A fourth human foot in a shoe has been found in B.C., this time on an island near the mouth of the Fraser River.
Richmond RCMP confirmed late Thursday afternoon that a team of investigators had been sent to Kirkland Island after a person walking there reported finding the foot on the shore around noon.
The grisly discovery adds to a growing mystery on the West Coast. Severed feet have shown up in a number of places along the Strait of Georgia.
In February, one was found on Valdes Island in a location accessible only by boat or floatplane.
Last August, two feet encased in shoes washed up on Gabriola and Jedediah islands.
On Gabriola, a Vancouver couple taking a walk came across a single black-and-white size 12 Reebok shoe. A closer look revealed a partially decomposed right foot -- apparently, a man's.
On Jedediah, a visiting Washington state family found a right foot that might have washed ashore. It, too, was in a size 12 shoe.
The mystery has created an international media stir. Richmond Cpl. Nycki Basra said Thursday her telephone was "going nuts" after word went out that a fourth foot had been found.
Basra said the discovery of the remains will be treated as suspicious until "we can prove otherwise."
The RCMP will also look at the other three cases "to see if there is any relationship."
Basra could not confirm what kind of shoe was on the foot discovered Thursday or whether it was a left or right foot.
All the earlier ones were right feet.
Speculation about the phenomenon is rampant. Some people think criminal activity is to blame while others say the feet belonged to drowning victims.
Fifty-four people were sickened at a hospital by toxic fumes from the vomit of a man who apparently attempted suicide by swallowing pesticide Wednesday night, police said.
The toxic gas, believed to be a vaporized form of liquid pesticide, came from a 34-year-old farmer from Koshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, who was undergoing treatment at the Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital emergency room in Kumamoto at about 11 p.m.
Doctors, nurses, visiting patients and their families who inhaled the toxic fumes suffered pain in their eyes and throat. Ten of them were admitted to the Red Cross hospital and other hospitals. One of the 10, a 72-year-old woman, suffered breathing difficulty and was in serious condition Thursday.
The man was later confirmed dead from pesticide poisoning.
According to the police, rescue workers and the hospital, the pesticide was chloropicrin, a substance designated as toxic under law. . . . The man vomited while having his stomach pumped, and odorous toxic gas spread through the emergency room. Thirty-one hospital staff members, including doctors, and 23 outpatients and their families were sickened. About 20 of them were in treatment rooms, and others were in the waiting lounge.
Hospital staff who were not sickened evacuated the sickened people to the lobby and provided intravenous drips and oxygen. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
05/23/2008 08:49 ||
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Suicidal Farmers Toxic Vomit.
I'm sure they're playing a gig someplace tonight...
Road workers in a small New Zealand town got their wish granted when a woman stripped saying she was fed up with their wolf-whistles.
Damn. I gotta try that.
The Israeli tourist was about to use an ATM in the main street of Kerikeri, in the far north of the country, when the men whistled, the New Zealand Press Association reported.
She calmly stripped off, used the cash machine, before getting dressed and walking away.
The woman told police she didn't take too kindly to the whistling from the men repairing the road. "She said she had thought 'bugger them, I'll show them what I've got'," Police Sergeant Peter Masters told NZPA. "She gave the explanation that she had been ... pestered by New Zealand men. She's not an unattractive looking lady," Masters said. "She was taken back to the police station and spoken to and told that was inappropriate in New Zealand."
"Here in Kerikeri we don't look at bosoms, Miss."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Give them what they want and then just walk away. Hmmm, where have I heard of that strategy being used before? Jimmie Carter. Yes! that's it. But it didn't work out so well for him. I guess that he just doesn't have the body to achieve success by that method. Pity.
#3
Actually, I think her technique was a good one. That is, wolf whistling as a group is truly "juvenile" male behavior. That is, its purpose is male fraternization, not sexual; they are impressing their peers.
By her stripping, she takes away the impersonality of their behavior and makes herself a person to their group. This breaks up their game. In the future, they will probably be much more reserved about women walking by.
Should have been "Show me yours, I'll show you mine".
Would have been more effective, imho. Better, they'd have been visiting the station, not her.
Posted by: Ike ||
05/23/2008 10:57 Comments ||
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Agreed with Anonymoose. The very calmness of her demeanor and the fact that she's Israeli are the two deciding points for me. Wanna bet she was a martial arts instructor for the IDF or something?
Denver stand-up comedian, playwright and author Don Becker was found dead in his home last week, the Colorado Daily reported. Friends believe he may have struck his head three times in a fall. He was 53.
Becker was considered one of Denver's leading stand-up comedians in the 1980s. But he also battled mental illness. He lost an arm in August 1986 when he placed it on a railroad track in front of an oncoming train (the other arm was surgically reattached). A benefit for him later that year drew Sam Kinison, Louie Anderson and Dennis Miller to the Rainbow Music Hall.
He later made the caustically titled film: "A Farewell to Arms: The Don Becker Story," which was screened at the Denver International Film Festival. At the time, he told The Denver Post's Bill Husted that the message of his movie was this: "Stay on your medication."
Becker was the playwright of "Lucifer Tonight" and "Subgenius Police" and was most recently heard from in a theater context with the reading of his play "Incarnations" at the Bug Theatre in 2006.
According to the Colorado Daily, a celebration of his life is planned for June.
The bridge was designed by German-born John Augustus Roebling in Trenton, New Jersey. Roebling had earlier designed and constructed other suspension bridges, such as Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge in Cincinnati, Ohio and the Waco Suspension Bridge in Waco, Texas, that served as the engineering prototypes for the final design. . . .
At the time the bridge was built, the aerodynamics of bridge building had not been worked out. Bridges were not tested in wind tunnels until the 1950s well after the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940. It is therefore fortunate that the open truss structure supporting the deck is by its nature less subject to aerodynamic problems. Roebling designed a bridge and truss system that was six times as strong as he thought it needed to be. Because of this, the Brooklyn Bridge is still standing when many of the bridges built around the same time have vanished into history and been replaced. This is also in spite of the substitution of inferior quality wire in the cabling supplied by the contractor J. Lloyd Haigh by the time it was discovered, it was too late to replace the cabling that had already been constructed. Roebling determined that the poorer wire would leave the bridge four rather than six times as strong as necessary, so it was eventually allowed to stand, with the addition of 250 cables. Diagonal cables were installed from the towers to the deck, intended to stiffen the bridge. They turned out to be unnecessary, but were kept for their distinctive beauty.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/23/2008 09:49 ||
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Roebling designed a bridge and truss system that was six times as strong as he thought it needed to be. Because of this, the Brooklyn Bridge is still standing when many of the bridges built around the same time have vanished into history and been replaced.
Unfortunately, Mr. Roebling was not available for to manage the construction of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis which lasted only 40 years.
#6
I have walked across it a few times. There is a large boardwalk, raised above traffic. I have pics of the bridge, taken from the WTC.
Trivia: only the Manhattan end is built on bedrock. Caissons Disease (Bends) was first noted during construction in the pressurized below the waterline pods (caissons).
Despite being fully booked by naturists wanting to take off and strip off, a German travel company said Thursday it has decided to scrap a special nude flight that had been scheduled for this summer. The July 5 flight was due to be the first of many and was aimed at east Germans nostalgic for the naturism that was authorised and extremely popular under communist rule.
But OssiUrlaub.de, the firm organising the service to a picturesque Baltic Sea island, said it has had second thoughts after moral objections in the media and from visitors to its Internet portal, a spokesman said.
The 50 people with tickets would have boarded the flight in the eastern city of Erfurt fully clothed, but once on the plane would have been free to undress and enjoy the rest of the journey as nature intended. They will now receive a full refund as well as a voucher for other products offered by the company, whose core business caters to holidaymakers who keep their clothes on, it stressed.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Sorry. I'd want all those seats reupholstered after the flight.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/23/2008 12:54 Comments ||
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With the recent add-on cost for luggage, flying "nekked" might make sense. Also makes a statement about all us being "fleeced" by high oil prices. Solves some of the security problems too. Might speed up airline travel.
On May 22, 2008, the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat posted on its website an article titled "Kabbalah-Inspired Fashion Reaches Saudi Youth," along with an image of a bracelet of red string and silver beads with Hebrew lettering. The following are excerpts from the article. [1]
"Today it is common to see large numbers of young Saudi men sporting a piece of red string around their wrists. This trend has spread all over the world in recent years, especially since A-list celebrities and football players were spotted wearing the red string bracelet that is believed to ward off the evil eye.
"However, the cultural connotations of this trend, that include a religious or ideological belief in the Jewish sect known as Kabbalah, are a cause for concern amongst some Saudi experts, who are against what they consider a form of 'cultural invasion.'
"The wearing of the red string is practiced by followers of the Kabbalah, a school of thought that focuses on the mystical aspects of Judaism.
"A number of Arabic websites have warned against this trend that is gaining popularity amongst secondary school students in Saudi Arabia.
"Dr Abdullah Al-Yusuf, professor of sociology at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that any imported foreign trendwill have an influence on the society to which it has been introduced and that the consequences of such a trend are considered a form of cultural invasion as new behaviors are adopted...
"Dr. Amal Al-Arfaj, associate professor of tafsir [Koran interpretation] at the Faculty of Arts in Dammam, who is also active in preaching the Islamic faith, said that young people often follow trends without fully understanding what they represent... [She] explained that young people purchase clothes and other items that carry phrases that could be deemed morally or religiously offensive... and [do not understand] their meanings or any dangers that they entail [and that] if young people were asked about the significance of the red string that is worn around the wrist, they would not be able to give an adequate answer.
"She expressed regret [over] the weak role of the family in this regard, and believes that young people are primarily influenced by their friends and peers... [and that] shop owners and market traders also contribute to the spread of foreign cultures in Saudi society by promoting new trends... and fail to understand the effects of some new trends on the youth..."
New technology has helped researchers in Sweden solve a 26-year-old deep sea mystery. In 1982, Sweden claimed that it had recordings from a Soviet submarine in the waters of the Stockholm archipelago. Its now emerged that the recording was of a Swedish charter boat.
California state lawmakers are considering an unusual idea to solve the state's huge budget shortfall: Tax prono-graphy. They're still thinking through the ram-ifications of a hostile public reaction. Like not getting voted in again.
The idea was proposed by a state assemblyman, and would impose a 25 percent tax on the production and sales of prono-graphic videos -- the vast majority of which are made in southern California. I wonder how long it's going to be before something unnerving shows up in a certain state assemblyman's mailbox in a discreet manilla envelope.
It is unknown, however, how seriously lawmakers will take the idea or how the pron business would deal with the new tax. It is likely, though, that pron-makers would simply pass the cost along to consumers by making prono-graphic materials more expensive. Or maybe something unnerving might show up in an unexpected variety of state assemblypersons' mailboxes.
However, many economists believe that prono-graphy is an industry with inelastic demand -- meaning market conditions typically don't affect consumers' desire for the product. In other words, people are addicted it is believed that most pron consumers would continue to buy regardless of how much it cost.
A potential downside to the tax proposal is that pron producers could leave California to manufacture and distribute videos in other states that don't impose the tax. Downside? If you live in CA, maybe.
#1
Heck, maybe they should put a 25% tax on ALL movies. And television. At least the tax would be content neutral, and people wouldn't have to fight about what is and isn't pron.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
05/23/2008 22:36 Comments ||
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The San Fernando Valley revolt alone could topple the putative government..
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/23/2008 22:46 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD - Iraq's national symphony orchestra staged a rare concert in Baghdad in what organisers said was an effort to preserve the nation's cultural heritage despite years of warfare. A repertoire of Arabic, Kurdish and classical Western compositions was played on Wednesday to an audience of 400 people including UN officials, diplomats, military officers and Iraqi lawmakers, according to the UN organisers.
The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq said the concert, held to mark the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, was intended to "remind the world of what Iraqis can offer and to preserve the country's cultural heritage.
British guest conductor Oliver Gilmour shared in leading the performance with the orchestra's own director, Iraq cellist Karim Wasfi. "Without culture a country will literally pack up," Gilmour told UN Radio, underscoring the crucial role played by the arts. He said that a concert such as this is a source of price and "engenders a feeling of quasi-normality."
Gilmour paid tributed to the orchestra, whose members represent different ethnic and religious groups. "In many ways what they do is inspirational and it illustrates, I think, their indomitable spirit and the power of music," he said.
Suggestion: make the concerts less rare. Security is improving, so try a few more. Put them on Iraqi radio and television. It would keep people employed and provide a little hope and decency. Heck, put them on PBS.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/23/2008 00:00 ||
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They should perform more often, and maybe they will, now that the situation in Iraq is looking up - but I am under the impression that the orchestra has struggled for years. I wrote a bit about them here, about four years ago.
MEROM GOLAN, Golan Heights - Settler Eran Glick is not too worried that Israel will hand back the Golan Heights to Syria anytime soon. "We're still building," he says, pointing to earth-moving machines outside his air-conditioned office at the Merom Golan kibbutz.
Glick is convinced the negotiations Israel and Syria have relaunched through Turkish mediators will fail to produce any concrete results, as was the case with previous peace talks. "We have heard so many announcements of negotiations in the past that we don't get excited any more," says Glick, who is responsible for kibbutz tourism. "It's like saying to someone "you're sick -- you could die tomorrow or at the age of 90,' so the best thing is to live normally," adds the 41-year-old who has lived in the Golan for 25 years.
After the two countries announced on Wednesday they had resumed negotiations frozen eight years ago, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem claimed Damascus had received Israeli commitments for a full withdrawal from the Golan.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Val Thomas, 59, stopped breathing at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 17, and her family called paramedics. While they waited for help to arrive, they tried to revive her while others prayed. They estimate that she was without a heartbeat or oxygen for 15-20 minutes before she was put on a ventilator and transported to a Charleston, West Virginia hospital.
Doctors put her on a machine to lower her body temperature, in effect inducing hypothermia. Her heart stopped three times causing doctors to estimate that her chance of survival was less than 10%. She was kept on life support of nearly 18 hours while the family considered organ donation, prayed and said their final goodbyes. While they gathered around the bedside of Val Thomas, a nurse removed her breathing tube and disconnected her from various machines. Ten minutes into the process she moved her arm and started to speak to the nurse.
The miraculous recovery of a woman who had no neurological function for 18 hours is baffling to the womans attending physicians. They performed a heart cath on the patient on Wednesday, May 21, to determine the level of damage to Vals heart. They found no blockage or damage. She has been sent on to the Cleveland Clinic to further investigate what appears to be an electrical problem within her heart.
Val Thomas said, I know God has something in store for me, another purpose. I dont know what it is but Im sure hell tell me.
#1
Someone on KSTP 1500am mentioned that rigger had already started to set in. After 20 minutes I find that had to believe but what a,,, heart warming story.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/23/2008 19:24 Comments ||
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Well, if they couldn't detect life beforehand then what would imply that she wasn't a Donk before she 'returned'? Not that being alive is a requirement to vote Donk anyway.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A fourth human foot in a shoe has been found in B.C., this time on an island near the mouth of the Fraser River.
Despite being fully booked by naturists wanting to take off and strip off, a German travel company said Thursday it has decided to scrap a special nude flight that had been scheduled for this summer. The July 5 flight was due to be the first of many and was aimed at east Germans nostalgic for the naturism that was authorised and extremely popular under communist rule.
On May 22, 2008, the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat posted on its website an article titled "Kabbalah-Inspired Fashion Reaches Saudi Youth," along with an image of a bracelet of red string and silver beads with Hebrew lettering. The following are excerpts from the article. [1] 
