http://www.carloslabs.com/projects/200712B/GroundZero.html

Russian analyst: U.S. will collapse next year Kremlin-linked scholar cites economic woes, 'social and cultural phenomena' March. 4, 2009 MOSCOW - If you're inclined to believe Igor Panarin, and the Kremlin wouldn't mind if you did, then President Barack Obama will order martial law this year, the United States will split into six rump-states before 2011, and Russia and China will become the backbones of a new world order. Panarin might be easy to ignore but for the fact that he is a dean at the Foreign Ministry's school for future diplomats and a regular on Russia's state-guided TV channels. And his predictions fit into the anti-American story line of the Kremlin leadership. "There is a high probability that the collapse of the United States will occur by 2010," Panarin told dozens of students, professors and diplomats Tuesday at the Diplomatic Academy — a lecture the ministry pointedly invited The Associated Press and other foreign media to attend. MSNCB

China denounces US 'rights abuse' China has responded in detail to a US report published this week criticising China for alleged rights abuses. Beijing released its own report on the US, saying crime is a threat to many Americans and racial discrimination prevails in social life across the US. When US officials first published their report on China, Beijing told them to mind their own business. The BBC's James Reynolds, in Beijing, says the reports are a standard yearly exchange with little practical impact. The 9,000-word Chinese report depicts a bleak picture of the US, saying violent crime is a widespread threat to people's lives, property and personal security. The American people's economic, social and cultural rights are not properly protected, say the Chinese, and many young Americans "have personality disorders". "The US practice of throwing stones at others while living in a glass house is testimony to the double standards and hypocrisy of the United States in dealing with human rights issues," says the report. Beijing's report came after the US state department concluded in its annual report on rights around the world that China's human-rights record worsened in some areas in 2008. The US report accused China of harassing dissidents and increasing its repression of ethnic minorities. Last weekend, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks in Beijing with China's leaders and, in public, the issue of human rights was barely mentioned. BBC

Earliest 'human footprints' found Thurs., Feb. 26, 2009 Findings represent the oldest evidence of modern-human foot The earliest footprints showing evidence of modern human foot anatomy and gait have been unearthed in Kenya. The 1.5-million-year-old footprints display signs of a pronounced arch and short, aligned toes, in contrast to older footprints. The size and spacing of the Kenyan markings - attributed to Homo erectus - reflect the height, weight, and walking style of modern humans. The findings have been published in the journal Science. The footprints are not the oldest belonging to a member of the human lineage. That title belongs to the 3.7 million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis prints found in Laetoli, Tanzania, in 1978. Those prints, however, showed comparatively flat feet and a significantly higher angle between the big toe and the other toes, representative of a foot still adapted to grasping. Exactly how that more ape-like foot developed into its modern version has remained unclear.

Feb 28, 2:44 AM EST Court: Va. man owns 1776 copy of Declaration Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- A rare 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence belongs to a Virginia technology entrepreneur, not the state of Maine, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday. Richard Adams Jr. of Fairfax County purchased the document from a London book dealer in 2001 for $475,000. But the state of Maine claimed it belongs to the town of Wiscasset, where it was kept by the town clerk in 1776. Virginia's high court said that a lower court did not err in its ruling in Adams' favor because Maine didn't prove the document was ever an official town record and that Adams had superior title to the print. Adams, who gained fame when he founded UUNet Technologies Inc., the first commercial Internet service provider, sued to establish title to the document after learning that Maine was trying to get it back. His attorney told the high court last month there's no evidence the document was ever an official record kept by the town of Wiscasset and that Adams is the rightful owner.

Bargain homes on Palm Jumeirah as prices drop 50% February 5, 2009 The price of new homes at Dubai’s iconic Palm Jumeirah island are falling fast, offering some buyers the chance to grab a bargain at 50 per cent less than peak prices. According to real estate broker PowerHouse Properties, four-bedroom garden homes on the Palm are now selling as low as AED 6.5 million, compared to AED 14 million in September 2008. Dubbed by real estate commentators as the ‘eighth wonder of the world’, Palm Jumeirah instantly became a symbol of Dubai’s extravagant investment property boom when unveiled by developers Nakheel. But a slowdown in real estate has even hit the highest points of the local investment property market, with some claiming prices dropped by eight per cent in the last quarter of 2008. Ian Hainey of PowerHouse Properties said: “We’ve seen a steady stream of bargain hunters in the market shopping for these prestigious addresses, with many motivated primarily by price. “Many end-users who previously could not afford to live on Palm Jumeirah are also now turning their attention to the bargains currently on offer.” He added there had been a “noticeable” increase in real estate transactions for the scheme in January. Many deals involved property investment buyers looking to rent, he said, with furnished signature villas still commanding rents up to AED 1 million. One of the most ambitious real estate schemes in history, Palm Jumeirah is a man-made island in the shape of a palm tree off the coast of Dubai , famous for attracting celebrity buyers, including footballer David Beckham.

Lauderhill resident Alan Landers, the 'Winston Man' dies at 68, battling cancer South Florida Sun-Sentinel March 3, 2009 Former Winston Man Alan Landers, the model who was the image for Winston Cigarettes, died of lung and throat cancer. Alan Landers, a former cigarette pitchman turned anti-smoking advocate, died at his Lauderhill home Friday. He was 68. The self-proclaimed "Winston Man" had been in a 14-year legal battle with R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies, claiming smoking caused his health problems. His case was scheduled for trial in April. A survivor of two lung cancers, Mr. Landers was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation for recently diagnosed tonsillar cancer. He also suffered from emphysema. In the late '60s and early '70s, during the peak of his modeling career, Mr. Landers appeared in Winston ads on billboards and in magazines. But by the late '80s, he faced a series of illnesses that he attributed to a lifetime of heavy smoking. In 1995, he signed on to a class-action suit alleging that cigarette companies intentionally hooked people on nicotine and conspired to hide information about smoking's hazards. Ultimately, the Florida Supreme Court threw out a record $145 billion class-action jury award in that suit in 2006. But individuals were allowed to sue on their own. As a result, Mr. Landers was one of as many as 9,000 people in Florida with legal suits involving tobacco companies. His attorney says no decision has been made on whether to pursue his case. "I helped save lives," he told a Sun Sentinel reporter for a story that appeared shortly before his death. "I told the truth: Eventually, smoking will kill you. It's slow. But it'll kill you."

Bob Space, 60, of Toms River, N.J., talks during a news conference at Chubb Insurance Company in Whitehouse Station, N.J., Wednesday, March 4, 2009, about buying the winning $216 million Mega Millions lottery ticket. Space and nine co-workers at Chubb will share the jackpot.

Poll says thrice weekly sex saves marriages Wednesday, March 4, 2009 CBC News Canada Having sex three times a week and snuggling on the couch four times a day are among the keys to a perfect marriage, according to a U.K. survey released Wednesday. Confetti.co.uk, a wedding planning website, asked 3,000 adults who were married for 10 years or longer what they believed to be the important components of a long-lived romantic relationship. The respondents said, to pull off a long marriage, couples have to work to keep the romance in their relationships alive. According to the survey, "work" in this world constituted of: Having sex three times a week; Kissing four times a day; Cuddling thrice on a daily basis; Sharing two hobbies, and; Holding two romantic dinners a month. "After the wedding hype is over, the study shows how important it is to keep the magic alive with kisses, cuddles and romantic nights out," said Carol Richardson, a spokesperson for Confetti, which held the poll to mark its 10th year in business. The poll also figured that a couple should meet through friends and needs to date for three years and six months before tying the marital knot.

Drug dealers 'switching from cocaine to fake Viagra' Drugs gangs are switching from selling cocaine to a fake version of the sex pill Viagra attracted by the lure of higher profit margins, it has been claimed. 02 Mar 2009 Fake viagra pills often made from a cocktail of prescription medicines can be highly dangerous for users. Making up counterfeit anti-impotence pills can be as much as 2,000 times more profitable than dealing in hard drugs, according to one expert. With millions of potential buyers available on the internet, the trade is also less risky for gangsters. But there were warnings that the fake blue pills, often made from a cocktail of prescription medicines, can be highly dangerous for users. Last months a report in Singapore highlighted that four men died and three were left in comas in just five months after taking counterfeit impotence drugs. Jim Thomson, founder of the European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines (EAASM), said that the prospect of high profits was now attracting criminals into the fake Viagra market. "You can buy a kilo of the active ingredient of Viagra on a website for about £33 and you can make a lot of tablets from a kilo," he was quoted as telling the Daily Star. "The margin is about 2,000 times more profitable than cocaine." He went on: "If you bought a kilo of cocaine in Bogotá you would be lucky to get out alive, if you were caught you would go to jail for a very long time. "With the pills you would be very unlucky to get more than three years if you got caught." But he said the bogus pills were "illegal in every way" and potentially dangerous.

Swarovski Crystal and 24k Gold Plated Bike Is The World's Most Expensive I realize that blogging about 24 karat plated, crystal adorned bicycles during the United States present economic climate is nothing short of obnoxious. But it doesn't detract from the perverse fascination I have for these sort of luxury items. And this one is a doozy. And costs $102,418.60 USD

Should You Be Able to Sue a Guy Who Gives You Herpes? Feb 26th 2009 If you wake up the morning after a one-night stand with a little something more than a hangover, should you able to sue the person who slapped you with that nasty case of crotch cooties ? A 56-year-old woman in Riverside County, Calif., was recently awarded over $7 million after contracting genital herpes from a partner, a 77-year-old man who had genital herpes for over 25 years and failed to mention it. The man also failed to use a condom, so now the woman has genital herpes, too, and said she was denied health insurance after contracting the sexually transmitted disease. This isn't the first time the STD has infected the court system -- celebs from Michael Vick to Robin Williams to David Hasselhoff have been sued for passing along the disease. Call us crazy, but isn't it the responsibility of both partners to insist on safe sex? And for $7 million, couldn't you live with some occasional itching and burning?

A competitor runs through fire during the Tough Guy Challenge 2009 at South Perton Farm on February 1, 2009 in Wolverhampton, England.

'Unrestored' copy of first Superman comic book for sale CNN (CNN) -- After being hidden away for years, a copy of the original "Superman and Friends" comic book will make a comeback -- at a price of about $400,000 , a comic expert said Thursday. Starting Friday, comic book collectors and Superman fans will have the opportunity to bid on a comic classic -- an "unrestored" copy of Action Comics No. 1, said Stephen Fishler, owner of Comic Connect, an online liaison between comic book buyers and sellers. The book's owner is not being identified. The auction is attracting a lot of interest. "One bidder wanted to trade his Ferrari for the comic book," as part of an under-the-table deal, Fishler joked. But he said the auction will remain public. "I couldn't see myself trading in my Toyota Prius" -- even for a $375,000 car. Why is this comic book so unique? "Of the 100 existing copies, 80 percent have been restored, but people want an untouched copy," Fishler said. The book is listed in "fine" condition, a six on the 10-point rating scale. "It's the Holy Grail of comic books," Fishler said. Co-created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the comic book first appeared on newsstands for 10 cents a copy in June 1938. Nearly 12 years later, a young boy on the West Coast found himself in a secondhand book store, where he persuaded his dad to loan him 35 cents to buy the comic book. Until 1966, the owner forgot about the book, which was hidden in his mother's basement. Since then, he's been holding onto it, hoping to see it increase in value, Fishler said. He has not been disappointed. "There has been a lot of interest shown on the book in the collectibles market," said Fishler, who predicted the comic book will sell for about $400,000. But, he added, no minimum price has been set for the auction, so "whatever it sells for, it sells for.

2009-02-27 - Weird News AHN Staff Greenpeace Urges U.S. To Shift To Recycled Material For Toilet Paper Amsterdam, The Netherlands (AHN) -- Greenpeace International is urging the U.S. to take a second look at its toilet paper manufacturing industry for its use of virgin material on something that is flushed after a few seconds of use. Lindsey Allen, forestry campaigner of the global environmental group, took to task Americans' preference for extra-soft, quilted and multi-ply toilet paper made from virgin wood. Allen Hershkowitz, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, warned the ecological consequences of sourcing toilet paper materials from trees is enormous. He said Americans' toilet paper use is causing ecological damage worse than carbon dioxide emitting vehicles, fast foods' use of Styrofoam and the proliferation of McMansions. Hershkowitz pointed out 98 percent of toilet paper sold in the U.S. are from virgin forest, while in Europe and Latin America, the rate is only 40 percent. Greenpeace plans to be more aggressive in this campaign in a bid to battle marketing strategies of major toilet paper producers like Kimberly-Clark to tap celebrities in their advertising campaign. According to Kimberly-Clark, luxury brand toilet paper and tissues have the fastest growing market share in the U.S.

'Consumer Reports' puts Chrysler, GM in bottom spots USA TODAY Chrysler and General Motors (GM) took the bottom two spots, respectively, in Consumer Reports magazine's new automaker for reliability, even as the pair seek billions more in federal loans to stay afloat. The third of Detroit's Big 3 automakers, Ford Motor, fared better at fourth from the bottom, also beating Suzuki.First place went to Honda (HMC) for the third-consecutive year, followed by Subaru, Toyota (TM) and Mazda. Next came a tie by Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Volkswagen and BMW, among the 15 makers rated. They were followed by Hyundai, Volvo and Mitsubishi.

Caught on camera: Is this the world's only PINK dolphin? Daily Mail 02nd March 2009 This is a stunning picture of a rare pink bottlenose dolphin spotted swimming in a Louisiana lake. The mammal was pictured by local charter boat captain Erik Rue, who has been studying the dolphin since it first surfaced in Lake Calcasieu, an inland saltwater estuary, north of the Gulf of Mexico in Southwestern USA. Since it was spotted with its pod of normal coloured dolphins last year the animal has been wowing visitors on the lake. Capt Rue, 42, originally saw the dolphin, which also has reddish eyes, swimming with a pod of four other dolphins, with one appearing to be its mother which never left its side. 'I just happened to see a little pod of dolphins, and I noticed one that was a little lighter. It was absolutely stunningly pink', he said. 'I had never seen anything like it. It's the same colour throughout the whole body and it looks like it just came out of a paint booth. The dolphin appears to be healthy and normal other than its colouration, which is quite beautiful. 'The mammal is entirely pink from tip to tail and has reddish eyes indicating it's albinism. The skin appears smooth, glossy pink and without flaws. I have spotted it about 40 to 50 times in the time since the original sighting as it has apparently taken up residence with its family in the Calcasieu Ship Channel.

Ninety in the fast lane: Pensioner on mobility scooter takes wrong turn onto busy dual carriageway Daily Mail 27th February 2009 Stanley Murphy took a wrong turning as he went out for his morning paper on his mobility scooter, and found himself on a dual carriageway. Cars sped past at 70mph as 90-year-old Mr Murphy trundled along at a maximum speed of 8mph on the busy six-lane road. Wrong turn: Stanley Murphy, 90, inadvertently turned onto the busy A27 on his mobility scooter after going the wrong way while out to get his morning paper Mr Dunne, 46, said: 'He wasn't even on the hard shoulder, but right in the middle of the slow lane. Police drove Mr Murphy home, while Mr Dunne lifted his scooter onto the back of his truck and returned it to the pensioner's bungalow, close to a slip road leading to the A27. Safely back home, Mr Murphy said: 'I went out to get a paper and took a wrong turning. 'I don't know how I ended up on the A27 but I'm thankful to everyone who helped me.' PC Jim Lockwood said: 'This gentleman was obviously confused and in the circumstances it is unlikely we would take any further action.' The confused pensioner is helped off the dual carriageway by police and Highways officers. Mr Dunne later returned his scooter to his home .

Michigan man pleads no contest for performing a sex act with a car wash vacuum Associated Press February 26, 2009 SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — A man has pleaded no contest to indecent exposure after police said he was arrested for performing a sex act with a car wash vacuum. The Saginaw News reported 29-year-old Jason Leroy Savage entered the plea Wednesday in Saginaw County Circuit Court. A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt but will be treated as one at sentencing on March 25. Police said Savage was arrested after a resident called officers early on Oct. 16 to report suspicious activity at a car wash in Thomas Township, about 90 miles northwest of Detroit. Defense attorney Philip Alexander Sturtz had no immediate comment Thursday.

Naked female found in possession of ’skunk weed’ March 2nd, 2009, 3:28 pm · Some scenarios law officers just can’t be trained for, such as finding a bag of marijuana produced from the rectal area of a female recently engaged in coitus with another female. Responding to a call of a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of the Dollar General Store on US 231 shortly before 1 a.m. Friday , deputies found two partially nude females, ages 24 and 20, engaged in sexual activity in a 2005 white Nissan. After allowing the women to get dressed, Deputies observed multiple white pills in the vehicle, according to a Bay County Sheriff’s Office incident report. The 20-year-old woman told officers the pills, a generic form of Lower Tab, were hers and she did not have a prescription for them. The woman then confessed to having a baggie of marijuana, which she “retrieved…from her rectum.” The woman was released and told to contact an investigator Monday. The marijuana was kept as evidence.

World’s Fastest Corvette February 24, 2009 “ Going from zero to 60 mph in one second will make people stop and stare, but Rod Saboury need not drive his 2,400-horsepower, twin-turbo-charged Corvette that fast to grab attention . Sometimes, the Millers resident and National Hot Rod Association driver cruises along Carroll County’s streets or pulls up into a McDonald’s drive-through, and then heads turn - fixated on the Corvette’s dragster-engine sound, fire-red exterior and hot-rod designs. “It’s like driving a UFO on the highway,” says Saboury, 58, whose 1963-model Corvette is widely regarded as the fastest street-legal car on the planet. The car so impressed the editors at Super Chevy magazine that the 35-year-old publication named Saboury’s Corvette as its inaugural Car of the Year in its February issue.

Man stuffs cat in homemade bong Mon Mar 2, 2009 This March 1, 2009, booking photo provided by the Lancaster County Sheriff's Dept., shows Acea Schomaker of Lincoln, Neb. He was booked Sunday on suspicion of animal cruelty, after deputies caught him smoking marijuana from a bong contraption that had a cat stuffed inside its 12-inch by 6-inch base. Schomaker told Lancaster County sheriff's deputies the 6-month-old female cat named Shadow had been hyper and that he was trying to calm her. Shadow was taken to the Capital Humane Society, where she appeared to be in good condition.

A participant named Drag Noa performs at a drag queen competition during carnival festivities in Las Palmas on the Spanish Canary Island of Gran Canaria, late February 20, 2009.

2,000-Year-Old Electricity February 22, 2009 “If you thought electric bulbs and batteries were modern European inventions, here is something to put that fact to question A 1936 excavation of some 2000-years-old ruins in an ancient Baghdad village unearthed a small yellow clay vase about 6 inches in height. It had a copper-sheet cylinder lining within it that measured 5 x 1.5 inches… Ever since its recovery, several possibilities have been suggested by experts. Wilhelm König, the German archaeologist brought forth a startling idea that the clay pot could well be a form of electric battery. Following his theory, a Massachusetts based engineer Willard F.M. Gray created a model of this battery in 1940, filled it with copper sulfate solution and proved that it could produce electricity.”

Marijuana Inc. February 18, 2009 “ Inside America’s Pot Industry … How bout we legalize marijuana, tax the crap out of it, and maybe get our economy out of this recession. I’ll rather have college kids being stoned, instead of being drunk.” w/ video

2009-02-26 - Weird News Julie Farby - AHN Reporter Russian Man Dies After Swallowing Bottle Of Viagra Moscow, Russia (AHN) -- A Russian man died after swallowing a bottle of Viagra to keep him going for a 12-hour sex marathon with two female friends. The women reportedly bet Russian mechanic Sergey Tuganov $4,300 that he wouldn't be able to follow through on his half-day sex marathon claims. But soon after winning the bet, the 28-year-old died of an apparent heart attack. One of the women, who identified herself only as Alina, said, "We called emergency services but it was too late, there was nothing they could do."

A queen of the drums of the Vai-Vai samba school parades at the Sambadrome as part of Carnival celebrations in Sao Paulo, Brazil, early on February 22, 2009.

Billion-To-One Bullet Collision February 28, 2009 “As an illustration of luck, it doesn’t get much more explosive. This remarkable picture shows how two bullets from opposing troops fused after striking each other in mid-air . The odds of the clash are said to be a billion-to-one and it could well have saved the lives of two soldiers. What makes the discovery more incredible is that the bullets are 150 years old and were found on the battlefields of the Crimean War, now in Ukraine. One has been identified as Russian, the other French. The discovery is said to have been made close to Balaclava, site of the notorious Charge of the Light Brigade, one of the most notorious events in British military history.”

Schoolgirl, 15, makes small fortune as prostitute Agence France-Presse February 27, 2009 12:54am A 15-YEAR-old schoolgirl in northeast England earned about £14,000 ($A30,641) over two months by working as a prostitute. Her unusual weekend job was exposed when a teacher at her school in South Shields, near Newcastle, found condoms, lubricant and details of the agency she worked for in her school bag. Police officers who searched her home found more than £8000 stashed in the attic in November last year. The girl, who cannot be named because she is a minor, is thought to have netted around £1700 pounds every weekend. Details of the case emerged during a hearing at South Tyneside Magistrates Court on February 13 to decide what should happen to the cash. Asa Anderson, representing Northumbria Police, told the hearing: "The money was seized after police received a phone call from a school where a teacher found a pupil's bag. The bag was found containing certain items." The court decided the cash should be forfeited to the authorities. Police said a man aged 44 and a woman aged 46 were arrested on suspicion of inciting child prostitution, but later released facing no further action. The schoolgirl herself is not thought to be facing any charges.

Sex charge teacher walks free from court Friday 27th February 2009 Controversial judge Julian Hall today let a teacher who had sex with a 15-year-old boy walk free after saying he wasn’t sure she harmed him. Catherine Armstrong, 33, had promised the boy a “birthday bonk” for his 16th and had sex with him several times while he was still 15. She initially denied the charges but then admitted two counts of sexual activity with a child and one of touching him while in a position of trust. The teenager — who cannot be identified but has learning difficulties — asked Judge Hall at the trial to be “nice to her” when he sentenced her. He said it took him “a stupidly long time to realise that what we were doing was wrong”. Mother-of-two Armstrong, of Hunt Road, Thame, wrote emails to her young lover after the relationship broke down, in which she declared her love. Yesterday Judge Hall — criticised in the past for his sentencings of paedophiles — gave Armstrong a 12-month prison sentence but suspended it for two years after calling the case unique. He said: “I find it impossible to decide if he has been harmed by what you did but you shouldn’t have done it.” She will sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years. The Oxford Times

Deters: 'This is off-the-charts weird' Prosecutor certain convict abused more than three corpses February 27, 2009 Cincinnati.Com On many nights over 16 years, Kenneth Douglas engaged in his own personal macabre workplace party. He often brought drugs or alcohol to work and sometimes had sex with women. At least three of those women were dead, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said Thursday. But if Douglas is to be believed, he could have had sex with as many as "over a hundred" bodies in the 16 years he worked as night attendant at the Hamilton County morgue. "I am sure there are more (victims). I'm certain of it," Deters said Thursday in announcing new indictments against Douglas. "This guy's just a pig. I can't explain why someone would do something like this. ... This is off-the-charts weird." Douglas, 55, of Westwood, already is serving a prison sentence after he pleaded guilty last year to abuse of a corpse. He admitted he had sex with the nearly beheaded body of 19-year-old murder victim Karen Range in 1982. Thursday, Douglas was indicted on two more counts of abuse of a corpse after DNA evidence, Deters said, showed Douglas' semen was in the bodies of two women who were killed in 1991 and stored at the morgue awaiting autopsies: Charlene Edwards, also known as Charlene Apling, who was six months pregnant. She was strangled to death Oct. 1, 1991, by Mark Chambers, now 47, in Chambers' Avondale home. Chambers originally was charged with murder but accepted a plea bargain and was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sent to prison for 10-25 years. He was paroled in 2000.

Angel Hicks, 24, of Westwood. Tyrone Williams, 59, was charged with murder in the December 1991 death of Hicks. He was acquitted months later at trial. There was a question whether Hicks was killed or committed suicide . Deters said he was stunned by so many aspects of the case: sex with a corpse, sex with violently mutilated or damaged bodies, sex with dozens of bodies. "Frankly, it's frightening. His numbers when he's (talked to authorities) go from one to three or four to 'a lot' to maybe over a hundred," Deters said, quoting Douglas. "I think it's fair to speculate that he's been doing this all the time, when he's able and had the opportunity." After Douglas admitted abusing Range's corpse last year, prosecutors said they suspected there were other victims. They called area law enforcement agencies asking for cases to investigate. That evidence was mostly vaginal swabs taken from the bodies during autopsies. Officials came up with 15 cases they believe could have involved Douglas. DNA could be found on 12 of them. Of those, two showed the semen belonged to Douglas. "We'll never know" how many victims there are, Deters said, "because (Douglas) doesn't know. We probably won't (ever) know the scope of his abuse." "It doesn't surprise me there are other victims. What's surprising is we were able to demonstrate it," Deters said. Eighteen years ago DNA was in its infancy as an investigative tool.

Deters' office contacted the family members of Edwards and Hicks to tell them of the new accusations against Douglas. "It's fair to say they were devastated by this news," Deters said. "I feel badly for the families who are never going to know.“ Douglas, Deters added, told officials he remembered having sex with Range but didn't recall Edwards or Hicks. "No one ever saw this man do anything," Deters said. The closest, he believes, was an incident in which an assistant coroner tried to get into a room with bodies and found it locked. A few minutes after the doctor knocked, Deters said, "Douglas walked out." Deters supports a pending bill that increases the crime of abuse of a corpse - specifically having sex with a corpse - from one year in prison to five years in prison. The crime at the time of the alleged 1991 incidents called for a maximum prison sentence of 18 months. That means the charges filed against Douglas on Thursday carry a maximum prison sentence of three years. Douglas was caught when he violated his probation on a previous conviction, and his DNA was taken by officials and placed in a database. The database showed Douglas' DNA matched that of the semen left in Range's body. "I hope," Deters said, "I never see anybody like Kenneth Douglas again."

Slumdog Millionaire star…. Freida Pinto Age: 24 She may be on the way to becoming a household name following the success of Slumdog Millionaire. But before her rise to fame Freida Pinto was once an young aspiring model.