... Finally Friday ... 3 14 2008

Venezuela's Chavez predicts oil could reach $200 a barrel The Associated Press June 12, 2008 CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he expects oil prices to keep climbing and predicts they could reach $200 a barrel. It isn't the first time the Venezuelan leader has mentioned that benchmark-- though he hasn't said when it might be reached. Chavez reiterated the prediction after the price of light, sweet crude continued to rise on the New York Mercantile Exchange and settled at $136.38 a barrel Wednesday. Chavez said in a televised speech Wednesday that oil should be $100 a barrel, but could keep rising to $200. He blamed the falling U.S. dollar, U.S. ``threats'' against Iran, and what he called ``bad management'' of the U.S. economy for driving rising prices. Venezuela is the fifth-largest supplier of oil to the U.S.

'Water-Running' Car Gets 100 Miles To The Ounce, Inventor Says June 4, 2008 JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Florida man has created a car he claims runs on tap water. "I'm getting 100 miles to the ounce on water," inventor Anthony Brown said. Brown said he shut his fuel injection system down and created the system that can use any type of water with a small amount of gas. He said the car is getting just fuel vapor. "When you separate the water from the oxygen from the hydrogen, it cooks and it cooks down to a brown," Brown said. "We're not having any waste product off of it. Everything is consumed and burned." Local 6 showed video of Brown filling up his vehicle with water and then driving around. Brown said any profit he makes from his invention will go toward helping missionaries around the world. "I've just been asking for a way, for the Lord to show me to raise money rapidly and I started to working on this idea," Brown said. Local6.com .

Something's Shaking in Antarctica By Douglas Fox Science NOW Daily News 4 June 2008 Scientists have discovered massive, slow-motion "ice quakes" trembling twice a day through the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, an Alaska-sized swath of Antarctica. Detective work has traced the source of the shaking to the Whillans Ice Stream, a glacier 100 kilometers across and 1 kilometer thick, which flows from the ice sheet's interior. It may seem strange that magnitude-7 quakes went unnoticed for so long--a temblor of similar size leveled entire towns and killed at least 15,000 in Turkey in 1999--but people standing on the Whillans Ice Stream never notice the shaking. "The reason that it doesn't rattle the whole continent is that it's a very slow event," says Sridhar Anandakrishnan, a glaciologist at Pennsylvania State University in State College, who made the discovery along with Douglas Wiens, a seismologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Normal earthquakes release their energy over a few seconds, but the Whillans's shaking unfolds over 20 minutes. Wiens first noticed the ice quakes 3 years ago as he analyzed data from 43 seismic sensors across Antarctica. Hoping for faint signals that would help him pinpoint previously unknown faults, he was instead greeted by booming vibrations from the same spot in West Antarctica. Wiens then looked at seismic data collected in 2004, the same year that Anandakrishnan had deployed 16 GPS sensors on the Whillans Ice Stream that tracked the ice's movement every 10 seconds. Most glaciers edge forward continuously, but the Whillans was already known to behave bizarrely: It sits still most of the time, then surges more than a half-meter forward twice per day as ocean tides lift and lower a slab of floating ice that extends from the end of the glacier onto the Ross Sea, just off the coast of Antarctica. By combining the GPS and seismic data, the researchers saw that the ice quakes and glacial surges synchronized perfectly in time, suggesting that the shaking was caused by the ice grinding over a rough spot in the rock below, they report 5 June in Nature . Finding the causes of ice quakes--which also occur in Greenland--could lead to better understanding glacial movement and improved models of how glaciers will respond to climate change, says Robert Bindschadler, a glaciologist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who first reported the twice-daily surges of the Whillans Ice Stream in 2003. "What has come from these discoveries is a realization that glaciers have other modes of behavior than we have thought of previously," says Göran Ekström, a seismologist with Columbia University

Single-horned 'Unicorn' deer is found in Italy From Associated PressJune 11, 2008 10:49 AM EDT ROME - A deer with a single horn in the center of its head - much like the fabled, mythical unicorn - has been spotted in a nature preserve in Italy, park officials said Wednesday . "This is fantasy becoming reality," Gilberto Tozzi, director of the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato, told The Associated Press. "The unicorn has always been a mythological animal." The 1-year-old Roe Deer - nicknamed "Unicorn" - was born in captivity in the research center's park in the Tuscan town of Prato, near Florence, Tozzi said. He is believed to have been born with a genetic flaw; his twin has two horns. Calling it the first time he has seen such a case, Tozzi said such anomalies among deer may have inspired the myth of the unicorn.

Graduating Senior Arrested, Handcuffed at Commencement for Flipping the Bird Principal: "We Really Wanted a Dignified Ceremony" June 10, 2008 It's not uncommon for high school seniors to try to make themselves stand out from the crowd during graduation ceremonies, maybe with something benign like writing "Hi Mom" on their robes or doing a funny dance on the walk across stage. But one small-town Alabama student immortalized the moment and got more than he bargained for en route to receiving his diploma — a trip to jail. 18 year old Joseph Bryan Shore was arrested at his high school graduation for disorderly conduct. Shore cursed and flipped the bird in the direction of the audience while walking across stage to receive his diploma.(thearabtribune.com) In the short walk across stage, Joseph Bryan Shore, 18, elicited more than boos when he allegedly cursed out his family and flipped the bird to the crowd, according to authorities. Immediately after the ceremony, two police officers took him into custody and charged him with disorderly conduct. Arab, Ala. assistant police chief Jeff Bailey said he had never seen anything like it before. "This is a small town, a little quiet place," Bailey said. "He basically disrupted the whole graduation with his hollering and cursing." ABC News

7 people arrested for cheering at graduation By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ROCK HILL, S.C. - Authorities say seven people attending high school graduations in Rock Hill, South Carolina, are facing charges after police say they cheered while students' names were being called. Authorities say six people at Fort Mill High School's graduation were charged Saturday and a seventh at the graduation for York Comprehensive High School was charged Friday with disorderly conduct. Police say those arrested yelled after students' names were called while diplomas were handed out. A police spokesman says school officials request police patrols to prevent graduation disruptions that include standing, hollering and clapping. He says those attending the commencements are told their behaviour can be prosecuted. Rock Hill is about 110 kilometres north of Columbia, South Carolina.

Man with condom on found bitten to death by snake Ayutthaya - A body of a 40-year-old man with a cobra carcass in his head was found on a roadside here Sunday morning. An preliminary autopsy also found that Wiroj Banlen, 40, was wearing a condom although he was putting on his trousers. No semen was found inside the condom. His body was found on the side of a dirt road in Tambon Lamsai of Ayutthaya's Wangnoi district at 7 am. He was bitten several times by the snake on his right leg and on his cheeks. His hands were clenching the dead cobra, whose body was bitten several times especially on its stomach. The preliminary autopsy found scales of the snake in his mouth. His body was sent for a full autopsy at a hospital. The Nation

Marijuana potency increased in 2007, study says Posted by The Associated Press June 12, 2008 00:01AM Oregon Live Marijuana potency increased last year to the highest level in more than 30 years, posing greater health risks to people who may view the drug as harmless, according to a report released Thursday by the White House. The latest analysis from the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project tracked the average amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, in samples seized by law enforcement agencies from 1975 through 2007. It found that the average amount of THC reached 9.6 percent in 2007, compared with 8.75 percent the previous year. The 9.6 percent level represents more than a doubling of marijuana potency since 1983, when it aver aged just under 4 percent. "Today's report makes it more important than ever that we get past outdated, anachronistic views of marijuana," said John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He cited baby boomer parents who might have misguided notions that the drug contains the weaker potency levels of the 1970s. "Marijuana potency has grown steeply over the past decade, with serious implications in particular for young people," Walters said. He cited the risk of psychological, cognitive and respiratory problems, and the potential for users to become dependent on drugs such as cocaine and heroin. The White House office attributed the increases in marijuana potency to sophisticated growing techniques that drug traffickers are using at sites in the United States and Canada. A report from the office last month found that a teenager who has been depressed in the past year was more than twice as likely to have used marijuana than teenagers who have not reported being depressed -- 25 percent compared with 12 percent. The study said marijuana use increased the risk of developing mental disorders by 40 percent. "The increases in marijuana potency are of concern since they increase the likelihood of acute toxicity, including mental impairment," said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which funded the University of Mississippi study. "Particularly worrisome is the possibility that the more potent THC might be more effective at triggering the changes in the brain that can lead to addiction," Volkow said. The project analyzed data on 62,797 cannabis samples, 1,302 hashish samples, and 468 hash oil samples obtained primarily from seizures by law enforcement agencies in 48 states since 1975.

Cold, wet spring threatens B.C. pot crop Last Updated: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 CBC News Wet weather across British Columbia is threatening profit margins for producers of one of the province's largest — although illegal — cash crops — outdoor marijuana. B.C. has endured weeks of unseasonable drizzle and grey skies this spring with temperatures touching record lows in the months of May and June, and growers are worried about mildew killing the seedlings. Marc Emery, a marijuana advocate whom some media have dubbed the "Prince of Pot," said growers are worried their annual crop worth up to an estimated billion dollars may be rotting in the ground. "They're all very nervous right now," Emery told the CBC on Tuesday. "If this were interrupted by one or two days of sun and warm weather it would reverse all that. But because you have an accumulation of days — over three and especially up to five — that are cold and rainy, you'll probably lose most of the plants that have been put out there before now," said Emery. But Nelson City Police Insp. Henry Paivarinta said the possibility of seeing less pot on the street won't make his job any easier. "I don't think the weather really changes it a whole lot," Paivarinta said. "Obviously, the demand will still be there. If the supply is down, well, the price will simply be up." That could mean better profits for those who grow marijuana indoors, away from Mother Nature's unseasonable conditions. The economic value of B.C.'s illegal marijuana industry is difficult to determine, but over the years experts have estimated it exceeds a billion dollars a year .

Stalker's sex video sent to police June 12, 2008 A STALKER filmed himself masturbating and sent it to his victim's mobile phone while she was at a police station making a complaint about him. The video gave police the evidence they needed to charge him, the Geelong Advertiser reported. Benjamin Baker, 27, of Princes Highway in Corio, Victoria, pleaded guilty in Geelong Magistrates Court yesterday to stalking and using a telecommunications device to harrass. Police Prosecutor Seaton Lillas said Baker repeatedly harassed his victim by phone and sent her video of him masturbating. Unfortunately for Baker, one of his video calls was made while the woman was at her local police station laying a complaint. "The victim answered the call to find Baker again masturbating himself and she showed the officer taking her statement," Senior Constable Lillas told the court. Magistrate Tim McDonald called Baker's conduct as disturbing and fined him $3000. Daily Telegraph

From The Sunday Times June 8, 2008 Parents of ill vegan girl may face police A 12-YEAR-OLD girl in Scotland brought up by her parents on a strict vegan diet has been admitted to hospital with a degenerative bone condition said to have left her with the spine of an 80-year-old woman. Doctors are under pressure to report the couple to police and social workers amid concerns that her health and welfare may have been neglected in pursuit of their dietary beliefs. The girl, who has been fed on a strict meat and dairy-free diet from birth, is said to have a severe form of rickets and to have suffered a number of fractured bones. The condition is caused by a lack of vitamin D, which is needed to absorb calcium and is found in liver, oily fish and dairy produce. Decalcification leads to the bones becoming brittle and can cause curvature of the spine. Dr Faisal Ahmed, the consultant paediatrician treating the child at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow, declined to discuss the specific case. He said, however, that he believed the dangers of forcing children to follow a strict vegan diet needed to be highlighted. One leading nutritionist, who asked not to be named, said: “In most instances, the parents who are imposing this very restrictive and potentially hazardous diet are not themselves brought up as vegans. They are imposing on their children something . . . which we do not know enough about to know it is safe.” TimesOnline

Cops flush out bathroom counterfeit operation Jody Lawrence-Turner Staff writer June 6, 2008 It might be a good thing they stopped him. Seems he doesn't have too many more brain cells to kill. A homeless 19-year-old man who police say spent $100 on a color copier and paper to make counterfeit money so he could buy $90 worth of marijuana is in Spokane County Jail. Sheriff's deputies arrested Calvin Robinson on forgery charges after finding him, the printer and counterfeit $10 bills in a River Park Square restroom Wednesday. Deputies say Robinson told them he decided to set up the counterfeiting operation in the mall's third-floor family bathroom because he needed an electrical outlet and a locking door and had no other place to go. "I don't believe he's going to be recruited by NASA," Spokane County sheriff's Sgt. Dave Reagan said. Robinson made an initial court appearance Thursday in Spokane County District Court, where bail was set at $15,000. He has previous convictions for vehicle theft and possession of stolen property. On Wednesday, security officers noticed that a man had been locked in the mall's third-floor bathroom for more than an hour, said Reagan. "Once the door was open, the officer saw a color copier sitting on the floor," Reagan said. Sheets of paper printed with uncut $10 counterfeit bills were found in the bathroom garbage can. The serial number on a legitimate $10 bill deputies said they found in Robinson's pocket matched the fake bills. "They might have passed muster if you were giving them to some 17-year-old at a fast-food restaurant. He was planning to buy drugs, so maybe it would have worked," Reagan said. Robinson refused media requests for a jailhouse interview.

Nude man charged after lewd, violent encounter arrest Mike Miller — 6/04/2008 6:15 pm The Madison man who awakened numerous residents and attracted the attention of several police officers while running around naked in the middle of the night while yelling and screaming, was high on potent mushrooms and alcohol, a court commissioner was told Wednesday. Nathan Behrend, 24, was charged with two counts of battery to police officers, one count of fourth degree sexual assault, two counts of disorderly conduct, resisting an officer and criminal damage to property for his foray, which began at about 3 a.m. Monday at the southwest side home he shares with a woman. After kicking in the woman's bedroom door, Behrend jumped on the woman's bed, gave her a big hug, and said, "I want to have sex with you, and I love you, and I want to marry you," according to the criminal complaint filed Wednesday. "I'm a genius, I have all the answers, and I love you," he told the woman. Behrend then ran out on the porch, the woman said, and she did not see him again until he was on Watts Road. Meanwhile, several people awakened by the naked man's yelling and hollering had called police, who began arriving on the scene. Behrend fought with them even after being hit by one officer's Taser, the complaint says. Eventually he was subdued under a pile of cops, the complaint says, but he continued struggling and bit one officer in the hand during the melee. Previous to that, he had sexually assaulted one of the women officers by grabbing her breasts, the complaint says, and through most of the struggle he was making lewd and suggestive comments to various officers. "We just need to have sex and make love, and I really want to have sex with you," he told a woman officer before sexually assaulting her and pulling out some of her hair. In court Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Michael Verveer said Behrend later admitted to police that he had taken mushrooms and was using alcohol before he went on his outing. Behrend has no prior criminal record, Verveer said. Dane County Criminal Count Commissioner Todd Meurer set bail at $300 per count for a total of $2,100, but he allowed that to revert to a signature bond as soon as Behrend is accepted into the Bail Monitoring program. Behrend was also ordered to have no contact with his roommate, to not drink, to not have any illegal drugs on him, and not to have any weapons. If convicted Behrend faces up to six years in prison and extended supervision on each of the charges of battery to a police officer; up to nine months in jail for each of the misdemeanor counts -- fourth degree sexual assault, criminal damage to property and resisting an officer; and up to 90 days in jail on the two disorderly conduct charges. The Capital Times, Madison, WI

Security scans will show sex organ June 11, 2008 08:07am Article from: Agence France-Presse SECURITY scanners that can see through passengers' clothing and reveal details such as their sex organs, colostomy bags and breast size, are being installed in 10 US airports. A random selection of travellers getting ready to board airplanes in Washington, New York's Kennedy, Los Angeles and other key hubs will be shut in the glass booths while a three-dimensional image is made of their body beneath their clothes. The booths close around the passenger and emit "millimetre waves" that go through cloth to identify metal, plastics, ceramics, chemical materials and explosives, according to the Transport Safety Authority. While it allows the security screeners - looking at the images in a separate room - to clearly see the passenger's sexual organs as well as other details of their bodies, the passenger's face is blurred, TSA said. The scan only takes seconds and is to replace the physical pat-downs of people that is currently widespread in airports. TSA began introducing the body scanners in airports in April, first in the Phoenix, Arizona terminal. The installation is picking up this month, with machines in place or planned for airports in Washington (Reagan National and Baltimore-Washington International), Dallas, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Miami and Detroit. NEWS.com

Reporter, wife discuss 100 days of sex The Denver Post 06/10/2008 Denver Post lifestyle reporter Doug Brown and his wife, Annie, were featured on NBC's "Today Show" this morning discussing a book about their sex lives. Doug Brown wrote the book after Annie suggested that they have sex every day for 100 days. She said that after 14 years together, their sex life had become stale. "Just Do It: How One Couple Turned Off the TV and Turned on their Sex Lives for 101 Days (No Excuses!)," details the journey. "Immediately, I had second thoughts," Annie Brown told interviewer Ann Currie in this morning's interview. "When I would tell my girlfriends about it, immediately, their mouths would drop open and they'd ask, 'Are you crazy?' " "You couldn't do this for the rest of your life. ... It was exhausting," said Doug Brown. But he recommends couples push themselves at least once a week, regardless of fatigue. Annie Brown said there were lasting benefits after the experiment was over. "I think what we really learned is that we have to take care of each other more and pay attention to each other in a way that we hadn't since the early days of our marriage," she said. "It wasn't just the sex, we were constantly hugging each other. And that has lived on. We touch more," said Doug Brown.

Phone Sex Operators So much of commerce now is blind: online shopping, tech-support in Bangalore. We hope there is a person at the other end of the transaction, but it could be a machine; often the machine doesn’t seem very well programmed. The phone-sex industry, though, thrives on being faceless and intensely personal at the same time. Phillip Toledano’s new book Phone Sex (July 2008, Twin Palms) takes us into the boudoirs of nearly 30 phone-sex operators so we see their faces and also hear their stories—each operator gives his or her take on the business. The Morning News ……………..The next (4) slides take a look a few of these phone-sex operators

... Finally Friday ... 3 14 2008

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