… Finally Friday … May 25 th 2007

This 2003 photo released by Odyssey Marine Exploration(OME) shows a gold Coronet Head 20-Dollar Double Eagle coin recovered from the shipwreck of the SS Republic. OME deep-sea treasure hunters said on Friday they have found 17 tones of silver coins, the largest collection ever retrieved from a shipwreck at an undisclosed Atlantic Ocean location.

Found $10 turns into $1 million Ohio lottery win North Canton -- Any way you look at it, Kristina K. Schneider -- a gas-station cashier and single mother of a 9-year-old girl named Janae -- was destined to become a millionaire. On Thursday, she found a $10 on the floor at BP gasoline station where she works and went around asking customers if anyone had lost the bill. There were no takers. Next, a customer strolled in to the Market Avenue station and bought two Magnificent Millions lottery tickets, leaving only one on that game's roll. Schneider tried to convince the customer to buy that ticket, too. He said, no. Schneider decided to buy that last scratch-off ticket with the $10 she found, and it ended up being worth $1 million. "After I won, I felt bad for the customer," Schneider said, adding that the customer who passed on the ticket comes in to play the lottery nearly every day. "I'm always joking with customers, telling them that 'you know that last one is the winner'." Kristina K. Schneider There is an unwritten rule among lottery players and sellers, Schneider said, that "says you just can't leave that last ticket. You've got to buy it." Schneider hesitated, but adhered to the "last ticket" lottery legend and pulled the $1 million ticket from the roll. Like many winners, she doubled-checked the $10 ticket a dozen times, and was not totally convinced she had won until Ohio Lottery officials confirmed it at the North Canton lottery office. "I thought someone was playing a trick on me, and I was waiting for Candid Camera to come out," Schneider said. She chose annual payments instead of a lump sum and after state and federal withholding taxes will receive $34,500 annually for the next 20 years.

Toddler's dance destroys monks' intricate sand painting The Kansas City Star Talk about a test of faith. Eight Tibetan monks spent two days cross-legged on the floor at Union Station, leaning over to meticulously create an intricate design of colored sand as an expression of their Buddhist faith. They were more than halfway done. And then, within seconds, their work was destroyed by a toddler. Monks are bald, so they couldn’t rip their hair out. But were they angry? Did they curse? No. They simply smiled and started over. “No problem,” said Geshe Lobsang Sumdup, leader of the group from the Drepung Gomang Monastery in southern India. “We didn’t get despondent,” he said Wednesday through a translator. “We have three days more. So we will have to work harder.” That the monks were able to shrug off their setback can be attributed to their religion. “It teaches us that nothing is permanent,” said Staci Olsen, a volunteer at the Rime Buddhist Center in Kansas City. Sometime Tuesday after the monks had finished their labors for the day a woman with her small child visited the post office inside Union Station, near where the design was being created. The child, apparently attracted by the pretty colors, wandered over to play with it. “He did a little tap dance on it, completely destroying it,” said Lama Chuck Stanford of the Rime center. The mother did not report the incident, but a security camera at Union Station captured the moment. “She summarily picked the child up and boogied,” said Bob Smock, security manager for the station. The sand design was surrounded by stanchions, but the child simply went under the tape. Officials have said they now will place benches around the new creation to further protect it.

http://www.blacksmithinstitute.org/ten.php

Jackson Won't Block Souvenir Sale E-Online Despite reports to the contrary, the erstwhile King of Pop did not turn up in a Las Vegas court Friday to try to stop an auction of his personal possessions and some Jackson family souvenirs. Jackson's publicist issued a statement refuting speculation that the singer was going to appear before Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez to personally protest the firesale. Instead, Jackson attorney Gregory Cross appeared in the courtroom to tell Gonzalez that Jackson and Universal Express had reached an agreement to settle a suit the Gloved One filed Apr. 27. Terms were kept confidential, although a lawyer for Universal Express indicated some contested items were removed. A spokeswoman for Guernsey's auction house of New York, which is handling the auction, said the sale will proceed as scheduled on May 30-31 at Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The singer had sought a temporary injunction to halt the auction as well as punitive damages against Universal Express, a luggage transportation firm based in Boca Raton, Florida. The company received a cache of 20,000 Jackson family items from Henry Vacaro, a New Jersey construction owner and onetime Jackson partner, as part of a bankruptcy case last year. Vacaro scored the mementos to resolve a separate case against Michael's parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson , and brothers Tito and Jermaine in 2002. Vacaro was awarded ownership of a warehouse full of family belongings. Universal Express estimates the value of the stash to be worth about $50 million , and the company planned to put about 1,000 pieces of memorabilia up for bid........................... PicturesJackson made of children, of boys—naked. And there are some of his whitening creams, some sex aids...some of the old records in his sealed [sexual molestation] court case," Altomare said. "This is stuff we have kept from the auction out of respect to Mr. Jackson. The guy has troubles. We all have skeletons in the closet and, if Michael hadn't put up a fuss, I might have quietly, discreetly, just given it to him. I'm a gentleman...but if he pisses me off, I may end up auctioning them."

X-rated nude car wash gets police all-clear Thu May 17, 11:50 AM ET A nude car wash offering an X-rated sideshow and topless cleaning in Australia's tropical Queensland state has been given the all-clear after police and officials said they were powerless to scrub it. The Bubbles 'n' Babes car wash in Brisbane prompted a flood of complaints with a topless car wash for A$55 ($45) and a nude car wash with X-rated lap-dance service for A$100. "If it was approved for a car wash then I can't imagine how we can stop them," Lord Mayor Campbell Newman told a council meeting with worried local lawmakers. Professional car washes have boomed in most cities with drought-stricken Australians banned from washing their own cars due to tough water restrictions. Queensland police denied any cover-up in a state where their image has been dented by past accusations of police corruption and involvement with organized crime. The raunchy wash, set up by a strip-club owner, was screened from the public and used recycled water to avoid breaching water use restrictions, they said. "We don't want any traffic accidents caused by people looking at the girls instead of looking at the road," Superintendent Colin Campbell told local media.

Escorts Arrested First Coast News JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office arrested three people Tuesday on prostitution charges after an undercover escort sting. 26-year-old Sara Ann Jewell is accused of agreeing to have sex with an undercover detective for $260. Police says they found 31-year-old Abied Padun on a transsexual escort site. They also say Padun took $200 for a massage, then took of his clothes and talked about going further. 40-year-old Sheryl Lynn Pierce is charged with agreeing to have sex with the officer for $260. Padun and Jewell also face charges for participating in escort work between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m., which is against the law. All three remain in the Duval County Jail.

Three teachers, minister arrested after park sex sting 05:06 PM PDT on Thursday, May 17, 2007 kgw.com SALEM – Three teachers and a minister were arrested last weekend for allegedly having sex in a public park, authorities said. The men were identified as Harry Nelson, 57, a teacher at Parrish Middle School in Salem; Ronald Bridge, 53, an elementary school teacher at Sunset Primary School in West Linn and John Backus, a professor at Western Oregon University. One of the other suspects is listed in the Salem phone book as Reverend Steven Adams. Four additional men -- some of them registered sex offenders -- were arrested during a two-day sting operation at Holman Wayside Park, said Polk County Sheriff Robert Wolfe. "This is a result of mostly public indecency and deviant sexual acts" which happened in broad daylight on park trails, Wolfe said. He added that the acts took place between consenting adults. The sting took place Saturday and Sunday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. “Apparently, this has become quite a problem and we’re working to put a stop to it," the sheriff said. The park is located about two miles west of downtown Salem. It has a reputation as a place for illegal sexual activity as well as drug use, according to Wolfe. Nelson is on administrative leave and Bridge announced Wednesday that he is retiring. Backus will continue teaching for now.

http://www.nee-antwerpen.be/index-eng.htm

General George A. Custer

General Custer

This is a photograph of George Armstrong Custer. The photograph was taken in 1862, during the Civil War. At the time, Custer was serving as a Lieutenant in the Army. As was often the case, Custer is pictured with a dog nearby.

War Sucks

Girls