Archive | June, 2008

Batman Kills Teen in Fatal Roller Coaster Accident

30 Jun

Deepest sympathies to the family and friends affected by this latest tragic turn of events. Batman the Dark Knight indeed.

Rides and parks are more dangerous than you think. I had a friend in middle school who was killed on a coaster. The ride operator did a false stop in the station, my pal stood up, the ride operator restarted the ride to pull all the cars into the station and my pal hit her head, HARD and eventually died.  She was not decapitated or doing anything remotely wrong. The homecoming Queen at my high school was decapitated but in a separate incident involving formal wear.

For more information on ride accidents I can’t recommend this site, rideaccidents.com enough. I don’t send you to this link out of alarm, but for information, some rides are more dangerous, some actions  more dangerous. Aw hell, who am I kidding, the video clip of the flaming Enterprise was stunning.

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Actual sign in front of the ride.

Ride shut down while fatal accident investigated
Officials are examining fence, signs around Batman The Ride
www.ajc.com  |  By YOLANDA RODRIGUEZ  |  Published on: 06/29/08

State investigators kept Batman The Ride at Six Flags Over Georgia closed Monday as they went over the site where a teenager died Saturday.

Cobb police were wrapping up their own investigation into the accident.

The state Labor Department was looking at the ride, the fence and the signs around the ride, said Charlie Schroder, the legislative liaison for the Labor Commissioner Michael L. Thurmond

“At present, the ride has been taken out of service pending the completion of the findings of our preliminary investigation into the incident,” Schroder said. “When we are satisfied the ride can be operated safely, it will return to operation. …We are moving as expeditiously as possible,” Schroder said.

After spending Saturday morning at the park, Asia Leeshawn Ferguson, 17, and David Jenkins, 19, his cousin, took a break in the parking lot.

Instead of re-entering the park through the main gate, they scaled two fences “an iron perimeter fence and a chain link one that surrounds the roller coaster” to get to their next amusement destination: Batman The Ride.

The result was tragic.

Ferguson was decapitated, said Michael Cosper, operations manager for the Cobb County Medical Examiner. His death was ruled accidental, Cosper said on Monday. Toxicological exams were sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and would not be available for several weeks.

A police report said Ferguson’s body was found underneath the ride.

The two fences the teens scaled were marked with signs that said the area was restricted to authorized personnel and was a “danger zone,” park officials said.

Park officials had said early Monday that the ride would be opened. But said later that the ride remained close.

Sgt. Dana Piece, a Cobb police spokesman, said police were wrapping up their investigation Monday.

Jenkins told police investigators that rather then re-entering through the main gate, the two decided to scale the fences, which lead directly to the ride.

Ferguson was traveling with his parents and other members of the Oakley Spring Baptist Church, which was visiting the park from Columbia, S.C.

His mother, Letha Ferguson, said Monday funeral arrangements had not been made.

Silly Alaskan Town Names

27 Jun

It’s Friday and seem to be finding too many missing limbs of late, so enjoy silly names! I’d like to name a town. I even entered an ancient MTV contest to win a town in Texas, think me and a pal were gonna call it DUDELAND.

History, humor in Alaska names from Eek to Sagavanirktok

RACHEL D’ORO, Associated Press Writer | April 16, 2008 | Anchorage, Alaska

Alaska state historian Jo Antonson shows how many places …

Who lost it on Lost Temper Creek? What horror befell the village of Eek? Does it have anything to do with another town being Chicken?

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Cat Climbs Up Powerline Needs Rescue

26 Jun

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Bad cat, bad bad bad bad kitty. I’d have loved to have seem him scamper up the lines though, wouldn’t you? Or maybe he climbed the pole? Hmmm. Alls well that ends well!

Close shave for Freddy the feline
A cat survived 18 hours clinging to high voltage power lines in a Wiltshire village.
Wednesday, 25 June 2008 16:02 UK | news.bbc.co.uk

Engineers from Southern Electric, helped by firefighters and RSPCA officers, finally managed to rescue Freddy who was spotted 25ft (7m) up.

A passer-by had raised the alarm after Freddy was seen close to a live wire.

His owner Emma Evans, 33, said: “It’s not unusual for Freddy to wander off for the night so I hadn’t been too concerned about him.”

When rescuers finally brought him down, the cat ran home with a note from the RSPCA attached to his collar.

It read: “Your cat’s had an adventure. Can you please contact us to let us know he got home safely?”

Ms Evans then contacted the RSPCA to let staff know he was safe and well.

Teen Fights Gator and Wins but Loses Arm

25 Jun

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What a brave, and sorta cute, dude. I am sorry he lost his arm, but glad he saved his own life. Great work on fighting the gator, in the dark, in the water. Get better soon Kasey! I hope you can sell your story for a fortune. I hope you had health insurance.

Alligators are dangerous and will bite humans. For more Miss Fidget posts on man vs alligator stories see here, here, here and here.

Okeechobee teen recovers from gator attack
Eye poke frees man from jaws
BY KAUSTUV BASU | www.floridatoday.com | June 25, 2008

Kasey Edwards looked into the eyes of the big, sturdy alligator and started praying.

“I touched him. He felt like a rock,” Edwards said.

The 18-year-old had jumped into Nubbin Slough, a canal near Lake Okeechobee about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, to replicate a high school stunt. Seconds later, he felt as if a giant pair of pliers had clamped down on his left arm.

A 111/2 foot alligator had grabbed his hand and was trying to drag him to the bottom of the 25-foot canal. The reptile tried to twist him around.

“The death roll,” the construction worker thought.

Edwards grabbed on to a buoy line. He then poked the alligator’s eye.

The alligator let go. Edwards tried to swim ashore to his frantic friends. He could not.

What had been his left arm minutes prior was a jagged piece of flesh. He paddled painfully towards the bank with his right arm.

The Okeechobee resident, now recuperating at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, lost his left arm from above the elbow in the early morning tussle.

“It could have been worse. I was staring at death,” Edwards said.

Between 1948 and August, 2004, 376 cases of alligator attacks were reported in the country, according to the Wilderness and Environmental Medicine journal. Florida accounted for 334 of them, including 14 fatalities.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 17 deaths due to alligator attacks have been reported in Florida since 1948.

“I am lucky,” he said.

At the hospital Tuesday, Edwards said that he feels that his left arm is asleep. “I feel like I’m going to see it any moment,” he said.

His mother, Kim Edwards, said she was proud of her son. “It is a miracle. God is with us,” she said.

His friends have let him know that the alligator has been trapped and destroyed.

According to an Associated Press report about the incident, witnesses reportedly tried to persuade Edwards not to get into the canal. The report also attributes a witness as telling the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office that Edwards may have been impaired.

Edwards said Tuesday he had a few drinks much earlier but was not under the influence at the time of the incident.

“There is no way I could have fought the alligator off if I was drunk,” he said.

Cute Chinese Baby Has 3 Arms

24 Jun

This baby is REALLY cute. This is an older story but still worth noting. The extra appendage though unusual, seems well formed and is semi functional. Click here to read a post about another Chinese baby born with something extra. Come back soon to read about the outcome for this cutie.

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Baby With 3 Arms May Have Surgery
www.sfgate.com | Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Doctors in Shanghai are considering surgery options for a two-month old boy born with an unusually well-formed third arm.

Neither of the boy’s two left arms is fully functional and tests have so far been unable to determine which was more developed, said Dr. Chen Bochang, head of the orthopedics department at Shanghai Children’s Medical Center.

“His case is quite peculiar. We have no record of any child with such a complete third arm,” Chen said in a telephone interview. “It’s quite difficult to decide how to do the operation on him.”

The boy, identified only as “Jie-jie,” also was born with just one kidney and may have problems that could lead to curvature of the spine, according to local media reports.

Jie-jie cried when either of his left arms was touched, but smiled and responded normally to other stimuli, the reports said.

Chen said doctors hoped to work out a plan for surgery, but the boy’s small size made it impossible to perform certain tests that would help them prepare.

“We are meeting with several experts now. We hope we could work the plan out soon,” Chen said.

Media reports said other children have been reported born with additional arms and legs, but in all those cases it was clear what limb was more developed.

Chen’s hospital is one of China’s most experienced in dealing with unusual birth defects, including separating conjoined twins. Like Jie-jie, many of the children are sent to relatively wealthy Shanghai from the poor inland province of Anhui.

George Carlin Dead

23 Jun

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George Carlin,  acerbic, dark and very smart comedian has died at age 71.  Early in his career he came up with a skit about 7 short words that went all the way to the Supreme Court, which is outlined below.

His dabbles with drugs and other demons have been well documented but he largely lived a decent good life. He worked much harder than he had too because he loved to work, and share and piss and moan.

Look elsewhere for details of how rich, varied and brave his career was. I even enjoyed his books.

The following is excerpted from Wikipedia about his 7 Dirty Words Battle.
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In 1972, comedian George Carlin was arrested for disturbing the peace when he performed the “Seven Dirty Words” at a show in Wisconsin. In 1973, Carlin recorded a monologue known as “Filthy Words” containing seven obscenities. The Pacifica radio station WBAI-FM broadcast it uncensored on October 30 of the same year. A man driving in the car with his son heard the broadcast and complained to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) because he was unhappy his son had heard it.

Following the lodging of the complaint, the FCC proceeded to ask Pacifica for a response, then issued a declaratory order upholding the complaint. No specific sanctions were included in the order, but WBAI was put on notice that “in the event subsequent complaints are received, the Commission will then decide whether it should utilize any of the available sanctions it has been granted by Congress.”

Pacifica appealed against this decision, which was overturned by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The FCC in turn appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the FCC, see: FCC v. Pacifica Foundation 438 U.S. 726 (1978) and First Amendment Library entry on the case.

This decision formally established indecency regulation in American broadcasting. In follow-up rulings, the Supreme Court clarified that the words might be acceptable under certain circumstances, particularly at times when children would not be expected to be in the audience.[1][2]

The words are (with examples):
1. Shit – The bird shit on the statue.
2. Piss – I have to piss like a race horse.
3. Fuck – Fuck you.
4. Cunt – She has a gorgeous cunt.
5. Cocksucker – Go to hell, you cocksucker.
6. Motherfucker – You are a motherfucker.
7. Tits – Hey, nice tits.

Later, Carlin referred to three additional “auxiliary” words:
1. Fart – I farted.
2. Turd – Who dropped a turd in the urinal?
3. Twat – Shave that hairy twat.

In his comedy special Again!, Carlin commented that at one point, a man asked him to remove “motherfucker,” since as a derivative of “fuck,” it constituted a duplication. He has since added it back, claiming the bit’s rhythm doesn’t work without it.

Fake Flotasm Foot Found

20 Jun

With so many feet washing ashore in one small place it makes sense that a hoax would happen. Though a waste of public funds in this case,  humor is one of the release valves of life. The threat, or implied threat of shoe wearing feet being found washed ashore would make your town twitchy too. It’s also a nice poke in the ribs of the authorities who seem to have no real leads. 

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Actual crime scene photo.

Sixth severed foot a hoax
Latest discovery appears to be animal bones stuffed in sneaker
Sandra McCulloch, Times Colonist | June 19, 2008 | www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news

The flotilla of feet clad in sneakers that has washed ashore on the south coast since August 2007 has people talking – and, apparently, trying to egg on the mystery.

Yesterday, the B.C. coroner’s office determined that a foot found Wednesday on a Campbell River beach was a hoax. Someone took the bones of an animal’s foot and stuffed it in a sock and sneaker, then packed it with seaweed.

This last case at least has an explanation of human involvement. But with a lack of explanations coming from the coroner’s office or RCMP about the five other feet, the public debate over their origin is running rampant. News of the feet has spread around the world.
On Wednesday, a Times Colonist reporter did a live interview the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The story has been picked up by countless media organizations, from CNN and the BBC to the New York Times and the Guardian, as well as newspapers in Europe, India and South Africa. Of prime interest: Where are the feet coming from, and why are they washing ashore in droves?

Tempering the gallows humour that surrounds such stories is the real likelihood that these five feet belong to B.C. people who are now dead. The most reasonable explanations are that the feet belong to fishermen who are missing and presumed drowned, as well as the victims of a February 2005 plane crash near Quadra Island.
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Romania village elects dead mayor

20 Jun

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This story needs no intro.
Romania village elects dead mayor
Tuesday, 17 June 2008 | news.bbc.co.uk

Romanian villagers have voted to re-elect a dead man as their mayor, to prevent his living rival winning.

Neculai Ivascu – who led Voinesti for almost two decades – died from a liver disease on Sunday, too late to cancel the contest.

The village’s loyal residents still gave him 23 more votes than his rival, Gheorghe Dobrescu of the ruling National Liberal Party.

“I know he died, but I don’t want change,” one villager told Romanian TV.

In a controversial decision, the electoral commission declared the runner-up and rival Mr Dobrescu the winner.

Neculai Ivascu’s party, the opposition Social Democrat Party, has said it will contest the decision.

Some villagers have also called for a fresh vote.

Fake Nurses on Crime Spree in Florida

19 Jun

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Now this is a story! It was sent to me by Elizabeth of the BIG TEA PARTY. Surprisingly Wal-Marts and their parking lots are really dangerous places. 

Women Dressed As Nurses Targeting Central Fla. Shoppers
June 16, 2008 | www.local6.com

Investigators said the band of women has been active in several communities, with the latest attack happening at a Sanford Wal-Mart located on 17-92.

In the most recent case, a 74-year-old woman was leaving a store and a group of women were spotted following her. One of the women then grabbed the victim’s purse and jumped into a silver four-door car.

“These women have been striking in Altamonte Springs and in Orlando,” Sanford police Jeffery Sabounji said. “They target elderly people and other females. They even dressed up as nurses to get people to relax so they think they are not going to do anything.”

Investigators said several women are involved in the theft ring but they are looking for one specific woman. She is a heavy-set woman with very short hair and can be mistaken for a man, detectives said.

Officers also said the woman is around 21 years old and apparently lives in Sanford.

Anyone with information concerning this crime is urged to call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

Another Flotsam Foot Found In BC – Foul Play Feared

18 Jun

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I’ve been following this story since the 3rd foot was found.  I am only now posting it as surely 5 feet being found washed ashore is beyond co-incidence. Reading this article has given me a glimpse into another potentially fascinating career, flotsam researcher.

B.C. police find fifth human foot
Severed body part found washed up on Metro Vancouver’s Westham Island
www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news  |  Catherine Rolfsen and Doug Ward, Canwest News Service  |  Monday, June 16, 2008

METRO VANCOUVER – A human left foot was found Monday on Westham Island in Ladner – the fifth disarticulated foot discovered since August on B.C.’s south coast.

Delta Police and the B.C. Coroners Service are trying to establish the identity of the remains and determine whether they can be linked to the recovery of four other feet. The last one found before this was located just upriver last month.

“At this point we really don’t know what we’re dealing with,” said Const. Sharlene Brooks Monday evening. “Without the forensic side of it established, it’s too early to say there are linkages.”

But, she said, the discovery is being treated as a criminal investigation.

Monday’s discovery was a left foot, while the other four were right feet. All five had been submerged in water. Three feet were discovered on Gulf Islands beaches: Jedediah Island (Aug. 20), Gabriola Island (Aug. 26) and Valdes Island (Feb. 8). A fourth was found encased in a running shoe on Kirkland Island, near the Massey Tunnel, on May 22.

Brooks said that at this time of year, it’s not unusual to find human remains washed up on shore.

“It’s just unique that this is another foot. That’s for certain,” she said.

A passerby noticed the foot floating in a shoe, and pulled it to shore before calling police, Brooks said.

She said it could be some time before police are able to say whether the foot’s DNA matches a known missing person, or any of the right feet found previously.

“When you’re trying to confirm identity, you need to be able to compare it with something,” she said. “And when you don’t have that, you might have DNA, but you don’t know to whom it belongs.”

A Seattle oceanographer who has been following the mystery said Monday that the latest discovery bolsters his “working hypothesis” that the feet came down the Fraser River.

“If they all washed down the river and got dispersed, then you could explain all the patterns together,” said Curtis Ebbesmeyer,  who is working on a book about flotsam.

Ebbesmeyer said this is “probably one of the more unique cases” he’s heard of in his career, and has become “worldwide news.”

Statistically, he compared the finding of five human feet with no corresponding body parts to “drawing a royal flush a couple of times.”

But he said the case is no laughing matter.

“The rate at which the body parts is washing up is starting to be alarming,” he said. “It’s very serious. I mean you’re talking potentially five different people, potentially a serial killer, so there’s something going on here that’s beyond our imagination right now.”

Alligator Bites off Hand of Vet in Tawain Zoo

18 Jun

After being sent the compelling photo below I backtracked and found the story, which isn’t new. I’ve found other stories that say this limb was re-attached and the Vet is on the mend. I reckon MissFidget.com is your source for Cap’n Hook photos. Click here to read about Bill Hedden’s alligator encounter in SC and click here to see the startling image. And dear readers please, please, please be careful with your arms when you’re near alligators.
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Alligator bites off vet’s forearm in Taiwan zoo
Asia-Pacific News | Apr 11, 2007, 12:31 GMT

Taipei – An alligator in a Taiwan zoo bit off a veterinarian’s forearm Wednesday when the vet was trying to treat the sick animal.

The incident occurred at the Shoushan Zoo in Kaohsiung, south Taiwan, when zoo vet Chang Po-yu was giving the alligator three anaesthesia shots, so that he could treat the alligator’s illness.

After having given the alligator its shots, Chang, thinking the animal was under anaesthesia, tried to pull the syringe with his left hand from the alligator, but the alligator suddenly turned around and bit off Chang’s left hand and forearm.

Chang was rushed to hospital. The zoo’s security personnel arrived at the scene one hour later, shot the alligator and freed Chang’s forearm from the alligator’s mouth and sent it to the hospital.

Chang was conscious upon arrival at the hospital, and doctors began sewing his left forearm back on.

‘This is a difficult operation because we have to sew back his muscles, nerves and blood vessels which are badly severed,’ one doctor told reporters.

Man Straps in Beer Leaves Kid Unfettered

17 Jun

By now, this story is not new. Momentarily pushed aside by unicorns, criminals, and the baby with the second manhood it’s still noteworthy. As there were 5 people in the car, and it was a 30 pack, strapping the beer in to prevent it from becoming airborn in case of an accident prolly isn’t THAT bad an idea.

Now the time the old lady carried the kids back from the beach in the trunk of the thunderbird-prolly a bad idea.

Beer buckled up but not boy on NT road
www.theaustralian.news.com.au | May 14, 2008

A DRIVER who buckled up his slab of beer – but not the five-year-old boy sitting next to it – has shocked police who pulled him over near Alice Springs.

Constable Wayne Burnett said he was “shocked and appalled” when he pulled over a Holden Commodore on the Ross Highway, south of the town on the weekend.

“I haven’t ever seen something like this before,” he said.

“Sure we get beer out of vehicles that is being taken into restricted areas, but this is the first time that the beer has taken priority over a child.”

He said the driver of the car “just looked at me blankly” when he was handed a $750 fine for driving an unregistered, uninsured vehicle and failing to ensure a child was wearing a seatbelt.

“He didn’t get it,” Constable Burnett said.

Constable Burnett said there were five people in the car, including the child, along with the 30-pack of beer.

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