Thursday, February 28, 2013

Go for a walk! Koreans reject Cuban ball switch

(Reuters)-a baseball game between the Cuban national team and a professional South Korean club had to be called when it could not agree on which ball to use, leaving the two sets of players exercising awkwardly next to each other in the stadium, an official NC Dinos of Korea told Reuters.

Cuba were set to play NC Dinos at the ballpark of Liou Dou in Taiwan on Thursday as part of their preparations for the World Baseball Classic, which takes place from 2 to 19 March.

"We have never experienced anything quite like this before," an official NC Dinos with the team in Taiwan told Reuters by telephone on Friday.

"It is customary for baseball teams from two different countries have two different balls and use balls of their choice (when fielding).

"But 40 minutes before the game, Cuba insisted that both sides use the ball they have chosen," added the official. "We refused because our players could get injured using balls that are not familiar with.

"We could risk not getting injured in a warm-up match like this. Then they brought another ball, we once again said no. They didn't give up and brought a more and we turned them once again.

"Finally, about 15-20 minutes before the game, they just notified us that they abruptly canceled the game."

The official said Dinos had been taken aback by the decision of Cuba to cancel the game.

"What they insisted that it was absurd and goes against normal practice."

With no game play, both groups of players started practicing on the field.

"After the game was cancelled at the last minute, our team has stayed and practiced in the stadium and did not leave the Cuban team," added the official.

"So we practiced there too for a while, the two teams in the same space, until we asked them to leave ... She was so embarrassing."

Dinos head coach Kim Kyung-Moon lamented the missed opportunity for his team to play one of the best international sides and said it would have been a valuable experience for his players.

Cuba are placed in the WBC Pool A alongside Japan champions, Brazil and China.

(Reported by Narae Kim in Seoul, writing by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; Editing by Peter Rutherford)


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"Mantenere i vostri lavoratori cosiddetti", capo degli Stati Uniti dice Francia

Paris (Reuters)-the CEO of a manufacturer of tyres of the United States issued a crushing synthesis of how some outsiders View work ethic of France in a letter saying that he would have to be stupid to take a factory where employees put in only three hours of work a day.

Titan International Maurice Taylor, nicknamed "The Grizz" for his negotiating style, said French industry Minister left in a letter published by the media on Wednesday that he had no interest to save a plant set to close.

"The French workforce gets paid high wages but working only three hours. Get an hour for lunch and breaks, talking to three and I work for three, "Taylor wrote in his letter of February 8 in English for the Minister, Arnaud Montebourg.

"I said this to the French Union workers at their faces. They told me that it's so French! " Taylor added in the letter, which was published by the business newspaper Les Echos on its website and which confirmed the Ministry was genuine.

"Titan is going to buy a Chinese tire company or one Indian, pay less than one Euro per hour wages and ship all tires France needs," he said. "You can keep your workers '.

Socialist President Francois Hollande could take some comfort in the sight of Taylor of trade policies of his country: "the Government of the United States is not much better than the French," he said, referring to a dispute over Chinese exports.

Montebourg's Office said the letter was an authentic response to Paris consulting Titan as a possible buyer of Amiens North factory of US Goodyear group in Northern France.

The Minister refrained from immediate reply: "don't worry, there will be a response," Montebourg told reporters on Wednesday after meeting with Hollande. "It's better written. "

Union leaders have been less cautious. Official CGT Mickael Wamen, said Taylor belonged more in a Madhouse "than the boardroom of a multinational.

DERISION

Taylor's comments are the latest blow to the image of France after the verbal attacks last year of Montebourg businesses seeking to close ailing industrial sites prompted mockery.

Combined with concerned about plans for a 75 percent "millionaires tax", Montebourg's antics led the Mayor of London Boris Johnson to remark to an international business audience that seemed that France was running by left-wing revolutionaries.

Montebourg has also lashed out at cheap imports of manufactured goods from low-wage countries such as China and last year said the head of Indian steelmaker ArcelorMittal was unwelcome in a spat over a shuttered plant in France.

Despite having levels of productivity per head that rank among the best in Europe, economists blame France's rigid hiring and firing laws for a long industrial decline has dented exports. Many also blame the week of 35 hours of work in the country.

Amiens Nord plant Goodyear Tire Rubber Co. & employs 1,250 workers, who have been fighting the demands that more shifts or accept layoffs. The Government said in January that the impending closure front site.

Talks with Titan over a possible purchase of agricultural tyres section of the plant fell through last September after a failure to reach an agreement with the CGT Union voluntary redundancies.

Titan did not return calls on Monday night for comment, but the company's site says that Wall Street analysts have dubbed Taylor "The Grizz" for his tough negotiating style.

His letter to Montebourg accused the French Government of "doing nothing" in the face of Chinese competition.

"Lord, your letter states that want to Titan to start a discussion. How stupid do you think we are? "he wrote. "Titan is the one with the money and talent to produce tires. What is the Union doing crazy have? Is the French Government ".

(Additional reporting by Christian Plumb and Elizabeth Pineau; Written by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)


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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Goldfish influx threatens to cloud pristine Lake Tahoe waters

 VALLEJO, California (Reuters) - Giant goldfish have mysteriously found their way into the famously crystalline waters of Lake Tahoe, the nation's second-deepest lake, alarming researchers and raising questions about the invasive species' long-term effects.


Goldfish weighing as much as 4 pounds and measuring up to a 1-1/2 feet in length have recently been caught in Tahoe, which straddles the California-Nevada border, and scientists say the influx threatens native species while posing a potential waste pollution problem.


"These fish are competing with the native fish, and that's a big part of the problem," said Heather Segale, spokeswoman for the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at the University of California at Davis.


A group of researchers from Davis, the University of Nevada at Reno, and the fish and wildlife departments of both California and Nevada were the first to study the presence of goldfish in Lake Tahoe, beginning an annual survey in 2006.


In 2011, the group began a project to reduce the number of goldfish and other non-native fish from the lake through "electrofishing," dangling metal wires from the bottom of a boat to stun fish with electrical current, then capturing the fish as they float to the surface.


Researchers then sort the fish, releasing native species and sport fish such as trout, and removing the rest.


The project has rid the lake of 50 to 60 goldfish a year since 2011, but their foraging abilities and potential to multiply means removal efforts must continue to keep populations under control, said Christine Ngai of the University of Nevada.


The influx at Tahoe, at the base of a world-class ski area in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range, is believed to have originated from specimens dumped from a fish bowl by pet owners who no longer wanted them.


Some used as bait may also have escaped into the lake over time, Ngai said. Goldfish, members of the carp family, are known to grow in size when they inhabit larger environments.


While their precise numbers are difficult to track, the proliferation of large goldfish in the wild is not unique to Tahoe. James Schardt, an invasive species expert for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said he has received reports of giant goldfish in lakes from around the country, mostly from the Great Lakes.


"Goldfish are very good at getting what they need," Ngai said. "They can potentially compete with native fish for food, vegetation and bugs."


"Because they eat a lot, they also excrete a lot. They can transfer that into the water and encourage algae growth," she added, saying that could create murky water.


With a maximum depth of 1,645 feet and an average depth of 1,000 feet, the 22-mile-wide lake is the nation's deepest after Crater Lake in Oregon and the 10th deepest on Earth.


It is also one of the clearest in the world, with visibility recently measured to a depth of 70 feet, reduced from 100 feet when clarity readings were first taken in the 1960s, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.


(Editing by Steve Gorman, Cynthia Johnston and Todd Eastham)


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Pets recreate the best movies this year in ' The Pawscars ' (VIDEO)

(Makes it clear that Annett injured in separate incidents) Feb 23 (Reuters)-a pileup at Daytona speedway Saturday injured at least 28 fans after a car accident sent debris 10 cars, including a tire flying into the crowd in the final lap of the race NASCAR Nationwide. Race officials said 14 fans were sent to hospitals nearby and another 14 were treated at the Florida track, which will host the prestigious Daytona 500 race Sunday. "Stuff was flying everywhere," Spectator Terry Huckaby, whose brother was sent to hospital with a leg injury, said the sports network ESPN. ...


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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Ride along as deep-sea Odyssey crew discover a record 48 tons of silver

Odyssey heads off on one of his trips. (Discovery Channel)In July 2012, the crew of deep-sea recovery team Odyssey Marine shipping (OME) found a record-setting of 48 tons of silver from a sunken World War II-era British vessel, the SS Gairsoppa.

A crew was along for the ride, documenting the journey of three miles below the surface. This Sunday, Discovery Channel viewers will be able to ride along with the crew of OME to see firsthand looks like a deep-sea treasure hunt as during the broadcast of "Rush silver."

OME's Senior Project Manager Andrew Craig and CEO Mark Gordon spoke with Yahoo News about the trip and what viewers can expect.

"The biggest thing with this expedition is that we went looking for a wreck in such deep water. The Gairsoppa was sunk in water almost a mile deeper than the Titanic, "said Craig."We knew that the payload silver was on the poster, but what about where we might find him when we got there, really we didn't know when we started this adventure. "

"The challenge we had was how to open surgery a shipwreck at 15,000 feet in the water," added Gordon. "It was a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack".

In fact, when OME recovered 48 tons of the precious metal, the discovery temporarily sent reeling world market prices of silver.

"I don't think anything will ever again that huge amounts of silver," said Craig. "These were only those rare times during World War II. The British Government had to get this back to the United Kingdom for the war effort ".

The history of Gairsoppa is fascinating. Was a steamship tram enlisted to help the war effort, along with many other issues. During the journey from India back to the United Kingdom, the ship ran low on fuel and separated from his convoy of 26 ships.

As it slipped off the road, the Gairsoppa was tracked down and torpedoed by a German u-boat. Thirty-six crew of the 86-man made in lifeboats, about 400 miles off the coast.

"These merchant seaman, was almost another army of people that nobody really knows," said Craig. "They were on boats that just don't have any protection. They were the luck of the gods as if they have even made back or not. "

After weeks adrift at sea, only three men made it to shore alive. And by the time the British medical staff has made for the lifeboat, only one man, Richard Ayres, remained alive.

"Richard Ayers was in water for 17 days before he eventually ended up on the South coast of England," said Craig. "Despite passing through that tragedy, continued to have a fulfilling life, returned to work on sea and lived 90 years before passing away in 1990."

Hosted by Mike Rowe, of the "Silver Rush" series also follow the crew as they explore HOW two other vessels with cargos worth a collective $ 1 billion or more: the SS Mantola, an ocean liner that sank in 1917 on the Irish coast and HMS Victory, the former flagship of the Royal Navy who had lost in 1744 during the housing now what it may be worth upwards of $ 1 billion in gold.

Gordon says OME discovered much more than the record-setting 1,023 Gairsoppa silver bars, including 1,700 tons of tea, burlap bags "filled with God knows what," Silver service set captain and other staff "really interesting" artifacts.

"We haven't finished. We're going back this summer, "said Gordon. "We have only recovered 42 percent of registered, insured".

Some of the 1,023 silver bar records discovered by Odyssey (Discovery Channel)


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Sexting and wiretaps revealed the FBI-CNN

(Reuters)-an FBI employee has been fired for sleeping with a drug trafficker and lying about it under oath, while another got the boot for bugging the Office of the Chief.

the FBI suspended for 10 days yet another employee to email a nude photograph of herself the wife of her ex-boyfriend-the Bureau showed compassion for the woman after she asked for help for depression.

Such cases last year were among 29 revealed by CNN on Friday after cable news network received a quarterly report October 2012 the U.s. Federal Bureau of Investigation sent to all of its employees who was meant to educate the staff of the FBI but not be disclosed publicly.

The so-called sections summarized cases studied by the responsibility of the Bureau.

"We've seen a rash of sexting cases and cases of nude photography, you know, people who abuse their BlackBerry for this cause, and we hope to get the message out under headings is to teach people that you can't do this stuff", Deputy Director of the FBI Candice Will told CNN.

An employee who used a Government-issued BlackBerry to send sexually explicit messages to another employee received a five-day suspension. Another who used a mobile phone to send nude photos to several other employees received a suspension of 10 days, in part because the conduct created Office gossip.

"When you're given a BlackBerry of the FBI, is for official use. The text is not the woman in another Office that finds attractive a picture of yourself in a State of undress, "will said.

Many of the cases involved sex, such as the employee who visited a massage parlor and paid for a sexual favor from the masseuse. That resulted in a suspension of 14 days instead of a more severe penalty, because the employee has had an exemplary work record and expressed remorse, the FBI documents said.

Others were more serious, as in the case of the employee who approved the purchase and display of videos of guys naked. That person was summarily rejected.

Two employees who were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol were laid off because in any case it was a second offense.

Another who was cited for public intoxication while walking the street drunk and armed with a weapon issued by bureau received a seven-day suspension.

Improper handling of evidence resulted in suspensions of three and eight days. Shoplifting has obtained a summary dismissal.

CNN has posted the documents on http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2013/images/02/21/office.of.professional.review.-.cnn01302013_0000.pdf.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta)


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Monday, February 25, 2013

Supposedly haunted house up and moves

Here's a new twist on an old story of ghost: a House with a reputation for being infested was filmed in motion, literally, all over the city.

This time, however, the ghosts were not guilty: his original bag had been sold to a person, the House to another. As a result, the new owner of Iowa 1865, Sherri Meeker, had the 100-ton structure moved five miles down the road.

Of course, it has captured the interest of the Web. The old House, supposedly haunted by evil spirits, has a resemblance to the "Nightmare on Elm Street" and is known around town as the "Haunted Mansion" Jasper County.

Some locals swear that has a disturbing past. The three-storey house, wooden structure sure looks haunted. Local news station KCCI also spent the night there in 1994 after hearing lots of stories about Queen long, thought to be the original owner, who was told to float around it. Mike Salier, the owner of the House at the time, told KCCI in history: "it is true. People think it's a lot of poppycock, but is enough to make your skin crawl ".

The stories were certainly enough to get Web buzz over home movies 150-year-old slowly making its way down the road.

Of course, believers of spooky tales are wondering if the spirits will pick up and move or haunt the next structure going up in its place.

At the very least, it would make a good movie. And speaking of good horror movies, check out this behind the scenes look of Yahoo creating a haunted house, with producer Jason Blum of Paranormal Activity.


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To prevent snakes on a plane, Guam to airdrop poisoned mice

(Reuters)-declaring war against invasive Brown tree snakes infest the territory of Guam in the Pacific of the United States, wildlife officials this spring plan to bombard the island with rats dead baby filled with a common medicine pain-killing that is poisonous for reptiles.

Brown tree snakes, believed to have been made inadvertently to Guam around the end of World War II aboard military ships of the United States, have become major pests blamed for sweeping away the native bird populations on the island.

Wildlife officials have worried for years that the snakes, which have no natural predators on Guam, may one day reach other Pacific Islands, particularly Hawaii, nearly 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) to the East, raising further environmental destruction.

"Guam is a very unique situation, said William Pitt, a wildlife biologist for the United States Department of Agriculture National Wildlife Research Center in Hawaii."There is no other place in the world that has a snake problem like Guam. "

The project is set to begin in March or April with dead mice babies being dropped by helicopter over jungle areas where snakes are most concentrated.

The initial target will be near Andersen Air Force Base, which is surrounded by thick vegetation and is seen as a potential starting point for snakes that might end up as stowaways on board departing aircraft.

Stuffed in his mouth to each newborn mouse is acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol and other pain-relief drugs over-the-counter, that is toxic to snakes "and not a lot of other animals," said Pitt.

In an attempt to keep the rats exits off the ground, every small rodent will be attached to a Ribbon wire between pieces of cardboard designed to fall into a loop and catch the canopy of trees, he said.

The goal of the air assault, which will eventually be involving the Elimination of some 2,000 mice throughout, is not to eradicate but to limit and control the population of brown tree snake on the island, Pitt said.

(Reporting by Kevin Gray; Written by Steve Gorman; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)


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Adolf Hitler stumping for votes in Indian elections

GAUHATI, India (AP)-Adolf Hitler is running for elections in India. So is Frankenstein.

Small Northeast State of Meghalaya has a special charm for interesting names and sometimes controversial and ballot for state elections Saturday, is proof.

Among the 345 candidates running for the State Assembly are Frankenstein Momin, Billykid Sangma, field Marshal Mawphniang and Romeo Rani. Some, like Kenedy Marak, Kennedy Khyriem and Jhim Carter Cornelius Sangma, are clearly hoping for the electoral success of their American Presidents.

Then there is Hitler.

This 54 year old father of three has won three elections for the State Assembly with little controversy over being named after the Nazi dictator.

His father had served with the British army, but apparently developed enough of a fascination with the archenemy of Britain to name his son Adolf Hitler — although gave him the middle name Lu, Hitler said.

"I realize at some point of time that Adolf Hitler was the most hated person on Earth for the genocide of the Jews. But my father added ' Lu ', naming me Lu of Adolf Hitler, and that is why I am different, "Hitler told the Associated Press from the small village of Mansingre, 200 kilometers (125 miles) West of Gauhati, the capital of the neighboring state of Assam.

Hitler said that his name has not ceased to travel the globe, including United States and Germany.

"I've never had problems obtaining a visa, but I have been asked many times during immigration as to why I should have a name. I said the immigration staff who possibly did not have a role in my name, "he said.

India had thousands of troops fighting alongside the allies in World War II, especially in North Africa and Burma, but many Indians View Hitler not as the personification of evil, but as a figure of fascination. Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" is clearly visible in many Indian libraries. The owner of a men's clothing store named his shop "Hitler" and has expressed concerns last year after Israel complained.

Musfika Haq, a teacher in the capital of Meghalaya, Shillong, said that these names are common in the State.

"Parents obviously get fascinated by well-known names or great leader, but should be aware that some of them, like Hitler, was highly controversial," he said.


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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Snowplow driver covers cars and driveways — on purpose

The Snowplow driver calling Dogg has been ticking off a lot of people.

Mark Hussey, who sails the streets of Lowell, mass., for a private entrepreneur, made a video of himself as he buried in the white stuff and cars blocked driveways pushing back the snow shoveled out of them. The worst part: he is loving every minute of it.

The video, which was posted on YouTube, has caught the attention of the Web weary winter — and confirmed the fears of some people who Snowplow drivers make their lives more difficult on purpose, leaving the roads clear, but everyone else pretty much stuck.

Hussey shot himself through the windshield of his Snowplow on February 10 after a storm dropped 2 feet of snow on the area. The local Fox News station 25 interviewed 47-year-old, whose video showed the joy that took to do its job just a little bit too aggressive.

"Oh, sorry, it was car down there?" Dogg is heard at one point, as he buries a sedan in the snow. "Do you want to find your car? Come and see me, I'll let you know where is your car.

Needless to say, residents are not amused. The Bedard, who was digging the heels of Dogg said the Fox station, "is very aggravating. You want to throw a shovel at him. It is very aggravating. "

Dogg maintains that he is just doing his job, which is to widen the roads. And there is no doubt that he enjoys.

Says his video, "If you're plowing, so you're not having as much fun as I am."


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Tea Cozies and pencil sharpening vie oddest book title Award

London (Reuters)-a guide to sharpen pencils and a manual craft about as tea cozies changed the world are among a shortlist of books published on Friday that are competing for the Oddest book title of the Year award.

The shortlist at the 35th annual award diagram also includes a study of the health of Adolf Hitler by Henrik Eberle and Hans-Joachim Neumann entitled "was sick of Hitler?" and "Lofts in North America: Pigeon Loft" Jerry Gagne.

These are against "How to sharpen pencils" by David Rees, "Doodle of God: the life and times of the penis" by Tom Hickman, Goblinproofing "Chicken Coop" by Reginald Bakeley and tea Cosies "changed the world" by Loani Prior.

Philip Stone, Coordinator of the prize administered by the industry publication the bookseller, said the award might seem flippant, but publishers and booksellers are well aware that a title can make all the difference to sales of a book.

Stone "Publishers realize that if a book has an unusual title, especially in a novel, can help make them more attractive to the public," he told Reuters.

«People that looks interesting and it will pick up and read the synopsis and that makes them more likely to buy it. "

As an example he cited "a short history of tractors in Ukrainian" which has sold nearly 1 million copies, and "The curious incident of the dog in the Night-Time" which has sold more than 2 million copies and was adapted for the stage.

"There's a cliché that you can't judge a book by its cover but I think people do, the cover and the title," said Stone.

The winner, chosen by a public online vote, will be announced on March 22.

The diagram prize was founded at the Frankfurt book fair in 1978 and won for the first time in the "Proceedings of the second International Workshop on Nude Mice".

Last year's winner was "cooking with poop," a Thai Cookbook from Bangkok resident Saiyuud Diwong whose nickname is poop.

(This story was refiled to correct a typo in the title)

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by Paul Casciato)


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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Aquarium fights to get disabled turtle swimming again

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
KOBE, Japan (Reuters) - Life looked grim for Yu, a loggerhead turtle, when she washed up in a Japanese fishing net five years ago, her front flippers shredded after a brutal encounter with a shark.

Now keepers at an aquarium in the western Japanese city of Kobe are looking for a high-tech solution that will allow the 25-year-old turtle to swim normally again after years of labor and 27 models of prosthetic fins behind them without achieving their goal.

Yu, weighing 103 kg (227 pounds) and 82 cm (32 inches) long, first came to the attention of keepers at the Suma Aqualife Park in Kobe after she was rushed there from a port on the southern island of Shikoku in 2008.

"She was in a really bad way. More than half her fins were gone and she was bleeding, her body covered with shark bites," said Naoki Kamezaki, the park's director general.

After nursing the loggerhead - an endangered species - back to health, keepers enlisted the help of researchers and a local prosthetics-maker to get her swimming again.

Early versions of prosthetic flippers caused her pain or fell off quickly, and with money short, Kamezaki said he sometimes felt like packing it in.

"There have been times I wanted to give up and just fix her up the best we can and throw her back in," he told Reuters. "Then if luck's on her side she'll be fine, if not, she'll get eaten and that's just life. The way of nature, I suppose."

The latest version - made of rubber and fixed together with a material used in diving wetsuits - was unveiled on February 11 and proclaimed a success, with Yu swimming smoothly around her tank.

But on Friday, one flipper slipped out as soon as she hit the water, forcing keepers back to the laboratory again.

Though Kamezaki admits that it's unlikely Yu will ever live a normal turtle life, he still has hopes.

"My dream for her is that one day she can use her prosthetic fins to swim to the surface, walk about, and dig a proper hole to lay her eggs in," Kamezaki said.

"When her children hatch, well, I just feel that would make all the trauma in her life worthwhile."

(Reporting by Ruairidh Villar, writing by Elaine Lies, editing by Paul Casciato)


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Meet Norma and Norman Burmah, the longest-living married couple in the U.S.

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AppId is over the quota
BERLIN (Reuters) - Half a life-time ago, artist Yoko Ono lay in an Amsterdam hotel bed with husband John Lennon, staging a week-long "bed-in" for peace and feeling they were very alone in their activism. Today, Ono, whose own energy for campaigning has never tired, sees a world full of activists, maintaining her energy and faith in humanity. "When John and I did the bed-in, not many people were with us. But now there are so many activists, I don't know anyone who is not an activist," she told Reuters in an interview in Berlin on Monday, her 80th birthday. ...


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Friday, February 22, 2013

Encana apologizes for executive's cursing on conference call

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AppId is over the quota
(Please note this story contains language that may offend some readers)

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Encana Corp, Canada's largest natural gas producer, apologized on Thursday because one of its executives cursed after an analyst asked about whether new Canadian investment rules would prohibit its takeover by foreign state-owned entities.

When asked the question by Canaccord Genuity analyst Phil Skolnick, interim CEO Clayton Woitas said: "The answer would be no." Then, in a whispered comment that was clearly audible on a replay of the call, someone can be heard saying, "fucking asshole."

"Something like that should never have been said and we're sorry about it," Jay Averill, a spokesman for the company, said.

Averill said about 20 Encana executives had been gathered in a room with microphones to discuss the company's fourth-quarter profit report with analysts and the media. The spokesman said he was unable to say which one of them uttered the expletive or whether it was directed at Skolnick.

Skolnick, a Canaccord Genuity managing director and head of Canadian energy equity research for the investment bank, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Woitas took over as interim chief executive just over a month ago after then-CEO Randy Eresman suddenly retired.

Eresman, who led the Calgary, Alberta-based company for seven years, faced criticism from investors because of poor share price performance and a U.S. Department of Justice probe into whether the company illegally colluded with Chesapeake Energy Corp to lower the price of Michigan exploration lands.

Encana's shares dropped 6.6 percent on Thursday as investors were disappointed by the company's oil production forecast. They closed on the Toronto Stock Exchange at C$18.20, a 10-month low. Skolnick has a "hold" rating on the stock with a target price of $21.50 a share.

The new foreign investment rules specifically cover Canadian oil sands producers rather than all energy producers.

It is not the first time that open microphones have proved problematic for corporate executives. In 2007, the CEO of U.S. student lender SLM Corp, Albert Lord, was caught saying at the end of a testy conference call: "There's no questions - let's get the fuck out of here."

Lord subsequently apologized, saying he recognized his "comments were offensive."

And in taped comments in 2001, then-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling mockingly thanked an analyst for a question on a conference call, ending with the clearly audible word: "Asshole."

The abusive comment was subsequently seen by short sellers as a sign of how much pressure Skilling was under at the time as Enron's accounts, which were later discovered to be fraudulent, began to unravel.

"If I could go back and redo things, I would not have used the term that I used," Skilling, who is currently serving a prison sentence for his role in the Enron scandal, later told a Congressional hearing.

(Reporting by Scott Haggett; Editing by Martin Howell and Leslie Gevirtz)


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Man accused biting off ear lobe pleads not guilty

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AppId is over the quota
STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man accused of biting off his cousin's ear lobe and swallowing it during a fight over loud music has pleaded not guilty to assault and other charges.

Twenty-seven-year-old Emilio Mendoza, of Stamford, was arraigned Wednesday in Stamford Superior Court and ordered held on $50,000 bail.

The Advocate of Stamford reports (http://bit.ly/12EaWlh ) that Mendoza's cousin and roommate, 31-year-old Clemente Perez-Ruiz, also pleaded not guilty Wednesday to assault and disorderly conduct charges connected to the brawl. A good portion of his left ear was missing.

Stamford police say the two men were intoxicated and started fighting after Perez-Ruiz asked Mendoza to turn down the music. Police say Mendoza admitted swallowing the ear lobe.

Mendoza's lawyer said he hadn't seen the police report detailing the allegations and declined to comment.

___

Information from: The Advocate, http://www.stamfordadvocate.com


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Pa. grad student sues, says C-plus cost her $1.3M

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AppId is over the quota
EASTON, Pa. (AP) — Talk about grade inflation.

Graduate student Megan Thode wasn't happy about the C-plus she received for one class, saying the mediocre grade kept her from getting her desired degree and becoming a licensed therapist — and, as a result, cost her $1.3 million in lost earnings.

Now Thode is suing her professor and Lehigh University in Bethlehem, claiming monetary damages and seeking a grade change.

A judge is hearing testimony in the case this week in Northampton County Court. Lehigh and the professor contend her lawsuit is without merit. Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano declined to dismiss the suit Wednesday, ruling that there was enough evidence for the suit to proceed, according to The (Easton) Express-Times (http://bit.ly/Ye2Aj1).

Thode took the class in the fall of 2009. Her instructor, Amanda Eckhardt, testified this week that she stood by the grade, saying Thode failed to behave professionally and thus earned zero out of 25 points in class participation, bumping her down a full letter grade.

"I ... believed she received the grade she earned," Eckhardt said.

The C-plus prevented Thode, an otherwise A student, from going on to the next class and advancing in her professional therapist studies, the newspaper reported. She wound up getting a master's degree in human development instead.

Her attorney, Richard Orloski, argued that Eckhardt targeted Thode because she is an outspoken advocate for gay marriage.

Eckhardt testified that while she believes marriage is between a man and a woman, she would never allow her personal views to influence her treatment of students. She said Thode had outbursts in class, did not participate appropriately, was emotionally unstable and failed to heed a warning letter.

Stephen Thode, the plaintiff's father and a longtime finance professor at Lehigh, testified on his daughter's behalf and said her participation score was highly irregular.

"I have never heard of a case, not just at Lehigh, where a student achieved a zero in class participation where they attended and participated in every class," he said.

Giordano is presiding over the nonjury trial and is expected to rule on Thode's lawsuit after testimony concludes.

___

Information from: The (Easton, Pa.) Express-Times, http://www.lehighvalleylive.com


View the original article here

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Two minutes of screaming goat as humans is udderly amazing (VIDEO)

In the new documentary by Beyoncé on Knowles co-directed by Beyoncé there is a shot of his helicopter flight checking his iPhone. As we see the real world, the world of people who don't get to take those luxury rides, Beyoncé Knowles, says the following voice-over: "I think people have an idea in your head of entertainers, celebrities. I think they feel like their lives are so perfect, and it's really hard to go through painful experiences when you're in the public eye, because it is difficult to have closure. ...


View the original article here

Norway plans 12 hours prime-time television a fireplace

OSLO (Reuters)-Norwegian public television plans to broadcast a fireplace burning for 12 hours straight from Friday night, with specialists of firewood by providing color commentary, expert advice and a bit of mentorship.

"We'll talk about very nerdy topics such as burning, slicing and stacking the wood, but we will also have cultural segments with music and poetry," Rune Moeklebust, a producer for the State broadcaster NRK.

"It will be very slow but noble television."

Moeklebust had the idea for the show from the wild success of a book of firewood by Lars Mytting, firewood celebrity bigger than Norway. His book "Hel Ved", which means strong character in English, is a pun because ved also means "firewood".

Mytting, guest on tonight's broadcast, it sold about 130,000 copies of the book last year, a huge number in a country of 5 million people, with its editor claiming that only "fifty shades of grey" has sold more copies during the recent holiday season.

NRK is no stranger to quirky programming.

In 2011, and 134 hours non-stop to a cruise ship sailing up the Norwegian coast to the Arctic, the world record for the longest continuous TV program en route to bagging.

At one point 600,000 people tuned in to watch that program with 3.2 million people, or more than 60 percent of the population, glued to the screen at some point.

And front transmission of an eight-hour train journey from Oslo to Bergen was so popular, NRK had to repeat.

"People in Norway have a spiritual relationship with fire," said Moeklebust. "Fire is the reason that we're here, if there was no firewood, we couldn't live in Norway, would freeze."

How will the chimney in evaluations?

"More people will tune more on a normal Friday night," said Moeklebust.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)


View the original article here

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Bunnies taking toll on cars at Denver airport

DENVER (AP) — silly rabbits.

The furry creatures are wreaking havoc on cars parked at Denver International Airport, eating wire candle and other wiring.

To stop the problem, the Federal Wildlife workers are removing at least 100 rabbits a month while fencing installation companies better parking and build perches for predator hawks and eagles.

Airport spokesman that Coale Laura says that out of 4.3 million parking transactions in 2012, three requests were submitted for rodents or rabbit damage and no one has lodged a complaint for towing.

KCNC-TV (http://tinyurl.com/awjoyne) reports that there is another way to stop the damage that can cost thousands of dollars to repair.

Mechanics say the wire coating with Fox or coyote urine can steal the rabbits of their appetite. Fox urine can be purchased at many stores.

___

Information from: KCNC-TV, http://www.cbs4denver.com


View the original article here

' Daily Show ' and ' Colbert Report ' take on Harlem Shake ' (video)

In the new documentary by Beyoncé on Knowles co-directed by Beyoncé there is a shot of his helicopter flight checking his iPhone. As we see the real world, the world of people who don't get to take those luxury rides, Beyoncé Knowles, says the following voice-over: "I think people have an idea in your head of entertainers, celebrities. I think they feel like their lives are so perfect, and it's really hard to go through painful experiences when you're in the public eye, because it is difficult to have closure. ...


View the original article here

Cayman Islands woman bites intruder, loses tooth

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — Police in the Cayman Islands say a woman drove out an intruder to bite him. It cost a tooth, though.

Police Chief Inspector Robert Scotland, says the woman was home alone when he awoke to find a man standing on his bed. Scotland, The Associated Press said Friday that the woman bit the intruder when he put his hand over her mouth. Then fled.

He said that the woman was treated at a hospital and that police are still looking for the intruder.

The incident occurred early Thursday in the northwestern part of Grand Cayman.


View the original article here

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Dear Berlin's polar bear Knut back on Show

In the new documentary by Beyoncé on Knowles co-directed by Beyoncé there is a shot of his helicopter flight checking his iPhone. As we see the real world, the world of people who don't get to take those luxury rides, Beyoncé Knowles, says the following voice-over: "I think people have an idea in your head of entertainers, celebrities. I think they feel like their lives are so perfect, and it's really hard to go through painful experiences when you're in the public eye, because it is difficult to have closure. ...


View the original article here

Knut the polar bear becomes Museum display

Berlin (AP) — adorable in life, attracting admirers even in death: Knut polar bear Hide was mounted on a polyurethane body and is going on display in a Museum in Berlin.

The natural history museum on Friday unveiled the statue made by Taxidermists with bear fur famous Berlin Zoo and claws, with synthetic body and glass eyes.

The display runs through March 15. Knut will be added then the scientific collections of the Museum.

Knut was raised by hand after his mother rejected him. He rose to stardom in 2007 as a cuddly Cub, appearing on the covers of magazines, on film and in the mountains of merchandise. Died in 2011 after suffering from encephalitis.

The Museum dismissed criticism the decision to see Knut, saying it gives everyone a chance to see it.


View the original article here

Monday, February 18, 2013

Nothing says, "I'm yours" as a head of chocolate

DEAR ABBY: my daughters are young attractive women, both doing well in their professional careers. "Melanie, who is 27, is married to" Sam, "a very attractive and successful.My daughter 30 years, "Alicia", has been divorced for a year. Her marriage failed two years ago, because she and her husband had an appetite for sex outside their marriage. While I was disturbed about that, I was horrified to learn that Melanie allows her sister occasionally having sex with Sam topic. Melanie is that Sam is less likely to cheat given this situation. ...


View the original article here

Bunnies taking toll on cars at Denver airport

DENVER (AP) — silly rabbits.

The furry creatures are wreaking havoc on cars parked at Denver International Airport, eating wire candle and other wiring.

To stop the problem, the Federal Wildlife workers are removing at least 100 rabbits a month while fencing installation companies better parking and build perches for predator hawks and eagles.

Airport spokesman that Coale Laura says that out of 4.3 million parking transactions in 2012, three requests were submitted for rodents or rabbit damage and no one has lodged a complaint for towing.

KCNC-TV (http://tinyurl.com/awjoyne) reports that there is another way to stop the damage that can cost thousands of dollars to repair.

Mechanics say the wire coating with Fox or coyote urine can steal the rabbits of their appetite. Fox urine can be purchased at many stores.

___

Information from: KCNC-TV, http://www.cbs4denver.com


View the original article here

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Aquarium fights to get disabled still swimming turtle

KOBE, Japan (Reuters)-life looked grim for Yu, a Loggerhead turtle, when washed in a Japanese fishing nets five years ago, its front fins shredded after a brutal encounter with a shark.

Now an aquarium keepers to the Western Japanese city of Kobe are looking for a high-tech solution that will allow the turtle 25-year-old to swim normally after years of work and 27 prosthetic fin models behind them without reaching their goal.

Yu, weight 103 kg (227 kilos) and 82 cm (32 inches) in length, first came to the attention of keepers at the Suma Aqualife Park in Kobe after she rushed there from a southern port on the island of Shikoku in 2008.

"She was in a really bad way. More than half its fins were gone and she was bleeding, his body covered with shark bites, said Naoki Kamezaki, Director of the Park.

After nursing Caretta-an endangered species-back to health, keepers enlisted the help of researchers and a local prosthetics maker to get her swimming again.

Early versions of prosthetic fins caused pain or fell quickly, and on a shoestring, Kamezaki said that sometimes it felt like packing.

"There were times that I wanted to give up and just her Fix as well as possible and throw her back in," told Reuters. "So if luck on her side that she will be fine, if not, she'll get eaten and that is just life. The way of nature, I suppose. "

The latest version-fixed and rubber together with a material used in wetsuits-was presented the 11 February and proclaimed a success, with Yu swimming smoothly around the tank.

But on Friday, a Pinball slipped out just hit the water, forcing even the keepers back to the laboratory.

Although Kamezaki admits that Yu is unlikely to ever live a normal life, turtle still has hopes.

"My dream for her is that one day she can use her prosthetic fins for swimming on the surface, walking around and dig a hole to lay her eggs in," said Kamezaki.

"When the children hatch, well, just feel that would make all the traumas of its useful life.

(Reporting by Paola Villar, writing by Elaine Lies, editing by Paul Casciato)


View the original article here

Cayman Islands woman bites intruder, loses tooth

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — Police in the Cayman Islands say a woman drove out an intruder to bite him. It cost a tooth, though.

Police Chief Inspector Robert Scotland, says the woman was home alone when he awoke to find a man standing on his bed. Scotland, The Associated Press said Friday that the woman bit the intruder when he put his hand over her mouth. Then fled.

He said that the woman was treated at a hospital and that police are still looking for the intruder.

The incident occurred early Thursday in the northwestern part of Grand Cayman.


View the original article here

Knut the polar bear becomes Museum display

Berlin (AP) — adorable in life, attracting admirers even in death: Knut polar bear Hide was mounted on a polyurethane body and is going on display in a Museum in Berlin.

The natural history museum on Friday unveiled the statue made by Taxidermists with bear fur famous Berlin Zoo and claws, with synthetic body and glass eyes.

The display runs through March 15. Knut will be added then the scientific collections of the Museum.

Knut was raised by hand after his mother rejected him. He rose to stardom in 2007 as a cuddly Cub, appearing on the covers of magazines, on film and in the mountains of merchandise. Died in 2011 after suffering from encephalitis.

The Museum dismissed criticism the decision to see Knut, saying it gives everyone a chance to see it.


View the original article here

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Norway plans 12 hours prime-time television a fireplace

OSLO (Reuters)-Norwegian public television plans to broadcast a fireplace burning for 12 hours straight from Friday night, with specialists of firewood by providing color commentary, expert advice and a bit of mentorship.

"We'll talk about very nerdy topics such as burning, slicing and stacking the wood, but we will also have cultural segments with music and poetry," Rune Moeklebust, a producer for the State broadcaster NRK.

"It will be very slow but noble television."

Moeklebust had the idea for the show from the wild success of a book of firewood by Lars Mytting, firewood celebrity bigger than Norway. His book "Hel Ved", which means strong character in English, is a pun because ved also means "firewood".

Mytting, guest on tonight's broadcast, it sold about 130,000 copies of the book last year, a huge number in a country of 5 million people, with its editor claiming that only "fifty shades of grey" has sold more copies during the recent holiday season.

NRK is no stranger to quirky programming.

In 2011, and 134 hours non-stop to a cruise ship sailing up the Norwegian coast to the Arctic, the world record for the longest continuous TV program en route to bagging.

At one point 600,000 people tuned in to watch that program with 3.2 million people, or more than 60 percent of the population, glued to the screen at some point.

And front transmission of an eight-hour train journey from Oslo to Bergen was so popular, NRK had to repeat.

"People in Norway have a spiritual relationship with fire," said Moeklebust. "Fire is the reason that we're here, if there was no firewood, we couldn't live in Norway, would freeze."

How will the chimney in evaluations?

"More people will tune more on a normal Friday night," said Moeklebust.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)


View the original article here

Broadcasters blame zombies hack password easy

(Reuters)-poor password security allowed hackers to send a bogus warning on television that the United States was under attack by zombie, broadcasters, he said, and an expert in technology, said the emergency channel broke into remained vulnerable.

The attacks Monday on a handful of stations prompted the Government to order broadcasters to change passwords for the equipment used by the authorities to immediately push out emergency transmissions through what is known as the emergency alert system, or EAS.

The FCC did not want to comment on the attacks, but urgent advice posted by television stations on Tuesday, the Agency said: "all EAS participants are required to take immediate action".

Instructed them to change passwords on equipment from all manufacturers that emergency forces broadcasts on television networks, interrupting regular programming. It instructed them to make sure that the gear was protected behind firewalls and also inspect systems for ensuring that hackers had no tail "unauthorized alerts" for future transmission.

The attacks came at a time when officials and external security experts are warning that the United States is at risk of a cyber attack that could cause serious injury or even cost lives. President Barack Obama told Congress that some hackers are looking for ways to attack the United States power grid, banks and air traffic control systems.

While the zombie hoax seemed to be rather harmless, the fact that hackers could easily sent an emergency message showed that they are able to wreak havoc with communications more alarming.

"It's not what he said. Is the fact that they got in the system. They could have caused any real damage, "says Karole White, President of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.

White and its equivalent in Montana, Greg MacDonald, said he believed that hackers were able to get because the stations had not changed the default password that they used when they shipped from the manufacturer.

"Zombie" hackers targeted two stations in Michigan and several in California, Montana and New Mexico, said White.

A male voice addressed viewers in a video posted on the Internet of fake warning broadcast by KRTV in Great Falls, Montana, an affiliate CBS: "civilian authorities in your area have reported that the bodies of the dead are rising from the grave and attacking life."

The voice warned "not to approach or catch these bodies as they are extremely dangerous."

STILL VULNERABLE

Larry Estlack, President of the Michigan Emergency Alert System, told Reuters that passwords sometimes not getting changed because EAS uses equipment that are not easy to configure.

"Some people have trouble getting through the setup procedure. Is quite complex, "he said.

But Mike Davis, a hardware security experts with a firm known as IOActive Labs, said that there were other ways to remotely access to systems that allow hackers to skip verification of the password even if they have been modified.

Davis said that he had submitted a report to the u.s. Department of Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or US-CERT, about a month ago that detailed security flaws in EAS equipment that warned make it vulnerable to attack.

"Changing passwords is insufficient to prevent unauthorized remote access. There are still more undisclosed authentication exclusions, "told Reuters via email. "I would recommend disconnecting them from the network until a fix is available.

Davis said he was able to use the search engine Google Inc. to identify some 30 who believed that systems were vulnerable to attack from Wednesday morning.

With US-CERT officials could not be reached.

Bill Robertson, vice President of the privately held electronic electronics Lyndonville Monroe, New York, told Reuters that his company's equipment had been compromised at least some of the attacks after hackers gained access to their default passwords.

Monroe publishes the default password for the equipment manuals that can be consulted on its Web site.

Robertson said he believed that the attackers had been able to access the devices via the Internet because television stations had not properly secured the equipment behind walls of fire, which is what I recommend to Monroe.

"The devices were not really locked down right. They were exposed, "he said.

He said the company is working to reinforce safety on equipment and may update the software so that it forces customers to change their default passwords.

"They were compromised because the door was left open. It was just like saying ' Walk in the door, ' "he said.

Spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency Dan Watson said the breach did not have any impact on the Government's ability to activate the emergency alert system.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Patrick Graham)


View the original article here

Friday, February 15, 2013

Birds grow larger beaks to attract potential mates: study

DEAR ABBY: my daughters are young attractive women, both doing well in their professional careers. "Melanie, who is 27, is married to" Sam, "a very attractive and successful.My daughter 30 years, "Alicia", has been divorced for a year. Her marriage failed two years ago, because she and her husband had an appetite for sex outside their marriage. While I was disturbed about that, I was horrified to learn that Melanie allows her sister occasionally having sex with Sam topic. Melanie is that Sam is less likely to cheat given this situation. ...


View the original article here

Swedish Rookie Plays through the spider's bite in LPGA events

DEAR ABBY: my daughters are young attractive women, both doing well in their professional careers. "Melanie, who is 27, is married to" Sam, "a very attractive and successful.My daughter 30 years, "Alicia", has been divorced for a year. Her marriage failed two years ago, because she and her husband had an appetite for sex outside their marriage. While I was disturbed about that, I was horrified to learn that Melanie allows her sister occasionally having sex with Sam topic. Melanie is that Sam is less likely to cheat given this situation. ...


View the original article here

Captain Cook's pistol fetches $ 227,000 at auction

SYDNEY (Reuters)-a gun owned by British Explorer Captain James Cook, who first claimed Australia for Great Britain almost two and a half century ago, sold on Thursday for a $ 219,600 ($ 227,100), above the maximum set by auctioneers estimate.

The brass gun, a gun Holster Flint continental of the 18th century with a 13-hole barrel made from Dutch gunmaker Godefroi Corbau Le Jeune, had a presale estimate of $ 100,000 to $ 200, 000.

One of the few rare personal effects left by explorer, the gun went to a private buyer in Victoria, Australia, said Cassandra Hilber, Leski auctions.

"There was a lot of interest as well as from New Zealand," he added.

Cook reached the coast of Australia in April 1770, the first European recorded to meet the East coast of the continent, having mapped the coasts of New Zealand. In August, he planted the British flag on possession island in Northern Queensland.

It is not known if Cook was carrying the gun when they first stepped on Australian soil.

Cook made two exploratory expeditions to the Pacific and was killed in Hawaii in 1779.

The gun remained in the family Cook for more than two centuries before being purchased by former Lord Mayor of Melbourne Ron Walker at an auction in Edinburgh in 2003.

(Australian dollars $ 1 = 0.9669)

(Reporting by Thuy Ngo and Elaine Lies, editing by Paul Casciato)


View the original article here

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Hackers warn of zombies on 2 TV shows of mich.

MARQUETTE, Michigan (AP) — No, zombies are not attacking Northern Michigan.

Two local television stations say hackers broke into their emergency alert system with warning Monday, zombie messages. Along with a crawl Strip, an audio message said "dead rise from their graves" and "attacking the life."

Posts by rides on public and WNMU WBUP station. Two Mountain stations also were hit.

WNMU General Manger Eric Smith says police have determined the origin is not local and may be from another country. He was not aware of any arrests and says that equipment changes have been made to prevent future incidents.

The Michigan Association of Broadcasters said its members about changes to avoid hacking. Association President Karole White says it is the first violation of the emergency system that is aware of since its inception in 1940.


View the original article here

That warning ' zombie apocalypse ' in Montana? It was fake

(Reuters)-it is Maya Apocalypse survivor as announced in December, but now fear "Zombie Apocalypse" and its deadly attacks? Do not worry. It was a fake, hacker's work in Montana.

Hackers infiltrated the system of local emergency broadcast station KRTV in Great Falls, Montana, a CBS affiliate, and zombie reporting, the station said Tuesday.

Spectators were warned of a so-called zombie apocalypse and advised not to get caught up with monstrous creatures, the station said.

Station engineers were investigating the incident, which occurred during a broadcast on Monday afternoon, said Jon Saunders, vice President of the station's parent company, Cordillera Communications.

Videos posted on the Internet shows that the transmission interrupted local transmission of Steve Wilkos talk shows.

No images flashed across the screen during the prank. But a male voice told viewers: "the civil authorities in your area have reported that the bodies of the dead are rising from the grave and attacking life." The voice warned "not to approach or catch these bodies as they are extremely dangerous."

Saunders said early reports suggest similar but separate attacks were launched in the last 24 hours against emergency alarm systems for TV stations elsewhere, including Michigan.

"It seems to be more prevalent than we thought," he said.

The hoax has caused several humorous-minded residents in Great Falls to call the authorities to ask if guns were an adequate defense against hordes of zombies.

"We don't have any set calls about it," said Bill Hunter, spokesman for the Police Department in Great Falls.

Local police has not been asked to investigate the hack in Montana station, he said. Hunter said it was not immediately clear why the hackers had been trying to get a rise of a scare of zombies.

"It was a real giggle," he said.

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis, Cynthia Johnston and Leslie Adler)


View the original article here

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Pastor KY wants snakes confiscated in Tenn.

MIDDLESBORO, Kentucky (AP) — a pastor Eastern Kentucky wildlife officials want Tennessee to return five venomous snakes confiscated in Knoxville.

Gregory coots, which is known as Jamie coots, is Pastor at the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus name in Middlesboro. Coots can handle snakes as part of worship services.

Bought three endangered Rattlesnake and two copperheads in Alabama on January 31, said WYMT-TV (http://bit.ly/Z9XKYW). As he was driving through Knoxville, police stopped coots for dark window and I saw the cages containing the snakes. A wildlife officer confiscated them.

General Prosecutor's Office of the district in Knoxville says coots is accused of illegally possessing and transporting wild animals.

Coots was similarly accused in Kentucky in 2008. He said he now has a permission for snakes in Kentucky.


View the original article here

Boy's postcard mailed in 1967 turns in Oklahoma

PAULS VALLEY, Okla. (AP) — may have taken 46 years, but a boy card made home to MOM.

Bert Jacobson sent the postcard to his mother in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, in January 1967, when she was 13 years old. The paper, from the Old Country Store Museum in Hereford, Penn, arrived last Friday.

Jacobson told television station KOTV Tulsa (http://is.gd/5MzAmX) who traveled to the East Coast with his father and cousins to buy concrete trucks and equipment for the family business.

The postcard was sent by Abraham Lincoln stamp 4 cents. The card reads: "MOM, Hi. We had a great time. "

Jacobson's sister, Marilyn Hubbard, says their mother was not surprised that his son has sent a paper — only that it took 46 years to arrive.


View the original article here

Monday, February 11, 2013

Philippine town mourns largest captive crocodile

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — a remote town in the southern Philippines left grieving over the death of the saltwater crocodile the world's largest captive, even though it has been blamed for the deaths of many villagers.

Bunawan, Agusan del Sur City intends to preserve the remnants of the 1 ton crocodile, named Lolong, into a museum to keep tourists coming and stop the community from slipping back into obscurity, the mayor said Monday.

Lolong was pronounced dead Sunday after he was found floating on its back with the stomach swollen in a pond in a park of ecotourism that had begun to draw visitors, revenue and development due to the huge reptile, said Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde.

"The whole city, the whole province, is in mourning," said Alan. "My phones kept ringing because people wanted to say how affected are."

Wildlife experts will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death, he said.

Guinness World Records had proclaimed and salt water crocodile biggest in captivity last year, the giant at 6.17 metres (20 feet 3 inches). The reptile took first place by an Australian crocodile measuring more than 5 metres (17) and weighed about a ton.

Estimated at more than 50 years, the crocodile was named after a government environmental official who died from a heart attack after the trip to Bunawan, Agusan del Sur in the province of Agusan del Sur to help capture the beast.

Although Lolong was blamed for the death of many villagers over the years, villagers Bunawan, Agusan del Sur grew to love the giant reptile that has come to symbolize the rich biodiversity of the swamp where he was captured. The vast complex of swampy forests, shallow lakes, Lily-covered ponds and wetlands is home to many animals, including endangered species like the Philippine hawk eagle.

Various religious groups offered prayers Monday and spiritual leader also planned to perform a funeral, which foresees the tribal slaughter of chickens and pigs to thank the spirits of the forest to hunger and other blessings that the crocodile has brought, said Elordie.

The ceremony will be held at the Park of eco-tourism, where the reptile was an attraction, drawing foreign tourists, scientists and journalists of wildlife in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, a city of 37,000 people about 515 miles (830 kilometers) southeast of Manila.

Crocodile's capture in September 2011 sparked celebrations in the city. Was caught with traps in steel cable during a hunt prompted by the death of a baby in 2009 and the subsequent death of a fisherman. Water buffalos were attacked by crocodiles in the area.

About 100 people led by Alan pulled the crocodile from a torrent using ropes and then hoisted by a crane onto a truck.

Philippine officials had planned to build a road through the Park to accommodate the increasing number of tourists, said Alan.

He said that will be stored so Lolong tourists and villagers can continue to admire it.

"I would like them to see the crocodile who broke a world record and put our town on the map," said Alan.


View the original article here

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Ohio School Cancels prom on the water balloon fight

CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio high school cancelled its prom to punish students for a joke: a massive water balloon fight at lunch.

Cincinnati Enquirer (http://cin.ci/Xszo65) reports that the principal of Withrow High School in Cincinnati says students used social media last month for planning the hoax.
Principal Sharon Johnson said staff discovered and tried to prevent it. Did joke day ads planned, students would have canceled prom alert if they balloon fight. School officials were concerned about security.
But about 150 to 175 students went ahead with it. Johnson says that there was water everywhere and some students were upset and slip and fall.
Johnson says that she had only received a few calls from parents upset.
___
Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com

View the original article here

Stella! Grumpy dog leads to win $ 1 M Idaho lottery

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)-a group of University of Utah workers will split $ 1 million in lottery winnings with a set of keys left in a truck and a little ornery dog named "Star".

Thirteen years after playing the same set of numbers each month in Idaho Lottery, the Group of 33 workers who work on heating and cooling academic buildings struck pay dirt when Steve Hughes left his truck running to keep his dog "Star" hot while he went inside a gas station near Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, on January 6. Utah has no lottery.
When he returned to his truck, his miniature pincher had blocked him putting his paw on the manual keylock. Hughes, 29, planned to buy tickets elsewhere, but instead had his girlfriend buy it there while trying to pick the lock with a slim jim.
He coached the late Star to put his paws on the electronic button on the backseat window, allowing Hughes to arrive by car.
What looked like an annoying delay that day turned out to be fortuitous, when the Group discovered Wednesday evening that had won the second prize in the Powerball Idaho. Announced the great news during a morning meeting Thursday morning at the HVAC shop at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Hughes thought it was a joke — trying the camera filming the hoax.
"It was pretty exciting," said Richard Tison, 50, the supervisor.
About 25 members of the Group made the 5.5-hour trip on a charter bus in Boise, Idaho on Friday to turn in their winning ticket and collect their checks. The rest had to stay behind to make sure the buildings of the University were toasted the cold winter day, Tison said.
It was a raucous ride on bus, with the crew that makes type atmosphere "party bus" as they celebrated their good fortune. After collecting the money, the Group expected climb back on board the bus for the journey home — although some have suggested it might stop at a watering hole in Boise to contemplate their winnings.
Tison and Hughes say will each get about $ 20,000 after taxes, or as Hughes said, "A nice little bonus during the year."
Hughes plans to save half of his share and buy a four-Wheeler. Many of the group plans to buy four wheels or drag cars, he said. Some are going to save or invest.
"I'm going to pay some bills and probably get a boat," said Tison.
Hughes, "dog Star", did not get to go on a Friday "party bus" but the lucky winners previously had made sure she was rewarded.
"He got a couple of big surprises, when I got home," said Hughes. "She got by 18 inch rawhide bones."
The Group began buying tickets in February 2001 with only three people. The pool has grown to 33 people, but the philosophy of use the same numbers is never changed.
Recently, some in the Group suggested changing the numbers — fed up with 13 years of futility. But Tison, one of three original, insisted that they stay the course. Hughes estimated that they each put in $ 200-$ 400 over the years, depending on how long you've been in the group.
Tison said they plan to continue playing the Powerball Idaho, turns making monthly 1.5 hour drive to Millad, Idaho to pick up a ticket.
And Yes, Tison says that you can continue to play the same numbers: 11-16-33-40-41.
"There is no need to change them," said Tison. "It worked once, why wouldn't work again".
___
Associated Press writer John Miller in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Rubber chickens, diapers recommended for holiday travel in China

HAINING, China (Reuters)-a luggage trolley that converts into a seat and a pole with pads that props up the sleepy passengers are only a few intrepid Chinese gadgets have devised to help make their new year's annual House of train travel a little more comfortable.

About 200 million people in China are expected to take trains home for new year's holidays at the weekend in what was described as the largest annual migration in the world.
Some opt for standing-only tickets on trains packed to save on trips that can last for three days.
This year, Chinese microblog were abuzz with gadgets and inventions that could help make travel a little easier exhausting.
One of the most talked-about is the "Hard Seat", a metal pole with attached pads that is intended to shore up a sleepy traveler and ensure that he or she does not fall out of their seats when they nod off. But not everyone is a fan.
"It is a burden to carry," said Li Kang, a migrant worker from Southwest Guizhou province, who tried out. "When I lean on it, my body feels suspended."
Former physics teacher and avid amateur inventor Zhou agreed. Invented the "Grass Roots treasure trip" – a truck with what looks like a broomstick metallica sticking out of it that converts into a seat.
It also has support for Zhou insists that bottles can be filled with powdered sodium percarbonate and water to make oxygen-a breath of fresh air to anyone suffering sweltering train carriage, smoky.
The 67-year-old Zhou has such faith in his gadgets he plans to test himself on a train journey to 31 hours.
"I could have bought a ticket for a sleeper but I really wanted to try this so I can see what doesn't work and improve it," Zhou said at his home in a small town near Shanghai before leaving.
There are a lot of other ideas out there.
A user of Sina Weibo microblog site suggested taking along a rubber chicken squawking do other passengers get out of the way in crowded corridors.
Another recommended adult diapers.
But the most popular accessory remains a simple plastic bucket, which can be turned over and used as a home, or for other purposes.
(Reporting by Jane Lanhee Lee, Elaine is writing; editing by)

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Amish sect Leader of Ohio sentenced to 15 years for attacks

A former NFL cheerleader is shoot the cyber bullies after supporters of a rival soccer team called her "ugly" and "an eyesore" on Facebook. Kaitlyn Collins of Eagle River, Wisconsin, who used to be a cheerleader, Green Bay Packers, posted a video response to YouTube ...

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Guys rewarded for good manners at the Washington restaurant.

SEATTLE (AP) — Laura King, the three children acted normally while enjoy dinner in an Italian restaurant in their hometown in Washington State.

But restaurant staff wine Dream in Poulsbo were so impressed with table manners of his children during their dinner February 1 that thanked his children and gave the family of five a bowl of ice cream.
It wasn't until King got home that she has noticed a rebate of $ 4 "well behaved children" to its receipt to cover the cake. A friend has posted a photo of the receipt on Reddit, and the story took off.
"The server said staff didn't even know there were children at the table," said the King, whose children are 2, 3 and 8 years.
King said, "it was fun to see all the attention he got his story, and he's going to dine at wine Dream again soon.
Wine's dream owner Rob Scott said servers have the discretion to offer a discount to clients, adding that this was not the first time students were well-behaved children. What was different was that one of the staff members spelled out the receipt.
"It was just an act of kindness," said Scott.
Scott said that the restaurant was full the night Laura's family, which can be difficult for families with young children. But she said she was impressed with the sense of family was the interaction with others and that the 2-year-old on a tall Chair seemed to be having a good time.
Rowdy children are a problem for all customers of the restaurant have met at one point or another, said Scott.
"You can tell when a (family) had a rough ride for the restaurant," said Scott. "There tends to be sometimes activity where children get out of the Chair or lie on chairs or get loud, how to get strong, upset other patrons, and they paid to a babysitter".
Scott said that he was asked if he would pay more for customers who have unruly children. That is not something he does, he said.
"Everyone in my generation was raised to behave in restaurants," he said. "Parenting skills have been forgotten in some cases."
King said he has worked in the restaurant industry before and knows that families are not the easiest customers to serve. She said that the restaurant, his children apply to table etiquette used at his dining table.

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Man risks arrest for speeding at 68 mph — on a skateboard

After uploading a video that purports to show him skating in an incredible 68 mph through the center of a skateboarder is potentially facing jail time .
South African skater Decius Lourenco faces charges after officials of the city of Cape Town said that his high skating speed actually triggered a speed camera. The speed limit in town who was skating through Lourenco referred 37 mph.
"All I needed was one of those drivers to panic and divert incoming traffic and you have a large number of deaths, as we have already had on that street, security spokesman Jean-Pierre Smith, told the New York Daily News".If we do not act against him, any other aspiring skateboarders will try and one of them will come to a sticky end.
It is difficult to argue that the stunt was dangerous and reckless, particularly with incoming traffic in the opposite lane. But Ilaria is a professional videographer and Kloof Nek, the way it accelerates downward, was used for professional skateboarding events in the past. In addition, her YouTube videos of stunt ("Spoofing the traffic camera-Longboarding without limits") include disclaimers discourage others from trying to recreate his enterprise, which has already been viewed more than 600,000 since it was released on 26 January.
However, as Reuters, went skateboarding events hosted on Kloof Nek have always taken their seats when all traffic was closed off the road. And local traffic laws prohibit skateboarders on public roads.
For its part, Lourenco, 24, says he doesn't understand where it comes from all the negative attention.
"I was skating down hills from a young age ... often going much faster than that, said in an interview with ioL news."This is the first time I got any attention to it. "

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Police: Mom NY used Kiss to give son drugs in prison

PENN YAN, N.Y. (AP) — Police say an upstate New York woman passed medicines to his son while kissing him when she visited him in prison.

Sheriff's deputies Yates County to tell local media took 54-year-old Penn Yan resident Kimberly Margeson was visiting his son last week when she hid pills of oxycodone and passed them from his mouth to his and giving him a kiss.
The police did not say how the drugs were discovered.
Margeson pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of criminal sale of a controlled substance and promoting prison contraband. She is free after posting bail.
Authorities say 30-year-old son also was charged with promoting prison contraband. He remains in jail on a charge of felony weapon possession, and could not be contacted a lawyer for him.

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Saturday, February 9, 2013

Donna disfigures the famous Louvre painting with black pen

A Dallas woman has sued a national fitness company, claiming two employees sexually molested her during personal training sessions. Jamie Johnson has filed a lawsuit against Fitness International LLC, which does business under the name of LA Fitness, after the company denied his requests for a full ...

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Friday, February 8, 2013

Cops: Pocket dial, battery low led to thief Ohio

SIDNEY, Ohio (AP) — authorities in Ohio say that same arrested after her cellphone turned informant has a prowler Pocket-dialing. Twice.

Investigators say that an emergency operator traced accidentally called 911 Tuesday evening in a house in Sidney, about 60 miles northwest of Columbus.
Sheriff's deputies in Shelby County dispatched to check the House found a forced window. They arrested Douglas Wolaver, of Piqua, inside.
The Sheriff's Office says that Wolaver has been found in a bathroom after the battery of his mobile phone led members of his hideout.
Wolaver is accused of breaking and entering. A phone listing for him was disconnected.

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Back in the USSR? Soviet key document is missing

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — The powerful Soviet Union may still exist after all, at least on paper.

Former Belarusian leader Stanislav Shushkevich says a historical document of 1991 that proclaimed the death of the Soviet Union is missing from the archives.
Shushkevich discovered that the document had gone while working on his memoirs. He said he believes that has been stolen, possibly by a former Belarusian official — probably with the intention to sell to a collector.
"It's hard to believe that the disappearance of a document at a level, but this is a fact," Shushkevich told the Associated Press.
Officials with the Government of Belarus and Russia-dominated Alliance of ex-Soviet Nations confirmed late Wednesday that only have copies.
"We don't know where the original is," said Vasily Ostreiko, head of the archive Department of the Commonwealth of independent States, which has its headquarters in Minsk, the Belarusian capital. "We have a copy of that document. Is certified in accordance with international standards, but it's still a copy. "
Disappearance of the document reflects the chaos that surrounded the 1991 demise of the Soviet Union, a superpower of 300 million people sprawled over nearly a dozen spindles and included what is now in 15 countries.
On December 8, 1991, Shushkevich has hosted Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk to secret talks at a Government hunting lodge near Viskuli in Belovezha forest. The trio signed an agreement stating that "the USSR ceased to exist as a subject of international law and the geopolitical reality", defeating the attempts of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to hold together the Soviet Union.
The agreement also announced the creation of the Commonwealth of independent States, a loose alliance joined by nine other Soviet republics that month.
Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991, the Soviet Communist empire that ruled with an iron fist for nearly 70 years has ceased to exist.

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German dumpster divers get connected to wage war on food waste

Berlin (Reuters)-just after midnight behind a supermarket in Berlin, two young men with flashlights tied to their hats wool scour trash cans for food that is still edible, load the bicycles with bread, vegetables and chocolate Santas and cycle out into the darkness.

Not poverty that inspired an increasing number of young Germans like 21-year-old student Benjamin Schmitt to forage for food in the garbage, but anger over the loss and waste that estimates U.N. food and Agriculture Organization to one-third of all the food produced worldwide each year is estimated at about $ 1 trillion.
In ecologically conscious Germany, attentive to prices, "foodsharing" is the latest fashion, using the Internet to share food salvaged from dumpsters supermarket while it is still in good condition.
"Dumpster diving" for the cast-off company is a rapidly growing phenomenon among sub-cultures in Europe and the United States and "freegans"-vegans who do not believe in paying for the food-I've been long sifting through dumpsters supermarket.
But the "foodsharing" movement that has sprung up in cities like Cologne and Berlin brings efficiency and technical expertise to the table in ways that make it unique.
More than 8,200 people across Germany have registered to share food on the www.foodsharing.de site in as little as seven weeks of existence, said Organiser Berlin Raphael Fellmer.
The Web-site that has a look appropriately-recycled paper-assists people where there are "baskets" and what is in them: organic sausages in Cologne or spaghetti and Darjeeling tea in Chemnitz. Members may access or use a Smartphone app to see the nearby address of baskets or a time and place. They then can rate the transaction as normal online retailers.
For people who can't afford Internet, Fellmer established the first of what he hopes will be many "hot spots" where food can be collected anonymously: a refrigerator in a covered market Kreuzberg in Berlin, where anyone can help themselves to food.
"I've come to a few rolls of bread, just a couple," said Frank, a 47-year-old unemployed, which was alerted to the location of a treasure trove of fresh bread on the site and calls home by Fellmer.
Opening his backpack, he helped himself out of a bag of rolls that had been sold at a bakery close to the 19 of the previous evening.
TASTE OF WASTE
Throw away food is a rich country but the problem of a poor country.
Camellia Bucatariu, a political expert on food waste at the FAO in Rome, said that North American and European consumers reject 95-115 kg of food per capita annually, compared to only 6-11 kg in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. As economies develop, grow the level of food waste, said Bucatariu, who is Romanian.
The topic of foodsharers tons of wasted food in Germany could feed people in poor countries is not as simplistic as it sounds: less waste means less drain on resources in producing countries and less upward pressure on prices, he said.
"It is not only wasting an Apple, but wasting the resources embedded in that apple that can be produced outside of Europe," Bucatariu told Reuters. In addition to economic damages, there is the cost to the environment of using energy to grow food that ends up in a landfill, emitting greenhouse gases like methane.
FAO is studying how to change this behavior and if you require changes to legislation on retailers "brands" differentiate "better" from "using"-the latter date when food can start to become a biological hazard.
Fellmer is on a three-year-old "money shot": he does not earn or spend a dollar and he, his wife and the child eats only food that was rescued from the trash.
A rangy 29-year-old man in a baggy blue jumper with spiky blond hair and a spiky beard, is already something of a media phenomenon. On a recent visit, a documentary film crew and a reporter from a local newspaper were crowded in his Studio.
He plonks down on the table a package of pepernoten for Christmas-from a batch of hundreds caught off the nearby trash-bearing a date of "use" that is still a month away. They taste fine, as do some chocolate Santas and gold wrapped.
The dates of "use" exasperate the foodsharers, many of whom were first inspired by the 2011 movie "waste" from their taste guru Valentin Thurm.
Waste documents ranging from farmers discarding the tomatoes that are not red enough for bakeries burns the excess bread that they did hold the shelves trying full until closing time.
Fellmer Schmitt's friend was born in a family very vegetarian-conscious ". Her mother is a food chemist who advised him on hygienic ways to eat and share food from plastic bags that admits sometimes are "sentimental" under your fingers in the dark.
As he lives not Fellmer in East Berlin, with its history of squats and communes, but in a leafy Western suburb of Dahlem, where he dives dumpster under the nose of the richest residents of the German capital.
Foodsharing appeals to hipster culture «» of Berlin with its tradition of anti-establishment protest, Schmitt said.
German crowdsourcing techniques could be "best practices" for reducing waste in other countries, said FAO Bucatariu.
"Solutions can vary according to culture, context and what access to food is there," he said. "But each of us can do something."
(Additional reporting by Fabrizio Bensch; Editing by Gareth Jones and Sonya Hepinstall)

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Order! Greek lawmakers fumes at fellow smokers

Athens, Greece (AP) — Greek lawmakers are fuming over colleagues who openly violate anti-smoking laws in the country in a building lot where statutes were passed.

A group of 88 representatives wrote to the speaker of Parliament Thursday, urging action against what they call a "pathetic and irritating" State of affairs.

Greece has one of the highest smoking rates in the European Union. Introduced strict legislation in 2010 to ban smoking in indoor public places. Violators fines of € 50-€ 500 ($ 68-$ 680).

It was the anti-smoking law passed third in recent years, but ran into any substantial success: people still light freely in bars, cafes, restaurants — and Parliament.

The lawmakers wrote that, in addition to editing rooms, sometimes there is "not a single square meter" in Parliament where the law is not broken.


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Russian alcohol Crackdown topples monument to vodka

Moscow (Reuters)-a Russian monument for a bottle of vodka has been upended over fears that it could be seen as an illegal announcement for the favourite drink of the country.

The three-metre metal sculpture had become a local landmark in the Ural city of Glazov, 1,000 km (600 miles) East of Moscow. But residents woke one morning last week to find that had disappeared, leaving only an empty.
Fall of the bottle reflects a new spirit, sober of age in Russia under President Vladimir Putin, a judo black belt who rides, flies and dives for the cameras but is rarely seen raising a glass-unless in Brindisi a deal of billions of dollars of oil.
Putin signed a ban on all alcohol advertising in July last year, while other laws have banned the sale of alcohol from kiosks or after 23 Street at night.
Initial reports suggest that local authorities were behind the disappearance of the Memorial, built 13 years ago to celebrate the centenary of local spirits factory Glazovskiy.
But factory boss later told local media that they had decided to remove the monument from public view on fears that it might fall foul of strict advertising laws again.
"The monument of the bottle ... could be considered as an advertisement for our products. For this reason, a decision was taken to remove it, "Dmitry Pozdeev, head of the Legal Department of the factory, said local media. The sculpture was moved to the factory.
Russian Media suggested anti-drinking activists may have more work to do in the region. Stressed another sculpture of meatballs-a popular Russian drink-snack is still standing in the regional city of Izhevsk.
(Reported by Sonia Elks; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Oliver Holmes)

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Hong Kong King snake a dying breed

Hong Kong (Reuters)-when a King cobra lunges to Chau Ka-ling as the door to his wooden cage falls opened in his busy restaurant in Hong Kong, she just Laughs, then she pulls gently into his arms.

To Chau is a "Snake King," one of the scores of Hong Kong who have tamed through generations snakes to make soup out of them, traditional cuisine is believed to be good for health.

Yet the folks behind providing fresh snakes for the salty meal thought to accelerate blood flow in the body and maintain strong during the cold winter months can be ordered, with young people increasingly reluctant to take on a job that they see as tough and dirty.

"He's my boss, he supports my life," said Chau serpens has cradled a Shia Wong Hip, a popular shop that serves more than 1,000 bowls of hot soup snake on winter days busier.

Trained by his father in childhood to handle snakes, Chau, now in its first 50 years, assumed the business that he founded, serving a small bowl of soup to 35 Hong Kong dollars (2.8 pounds).

From boiling the essence out of the snake, chicken and pork bones, spicing with a variety of ingredients that include five types of snake meat, traditional southern Chinese snack can take more than six hours to make.

Still, as the cold deepens in the weeks leading up to Chinese new year and the year of the snake ushers in the 10 February, Hong Kong locals shaking inside small roadside shops like hers.

The thick soup is spiced with hints of Lemongrass, while the snake itself tasted like chicken but it's harder.

"Snake soup can help you stay healthy, and when the climate is cold helps keep you from getting the flu, said Stephen Lau reviews.

Soup stalls remain popular throughout the former British colony, retail stores are reduced to few viscous, such as the 110-year-old she Wong Lam.

Inside, more than 100 snakes lie quietly in wooden cabinets labeled "venomous snakes" as shots of an abacus echo through the dimly lit store.

Mak Tai-kong, 84, owner of the shop worked there for 64 years. He sells an average of 100 snakes a week to restaurants and shops of snake soup that might otherwise buy pre-butchered meat, but I prefer the freshness that he offers.

Over the decades, has trained about 20 people to become snake-handlers and said she has some real advice and tried to help the people to put aside their fear of poisonous creatures, including starting on snakes which tusks have been pulled, and so they are no longer dangerous.

"Then, after he has bitten a few times by a snake that is no longer toxic, he thinks, ' Oh, this is not painful, this is nothing, this is like being bitten by an Ant," Mak said.

"Then he will no longer be scared, and as he works the more he will get more used to it."

But new blood is hard to find. The youngest employee of the shop now has been there more than 30 years.

"There will be many. Firstly, is poor and dirty, and the smell of snakes, "Mak said. "Secondly, salaries are high. So many people do not enter the camp. "

Mak feels that his work is less about making money and more on providing a service to society of keeping alive a tradition.

Yet even fellow "Snake King" Chau says has no trained successors and indeed refused to do so.

"I killed snakes for so many years, but didn't really want to. Because there are fewer snakes now, "he said. "But I can not change a career. There is nothing else I can do. "

(Reporting by Wu of Venus; Editing by Elaine Lies and Paul Casciato)


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Thursday, February 7, 2013

Facebook video flip the parking ticket in Israel

Jerusalem (AP)-an Israeli woman has turned to Facebook to beat a parking ticket — and expose a crew of street in Tel Aviv.

Hila Ben Baruch says he has parked his car legally near his Tel Aviv home only to find that it's gone and replaced with a handicapped parking sign. Municipality of she slapped with more than $ 300 fine. Making matters worse, says that a city representative accused of lying when he called to complain.
Determined to prove his innocence, he obtained footage from a security camera showing municipal workers disabled symbol painted under his car, then via the towing vehicle.
She told Channel 2 that she was "distraught". The video, put it on Facebook, went viral.
The municipality of Tel Aviv has apologized and refunded fines.

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