to get food stamps after winning a lottery jackpot was arraigned Tuesday on welfare fraud charges.

Amanda Clayton, 25, of Lincoln Park was arrested on Monday. If convicted of the two felony charges, she could face up to four years in prison.

Clayton stood silently during her arraignment at Lincoln Park’s 25th District Court. Defense lawyer Stanley Wise said he hopes to have charges dismissed at her next court hearing April 24. He didn’t elaborate.

“She’s upset but she’ll be fine,” Wise said.

Posted in Abuse, Lottery, Welfare | Leave a comment

Hundreds of thousands may lose Internet in July

By doris | Published: May 9, 2012

Full Story at sfgate.com

For computer users, a few mouse clicks could mean the difference between staying online and losing Internet connections this summer.

Unknown to most of them, their problem began when international hackers ran an online advertising scam to take control of infected computers around the world. In a highly unusual response, the FBI set up a safety net months ago using government computers to prevent Internet disruptions for those infected users. But that system is to be shut down.

Posted in Computer, FBI, Internet, Lose | Leave a comment

“Crab” chips, fruity Oreos? They’re big overseas

By doris | Published: May 8, 2012

Full Story at seattlepi.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Russians prefer their Lay’s potato chips dusted in caviar and crab flavors. The Chinese like their Oreos stuffed with mango and orange cream. And in Spain, Kellogg’s All-Bran cereal is served floating in hot coffee instead of cold milk.

Americans might get squeamish at the thought of their favorite snacks being tweaked. But what works in the U.S. doesn’t always work everywhere.

In other words, Lee Linthicum, a market researcher, says: “It can’t be some generic mix of spices that might fool an American.”

Posted in Business, Food, Ocerseas | Leave a comment

Calif. man dies at 103; had bullet in his head since 1917

By doris | Published: May 7, 2012

Full Story at content.usatoday.com

William Lawlis Pace, of Hilmar, Calif., died Monday at 103. Remarkable feat on its own, but even more remarkable because he lived 95 of his years with a bullet in his head, The Modesto Bee informs the world.

In 2006, the Burkburnett, Texas, native, who marked his 103rd birthday Feb. 27, was bestowed with the Guinness record for “Longest time to live with a bullet in the head.”

Posted in Adults, Bullet, Death, Head | Leave a comment

Vietnamese businessman buys one-man Wyoming town for $900K

By doris | Published: May 6, 2012

Full Story at content.usatoday.com

Buford, Wyo., population 1 and “the nation’s smallest town,” has a new owner.

An unidentified businessman from Vietnam — on his first trip to the United States, joined by an associate — bought the one-man town at auction today for $900,000, the Associated Press tells us. (CNN is reporting that two Vietnamese businessmen bought it.)

The man who has owned and managed the unincorporated 10-acre plot along I-80 between Cheyenne and Laramie since 1990, Don Sammons, served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. “I think it’s funny how things come full circle,” he said after meeting the new owner.

Posted in Land, Sold, United States, Vietnamese | Leave a comment

Man who dressed as dead mother guilty of fraud

By doris | Published: May 5, 2012

Full Story at Reuters.com

(Reuters) – A man who impersonated his dead mother as part of a real estate scam – using lipstick, manicured nails and even an oxygen tank at a meeting – was convicted of fraud on Thursday and faces up to 83 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Thomas Parkin, 51, was found guilty of 11 criminal counts, including charges of fraud, grand larceny, perjury and forgery for his scams. Along with the real estate fraud, Parkin and a partner cashed his mother’s social security checks every month for six years, stealing about $44,000.

Posted in Adults, Death, Mom, Money, Social Security | Leave a comment

First-Grader Suspended for Singing ‘I’m Sexy and I Know It’

By doris | Published: May 4, 2012

Full Story at ABCNewsgo.com

A Colorado elementary school student was suspended from school this week for singing a lyric from a popular LMFAO song, “I’m sexy and I know it.”

Those six little words from the Los Angeles rap-influenced duo earned first-grader D’Avonte Meadows a three day dismissal from Sable Elementary in Aurora, Colo.

“I only just said the song,” Meadows told Denver’s ABC7 News. “I’m sexy and I know it.”

School officials said D’Avonte was suspended for sexual harassment after he sang and the line to a female classmate who was standing in a lunch line. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time he’d serenaded this girl with this particular lyric.

Posted in School, Suspended | Leave a comment

Goodbye Norma Jean: Chicago’s 26-foot Marilyn Monroe sculpture moving west

By doris | Published: May 3, 2012

Full Story at Itineraries.msnbc.msn.com

The late filmmaker Colin Clark may have had his “week with Marilyn,” but travelers to Chicago will likely have to settle for one last weekend fling.

On Monday, the city will begin removing Forever Marilyn, the 26-foot outdoor sculpture of the iconic actress, ending her run as one of the city’s most controversial pieces of public art.

Posted in Chicago, Moving, Sculpture | Leave a comment

Tasers may provoke deadly heart problems, study finds

By doris | Published: May 2, 2012

Full Story at CBSNews.com

(CBS News) Tasers may provoke heart problems in the people it strikes, according to a new study from the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation.

VIDEO: Taser: An officer’s weapon of choice

The study of electronic control devices (ECDs) – often known as Tasers – was conducted by Dr. Douglas P. Zipes, a cardiologist at Indiana University, who gained unprecedented access to police, medical and emergency response records, autopsy reports, and data from defibrillators and electrocardiogram (ECG) strips. Zipes used all the materials to analyze eight cases where clinically healthy men lost consciousness after being struck by a Taser X26, and all but one died.

Posted in Guns, Health, Study | Leave a comment

Once-conjoined twins Angelica and Angelina thrive six months after operation

By doris | Published: May 1, 2012

Full Story at CBSNews.com

(CBS News) On November 1, 2011, when they were two years old, conjoined twins Angelica and Angelina Sabuco underwent separation surgery at Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif.

Conjoined twins undergo separation surgery in Calif.
PICTURES: Conjoined twins: 40 amazing photos (GRAPHIC IMAGES)
PICTURES: Formerly conjoined Sabuco twins: How are they now?

The twin girls from the Philippines were born joined at the chest and abdomen, and months of planning went into the procedure that was carried out at the Calif. hospital. The 10-hour operation was led by pediatric surgeon Dr. Gary Hartman of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, and took more than 20 doctors and nurses from various health backgrounds to assist.

Posted in Alive, Children, Health, Hospital, Operation | Leave a comment