Don't send your toddler to Arkansas

Via CNN - Misplaced 'not' in Arkansas law allows babies to marry

An error in a new law that allows Arkansans of any age -- even toddlers -- to marry with parental consent must be fixed by lawmakers, not an independent commission authorized to correct typos, a judge ruled Wednesday.

The law, which took effect July 31, was intended to establish 18 as the minimum age to marry, while also allowing pregnant minors to marry with parental consent.

An extraneous "not" in the bill, however, allows anyone who is not pregnant to marry at any age if the parents allow it.

I just couldn't resist clicking on that headline. As it turns out, the law could stand until 2009. So if you just happen to have a toddler you want to marry-off, now's your chance.

Ancient chewing gum?

I noticed this article when I finished reading the story about Leona Helmsley. When you see a headline like this you just have to click on it: Student dig unearths ancient gum

A 5,000-year-old piece of chewing gum has been discovered by an archaeology student from the University of Derby.

Sarah Pickin, 23, found the lump of birch bark tar while on a dig in western Finland.

Neolithic people used the material as an antiseptic to treat gum infections, as well as a glue for repairing pots.

What more is there to say about that, really.

Amazing "Man Bites Dog" Story

Via CNN - Man bites dog to rescue puppy

A Chinese man bit to death a fierce dog that was savaging his beloved puppy.

Awakened by the puppy's yelps, a villager named Geng first tried to chase the dog away by hurling watermelons at it, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The farmer then threw himself on the dog, clamping his teeth around its neck and eventually killing it.

The puppy lived and the man was injured.

Something Missing?

Is it just me, or is there something missing from this article in the Washington Post (Eagles' Comeback on Brink of Being Official)? Oh, I don't know, like the article itself! I assume they will fix it eventually, or who knows, maybe the title was enough. Here is a screen capture of what the page looked like when I viewed it.

Amazing

Via CNN - For China the stowaway cat, nine lives were enough

China the cat had chewed through one of the boxes before it left Shanghai, China, on April 3 and spent at least 35 days on a ship inside the container filled with motorcycle gear.

[. . .]

"Usually, we say that animals can only survive a few weeks without food and only a few days without water," said Michelle Misavage, a veterinarian in Raleigh, North Carolina. "The theory is that cats have such good kidneys, their bodies adjust to the lack of water, and somehow they received small amounts of moisture from condensation."

That is truly amazing. And I suppose that means that I can stop feeling guilty if I ignore my cats when they meow at me wanting to be fed twenty times a day.

Land for sale. . .on the Moon!

BBC News - Making a mint out of the Moon

From his office in Nevada, entrepreneur Dennis Hope has spawned a multi-million-dollar property business selling plots of lunar real estate at $20 (£10) an acre.

Mr Hope exploited a loophole in the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty and he has been claiming ownership of the Earth's Moon - and seven planets and their moons - for more than 20 years.

[. . .]

Hope says he has so far sold more than 400 million acres (1.6m sq km), leaving a further eight billion acres still up for grabs.

Buyers include Hollywood stars, large corporations - including the Hilton and Marriot hotel chains - and even former US presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. George W Bush is also said to be a stake holder.

My guess is that this enterprise is similar to buying and naming a star and really amounts to nothing but a novelty for the purchaser. However, the story actually continues on to something much more important:

Data collected from the Apollo Moon landings have indicated that large deposits of an extremely rare gas called helium 3 are trapped in the lunar soil.

Scientists believe that this helium 3 could be used to create a new source of almost inexhaustible, clean, pollution-free energy on Earth.

One of them is Dr Harrison Schmitt, a member of the 1972 Apollo 17 mission and the only trained geologist ever to walk on the Moon.

"A metric ton of helium 3 would supply about one-sixth of the energy needs today of the British Isles," he claims.

Plans are already afoot in the US and Russia to strip-mine lunar helium 3 and transport it the 240,000 miles (385,000km) back to Earth.

The Moon, claims Prof Jerry Kulcinski of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, could become the Persian Gulf of the 21st Century.

I'm not sure what to think about this. On the one hand, alternatives fuels are a good thing. On the other hand, strip mining the moon doesn't sound like such a wise idea.

Lost and Found

CNN - Lost dog found four years later, 1,100 miles from home

A Boston terrier named Mickey who disappeared four years ago from his suburban Kansas City backyard was found in Montana and reunited with his owners this week.

Cher Jarosz and her daughter Kari Mitchell thought they had lost Mickey forever -- until they received a call from an animal shelter last week 1,100 miles away in Billings, Montana.

A microchip on Mickey helped the Billings Animal Shelter return him.

That makes for a nice story and all, but I thought the whole idea of those chips was to make it easier for them to find the dog quickly if it got lost. I don't think of 4 years and a quick turn around time. At least they got him back, but still.

Was Houdini Murdered?

No, it's not an upcoming episode of CSI, it's a read life conspiracy theory running its course. MSNBC has the story (from the AP) - One final trick for Houdini: Exhumation

For all of his death-defying stunts, Harry Houdini could not escape the Grim Reaper: the unparalleled performer, age 52, died on Halloween 1926, taking with him many of his trade secrets. The rumors that he was murdered, however, soon took on a life of their own.

Eighty-one years later, Houdini's great-nephew wants to exhume the escape artist's body to determine if he was poisoned by enemies for debunking their bogus claims of contact with the dead. A team of top-level forensic investigators would conduct new tests once Houdini's body was disinterred, the legendary star's relative told The Associated Press.

All of the new focus appears to stem from a new biography of Houdini's life that suggests he was murdered. I've always heard the story of how he was sucker-punched in the gut, but I've actually never heard of the murder conspiracy theory before.

I can see that an exhumation could possibly show evidence of poisoning, but I feel like any examination of the appendix would be impossible at this point. Eighty-plus years is a long time to spend in the ground. I can't imagine there is much left in way of internal organs. But then again what do I know.

The Naked Truth?

BBC News - Israel recalls 'naked ambassador'

Israel is replacing its ambassador in El Salvador after the envoy was found outside the embassy, drunk, wearing only bondage gear, officials said.

[. . .]

Haaretz website reports that police found Mr Refael in the Israeli embassy compound two weeks ago.

He was inebriated, his hands were tied and he was gagged with a rubber ball in his mouth.

In spite of his drunken state, the naked figure was reportedly able to identify himself by his full name and job title.

I have to agree that this sort of behavior does call into question the appointment process for these positions.

There are no words

CNN.com - Formerly half-ton man can leave house at last

A man who once weighed well over half a ton left his house for the first time in five years Wednesday -- wheeled outside on his bed to greet neighbors and see a mariachi band.

[. . .]

Though still unable to leave his bed, Uribe has lost 395 pounds since he began a high-protein diet a year ago. He now weighs about 840 pounds.

I just can't imagine how it is possible for a human being to consume enough food to weigh that much. Even if he has some sort of medical problem to cause the weight gain (which the article does not necessarily suggest) over a half a ton is incomprehensible and really inexcusable in my book. It is good to hear that he is loosing the weight, but still. . .

Oddest headline of the Day

CNN - Woman allegedly advised by geese not guilty in tot death

A 53-year-old woman who claimed she received spiritual messages from geese before allegedly stabbing her toddler granddaughter to death was found not guilty by reason of insanity Friday.

This is just a horribly sad story. It seems to me that the parents of this child should be found guilty of something for leaving the child alone with a person that they knew had a psychiatric disorder. Reckless endangerment or something.

May he rest in peace, soon

Via CNN News - James Brown's burial expected in next few days

The six adult children of singer James Brown have agreed with his partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, on where the entertainer will be buried, an attorney for the woman said Tuesday.

Robert Rosen said the resting place is being kept confidential at the request of Brown's children. He said the burial may take place in the "next few days."

Brown died Christmas Day at age 73.

That was almost exactly 2 months ago! That just seems so odd. I guess one can't be buried until the burial site is chosen, but to take two whole months to decide seems excessive.

And this struck me as odd too:

He said he checked on Brown on Tuesday, opening the gold casket to view the body.

"I do that constantly," Reid said. "That's the only way I can actually check him ... go in, open the casket and close it. And he's fine."

Okay, one, a gold casket? But then again it is James Brown. And two, what does he mean "he's fine"? Yep, he's still dead. What does he expect other than that? Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I want to know. . .

It's almost like that e-bay commercial

Okay, not really.

CNN - Lost ring comes full circle 20 years later

A college ring lost more than 20 years ago by a former undercover officer for the CIA has been found in an underwater cave off the coast of Africa.

[. . .]

Lopez, a 1976 Notre Dame College graduate and former CIA undercover officer, was stationed at Port Louis, Mauritius, from 1983 to 1985. During a dive, the ring slipped from her finger.

Ruic sent Thiesen's address to Lopez. She has exchanged e-mails with Thiesen, she said Monday, and they're arranging for him to mail it.

Quite an amazing story, especially considering that the ring did not have a name on it. It's actually surprising to me that the one who found it actually made an effort to find the owner.

Miraculous

BBC News - Miami baby sets premature record

Amillia Taylor is believed to be the first baby ever known to have survived after a gestation period of less than 23 weeks.

She weighed a mere 284 grams (10 ounces) at birth on 24 October.

Doctors generally consider that babies weighing less than 400g at birth are not viable.

Miraculous is the only word to describe the survival of this child. I'm sure she still has a long battle ahead of her. A friend of mine was just telling me last week that her niece's premature baby was coming from the hospital and she was born at about 25 or 27 weeks, I forget which. I though that was amazing. Modern medicine has come a long way.

Morphine, for a cough?

BBC News - Tests show morphine eases coughs

The patients responded quickly to the morphine treatment, which started at 5mg twice daily.

This benefit peaked after five days of treatment and continued through the remaining four weeks of the trial.

All of the patients had suffered from their persistent cough for at least three months.

[. . .]

Dr Morice explained: "Chronic cough can have a devastating effect on the quality of life of sufferers.

I'm sure that a chronic cough is miserable, but morphine seems like an awfully strong and potentially dangerous drug to prescribe for a cough. But then again, I'm no doctor.

I'm kinda surprised

BBC News - Libel damages for US actress Diaz

Actress Cameron Diaz has accepted "substantial" libel damages from a US tabloid over a false claim that she was having an affair with a married man.

[. . .]

The magazine has apologised to Ms Diaz and accepted the story was untrue.

I'm kinda surprised that she got any money out of them. I thought tabloids lived by made up stories and misrepresentations of photos. If they had to pay damages for every lie they told you would think they all would be out of business by now. I'm glad to see someone fight back and win, though.

The extremes of authoritarianism

BBC News - Chinese man to hang for ant scam

A Chinese company chairman has been sentenced to death for running a scam involving giant ants.

Wang Zhendong promised investors returns of up to 60% if they put money into the fictitious ant-breeding project, the court heard.

I guess it is a good thing for Kenneth Lay that he doesn't live in China.

Yikes!

CNN - Salmonella outbreak linked to 2 peanut butter brands

A salmonella outbreak that has slowly grown to nearly 300 cases in 39 states since August has been linked to tainted peanut butter, federal health officials said Wednesday.

[. . .]

About 85 percent of the infected people said they ate peanut butter, CDC officials said.

How salmonella got into peanut butter is still under investigation, Lynch said.

[. . .]

The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to eat certain jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter because of the risk of contamination.

The affected jars have a product code on the lid that begins with the number "2111." The affected jars are made by ConAgra in a single facility in Sylvester, Georgia, the FDA said.

First of all, it seems odd that salmonella would be in peanut putter. Second, it seems odd that only 85 percent of the people effected said they ate peanut butter. Third, I have a half-eaten jar of Peter Pan peanut butter with a product code beginning "2111". Since no one got sick eating the first half does that mean it is safe to finish or should I just throw it out?

UPDATE: This article at Market Watch says:

The company added that consumers should discard the affected peanut butter, but save the product lid to get a full refund.

The problem is it doesn't tell you what to do with the lid to get the refund. (Updated info here)

This was necessary?

Like we really needed to know why - Study finds out why it's gross to kiss your sister (CNN)

What's on your plate?

WaPo - On Fla. Menus, a Favorite Fish Experiences Identity Theft

The alleged grouper at 17 of 24 area restaurants sampled by the investigators was actually another, less desirable species, according to a DNA analysis conducted for the state attorney general's office and released earlier this month. Asian catfish. Emperor. Painted sweetlips. And twice, types of fish that could not be identified.

I guess my grandmother should stop worrying so much about what the Chinese restaurant might be serving her and start worrying about what the seafood restaurant is serving instead.

I always thought the reason for eating seafood when in Florida was because the food would be fresher, but apparently not:

Much of the reason for the questionable grouper, red snapper and other fish stems from a simple matter of supply and demand, regulators and industry officials say.

With the popularity of grouper rising nationwide and the domestic catch at times limited by federal guidelines, restaurateurs have relied on imports to fill the gap.

If I'm not going to be served fresh seafood that is actually caught off the coast of Florida, I might as well just go to Red Lobster, or better yet, just stay home and fix something I bought frozen at the grocery store.

I don't really want to be a cynic, but I think I'm becoming one anyway. Trust no one and expect very little. Sad.