The obesity epidemic is changing the way first responders deal with patients who are literally 4 or 5 times as large as those patients they usually deal with. I have some compassion for the family of Mrs Smith, but also some for the coroner’s office. 750 pounds is a remarkable, tremendous, massive weight and I think they acted the best they could in a novel situation. Outcry over Mrs Smith’s post mortem plight did change how the coroner’s office will handle similar situations in the future.
Obese Woman Dragged From Home, Hauled Away After Death
Boyfriend, Son Watched As Woman Was Removed
TheIndyChannel.com | May 20, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS — The Marion County Coroner’s Office has come under fire after it was revealed that an obese woman was dragged from her home and hauled away on a trailer in front of family members following her death.
Teresa Smith, 48, who weighed 750 pounds, died Tuesday in her apartment on Indianapolis’ northeast side.
Officials at the scene told 6News’ Jack Rinehart that the deputy coroner made the decision to call a towing service to remove the body from the home.
“We debated for quite a while about how we were going to get her out of there and so we finally decided, since we didn’t have a van that was large enough to carry her, it was decided between (the police) department and the coroner’s office to use (the truck),” said Detective Marcus Kennedy.
Poor Mr Smith. According to news accounts he was a good guy, didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, and had recently been involved in a very bad car accident. Today while working a temp job at a cocoa processing plant, he slipped and fell into a vat of melting chocolate. The 8 foot tall vat had a 4 foot opening at the top thru which he was putting cocoa to be melted before he fell. The industrial vat was equipped with large agitator blades and Mr Smith was fatally injured by them before a co-worker could reach the emergency shut off.
Contrary to some reports the cocoa was at 120 degrees, not boiling, as cocoa butter will melt at close to body temperature. Several of his co-workers struggled in vain to free Mr. Smith and news outlets show images of several grief stricken men covered in chocolate. Obviously in anguish many of them smoked cigarettes.
Deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Mr Smith. Industrial accidents are so often tragic.
I stumbled on this story as a stub on philly.com at about 11 am today. First google news search I did gave me 2 hits, the last google news search I did there were close to 400 hits.
I don’t like the lighthearted tone many outlets are taking with this story. Mr Smith wasn’t doing anything silly, he was only working. Hot chocolate was his job. David Carradine and Michael Jackson however were both up to major “mayhem and foolishness” as they shuffled off their mortal coils and CAN and SHOULD be laughed at.
An employee of Lyon & Sons in Camden, New Jersey died after falling into a vat of hot chocolate on Wednesday, July 8, 2009. Shown is an employee of the chocolate factory with his shirt and shorts covered in chocolate. The man declined to give his name when asked. (Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer/Philly.com)
The plant in Camden, NJ.
Colleague at chocolate factory tried to save the victim (credit: Fox News)
The late Mr. Vincent Smith II.
The late Mr. Vincent Smith II.
A worker is comforted by emergency crews following yesterday's accident
Firecrews and other staff were left covered in chocolate after going to Mr Smith's rescue
Mixing vat for chocolate similar to the one Mr Smith was working with.
Image from wxyz.com
Worker dies after fall into chocolate
Philly.com | By Matthew Spolar, Inquirer Staff Writer | Posted on Wed, Jul. 8, 2009
A temp worker at a Camden chocolate processing plant died this morning after he fell into an eight-foot vat that was mixing and melting chocolate to be used in Hershey’s candy.
Vincent Smith II, 29, of Camden, was standing atop a platform and tossing blocks of solid, raw chocolate into the tank, Jason Laughlin, spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, said. Read more…
Dr. Jerri Nielsen FitzGerald was a personal hero of this author. Her book Ice Bound : A Doctor’s Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole was a compelling tale. In it she details treating her own breast cancer and preforming surgery on herself. She also captured the odd rhythms and ways of living at the south pole.It was also a story of “where do you go when you think you’re done.”After the double whammies of a divorce and breast cancer she found a way to keep on trucking, she didn’t crawl into a bottle or a pint of Ben & Jerry’s she went to the South Pole. Hats off to you Dr. Jerri. Thanks for the inspiration.
She is shown here at the south pole.
Doctor rescued from the pole faced cancer with serenity and sparkle
BY ELLEN CREAGER | June 25, 2009 | www.freep.com
In April, the voice came weakly over the phone: “This is Jerri Nielsen FitzGerald. I heard you called me.”
I stopped what I was doing at my desk and paid full attention. We had a nice talk about the article I’d written about her in March, an update of the now-familiar inspirational story about her experience as a doctor who was airlifted off Antarctica in 1999 after doing a breast cancer biopsy on herself.
I asked how she was doing. She said she was weak but OK.
She thanked me for calling.
I wished her well and said good-bye.
Now I wish I’d said more. I wish I’d told her about all the people who read that story.
Dr. Jerri Nielsen FitzGerald died Tuesday of cancer at her home in Southwick, Mass., at the age of 57.
In the months of 2008 and 2009 that we corresponded, what impressed me about her was her serenity. She knew cancer had invaded her brain and that the end was near. Still, she gave speeches. She spent happy times with friends and family in Florida and Mexico.
With the current state of the world environment and the dwindling frog populations world wide I’m reminded of the Chris Rock quote, “Grand Opening-Grand Closing.”
Boophis aff elenae. (Credit: Miguel Vences)
About 200 New Species Of Amphibians In Madagascar Discovered
ScienceDaily.com | May 5, 2009
Between 129 and 221 new species of frogs have been identified in Madagascar, practically doubling the currently known amphibian fauna. The finding suggests that the number of amphibian species in Madagascar, one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, has been significantly underestimated. According to the researchers, if these results are extrapolated at a global scale, the number of amphibian species worldwide could double.
Their study, conducted with participation of the Spanish Scientific Research Council (CSIC), is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
As Professor David R. Vieites, CSIC researcher at the Spanish National Natural Sciences Museum in Madrid, states: “the diversity of species in Madagascar is far from being known and there is still a lot of scientific research to be done. Our data suggest that the number of new species of amphibians not only has been underestimated but it is spatially widespread, even in well studied areas. For example, two of the most visited and studied National parks, Ranomafana and Mantadía/Analamazaotra, harbour 31 and 10 new species respectively.”
Ok readers time for a math quiz. Let’s assume the seniors are 18 now, if their child is 16 months old and assuming the pregnancy was healthy and normal, how old was the young lady when she got inseminated? Extra credit, what grade would she have been in?
No seriously, I’m asking for real, I’ve had an amazingly long weekend and need more coffee, more sleep and more time in the day and in my life to fit in all the wonderfulness.
New Directions School in Texas
The Class of 2009 marks graduation
By SANDRA ENGELLAND | Wednesday, Jun. 10, 2009 | www.kellercitizen.com
Keller district seniors celebrated the end of their high school days in various ways over the last week.
Graduation for most Class of 2009 members took place Saturday at the Tarrant County Convention Center in downtown Fort Worth.
The district’s smallest spring commencement was perhaps the most eventful. Jerad Markham, a graduating senior from New Directions High School, proposed to fellow student Stephanie Feidler in front of the crowd near the end of festivities Thursday in the Rock Gym in Keller.
“I couldn’t think of any better way to propose because the whole staff at New Directions has been so supportive of us, and my whole family was there,” Markham said.
Markham had planned with Principal Kenneth Anderson to pop the question as part of the ceremony. After handing out diplomas, Anderson called Markham up to the microphone to talk about the importance of relationships. Markham asked Feidler to join him, went down on one knee and pulled out a ring.
Smiling through happy tears, Feidler said, “Yes.”
The two teens have been dating for several years and have a 16-month-old daughter, Emily.
Anderson said he had several discussions with Markham in recent weeks, and the student said he wanted to take responsibility for his life and family and to make some positive changes. He has enlisted in the Army and said both he and his fiancée plan to continue their educations beyond high school.
Elmbrook administrators suspended six Brookfield East seniors this week after police ticketed them for erecting a swing set on the school’s roof.
Early Friday night, the superintendent and the prinicipal changed their minds and decided the students will get to participate in the graduation ceremony on Saturday in spite of their suspension.
Nate Hoaglund, Zachary Domach and Alexander Holiday are among the academic cream of the crop at Brookfield East, 12 News reporter Colleen Henry said.
“Out of the six of us we had ranks, 1, 2, 5, 10,” Domach said.
Originally the district told them and three of their friends they couldn’t participate in Saturday’s graduation because they were the masterminds of this year’s senior prank.
“We didn’t want anything that would disrupt education or cost the school district money — something that would just basically be harmful,” Domach said.
“We decided we would assemble a swing set on top of the school roof,” Holiday said.
The guys said their prank was designed to send their schoolmates a message.
Oh how I wonder what large obscene image these kids made.
Kapolei High School
Random shot of the school's marching band.
Prank Nixes Kapolei H.S. President From Graduation
7 Students Banned From Walking At Ceremony
June 4, 2009 | KITV.com
HONOLULU — A pre-graduation prank will mean no graduation ceremony for several Kapolei High School students, including the senior class president.
Police arrested five 17-year-olds and two 18-year-olds early Friday morning after seeing a car being driven recklessly on the Kapolei High School campus.
The students had painted a large obscene image on a walkway and glued some door locks, witnesses said.
Police charged the senior class president with trespassing and reckless driving.
The school banned the students from Friday night’s graduation ceremony. The class president was scheduled to speak at the ceremony, but has been replaced, officials said.
Copyright 2009 by KITV.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Sex In Christ doesn’t look like a parody site, but is it? I am not a Christian nor am I familiar with biblical text. Glancing at the content on www.sexinchrist.com, it looks good to me. They have citations and such and seem to understand the scripture well enough to apply it to different situations. The arguments about anal sex are in tune with what I’ve heard is a an increase in anal sex among teens, specifically Christian teens and a uh, loophole so to speak in the “purity” movement.
You may be shocked at first by this idea. Isn’t anal sex (sodomy) forbidden by the Bible? Isn’t anal sex dirty? What’s the difference between having anal sex before marriage and having regular intercourse? Let’s address these issues by debunking some myths about anal sex and God’s will.
“I thought the Bible said anal sex was a sin.”
This is a common misconception. Anal sex is confusing to many Christians because of the attention paid to the Bible’s condemnation of homosexual acts. However, it’s important to realize that these often quoted scriptures refer only to sexual acts between two men. Nowhere does the Bible forbid anal sex between a male and female.
Sexinchrist.com covers other topics too, including shaving.
The Trouble With Stubble
Is there any treatment of pubic hair that is wrong? Definitely. One thing about which there can be no debate is the evil of stubble:
“All that do wickedly shall be stubble.” (Mal 4:1) “And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.” (Ex 15:7)We know that God doesn’t like it when we do things halfway. “So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:16) So if you’re going to shave, shave. If you’re going to go natural, go natural. But avoid stubble. It is unsightly, itchy, and uncomfortable for both you and your spouse.
Little League coach accused of teaching boys to steal — but not bases
The Associated Press | June 9, 2009
ARLINGTON, Wash. — A Little League coach in Washington state has been accused of using some of his players to help in a break-in.
Snohomish County prosecutors charged 31-year-old George Spady Jr. on Monday with burglary.
Court documents allege he took his son, a nephew and another player from the team with him when he broke into a vacant Arlington shop and took overhead lights and other items.
Police say Spady’s son crawled through a vent on the back side of the store and unlocked the door for his father, who then coached the boys to grab things from inside.
One boy told his stepfather, who called deputies.
The Everett Herald reports the boys are not expected to be charged.
Cat Burglar
BBC News Leicester | May 2009
Has your cat ever brought you an unwanted ‘present’? They’re renowned for it aren’t they? But for one lady in Loughborough, her pet’s presents are causing quite a bit of embarrassment. BBC Leicester’s Julie Mayer went to investigate.
Louise Brandon, who lives in Loughborough, has a cat with a most unusual obsession.
“It’s a bit better than dead animals. We’ve had cats that brought in birds, shrews and things. But he has brought in nothing live. “says Louise Brandon, of Loughborough.
Most pet cats occasionally bring in dead animals but Henry can’t get enough (by which we mean pinch enough) socks.
Louise is quite relaxed about the matter. “I figure that because it’s a recession we need something useful in the home. So [Henry] has taken to bringing in socks. Mostly clean, thankfully, but there have been a couple of dirty ones.”
Footage of a bull in a supermarket, Cummins SuperValu in Ballinrobe Co. Mayo to be exact. This would be much better if it were set to “Yakkedty Sax.” Love when the guy runs down the aisle then realizes, whooopss, wrong aisle, here comes the bull!
