Man swallowed 220 diamonds in smuggling attempt -

Man swallowed 220 diamonds in smuggling attempt - 



Police in South Africa say they’ve arrested a 25-year-old man who swallowed 220 polished diamonds in an attempt to smuggle them out of the country.

Capt. Paul Ramaloko of the South African Police Service said investigators arrested the man Tuesday night as he waited in line at security at O.R. Tambo International Airport just outside of Johannesburg. Ramaloko said a scan of the man’s body showed the diamonds, which later were recovered. He said the man had been on his way to Dubai.

Ramaloko said the diamonds are worth about $2.3 million. Authorities believe the man belongs to a smuggling ring, as another man was arrested in March attempting the same thing.

South Africa is one of the world’s top diamond producers.

Read more - 
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1287498--man-swallowed-220-diamonds-in-smuggling-attempt-say-police

Camera-toting bird spurs fish photo mystery -

Camera-toting bird spurs fish photo mystery - 




It sounds like a fish tale — a Saskatchewan woman comes to the aid of a water bird with a camera hanging around its neck ... only to discover numerous fish photos on the memory card.

But it happened to Saskatoon's Karen Gwillim in September, as she was driving through the village of Craven.

Approaching a bridge, she saw a young bird struggling with something, so she got out to investigate.

"It was a cormorant, a black water bird with kind of a long neck," she said. "It had this silver camera kind of dangling from its neck."

When she approached the bird, which weighed about two kilograms, it didn't try to flee or resist. She took the camera off, it flapped its wings and it was gone.

"I think he was relieved to have something that heavy removed," she said. "He seemed all right."

With the bird saved, Gwillim turned her attention to the camera, a point-and-shoot model that had obviously been in the water for a while.

She went home, took out the memory card, let it dry out and booted up her computer.

Fortunately, the pictures were intact. There were about 200 of them, many of them having been taken in October, 2011.

"Lots of fishing pictures, giant fish, guys with fish, mostly," she said.

There were also pictures from a wedding, some houses and other photos that seemed to be from the Shell Lake area.

She posted them on her Facebook page, hoping the camera-owner would find them, but for weeks heard nothing.

However, after Gwillim was interviewed by CBC Afternoon Edition host Craig Lederhouse on Tuesday, a Saskatoon man stepped forward to say he's in some of the pictures and knows whose camera it is.

Frank Resendes told CBC the camera owner dropped it while helping a friend haul in a fish near Craven about eight months ago.

"He's going to help his buddy land this fish so he's getting closer to the edge of the water, almost falls into the water and that jars the camera out of his pocket and it falls into the canal never to be seen again," Resendes said. "It just disappears."

Arrangements were being made today to reunite the man with his pictures.

Read more - 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2012/11/14/sk-bird-with-camera-1211.html

ABC Affiliate Ran Phony Cover of Broadwell Book -

ABC Affiliate Ran Phony Cover of Broadwell Book - 



A call placed the affiliate's assignment desk confirmed the unfortunate "mistake."

"That's correct," said the women working the assignment desk, confirming that the wrong book cover had been aired. "It was a mistake."

Here's video, via americablog.com:



Read more - 
http://weeklystandard.com/blogs/abc-affiliate-ran-phony-cover-broadwell-book_663264.html

Woman runs down husband with car for not voting in U.S. election -

Woman runs down husband with car for not voting in U.S. election - 


An Arizona woman, in despair at the re-election of Democratic President Barack Obama, ran down her husband with the family car in suburban Phoenix on Saturday because he failed to vote in the election, police said on Monday.

Holly Solomon, 28, was arrested after running over husband Daniel Solomon following a wild chase that left him pinned underneath the vehicle.

Daniel Solomon, 36, was in critical condition at a local hospital, but is expected to survive, Gilbert police spokesman Sergeant Jesse Sanger said.

Police said Daniel Solomon told them his wife became angry over his “lack of voter participation” in last Tuesday’s presidential election and believed her family would face hardship as a result of Obama winning another term.

Witnesses reported the argument broke out on Saturday morning in a parking lot and escalated. The woman then chased her husband around the lot with the car, yelling at him as he tried to hide behind a light pole, police said. He was struck after attempting to flee to a nearby street.

Obama won the national election with 332 electoral votes compared with 206 for Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Arizona’s 11 electoral votes were won by Romney.

Read more - 
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1286888--woman-runs-down-husband-with-car-for-not-voting-in-u-s-election-say-police

A near-Earth asteroid – called 2012 DA14 by astronomers – will pass very close to Earth on February 15, 2013 -

A near-Earth asteroid – called 2012 DA14 by astronomers – will pass very close to Earth on February 15, 2013 - 



A near-Earth asteroid – called 2012 DA14 by astronomers – will pass very close to Earth on February 15, 2013. Astronomers estimate that, when it’s closest to us, the asteroid will be about 21,000 miles (35,000 kilometers) away – much closer than Earth’s moon (about 240,000 miles away) – and closer even than some of our own orbiting satellites. Astronomers’ calculations of asteroid orbits can be trusted. After all, even decades ago, they knew enough about calculating orbits to send people to the moon and bring them safely back, and today we are able place our space vehicles in orbit around objects as small as asteroids. So, no, 2012 DA14 won’t strike us in 2013. There was a remote possibility it might strike us in 2020, but that possibility has been ruled out also.


Earlier this year, when a collision between 2012 DA14 and Earth in 2020 was still possible, I asked astronomer Donald Yeomans to clarify the risk. Yeomans is, among other things, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In March 2012, he told EarthSky that a 2020 collision between Earth and asteroid 2012 DA14 was only a “remote possibility.”

… approximately one chance in 83,000, with additional remote possibilities beyond 2020. However, by far the most likely scenario is that additional observations, especially in 2013, will allow a dramatic reduction in the orbit uncertainties and the complete elimination of the 2020 impact possibility.

It turned out they didn’t have to wait until 2013. By May, 2012, astronomers had ruled out even the remote possibility of a 2020 collision.

Still, 2012 DA14 and asteroids like it are sobering.

Read more - 
http://earthsky.org/space/asteroid-2012-da14-will-pass-very-close-to-earth-in-2013

In 59 Philadelphia wards, Mitt Romney did not get one single vote... - Zero. Zilch. -

In 59 Philadelphia wards, Mitt Romney did not get one single vote... - Zero. Zilch. - 


It's one thing for a Democratic presidential candidate to dominate a Democratic city like Philadelphia, but check out this head-spinning figure: In 59 voting divisions in the city, Mitt Romney received not one vote. Zero. Zilch.

These are the kind of numbers that send Republicans into paroxysms of voter-fraud angst, but such results may not be so startling after all.

"We have always had these dense urban corridors that are extremely Democratic," said Jonathan Rodden, a political science professor at Stanford University. "It's kind of an urban fact, and you are looking at the extreme end of it in Philadelphia."

Most big cities are politically homogeneous, with 75 percent to 80 percent of voters identifying as Democrats.

Cities are not only bursting with Democrats: They are easier to organize than rural areas where people live far apart from one another, said Sasha Issenberg, author of The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns.

"One reason Democrats can maximize votes in Philadelphia is that it's very easy to knock on every door," Issenberg said.

Still, was there not one contrarian voter in those 59 divisions, where unofficial vote tallies have President Obama outscoring Romney by a combined 19,605 to 0?

The unanimous support for Obama in these Philadelphia neighborhoods - clustered in almost exclusively black sections of West and North Philadelphia - fertilizes fears of fraud, despite little hard evidence.

Upon hearing the numbers, Steve Miskin, a spokesman for Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, brought up his party's voter-identification initiative - which was held off for this election - and said, "We believe we need to continue ensuring the integrity of the ballot."

The absence of a voter-ID law, however, would not stop anyone from voting for a Republican candidate.

Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia who has studied African American precincts, said he had occasionally seen 100 percent of the vote go for the Democratic candidate. Chicago and Atlanta each had precincts that registered no votes for Republican Sen. John McCain in 2008.

"I'd be surprised if there weren't a handful of precincts that didn't cast a vote for Romney," he said. But the number of zero precincts in Philadelphia deserves examination, Sabato added.

"Not a single vote for Romney or even an error? That's worth looking into," he said.

In a city with 1,687 of the ward subsets known as divisions, each with hundreds of voters, 59 is about 3.5 percent of the total.

In some of those divisions, it's not only Romney supporters who are missing. Republicans in general are nearly extinct.

Take North Philadelphia's 28th Ward, third division, bounded by York, 24th, and 28th Streets and Susquehanna Avenue.

About 94 percent of the 633 people who live in that division are black. Seven white residents were counted in the 2010 census.

In the entire 28th Ward, Romney received only 34 votes to Obama's 5,920.

Although voter registration lists, which often contain outdated information, show 12 Republicans live in the ward's third division, The Inquirer was unable to find any of them by calling or visiting their homes.

Four of the registered Republicans no longer lived there; four others didn't answer their doors. City Board of Elections registration data say a registered Republican used to live at 25th and York Streets, but none of the neighbors across the street Friday knew him. Cathy Santos, 56, founder of the National Alliance of Women Veterans, had one theory: "We ran him out of town!" she said and laughed.

James Norris, 19, who lives down the street, is listed as a Republican in city data. But he said he's a Democrat and voted for Obama because he thinks the president will help the middle class.

A few blocks away, Eric Sapp, a 42-year-old chef, looked skeptical when told that city data had him listed as a registered Republican. "I got to check on that," said Sapp, who voted for Obama.

Eighteen Republicans reportedly live in the nearby 15th Division, according to city registration records. The 15th has the distinction of pitching two straight Republican shutouts - zero votes for McCain in 2008, zero for Romney on Tuesday. Oh, and 13 other city divisions did the same thing in 2008 and 2012.

Read more - 
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20121112_In_59_Philadelphia_voting_wards__Mitt_Romney_got_zero_votes.html

Edible deodorant: Perfume candy to cure body odor? -

Edible deodorant: Perfume candy to cure body odor? - 



We all know what to do when we encounter someone with bad breath. Politely give 'em a breath mint and perhaps extol the virtues of flossing, right? But what about a person with B.O. so funky it could peel wallpaper off the wall? Then what?
Simple. Give them a few pieces of Deo Perfume Candy, a new confection billed as edible deodorant.
Beneo, an American nutrition and health company partnered with Bulgarian candy maker, Alpi, to develop sweets that will leave you smelling like a bed of roses.
"The innovative technology behind Deo Perfume Candy is based on research by Japanese scientists," explains Deo's website. "Their studies showed that when ingested, rose oil exudes aromatic compounds, such as geraniol, through the skin. When evaporating through the skin, geraniol aromatizes it with a beautiful rose fragrance."
One serving size (four pieces) contains 12 mg of geraniol. While the strength and duration of the perfume depends on body weight, developers say one serving size eaten by a person weighing 145 pounds could last up to six hours.
While this all sounds like something whipped up in Willy Wonka's dream factory, the science is nothing new. Anyone who's ever chowed down on garlic, asparagus or cumin know how easily different foods can effect body odor and fluids.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/11/12/edible-deodorant-perfume-candy-to-cure-body-odor/

Theme park devoted to Toilets takes off in South Korea -

Theme park devoted to Toilets takes off in South Korea - 



Spot the odd one out: museum, paintings, sculptures, toilets.

Sorry, trick question.

Earlier this year, the South Korean city of Suwon opened a theme park devoted exclusively to the culture of toilets.

It has bronze figures in various positions and various facial expressions answering the call of nature, a bowl-shaped exhibition hall, toilet-themed paintings, poop-shaped souvenirs and “Washroom” signs from around the world.

The museum used to be a house built by Suwon’s former mayor, Sim Jae-duck, reportedly born in his grandmother’s toilet. He is said to have been so embarrassed with South Korea’s backward public conveniences that he turned his obsession with them into a campaign for improvement in the 1980s.

About 16 of Suwon’s public toilets are listed as tourist sites on the city’s website and are part of a “Beautiful Public Restroom Tour” program. And yes, it attracts tourists from all over the world.

The theme park is not about scatological humour, though. It has messages of health, sanitation and water conversation.

Read more - 
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1286322--theme-park-devoted-to-toilets-takes-off-in-south-korea

Sex Robot 'Longevity Orgasms' May Help Extend Human Life Spans, Futurists Suggest -

Sex Robot 'Longevity Orgasms' May Help Extend Human Life Spans, Futurists Suggest - 



Could sex with robots help extend human life spans? Some futurists seem to think so.

A Nov. 7 article on the futurist website Transhumanity argues that robot lovers could help extend life spans by giving users mind-blowing "longevity orgasms" far superior in quality to those from human "meat-bag" partners.

The link between orgasms and health is not unexplored. Some have argued that orgasms have significant health benefits, and "The Longevity Project," a book about an eight-decade study of long-life factors, observed that women with higher frequency of orgasm during sex lived longer.

But assuming robots can do it better than humans, is there necessarily a correlation between the quality of orgasm and longevity? Or is frequency of climax the most important factor?


If the latter is the case, then a sex robot's superior skills in the sack might be less of a game changer than the fact that a sexbot will never be too tired or unwilling to get it on.

Still, the futurist scouting report on longevity orgasms sounds pretty complex.

Transhumanity elaborates: 
"[Sexbots will] be more desirable, patient, eager, and altruistic than their meat-bag competition, plus they’ll be uploaded with supreme sex-skills from millennia of erotic manuals, archives and academic experiments, and their anatomy will feature sexplosive devices... They’ll offer us quadruple-tongued cunnilingus, open-throat silky fellatio, deliriously gentle kissing, transcendent nipple tweaking, g-spot massage & prostate milking dexterity, plus 2,000 varieties of coital rhythm with scented lubes."
At the moment, it appears humanity will have to wait and see if "shrieking, frothy, bug-eyed, amnesia-inducing orgasms" administered by sex robots provide the key to longevity.

But it won't have to wait too long. A scenario envisioned by Victoria University researchers plots the rise of robot prostitutes by 2050, the Dominion Post notes.

Read more -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/09/sex-robot-longevity-orgasms-futurists_n_2101893.html

5-year-old apparently caused deadly helicopter crash by kicking flight controls, report says -

5-year-old apparently caused deadly helicopter crash by kicking flight controls, report says - 



A federal accident report says a billionaire food-services company owner let his 5-year-old daughter sit on his lap in his helicopter's co-pilot seat and she apparently caused a 2010 crash near Phoenix that five people by kicking the flight controls.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the crash that killed Services Group of America owner Thomas J. Stewart for nearly three years before releasing its report Wednesday.
The report says it's "highly likely" the little girl suddenly pushed down on a control and either Stewart or his company pilot then quickly pulled up. That made the rotor blades bend and strike the tail boom.
The conclusion is being disputed by the lawyer for the pilot's family and by Stewart's privately held company. SGA moved to Arizona from Seattle in 2006.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/11/5-year-old-apparently-caused-deadly-helicopter-crash-by-kicking-flight-controls/?test=latestnews