Clipmarks | DMCourt's clips

Last tenant 'found decapitated'

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:17:47 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt
clipper's remarks: What do they think, he committed suicide? It was a horrible accident? He just happened to fall on a running chainsaw at just the right angle to lop his head neatly off?

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A man who was found with his head severed by a chainsaw was fighting to stay in a block of 70 flats in Hampshire cleared for redevelopment.

His body was found by police on 5 July, who said his death was not suspicious. Post-mortem tests showed he died of a "complete transection of the neck".

A spokesman for the coroner said: "As far as we know nobody else was involved.

"There's nothing suspicious about the death. It was in his flat on Bodmin Road.

A Hampshire Constabulary spokeswoman confirmed his death was not suspicious.

"We were called to the address on Bodmin Road on 5 July at approximately 4.20pm to a non-suspicious death," she said.

Tags: murder, crime

Daily pill that halts Alzheimer's

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:25:53 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt
clipper's remarks: Let's hope this works even better than they're hoping!

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

A new drug halts the devastating progress of Alzheimer’s disease, say British scientists.

A daily capsule of rember, as the drug is known, stops Alzheimer’s disease progressing by as much as 81 per cent, according to trial results.

Eventually the drug could be used to stop the disease in its early stages before symptoms have even appeared, it is hoped.

The drug works by dissolving the tangle of tau fibres which releases waste products that kill nerve cells, and by preventing the fibres from becoming tangled.

The trial was a Phase 2 study, which checks the safety and efficacy of the drug, but if a large-scale Phase 3 trial due next year repeats the findings, the drug could be available for prescribing

by 2012.

People may have these tangles in their 50s, long before symptoms develop, and the researchers hope the drug could be used as a preventive treatment.

It could be on the market by 2012.’

Tags: alzheimer's, medicine, pill, breakthrough

Doing Something Constructive About Oil Prices

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:44:10 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt

Clip Source: www.powerlineblog.com

Republican whip Roy Blunt put together this chart showing the practical effects of Democratic vs. Republican policies on the price of gasoline at the pump; click to enlarge:

Methodology: Retail gasoline prices are the result of literally hundreds of factors including crude oil supply, global demand, refinery capacity, regulation, taxes, weather, the value of the dollar, etc. Therefore it is impossible to say with certainty what one individual action will do to the overall price. However, based on what we know about the impact of crude oil supply and prices it is possible to develop some potential ranges of impact on gasoline prices for certain policy changes.

bringing ANWR online (at least one million barrels of oil a day) could impact gasoline prices by between 70 cents and $1.60.

Tags: gas, oil

Parents Fight Over Which Gang Toddler Should Join

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:39:45 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt
clipper's remarks: Everyone knows how bad it is for the child when parents don't present a united front. Whichever gang this toddler joins, he's sure to alienate himself from one of his parents. Very psychologically devastating.

Clip Source: www.thedenverchannel.com

A couple fighting about which gang their 4-year-old toddler should join caused a public disturbance that resulted in the father's arrest, Commerce City police said Thursday.

On Saturday, Joseph Manzanares stormed into the Hollywood Video store where his girlfriend worked, threatened to kill her and knocked over several video displays and even a computer, Commerce City police Sgt. Joe Sandoval said.

After he ran out of the store, police were called and the 19-year-old was arrested at his home.

His girlfriend told police that they had been arguing about the upbringing of their son and which gang he should belong to. The teen mother, who is black, is a member of the Crips. Manzanares is Hispanic and belongs to the Westside Ballers gang, the woman said.

"They have different ideas on how the baby should be raised. Basically, she said they cannot agree on which gang the baby would 'claim,'" Sandoval said.

Tags: gangs, parenting

Novelists Strike Fails To Affect Nation Whatsoever

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:42:04 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt
clipper's remarks: I tell ya, novelists get no respect, no respect at all.

Clip Source: www.theonion.com

LOS ANGELES—The Novelists Guild of America strike, now entering its fourth month, has had no impact on the nation at all, sources reported Tuesday.

"There's a novelists strike?" Ames, IA consumer Carl Hailes said. "That's terrible. When is it scheduled to begin?"

The strike kicked off last fall when the NGA announced it had hit a roadblock in negotiations with the Alliance of Printed Fiction and Literature Producers, failing to resolve certain key issues concerning online distribution, digital media rights, and readers just not getting what writers were trying to do with a number of important allegorical devices.

So far, sources say, no one has attempted to cross the picket lines, most of which are located in private homes. However, unconfirmed reports indicate that at least one novelist may be breaking the strike by writing under the pseudonym "Richard Bachman."

Tags: writers, novelists, humor, strike

Sweden to study belching cows

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:43:28 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt
clipper's remarks: I'd hate to be the scientist in charge of burping the cows who are having trouble getting up a gas bubble!

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A Swedish university has received 3.8 million kronor ($590,000) in research funds to measure the greenhouse gases released when cows belch.

About 20 cows will participate in the project run by the Swedish University for Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, about 40 miles north of Stockholm, officials said Monday.

Cattle release methane, a greenhouse gas believed to contribute to global warming, when they digest their food. Researchers believe the level of methane released depends on the type of food the eat.

Project leader Jan Bertilsson said that the cows involved in the study will have different diets and wear a collar device measuring the methane level in the air around them.

The research will be funded by a grant from the government's Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning.

Tags: cows, burping, scientific study

Author Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:35:24 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt
clipper's remarks: I've enjoyed his Discworld books, Good Omens, and others. I hope with medication and treatment he can hold off the worst of this disease for the longest time possible.

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

LONDON — Best-selling fantasy author Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with a rare form of early onset Alzheimer's, he said in a message posted to his illustrator's website.

In a brief note to fans entitled An Embuggerance, Pratchett, 59, said he was taking the news "fairly philosophically" and "possibly with a mild optimism."

Pratchett said he would continue completing Nation and that he had already begun working on Unseen Academicals— another writing project.

"Frankly, I would prefer it if people kept things cheerful, because I think there's time for at least a few more books yet :o)" he wrote in his message. "I know it's a very human thing to say 'Is there anything I can do,' but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry."

Tags: terry pratchett, alzheimer's, writing, writers

Were 'cursed' rams the first biological weapons?

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 21:47:36 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt
clipper's remarks: RMD (Rams of Mass Destruction)

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Ancient written texts from the Middle East may reveal that the use of biological weapons dates back more than 3300 years, according to a new review.

The historical documents hint that the Hittites – whose empire stretched from modern-day Turkey to northern Syria – sent diseased rams to their enemies to weaken them with tularemia, a devastating bacterial infection that remains a potential bioterror threat even today, says the review.

Experts caution that more evidence is needed to firmly establish that the Hittites intended to spread disease using the animals. But they add that if this proves true, it might represent the earliest known use of biological warfare.

Tags: hittities, tularemia, rams, biological warfare

Artists Create CD to Thank Troops

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:41:28 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt

Clip Source: www.americasupportsyou.mil

Just in time for the holidays, 13 major recording artists have created a musical “Thank You” for the troops.

“CD for the Troops” will be available for anyone with a valid military identification card to download at no cost from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service Web site, www.aafes.com, beginning tomorrow.

America Supports You is a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel serving at home and abroad.

Getting this project, which combined the music of Billy Joel, Brooks & Dunn, the Goo Goo Dolls, Jewel, Josh Groban, Los Lonely Boys, Melissa Ethridge, the Neville Brothers, Sarah McLachlan, the Lt. Dan Band, Montgomery Gentry, The Fray, and Five For Fighting, to troops’ ears took true teamwork. John Ondrasik, the singer-songwriter who performs under the stage name “Five For Fighting,” was intimately involved with making sure that happened.

Tags: soldiers, music, military, five for fighting, john ondrasik

The boy who refused to die

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 23:23:23 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt
clipper's remarks: And at seven months, they're healthy and thriving.

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

They say twins share a strong bond - but the one between Gabriel and Ieuan Jones was unbreakable.

When doctors found that Gabriel was weaker than his brother, with an enlarged heart,and believed he was going to die in the womb, his mother Rebecca Jones had to make a heartbreaking decision.

Doctors told her his death could cause his twin brother to die too before they were born, and that it would be better to end Gabriel's suffering sooner rather than later.

Mrs Jones decided to let doctors operate to terminate Gabriel's life.

Firstly they tried to sever his umbilical cord to cut off his blood supply, but the cord was too strong.

They then cut Mrs Jones's placenta in half so that when Gabriel died, it would not affect his twin brother.

Although he weighed less than a pound, he put up such a fight for survival that doctors called him Rocky.

Astonishingly, he managed to carry on living in his mother's womb for another five weeks - until the babies were delivered by caesarean section.

Tags: birth, twins, life

Barbie Teaches Credit Cards 101: "You Never Run Out Of Money!"

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 04:20:32 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt

Clip Source: consumerist.com

Fashion Fever Shopping Boutique, the correctly named Barbie toy, features a built-in credit card swiper and a life-size credit card for young children to use when buying outfits for their dolls. According to the Amazon website, "Once the balance hits zero, it will reset so you can continue to shop."

We think Mattel should introduce the "Dang, I Grew Up" Barbie playset, where Barbie spends her entire paycheck on Rent-a-Center furniture while trying to make the minimum payments on her dozen or so 30% interest rate cards. But then again, since this is Barbie, once her credit score hit 300 or so the playset would probably just bump it back up to 800. Responsibility is so for nerds and foster children.

Tags: barbie, credit, credit cards

George W. Bush, Globalist

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 06:21:48 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt

Clip Source: www.townhall.com

President Bush

has signed on to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

which transfers jurisdiction over the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans and all the oil and mineral resources they contain, to an International Seabed Authority. This second United Nations would be ceded eternal hegemony over two-thirds of the Earth. It is the greatest U.N. power grab in history and, thanks to George Bush, is about to succeed.

the sea treaty grants us no rights we do not already have in international law and tradition -- it only codifies them. It siphons off national rights, national sovereignty and national wealth, however, and empowers global bureaucrats and Third World kleptocrats whose common trait is jealousy of and hostility toward the United States.

Under LOST, if the United States wishes to mine the ocean or scoop up minerals from its floor, we would have to pay a fee and get permission from the Authority

giving

the United Nations

the power to tax nations.

Tags: law of the sea treaty, united nations

Parallel universe proof boosts time travel hopes

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 04:18:01 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Parallel universes really do exist, according to a mathematical discovery by Oxford scientists that sweeps away one of the key objections to the mind boggling and controversial idea.

The work has wider implications since the idea of parallel universes sidesteps one of the key problems with time travel. Every since it was given serious lab cred in 1949 by the great logician Kurt Godel, many eminent physicists have argued against time travel because it undermines ideas of cause and effect to create paradoxes: a time traveller could go back to kill his grandfather so that he is never born in the first place.

The new work bolsters his claim that quantum theory does not forbid time travel. "It does sidestep it. You go into another universe," he said yesterday, though he admits that there is still a way to go to find schemes to manipulate space and time in a way that makes time hops possible.

Tags: time travel, parallel universes, quantum theory, qua

British couple's 22-year motel stop

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 12:34:08 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

LONDON (AFP) - A British couple have shacked up in a budget roadside motel for more than 20 years because they love never having to do the laundry or cooking, they said Tuesday.

David Davidson, 79, and his wife, Jean, 70, first tried out a Travelodge hotel while visiting a sick aunt in 1985 -- and were instantly hooked.

"We get great rates because we book well in advance and we even have our own personal housekeeper. All our bed linen is laundered, too. It doesn't get much better than that, does it?" said former Royal Navy sailor David Davidson.

The couple have spent around 100,000 pounds (200,000 dollars, 150,000 euros) renting rooms which cost them as little as 15 pounds (30 dollars, 22 euros) a night.

"We do have to be a bit choosy about what we keep in our room as it can fill up easily."

His wife added: "We don't get hit with huge heating bills over the winter and its safer than a lot of places these days."

Tags: motel, room service

State faults teachers of English learners

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 00:39:34 GMT

clipped by: DMCourt

Clip Source: www.azcentral.com

Hundreds of students in Arizona are trying to learn English from teachers who don't know the language, state officials say.

The kids are taught by teachers who don't know English grammar and can't pronounce English words correctly. Last year, for example, a Mesa teacher stood in front of a class of language learners and announced, "Sometimes, you are not gonna know some." A teacher in Phoenix's Creighton Elementary District asked her kids, "If you have problems, to who are you going to ask?" A Casa Grande Elementary District teacher asked her kids to "read me first how it was before."

Last year, officials visited 32 districts and found similar problems at nine. Some teachers' English was so poor that even state officials strained to understand them. The state also found that students learning English at all ages were being taught by teachers who did not have appropriate training or materials. At a dozen districts, evaluators found teachers who ignored state law and taught in Spanish.

Tags: english, teacher, grammar, school, arizona