Halloween is pagan in origin, in fact it is a pretty damn Holy Day to Witches. This is why Jehovah’s Witnesses eschew the holiday. Other good Christians are finally getting on the band wagon and they thought up Jesus-ween. Of course there is an official Jesus-ween site.
Jesus-ween video
Jesus-ween spoof
Earlier in 2011, UK singer AMY JADE WINEHOUSE (14th Sept 1983 – 23rd July 2011) died at the age of 27 thereby joining what Kurt Cobain’s mother called that “stupid club” meaning famous musicians who die at 27. There are even sites devoted to the subject including www.forever27.co.uk.
Amy’s talent, which in my opinion rivaled Barbra Striesand’s, was matched by a thirst for drugs and misadventure. The media became clogged with images of her slurring, stumbling and imbibing, not only in her free time but during professional appearances. Living in a flashing, throbbing, fishbowl can’t be easy for anyone, let alone a sensitive, artistic and perhaps troubled young woman who seemed to surround herself “with the wrong kind of people.”
When she was found dead much speculation raged about the cause of death with a drug overdose being speculated. Alas, it was an alcohol overdose. An album of previously unreleased material of hers will be released just in time for Christmas this year which will perhaps add a gloss of romance and wonder to her untimely demise.
It is far braver and better to sober up, to move away from bad influence, to come to respect and loves one self than it is to crawl into a bottle or pipe or straw or capsule. I hope that message doesn’t get lost when remembering her life, too. Amy Winehouse was a daughter, wife, friend, client, artist and human now after death she has become a commodity and hopefully a cautionary tale.
Amy Winehouse – Back To Black by goldrausch
Click to embiggen.
Amy Winehouse’s Official Cause of Death: Alcohol
Spin | By Marc Hogan | October 26, 2011
A U.K. coroner has finalized a report on the death of 27-year-old British soul star Amy Winehouse, ruling the “Rehab” and “You Know I’m No Good” singer died from excessive alcohol consumption.
Coroner Suzanne Greenaway has issued a verdict of “death by misadventure” — the same cause of death famously given for Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones in 1969 — according to the AP, stating that Winehouse’s demise in London on July 23 was the result of intentionally choosing to drink alcohol, no matter the risks. Winehouse’s blood alcohol content at the time of her death was more than five times above the legal drunk-driving level, a pathologist reportedly said today at the singer’s inquest — enough to stop her breathing. Per Winehouse’s doctor, Dr. Christina Romete, the singer had abstained from alcohol for a period of time, but taken up drinking again in the days before her death. A detective stated empty vodka bottles were recovered from her bedroom.
In researching the recent pumpkin wreck in Michigan I found this earlier story about a similar incident in Illinois involving cinnamon rolls, cakes and bratwursts on an interstate.
Highway accident creates a “sticky” situation
Oct 15, 2011Â | www.wbir.com
An Illinois highway is open again after a Thursday wreck caused a sticky situation.
Police say at 4:20 Thursday morning driver Bradford Garrett lost control of his truck carrying frozen cakes and other baked goods and collided with another semi driven by Ronnie Davis.
The accident happened on westbound I-74 about 4 1/2 miles west of Goodfield and left 20 tons of desserts and bratwurst strewn about the highway.
“It’s very slippery out here because of the sugar and the fats from the meat,” said Illinois State Trooper Dominic Visione. “IDOT is out here to pressure-wash the road.”
Another crew from Dunbar Transfer was responsible for hauling away all of the spoiled food.
“We hauled 8 tandem loads of food to the landfill this morning, said hauling company Landon Dunbar. “That’s a lot of food.”
Tis the season!
…how could the delivery truck back door have burst open? News footage from Channel 7 WXYZ in Detroit shows reporter Malcolm Maddox, who looks like he is enjoying himself, with a very torn up truck still brimmed with pumpkins. That is, it looks like the company overfilled the truck with orange gourds, which simply broke the bolts of the door off from the sheer weight of the seasonal fruit.-thesop.org
Pumpkins Spill Across I-696 Eastbound near Orchard Lake Road: MyFoxDETROIT.com
Truck dumps pumpkin load on I-696 in Farmington Hills
Oct. 26, 2011Â |Â freep.com
Pumpkins bounced across I-696 during today’s morning rush hour after a truck lost part of its load in Farmington Hills.
Pumpkins bounced across I-696 during today’s morning rush hour after a truck lost part of its load in Farmington Hills.
An eastbound motorist called 911 after one bounced out of the back of the truck and onto his car at about 6 a.m. near the Orchard Lake Road overpass, Michigan State Police Sgt. James Kemp said.
I have to say, these people aren’t very smart. After all their internet research they best they could come up w/ was beating, but not killing gramps with bricks wrapped in plastic? Dumb criminals indeed.
British family that Googled ways to murder grandpa is put away
News Desk | October 1, 2011 | www.globalpost.com
An elderly pensioner’s daughter and three grandkids Googled “the easiest way to kill an old person” before trying to kill him for an inheritance.
An elderly pensioner’s daughter and three grandkids Googled “the easiest way to kill an old person” before trying to kill him for an inheritance.
Police analysis of computers seized from the family home in Hampshire, England, also revealed Google searches on ”1000 ways to die,” ”how to kill someone” and ”10 easy ways to kill someone with no trace,” the Guardian reports.
This is truly amazing. Imagine hiking in the bush and hearing birds “speak” to each other.
Wild parrots, like cockatoos have been learning words from ex-pet birds. (Credit: Getty Images)
Birds of a feather talk together
By Hannah Price | www.australiangeographic.com.au | September-15-2011
Pet parrots, such as cockatoos, that are let loose in the wild are teaching native birds to talk.
NO NEED TO THINK you’re going bird-brained if you hear mysterious voices from the trees – it’s likely just a curious cockatoo wanting a chat. Native parrots, especially cockatoos, seem to be learning the art of conversation from their previously domesticated friends.
The Australian Museum’s Search and Discover desk, which offers a free service to identify species, has received numerous reports of encounters with talkative birds in the wild from mystified citizens who thought they were hearing voices.
Martyn Robinson, a naturalist who works at the desk, explains that occasionally a pet cockatoo escapes or is let loose, and “if it manages to survive long enough to join a wild flock, [other birds] will learn from it.”
Optimism or denial?
“in some people, anything negative is practically ignored – with them retaining a positive world view”
Random optimistic image.
Brain ‘rejects negative thoughts’
By James Gallagher Health reporter, BBC News | 9 October 2011
One reason optimists retain a positive outlook even in the face of evidence to the contrary has been discovered, say researchers.
A study, published in Nature Neuroscience, suggests the brain is very good at processing good news about the future.
However, in some people, anything negative is practically ignored – with them retaining a positive world view.
The authors said optimism did have important health benefits.
Scientists at University College London said about 80% of people were optimists, even if they would not label themselves as such.
BFT. (If you don’t know what that means, look it up.)
Image howstuffworks.com
Government to expand E. coli tests in meat
September 13, 2011 | Mary Clare Jalonick | boston.com
The government is expanding its testing of E. coli in meat, a move that will hasten recalls and help authorities identify more foodborne illnesses.
The meat industry has been required for 17 years to test for the common O157:H7 strain of the pathogen. Now it will test for six more. These other strains of E. coli have increasingly been found in food in recent years, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says other strains cause an estimated 110,000 illnesses annually.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Tuesday the Agriculture Department will begin testing for the additional strains of E. coli in beef trimmings — parts of the cow that end up in ground beef — in March. That testing may later expand to ground beef itself and other meats.
Personally I would chose Taco flavored Doritos, which I’d bet is a re-issue of the old, less orange, nacho cheese flavor. Farewell Arch, 97 years is a pretty good run on this planet.
West’s daughter tells the Dallas Morning News that the family will sprinkle Doritos at West’s funeral this coming Saturday. “We are tossing Doritos chips in before they put the dirt over the urn,” she says. “He’ll love it.”
Oddly, this Doritos at a funeral theme is reminiscent of a “Doritos® – Crash the Super Bowl 2010 Finalist – Casket” where a man fakes his death so he can enjoy spending time in a casket full of Doritos.
Arch West, in the 1960s. Image Gittings Portraits, NYT
Mr West's final tribute is similar to this wanna be tv spot "Doritos® - Crash the Super Bowl 2010 Finalist - Casket."
Doritos Creator Dead, to be Buried with Chips
By IBTimes Staff Reporter | September 26, 2011 11:47 AM EDT
Arch West, a former Frito-Lay executive and creator of Doritos, will be buried with the chips that made him famous.
The 97-year-old died of natural causes on Sept. 20 at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas, his family confirmed in a statement over the weekend.
During a graveside service scheduled for 10:30 a.m. this Saturday at the Restland Memorial Park, his family has plans to toss Doritos chips in “before they put the dirt over the urn,” West’s daughter Jana Hacker told The Dallas Morning News.
In 1961, while on vacation in San Diego, West tried fried tortilla chips for the first time at a local snack shack. According to his daughter, West’s original Doritos idea received a “lukewarm” corporate response, but eventually his marketing research led to the roll out of the tortilla chip.
Doritos officially arrived in the U.S. in 1964 where it has since expanded to 23 flavors, including Cool Ranch, Nacho Cheese and 1st Degree Burn Blazin’ Jalapeno. Internationally, the company has developed nearly 100 flavors, although some have been discontinued.
This article takes a thoughtful tone while it buries the lead. People are turning away from “western” medicine and turning to traditional Islamic healing which involves stuff like leeches and olive oil. LEECHES in 2011!
“Islamic medicine carries a cachet that, by taking it, you are reinforcing your faith — and the profits go to Muslims,” says Sidney Jones
Islamic healing in action. Image www.thestate.com
Islamic healing is on the rise in Southeast Asia
By DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press | September 26, 2011
(09-26) 04:03 PDT JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) –A 47-year-old housewife who recently started using Islamic alternative cures emerged tearfully from an exorcism, speaking of newfound tranquility after a turbulent time in her life. Also, her abdominal pains are finally easing.
Suratmi, who suffers from an ovarian cyst, has been taking a mix of herbal treatments harking back to the dawn of Islam, as well as undergoing exorcisms at a clinic in Jakarta.
She is among a growing number of Muslims in Southeast Asia turning away from Western medical care in favor of al-Tibb al-Nawabi, or Medicine of the Prophet, a loosely defined discipline based on the Quran and other Islamic texts and traditional remedies.
“I heard that so many people have been healed, so I hope Allah can help me. I followed His path here,” said Suratmi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
The trend in Islamic treatments, cosmetics and toiletries is often associated with fundamentalists who charge that Western, chemically laced prescriptions aim to poison Muslims or defile them with insulin and other medicines made from pigs. Members of terrorist groups have been involved in Islamic remedies as healers and sellers, while some clinics are used as recruiting grounds for Islamist causes.
But the bulk of those seeking out Islamic clinics, hospitals and pharmacies appear to be moderate Muslims, reflecting a rise in Islamic consciousness worldwide.
Didn’t you always wonder where this stuff came from? This is a comprehensive article on a uniquely American industry.
Fun Inc. factory seems so innocuous on North Major Avenue in Chicago, via Google Street View.
Buckets of the "Whoops" fake barf mixture, seen on the Timms' tour of Fun Inc.'s Chicago warehouse.
The Inside Scoop on the Fake Barf Industry
By Lisa Hix | www.collectorsweekly.com | August 23rd, 2011
Have you ever stopped to contemplate the existence of rubber barf? It opens up enough philosophical quandaries to make your head spin. Who would ever think of such a thing? Why would he feel the need to manufacture it?
Fortunately, Stan and Mardi Timm, the foremost experts on famed novelty company H. Fishlove & Co., have the answers to these vexing questions. The couple even got a personal tour of the factory where “Whoops,†the original fake vomit, is still churned out.
Chicago gag kingpin Irving Fishlove, son of the company’s founder, loved nothing more than a good prank—particularly when the prankster gets a laugh at the expense of his unwitting target. So when presented with the first prototype of latex puke in the late 1950s, he howled with laughter and declared that he loved it.
Not only did Irving Fishlove buy the idea to mass-produce and sell, he also took matters into his own hands. His son, Howard Fishlove, told the Timms about coming home as a schoolkid to find his kitchen counter covered in various types of fake barf. Turns out, Dad was so excited about this upchuck gag, he was experimenting with his own formulas of brown or yellow latex mixed with chunky bits of colored foam. “He told us it was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen,†says Mardi Timm.
How this invention got tossed at Fishlove’s feet, though, is a matter of debate. The Timms explained that there are two creation myths around fake throw-up.
First, you have to understand that Fishlove was a collaborator with Marvin Glass, the famed toy designer who, with his company, devised some of the most beloved toys and board games of the 20th century, including Mouse Trap, Operation, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, and Lite Brite, produced by major companies like Hasbro and Ideal. Another of Glass’ claims to fame was the invention of Yakity-Yak talking teeth, an idea he sold to H. Fishlove & Co.
Creepy!
click an image to embiggen
Pictures: Rare “Cyclops” Shark Found
One-Eyed Anomaly
Photograph courtesy Marcela Bejarano-Ãlvarez | Published October 13, 2011 | news.nationalgeographic.com
Talk about a one-of-a-kind discovery—an extremely rare cyclops shark (pictured) has been confirmed in Mexico, new research shows.
The 22-inch-long (56-centimeter-long) fetus has a single, functioning eye at the front of its head—the hallmark of a congenital condition called cyclopia, which occurs in several animal species, including humans.
Earlier this year fisher Enrique Lucero León legally caught a pregnant dusky shark near Cerralvo Island (see map) in the Gulf of California. When León cut open his catch, he found the odd-looking male embryo along with its nine normal siblings. “He said, That’s incredible—wow,” said biologist Felipe Galván-Magaña, of the Interdisciplinary Center of Marine Sciences in La Paz, Mexico.
Once Galván-Magaña and colleague Marcela Bejarano-Ãlvarez heard about the discovery—which was put on Facebook—the team got León’s permission to borrow the shark for research. The scientists then x-rayed the fetus and reviewed previous research on cyclopia in other species to confirm that the find is indeed a cyclops shark.
Cyclops sharks have been documented by scientists a few times before, also as embryos, said Jim Gelsleichter, a shark biologist at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. The fact that none have been caught outside the womb suggests cyclops sharks don’t survive long in the wild.
Overall, finding such an unusual animal reinforces that scientists still have a lot to learn, Gelsleichter added.
“It’s a humbling experience to realize you ain’t seen it all yet.”
—Christine Dell’Amore
