World news from the SDB network.......
- Thread starter Seadoobuddy
- Start date
From the Sea-Doo Facebook page:
DID YOU KNOW? That you can buy two, yes TWO, Sea-Doo watercraft for as low as $239 per month with our current promotion? HURRY...the promotion ends July 31, 2013. Visit our website at www.sea-doo.com or your local dealer for details!
DID YOU KNOW? That you can buy two, yes TWO, Sea-Doo watercraft for as low as $239 per month with our current promotion? HURRY...the promotion ends July 31, 2013. Visit our website at www.sea-doo.com or your local dealer for details!
The Coast Guard rescued four people who were on a boat taking on water in Lake St. Clair Sunday.
The names and hometowns of those rescued are not being released, and there is no Coast Guard imagery.
At 9:48 a.m., a search-and-rescue controller at Coast Guard Sector Detroit was contacted by the operator of a 29-foot vessel that the boat was taking on water from an unknown source approximately four miles offshore from Beacon Cove Marina in Lake St. Clair. There were two adults and two children onboard.
A boat crew from Coast Guard Station St. Clair Shores responded aboard a 24-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water along with crews on two vessels from the Macomb County Sheriff's Office. A rescue helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Detroit was requested, but surface assets arrived on scene prior to their launch.
The St. Clair Shores and Macomb County boatcrews arrived on scene, and the four boaters were transferred aboard the SPC-SW and taken to shore.
The source of flooding, determined to be a broken intake hose, was secured.
The vessel was towed to the marina by a commercial salvor.
There are no reports of injury or pollution.
The Coast Guard reminds mariners to thoroughly inspect their vessels every time they get underway. A few minutes spent looking over your boat before leaving the dock could help prevent you from needing Coast Guard or other assistance.
Also, if you haven't had your vessel inspected at all this year, the Coast Guard encourages you to contact the Coast Guard Auxiliary for a free vessel safety check.
The names and hometowns of those rescued are not being released, and there is no Coast Guard imagery.
At 9:48 a.m., a search-and-rescue controller at Coast Guard Sector Detroit was contacted by the operator of a 29-foot vessel that the boat was taking on water from an unknown source approximately four miles offshore from Beacon Cove Marina in Lake St. Clair. There were two adults and two children onboard.
A boat crew from Coast Guard Station St. Clair Shores responded aboard a 24-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water along with crews on two vessels from the Macomb County Sheriff's Office. A rescue helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Detroit was requested, but surface assets arrived on scene prior to their launch.
The St. Clair Shores and Macomb County boatcrews arrived on scene, and the four boaters were transferred aboard the SPC-SW and taken to shore.
The source of flooding, determined to be a broken intake hose, was secured.
The vessel was towed to the marina by a commercial salvor.
There are no reports of injury or pollution.
The Coast Guard reminds mariners to thoroughly inspect their vessels every time they get underway. A few minutes spent looking over your boat before leaving the dock could help prevent you from needing Coast Guard or other assistance.
Also, if you haven't had your vessel inspected at all this year, the Coast Guard encourages you to contact the Coast Guard Auxiliary for a free vessel safety check.
90-year-old lobsterman survives sinking off Maine
Lobsterman-Boat.Sinking
HARPSWELL, Maine (AP) — A 90-year-old lobsterman is eager to get back on the water after surviving the sinking of his boat by swimming to a nearby island through the cold waters of the Gulf of Maine.
Philip Tuttle, of the Great Island community of Harpswell, is on the mend, but his boat needs more work to ensure the engine is OK and the electronics are restored, daughter-in-law Verian Tuttle said Wednesday.
His boat, Queen Tut, hit rocks Saturday, lurched and took on water in choppy, 50-degree seas after the remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea passed through the area.
After the boat filled, he ended up swimming 20 to 30 yards to Hen Island. He got scrapes on his legs while crawling on the slippery rocks, where Verian Tuttle's husband and brother-in-law found him, close to hypothermia.
"He's bruised and banged up," Verian Tuttle said. "He definitely took a little bit of a beating."
It wasn't clear how deep the water was, but photos of the sunken 26-foot boat showed only the antenna and exhaust pipe above the waves.
Tuttle was patched up at a Brunswick hospital, and his boat was retrieved from the water. Two of his sons are engine mechanics, and they're getting it back in shipshape.
With help from his son and daughter-in-law, Tuttle plans to continue to fish 35 to 40 traps, enough to keep his extended family and visitors supplied with lobsters this summer.
Associated Press
That was a fast rescue both for the guy and his boat.
Lobsterman-Boat.Sinking
HARPSWELL, Maine (AP) — A 90-year-old lobsterman is eager to get back on the water after surviving the sinking of his boat by swimming to a nearby island through the cold waters of the Gulf of Maine.
Philip Tuttle, of the Great Island community of Harpswell, is on the mend, but his boat needs more work to ensure the engine is OK and the electronics are restored, daughter-in-law Verian Tuttle said Wednesday.
His boat, Queen Tut, hit rocks Saturday, lurched and took on water in choppy, 50-degree seas after the remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea passed through the area.
After the boat filled, he ended up swimming 20 to 30 yards to Hen Island. He got scrapes on his legs while crawling on the slippery rocks, where Verian Tuttle's husband and brother-in-law found him, close to hypothermia.
"He's bruised and banged up," Verian Tuttle said. "He definitely took a little bit of a beating."
It wasn't clear how deep the water was, but photos of the sunken 26-foot boat showed only the antenna and exhaust pipe above the waves.
Tuttle was patched up at a Brunswick hospital, and his boat was retrieved from the water. Two of his sons are engine mechanics, and they're getting it back in shipshape.
With help from his son and daughter-in-law, Tuttle plans to continue to fish 35 to 40 traps, enough to keep his extended family and visitors supplied with lobsters this summer.
Associated Press
That was a fast rescue both for the guy and his boat.
The Red Green show, as usual a funny video from him
.....a New Hybrid gold cart.
http://www.handymanclub.com/blogs/a...rticleid/6597/men-always-need-something-to-do
.....a New Hybrid gold cart.
http://www.handymanclub.com/blogs/a...rticleid/6597/men-always-need-something-to-do
TWINKIES are coming back.
Will you buy some on the first day?......answer in a post
Good news Twinkies fans, your beloved snack is due back on shelves on July 15.
The announcement was made by Daren Metropoulos, principal of Metropoulos & Co., one of the two companies that bought the rights to Twinkies and other snack brands from the bankrupt Hostess Brands earlier this year.
The new Twinkies box will look very similar to the old one, with the addition of the line "The sweetest comeback in the history of ever." The price will stay the same as last fall when Hostess shut down - $3.99 for a box of 10. Other products will also come back with the same pricing.
Quick Clicks
Hostess snacks through the years
"America wanted Hostess back -- they wanted the original," said Metropoulos.
The new company will sell all of the Hostess and Dolly Madison branded snack products, including CupCakes, Donettes, Zingers, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs, fruit pies and mini muffins. Some products, such as Sno Balls, will take a little longer to return to shelves, but they should be available within the next few months.
Other Hostess brands, including Wonder Bread and Drake's snack cakes, have been sold to other firms. Details of their return have yet to be announced.
Wonder Bread, Twinkies and other Hostess products have not been produced since November, when Hostess Brands Inc. filed with the bankruptcy court to liquidate its 82-year old business following a crippling strike by the Bakery Workers union.
But while that company is out of business, and most of its 18,500 employees have lost their jobs, a bankruptcy court has been overseeing an auction of its various brands as part of the liquidation process.
The new snack company, Hostess Brands LLC, was purchased for $410 million by private equity groups Apollo Group and Metropoulos & Co. It also bought five of the closed bakeries as part of their bid. It will produce the products out of four of the bakeries -- in Columbus, Ga., Emporia, Kansas, Indianapolis and the Chicago suburb of Schiller Park, Ill. It plans to have about 1,800 employees making the snacks within the next three months.
Metropoulos' other food holdings include Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. In the past it has owned Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Bumble Bee seafood, PAM cooking spray and Gulden's Mustard, all of which it eventually sold to ConAgra Foods Inc.
--CNN's Polina Fishof contributed to this report
Copyright 2013 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved.
Will you buy some on the first day?......answer in a post
Good news Twinkies fans, your beloved snack is due back on shelves on July 15.
The announcement was made by Daren Metropoulos, principal of Metropoulos & Co., one of the two companies that bought the rights to Twinkies and other snack brands from the bankrupt Hostess Brands earlier this year.
The new Twinkies box will look very similar to the old one, with the addition of the line "The sweetest comeback in the history of ever." The price will stay the same as last fall when Hostess shut down - $3.99 for a box of 10. Other products will also come back with the same pricing.
Quick Clicks
Hostess snacks through the years
"America wanted Hostess back -- they wanted the original," said Metropoulos.
The new company will sell all of the Hostess and Dolly Madison branded snack products, including CupCakes, Donettes, Zingers, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs, fruit pies and mini muffins. Some products, such as Sno Balls, will take a little longer to return to shelves, but they should be available within the next few months.
Other Hostess brands, including Wonder Bread and Drake's snack cakes, have been sold to other firms. Details of their return have yet to be announced.
Wonder Bread, Twinkies and other Hostess products have not been produced since November, when Hostess Brands Inc. filed with the bankruptcy court to liquidate its 82-year old business following a crippling strike by the Bakery Workers union.
But while that company is out of business, and most of its 18,500 employees have lost their jobs, a bankruptcy court has been overseeing an auction of its various brands as part of the liquidation process.
The new snack company, Hostess Brands LLC, was purchased for $410 million by private equity groups Apollo Group and Metropoulos & Co. It also bought five of the closed bakeries as part of their bid. It will produce the products out of four of the bakeries -- in Columbus, Ga., Emporia, Kansas, Indianapolis and the Chicago suburb of Schiller Park, Ill. It plans to have about 1,800 employees making the snacks within the next three months.
Metropoulos' other food holdings include Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. In the past it has owned Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Bumble Bee seafood, PAM cooking spray and Gulden's Mustard, all of which it eventually sold to ConAgra Foods Inc.
--CNN's Polina Fishof contributed to this report
Copyright 2013 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved.
Police say man high on hallucinogenic mushrooms ripped off part of his own penis at Ypsilanti school
Posted: 06/24/2013
Last Updated: 3 hours and 40 minutes ago
YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) - A 41-year-old man from Columbus, Ohio, is recovering after, police say, he ripped off part of his penis while high on hallucinogenic mushrooms.
The man was found naked, screaming and bleeding heavily at Ypsilanti Middle School at around 1:00 a.m. Tuesday morning by officers who were responding to a burglar alarm.
The man was taken into custody for his own safety and transported to the hospital.
Police say that when questioned the man said he was in town visiting friends and had picked up the mushrooms earlier in the day.
The man is still hospitalized and undergoing treatment.
Read more: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region...s-own-penis-at-ypsilanti-school#ixzz2XBw3YLae
Posted: 06/24/2013
Last Updated: 3 hours and 40 minutes ago
YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) - A 41-year-old man from Columbus, Ohio, is recovering after, police say, he ripped off part of his penis while high on hallucinogenic mushrooms.
The man was found naked, screaming and bleeding heavily at Ypsilanti Middle School at around 1:00 a.m. Tuesday morning by officers who were responding to a burglar alarm.
The man was taken into custody for his own safety and transported to the hospital.
Police say that when questioned the man said he was in town visiting friends and had picked up the mushrooms earlier in the day.
The man is still hospitalized and undergoing treatment.
Read more: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region...s-own-penis-at-ypsilanti-school#ixzz2XBw3YLae
94 degrees in Alaska? Weather extremes tied to jet stream
Jet.Stream.Extremes
FILE - People swim and sunbathe at Goose Lake in Anchorage, Alaska on Monda...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The jet stream, the river of air high above Earth that generally dictates the weather, usually rushes rapidly from west to east in a mostly straight direction.
But lately it seems to be wobbling and weaving like a drunken driver, wreaking havoc as it goes.
The more the jet stream undulates north and south, the more changeable and extreme the weather.
The most recent example occurred in mid-June when some towns in Alaska hit record highs. McGrath, Alaska, recorded an all-time high of 94 degrees on June 17. A few weeks earlier, the same spot was 15 degrees, the coldest recorded for so late in the year.
You can blame the heat wave on a large northward bulge in the jet stream, Rutgers University climate scientist Jennifer Francis said.
Several scientists are blaming weather whiplash — both high and low extremes — on a jet stream that's not quite playing by its old rules. It's a relatively new phenomenon that experts are still trying to understand.
Some say it's related to global warming, but others say it's not.
Upside-down weather also happened in May: Early California wildfires fueled by heat contrasted with more than a foot of snow in Minnesota. Seattle was the hottest spot in the nation one day, and Maine and Edmonton, Canada, were warmer than Miami and Phoenix.
Consider these unusual occurrences over the past few years:
— The winter of 2011-12 seemed to disappear, with little snow and record warmth in March. That was followed by the winter of 2012-13 when nor'easters seemed to queue up to strike the same coastal areas repeatedly.
— Superstorm Sandy took an odd left turn in October from the Atlantic straight into New Jersey, something that happens once every 700 years or so.
— One 12-month period had a record number of tornadoes. That was followed by 12 months that set a record for lack of tornadoes.
And here is what federal weather officials call a "spring paradox": The U.S. had both an unusually large area of snow cover in March and April and a near-record low area of snow cover in May. The entire Northern Hemisphere had record snow coverage area in December but the third lowest snow extent for May.
"I've been doing meteorology for 30 years and the jet stream the last three years has done stuff I've never seen," said Jeff Masters, meteorology director at the private service Weather Underground. "The fact that the jet stream is unusual could be an indicator of something. I'm not saying we know what it is."
Rutgers' Francis is in the camp that thinks climate change is probably playing a role in this.
"It's been just a crazy fall and winter and spring all along, following a very abnormal sea ice condition in the Arctic," Francis said, noting that last year set a record low for summer sea ice in the Arctic. "It's possible what we're seeing in this unusual weather is all connected."
Other scientists don't make the sea ice and global warming connections that Francis does. They see random weather or long-term cycles at work. And even more scientists are taking a wait-and-see approach about this latest theory. It's far from a scientific consensus, but it is something that is being studied more often and getting a lot of scientific buzz.
"There are some viable hypotheses," Stanford University climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh said. "We're going to need more evidence to fully test those hypotheses."
The jet stream, or more precisely the polar jet stream, is the one that affects the Northern Hemisphere. It dips down from Alaska, across the United States or Canada, then across the Atlantic and over Europe and "has everything to do with the weather we experience," Francis said.
It all starts with the difference between cold temperatures in the Arctic and warmer temperatures in the mid-latitudes, she explained. The bigger the temperature difference, the stronger the jet stream, the faster it moves and the straighter it flows. But as the northern polar regions warm two to three times faster than the rest of the world, augmented by unprecedented melting of Arctic sea ice and loss in snow cover, the temperature difference shrinks. Then the jet stream slows and undulates more.
The jet stream is about 14 percent slower in the fall now than in the 1990s, according to a recent study by Francis. And when it slows, it moves north-south instead of east-west, bringing more unusual weather, creating blocking patterns and cutoff lows that are associated with weird weather, the Rutgers scientist said.
Mike Halpert, the deputy director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, said that recently the jet stream seems to create weather patterns that get stuck, making dry spells into droughts and hot days into heat waves.
Take the past two winters. They were as different as can be, but both had unusual jet stream activity. Normally, the jet stream plunges southwest from western Washington state, sloping across to Alabama. Then it curves slightly out to sea around the Outer Banks, a swoop that's generally straight without dramatic bends.
During the mostly snowless winter of 2011-12 and the record warm March 2012, the jet stream instead formed a giant upside-down U, curving dramatically in the opposite direction. That trapped warm air over much of the Eastern U.S. A year later the jet stream was again unusual, this time with a sharp U-turn north. This trapped colder and snowier weather in places like Chicago and caused nor'easters in New England, Francis said.
But for true extremes, nothing beats tornadoes.
In 2011, the United States was hit over and over by killer twisters. From June 2010 to May 2011 the U.S. had a record number of substantial tornadoes, totaling 1,050. Then just a year later came a record tornado drought. From May 2012 to April 2013 there were only 217 tornadoes — 30 fewer than the old record, said Harold Brooks, a meteorologist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory. Brooks said both examples were related to unusual jet stream patterns.
Last fall, a dip in the jet stream over the United States and northward bulge of high pressure combined to pull Superstorm Sandy almost due west into New Jersey, Francis said. That track is so rare and nearly unprecedented that computer models indicate it would happen only once every 714 years, according to a new study by NASA and Columbia University scientists.
"Everyone would agree that we are in a pattern" of extremes, NOAA research meteorologist Martin Hoerling said. "We don't know how long it will stay in this pattern."
Jet.Stream.Extremes
FILE - People swim and sunbathe at Goose Lake in Anchorage, Alaska on Monda...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The jet stream, the river of air high above Earth that generally dictates the weather, usually rushes rapidly from west to east in a mostly straight direction.
But lately it seems to be wobbling and weaving like a drunken driver, wreaking havoc as it goes.
The more the jet stream undulates north and south, the more changeable and extreme the weather.
The most recent example occurred in mid-June when some towns in Alaska hit record highs. McGrath, Alaska, recorded an all-time high of 94 degrees on June 17. A few weeks earlier, the same spot was 15 degrees, the coldest recorded for so late in the year.
You can blame the heat wave on a large northward bulge in the jet stream, Rutgers University climate scientist Jennifer Francis said.
Several scientists are blaming weather whiplash — both high and low extremes — on a jet stream that's not quite playing by its old rules. It's a relatively new phenomenon that experts are still trying to understand.
Some say it's related to global warming, but others say it's not.
Upside-down weather also happened in May: Early California wildfires fueled by heat contrasted with more than a foot of snow in Minnesota. Seattle was the hottest spot in the nation one day, and Maine and Edmonton, Canada, were warmer than Miami and Phoenix.
Consider these unusual occurrences over the past few years:
— The winter of 2011-12 seemed to disappear, with little snow and record warmth in March. That was followed by the winter of 2012-13 when nor'easters seemed to queue up to strike the same coastal areas repeatedly.
— Superstorm Sandy took an odd left turn in October from the Atlantic straight into New Jersey, something that happens once every 700 years or so.
— One 12-month period had a record number of tornadoes. That was followed by 12 months that set a record for lack of tornadoes.
And here is what federal weather officials call a "spring paradox": The U.S. had both an unusually large area of snow cover in March and April and a near-record low area of snow cover in May. The entire Northern Hemisphere had record snow coverage area in December but the third lowest snow extent for May.
"I've been doing meteorology for 30 years and the jet stream the last three years has done stuff I've never seen," said Jeff Masters, meteorology director at the private service Weather Underground. "The fact that the jet stream is unusual could be an indicator of something. I'm not saying we know what it is."
Rutgers' Francis is in the camp that thinks climate change is probably playing a role in this.
"It's been just a crazy fall and winter and spring all along, following a very abnormal sea ice condition in the Arctic," Francis said, noting that last year set a record low for summer sea ice in the Arctic. "It's possible what we're seeing in this unusual weather is all connected."
Other scientists don't make the sea ice and global warming connections that Francis does. They see random weather or long-term cycles at work. And even more scientists are taking a wait-and-see approach about this latest theory. It's far from a scientific consensus, but it is something that is being studied more often and getting a lot of scientific buzz.
"There are some viable hypotheses," Stanford University climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh said. "We're going to need more evidence to fully test those hypotheses."
The jet stream, or more precisely the polar jet stream, is the one that affects the Northern Hemisphere. It dips down from Alaska, across the United States or Canada, then across the Atlantic and over Europe and "has everything to do with the weather we experience," Francis said.
It all starts with the difference between cold temperatures in the Arctic and warmer temperatures in the mid-latitudes, she explained. The bigger the temperature difference, the stronger the jet stream, the faster it moves and the straighter it flows. But as the northern polar regions warm two to three times faster than the rest of the world, augmented by unprecedented melting of Arctic sea ice and loss in snow cover, the temperature difference shrinks. Then the jet stream slows and undulates more.
The jet stream is about 14 percent slower in the fall now than in the 1990s, according to a recent study by Francis. And when it slows, it moves north-south instead of east-west, bringing more unusual weather, creating blocking patterns and cutoff lows that are associated with weird weather, the Rutgers scientist said.
Mike Halpert, the deputy director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, said that recently the jet stream seems to create weather patterns that get stuck, making dry spells into droughts and hot days into heat waves.
Take the past two winters. They were as different as can be, but both had unusual jet stream activity. Normally, the jet stream plunges southwest from western Washington state, sloping across to Alabama. Then it curves slightly out to sea around the Outer Banks, a swoop that's generally straight without dramatic bends.
During the mostly snowless winter of 2011-12 and the record warm March 2012, the jet stream instead formed a giant upside-down U, curving dramatically in the opposite direction. That trapped warm air over much of the Eastern U.S. A year later the jet stream was again unusual, this time with a sharp U-turn north. This trapped colder and snowier weather in places like Chicago and caused nor'easters in New England, Francis said.
But for true extremes, nothing beats tornadoes.
In 2011, the United States was hit over and over by killer twisters. From June 2010 to May 2011 the U.S. had a record number of substantial tornadoes, totaling 1,050. Then just a year later came a record tornado drought. From May 2012 to April 2013 there were only 217 tornadoes — 30 fewer than the old record, said Harold Brooks, a meteorologist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory. Brooks said both examples were related to unusual jet stream patterns.
Last fall, a dip in the jet stream over the United States and northward bulge of high pressure combined to pull Superstorm Sandy almost due west into New Jersey, Francis said. That track is so rare and nearly unprecedented that computer models indicate it would happen only once every 714 years, according to a new study by NASA and Columbia University scientists.
"Everyone would agree that we are in a pattern" of extremes, NOAA research meteorologist Martin Hoerling said. "We don't know how long it will stay in this pattern."
Woman accidentally glues mouth shut
New Zealand woman thought adhesive was lip balm
A New Zealand woman mistook a tube of superglue for lip balm and accidentally sealed her mouth shut.
The 64-year-old woman, who requested anonymity, was fumbling in the dark for something to apply to a cold sore late Thursday night when she made the mistake, the Telegraph reported.
The superglue and lip balm were kept in the same tray in her medicine cabinet.
Addled by a cold, the woman told authorities she couldn't get a whiff of the toxic adhesive before applying it to her mouth, the Otago Daily Times reported.
She went back to bed, and soon her lips were tightly sealed.
Senior Sgt. Steve Aiken told the New Zealand Herald the woman "sounded gagged or possibly had a medical condition" when she called emergency services.
"She could only grunt," he said.
The superglue was removed with paraffin oil at a hospital in Dunedin, according to the Independent.
New Zealand woman thought adhesive was lip balm
A New Zealand woman mistook a tube of superglue for lip balm and accidentally sealed her mouth shut.
The 64-year-old woman, who requested anonymity, was fumbling in the dark for something to apply to a cold sore late Thursday night when she made the mistake, the Telegraph reported.
The superglue and lip balm were kept in the same tray in her medicine cabinet.
Addled by a cold, the woman told authorities she couldn't get a whiff of the toxic adhesive before applying it to her mouth, the Otago Daily Times reported.
She went back to bed, and soon her lips were tightly sealed.
Senior Sgt. Steve Aiken told the New Zealand Herald the woman "sounded gagged or possibly had a medical condition" when she called emergency services.
"She could only grunt," he said.
The superglue was removed with paraffin oil at a hospital in Dunedin, according to the Independent.
19-foot python breaks into Australian charity
CAIRNS, Australia (AP) — Australian police were mystified by a chaotic crime scene including a hole in the ceiling and a smelly pool of vomit-like liquid — until they found the culprit was a 5.7-meter (19-foot) python.
The massive snake weighing in at 17 kilograms (37 pounds) was captured a day after a suspected burglary was reported at a charity store in Queensland in northeastern Australia.
"Its head was the size of a small dog," Police Sgt. Don Auld said Wednesday.
Before they found the python, investigators' working theory was that a human burglar with an appetite for destruction — and a serious illness — had gone on a rampage inside the St. Vincent de Paul store in the small town of Ingham.
"We thought a person had fallen through the ceiling because the roof panel was cut in half," Auld said. "When they've hit the floor, they've vomited and then staggered and fallen over. That's what we thought anyway."
Police now suspect the python entered the store through the roof, which was damaged in a cyclone two years ago.
The animal then plummeted through the ceiling, knocking over dishes, clothes and other items, before relieving itself on the floor. It somehow managed to hide from officials until staff spotted it lying alongside a wall the next day.
A local snake catcher was called in to capture the reptile, which has been relocated to nearby wetlands.
CAIRNS, Australia (AP) — Australian police were mystified by a chaotic crime scene including a hole in the ceiling and a smelly pool of vomit-like liquid — until they found the culprit was a 5.7-meter (19-foot) python.
The massive snake weighing in at 17 kilograms (37 pounds) was captured a day after a suspected burglary was reported at a charity store in Queensland in northeastern Australia.
"Its head was the size of a small dog," Police Sgt. Don Auld said Wednesday.
Before they found the python, investigators' working theory was that a human burglar with an appetite for destruction — and a serious illness — had gone on a rampage inside the St. Vincent de Paul store in the small town of Ingham.
"We thought a person had fallen through the ceiling because the roof panel was cut in half," Auld said. "When they've hit the floor, they've vomited and then staggered and fallen over. That's what we thought anyway."
Police now suspect the python entered the store through the roof, which was damaged in a cyclone two years ago.
The animal then plummeted through the ceiling, knocking over dishes, clothes and other items, before relieving itself on the floor. It somehow managed to hide from officials until staff spotted it lying alongside a wall the next day.
A local snake catcher was called in to capture the reptile, which has been relocated to nearby wetlands.
Texas woman's missing husband found buried in yard
PELICAN BAY, Texas (AP) — A 62-year-old widow has been charged with murder after her long-missing husband was found buried in the front yard of their rural North Texas home.
Neola Robinson is charged in the death of her husband Ervin Robinson, who was reported missing by his employer in May 2010.
Lonny Haschel, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, says Texas Rangers arrested Robinson on Saturday. Haschel says they exhumed the husband's remains Tuesday from the yard of their mobile home in Pelican Bay, about 20 miles northwest of Fort Worth.
Robinson is being held in the Tarrant County Jail with bond set at $150,000.
Online jail records listed no attorney for the widow.
PELICAN BAY, Texas (AP) — A 62-year-old widow has been charged with murder after her long-missing husband was found buried in the front yard of their rural North Texas home.
Neola Robinson is charged in the death of her husband Ervin Robinson, who was reported missing by his employer in May 2010.
Lonny Haschel, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, says Texas Rangers arrested Robinson on Saturday. Haschel says they exhumed the husband's remains Tuesday from the yard of their mobile home in Pelican Bay, about 20 miles northwest of Fort Worth.
Robinson is being held in the Tarrant County Jail with bond set at $150,000.
Online jail records listed no attorney for the widow.
Fire brigade to handcuffs users: Don't get stuck.......his weeny in a toaster??????
LONDON (AP) — London firefighters say they have freed hundreds of people with body parts trapped in household objects in the last three years, including 18 children with heads stuck in potties or toilet seats and 79 people trapped in handcuffs.
The London Fire Brigade speculated that the popularity of erotic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" may account for a rise in handcuffs-related emergencies.
"I don't know whether it's the 'Fifty Shades' effect, but the number of incidents involving items like handcuffs seems to have gone up," said Third Officer Dave Brown.
Since 2010, London firefighters have treated almost 500 people with rings stuck on their fingers, nine with rings stuck on their penises, and one man with his penis stuck in a toaster.
Rescue crews also helped five people with hands stuck in shredders and 17 children with their hands trapped in toys.
The brigade released the list of incidents Monday to encourage people to be more careful. It advised people to exercise common sense — and always to keep the keys nearby when using handcuffs.
Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — London firefighters say they have freed hundreds of people with body parts trapped in household objects in the last three years, including 18 children with heads stuck in potties or toilet seats and 79 people trapped in handcuffs.
The London Fire Brigade speculated that the popularity of erotic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" may account for a rise in handcuffs-related emergencies.
"I don't know whether it's the 'Fifty Shades' effect, but the number of incidents involving items like handcuffs seems to have gone up," said Third Officer Dave Brown.
Since 2010, London firefighters have treated almost 500 people with rings stuck on their fingers, nine with rings stuck on their penises, and one man with his penis stuck in a toaster.
Rescue crews also helped five people with hands stuck in shredders and 17 children with their hands trapped in toys.
The brigade released the list of incidents Monday to encourage people to be more careful. It advised people to exercise common sense — and always to keep the keys nearby when using handcuffs.
Associated Press
I know that this isn't the funny or weird like the other posts have been and goes against what I posted first that no killings and such be posted...actually somewhat sad....that 3 people died here.
But if this saves a few driver lives then it's worth posting it.....pass it along to all of your family and friends.
I also don't know where it happened.
The Honda crotch rocket rider was traveling at approximately 85 mph.
The VW driver was talking on a cell phone when she pulled out from a side street, apparently not seeing the motorcycle. The rider's reaction time was not sufficient enough to avoid this accident.
The car had two passengers and the bike rider was found INSIDE the car with them.
The Volkswagen actually flipped over from the force of impact and landed 20 feet from where the collision took place.
All three involved (two in the car and the bike rider) were killed instantly. This graphic demonstration was placed at the Motorcycle Fair by the Police and Road Safety Department..
Pass this on to car drivers or soon to be new drivers, or new motorcycle owners and especially everyone you know who has a MOBILE phone!!!
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Save a life. Stop talking on mobile phones and Texting while trying to drive.
The life you save may be your own..... Or mine...
Keep passing this on so everyone will see what can happen by using a mobile PHONE while driving
But if this saves a few driver lives then it's worth posting it.....pass it along to all of your family and friends.
I also don't know where it happened.
The Honda crotch rocket rider was traveling at approximately 85 mph.
The VW driver was talking on a cell phone when she pulled out from a side street, apparently not seeing the motorcycle. The rider's reaction time was not sufficient enough to avoid this accident.
The car had two passengers and the bike rider was found INSIDE the car with them.
The Volkswagen actually flipped over from the force of impact and landed 20 feet from where the collision took place.
All three involved (two in the car and the bike rider) were killed instantly. This graphic demonstration was placed at the Motorcycle Fair by the Police and Road Safety Department..
Pass this on to car drivers or soon to be new drivers, or new motorcycle owners and especially everyone you know who has a MOBILE phone!!!
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Save a life. Stop talking on mobile phones and Texting while trying to drive.
The life you save may be your own..... Or mine...
Keep passing this on so everyone will see what can happen by using a mobile PHONE while driving
Captain Kangaroo Character Cosmo Allegretti Dies; Puppeteer Was Mr. Bunny Rabbit, Grandfather Clock, Dancing Bear & More
Captain Kangaroo, So many kids grew up loving Captain Kangaroo—and Gus "Cosmo" Allegretti played a big part in that.
The actor and puppeteer, responsible for such characters as Mr. Bunny Rabbit, Grandfather Clock and Dancing Bear on the classic children's show, died July 26 in Arizona. He was 86 and had emphysema, friend and attorney John Munzel told reporters
Allegretti was working as a set painter on Captain Kangaroo but ultimately became talent after he volunteered to create a replacement for someone else's puppet.
Captain Kangaroo was the longest-running nationally broadcast children's show of its day, airing on CBS from 1955 until 1984 with Bob Keeshan in the title role.
In addition to creating the hand puppets Mr. Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose, Allegretti was also either the voice or hand (or both) of Dennis the Apprentice, Miss Frog, Mr. Whispers, Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock and Uncle Ralph. He was also TV Fred, who appeared behind the blackboard in the Captain's Treasure House, and the artist behind the Magic Drawing Board.
Asked in a 1996 interview how some of those iconic characters came about, Keeshan, who died in 2004, told TVParty.com that Allegretti's Dancing Bear was a good example of how random some of those creations really were.
"We had a meeting and we were listening to a record that we'd just received," Keeshan said. "Believe it or not, it was a record, not a tape or a CD, but it was a record called the 'Dancing Bear.' We just sat around and said, 'How do we do this?' Somebody said, 'How about Gus in a bear suit?' Gus being Gus Allegretti. Gus said, 'Yeah, I'm game,' and so we had a nice bear suit made that Gus crawled into.
"It was not a lot of fun but he is a great talent. Then we just had him dance to this record, the 'Dancing Bear,' and that was that. Then we got mail. A lot of people said, 'Oh, we love that dancing bear. Let us see him again.'"
Captain Kangaroo, So many kids grew up loving Captain Kangaroo—and Gus "Cosmo" Allegretti played a big part in that.
The actor and puppeteer, responsible for such characters as Mr. Bunny Rabbit, Grandfather Clock and Dancing Bear on the classic children's show, died July 26 in Arizona. He was 86 and had emphysema, friend and attorney John Munzel told reporters
Allegretti was working as a set painter on Captain Kangaroo but ultimately became talent after he volunteered to create a replacement for someone else's puppet.
Captain Kangaroo was the longest-running nationally broadcast children's show of its day, airing on CBS from 1955 until 1984 with Bob Keeshan in the title role.
In addition to creating the hand puppets Mr. Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose, Allegretti was also either the voice or hand (or both) of Dennis the Apprentice, Miss Frog, Mr. Whispers, Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock and Uncle Ralph. He was also TV Fred, who appeared behind the blackboard in the Captain's Treasure House, and the artist behind the Magic Drawing Board.
Asked in a 1996 interview how some of those iconic characters came about, Keeshan, who died in 2004, told TVParty.com that Allegretti's Dancing Bear was a good example of how random some of those creations really were.
"We had a meeting and we were listening to a record that we'd just received," Keeshan said. "Believe it or not, it was a record, not a tape or a CD, but it was a record called the 'Dancing Bear.' We just sat around and said, 'How do we do this?' Somebody said, 'How about Gus in a bear suit?' Gus being Gus Allegretti. Gus said, 'Yeah, I'm game,' and so we had a nice bear suit made that Gus crawled into.
"It was not a lot of fun but he is a great talent. Then we just had him dance to this record, the 'Dancing Bear,' and that was that. Then we got mail. A lot of people said, 'Oh, we love that dancing bear. Let us see him again.'"
Copy & pasted from the the home page of SDF.
Today's BirthdaysToday's Birthdays
Seadoobuddy,(??)....
Braderson01 (29)
Today's BirthdaysToday's Birthdays
Seadoobuddy,(??)....
Braderson01 (29)
New brain-eating amoeba case in Florida
Boy's family says he was kneeboarding with friends in water-filled ditch
Naegleria fowleri
Another child has been infected with a rare, brain-eating parasite, less than a month after an Arkansas girl ended up in a hospital, fighting for her life.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed another case of this amoeba, called Naegleria fowleri, in Florida, a spokesman told CNN Tuesday. The patient is 12-year-old Zachary Reyna, his family told CNN affiliate WBBH.
Reyna's family told WBBH that Reyna was kneeboarding with friends in a water-filled ditch by his house on August 3. He slept the entire next day.
Reyna is an active seventh grader, his family said, so sleeping that much was unusual. His mother took him to the hospital immediately. He had brain surgery, and doctors diagnosed him with primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, according to WBBH. The family said he is currently in the intensive care unit at the Miami Children's Hospital.
The CDC says it has been in touch with the patient's doctors and has released the same experimental drug used to treat 12-year-old Kali Hardig in Arkansas. It's not clear if the drug has been, or if it will be, administered to Reyna.
Getting this parasite is extremely rare; between 2001 and 2010 there were only 32 reported cases in the United States, according to the CDC. Most of the cases are in the Southeast.
The cases are nearly always deadly, but Hardig's case is giving the Reyna family some hope.
The Arkansas girl was infected with the same rare, brain-eating parasite a couple of weeks ago and was in the intensive care unit at Arkansas Children's Hospital.
She is now in rehab, which is "really a great sign for her," hospital spokesman Tom Bonner said Tuesday. She is listed in fair condition.
Hardig has shown so much progress that she can now sign her own name, her mother, Traci Hardig, told Bonner. Kali can't talk yet because of a sore throat from the breathing tube and the general grogginess she feels from medication, Bonner said.
Hardig's doctors are in largely uncharted territory. Of 128 known cases in the past half-century, just two patients have survived an infection caused by this microscopic organism, according to the CDC.
Naegleria fowleri is found in hot springs and warm, fresh water, most often in the southeastern United States. The amoeba enters the body through the nose and travels to the brain. There is no danger of infection from drinking contaminated water, the CDC says.
"This infection is one of the most severe infections that we know of," Dr. Dirk Haselow of the Arkansas Department of Health told CNN affiliate WMC about Hardig's case. "Ninety-nine percent of people who get it die."
Dr. Sanjiv Pasala, one of Hardig's attending physicians, says doctors immediately started treating Hardig with an antifungal medicine, antibiotics and a new experimental anti-amoeba drug they received directly from the CDC. They also reduced the girl's feverish body temperature to 93 degrees. Doctors have used that technique in some brain injury cases as a way to preserve undamaged brain tissue.
Several weeks ago, doctors checked the girl's cerebral spinal fluid and could not find any presence of the amoeba.
Willow Springs Water Park in Little Rock is the most likely source of Hardig's infection, the Arkansas Department of Health says. Another case of the same parasite was reported in 2010 and was possibly linked to Willow Springs, a three-acre sand-bottom, spring-fed lake.
"Based on the occurrence of two cases of this rare infection in association with the same body of water and the unique features of the park, the ADH has asked the owner of Willow Springs to voluntarily close the water park to ensure the health and safety of the public," the health department said.
Willow Springs' website says its water is pH-balanced, chemically treated, chlorinated and routinely monitored by the health department.
The first symptoms of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis appear one to seven days after infection, including headache, fever, nausea, vomiting and a stiff neck, according to the CDC.
"Later symptoms include confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, seizures and hallucinations," the government agency's website states. "After the start of symptoms, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within one to 12 days."
Here are some tips from the CDC to help lower the risk of infection:
• Avoid swimming in fresh water when the water temperature is high and the water level is low.
• Hold your nose shut or use nose clips.
• Avoid stirring up the sediment while wading in shallow, warm freshwater areas.
• If you are irrigating, flushing or rinsing your sinuses (for example, by using a neti pot), use water that has been distilled or sterilized.
Copyright 2013 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved.
Boy's family says he was kneeboarding with friends in water-filled ditch
Naegleria fowleri
Another child has been infected with a rare, brain-eating parasite, less than a month after an Arkansas girl ended up in a hospital, fighting for her life.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed another case of this amoeba, called Naegleria fowleri, in Florida, a spokesman told CNN Tuesday. The patient is 12-year-old Zachary Reyna, his family told CNN affiliate WBBH.
Reyna's family told WBBH that Reyna was kneeboarding with friends in a water-filled ditch by his house on August 3. He slept the entire next day.
Reyna is an active seventh grader, his family said, so sleeping that much was unusual. His mother took him to the hospital immediately. He had brain surgery, and doctors diagnosed him with primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, according to WBBH. The family said he is currently in the intensive care unit at the Miami Children's Hospital.
The CDC says it has been in touch with the patient's doctors and has released the same experimental drug used to treat 12-year-old Kali Hardig in Arkansas. It's not clear if the drug has been, or if it will be, administered to Reyna.
Getting this parasite is extremely rare; between 2001 and 2010 there were only 32 reported cases in the United States, according to the CDC. Most of the cases are in the Southeast.
The cases are nearly always deadly, but Hardig's case is giving the Reyna family some hope.
The Arkansas girl was infected with the same rare, brain-eating parasite a couple of weeks ago and was in the intensive care unit at Arkansas Children's Hospital.
She is now in rehab, which is "really a great sign for her," hospital spokesman Tom Bonner said Tuesday. She is listed in fair condition.
Hardig has shown so much progress that she can now sign her own name, her mother, Traci Hardig, told Bonner. Kali can't talk yet because of a sore throat from the breathing tube and the general grogginess she feels from medication, Bonner said.
Hardig's doctors are in largely uncharted territory. Of 128 known cases in the past half-century, just two patients have survived an infection caused by this microscopic organism, according to the CDC.
Naegleria fowleri is found in hot springs and warm, fresh water, most often in the southeastern United States. The amoeba enters the body through the nose and travels to the brain. There is no danger of infection from drinking contaminated water, the CDC says.
"This infection is one of the most severe infections that we know of," Dr. Dirk Haselow of the Arkansas Department of Health told CNN affiliate WMC about Hardig's case. "Ninety-nine percent of people who get it die."
Dr. Sanjiv Pasala, one of Hardig's attending physicians, says doctors immediately started treating Hardig with an antifungal medicine, antibiotics and a new experimental anti-amoeba drug they received directly from the CDC. They also reduced the girl's feverish body temperature to 93 degrees. Doctors have used that technique in some brain injury cases as a way to preserve undamaged brain tissue.
Several weeks ago, doctors checked the girl's cerebral spinal fluid and could not find any presence of the amoeba.
Willow Springs Water Park in Little Rock is the most likely source of Hardig's infection, the Arkansas Department of Health says. Another case of the same parasite was reported in 2010 and was possibly linked to Willow Springs, a three-acre sand-bottom, spring-fed lake.
"Based on the occurrence of two cases of this rare infection in association with the same body of water and the unique features of the park, the ADH has asked the owner of Willow Springs to voluntarily close the water park to ensure the health and safety of the public," the health department said.
Willow Springs' website says its water is pH-balanced, chemically treated, chlorinated and routinely monitored by the health department.
The first symptoms of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis appear one to seven days after infection, including headache, fever, nausea, vomiting and a stiff neck, according to the CDC.
"Later symptoms include confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, seizures and hallucinations," the government agency's website states. "After the start of symptoms, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within one to 12 days."
Here are some tips from the CDC to help lower the risk of infection:
• Avoid swimming in fresh water when the water temperature is high and the water level is low.
• Hold your nose shut or use nose clips.
• Avoid stirring up the sediment while wading in shallow, warm freshwater areas.
• If you are irrigating, flushing or rinsing your sinuses (for example, by using a neti pot), use water that has been distilled or sterilized.
Copyright 2013 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved.
its a darn shame , moonshine helped build this country http://www.baynews9.com/content/new...icles/bn9/2013/8/17/trio_accused_of_maki.html
this is a note from the seadooforumlocalmoonshiners association
this is a note from the seadooforumlocalmoonshiners association
Shark Attacks.....
In North America, Florida has the highest number of attacks.
For more details see http://vincentbriatore.com/home/the-most-dangerous-beaches-for-shark-attacks/?utm_source=taboola
In North America, Florida has the highest number of attacks.
For more details see http://vincentbriatore.com/home/the-most-dangerous-beaches-for-shark-attacks/?utm_source=taboola
A repeat that I posted in the Craigslist funnies.....
How about this 1960 PWC.
A whopping 6 HP.
http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/boa/4009469249.html
How about this 1960 PWC.
A whopping 6 HP.
http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/boa/4009469249.html
Shipwrecked Concordia wrestled off Italian reef
The Costa Concordia ship lies on its side on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, I...
GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy (AP) — Engineers on Monday succeeded in wrestling the hull of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia from the Italian reef where it has been stuck since it capsized in January 2012, leaving them cautiously optimistic they can rotate the luxury liner upright and eventually tow it away.
Never before has such an enormous cruise ship been righted, and the crippled Concordia didn't budge for the first three hours after the operation began, engineer Sergio Girotto told reporters. But after some 6,000 tons of force were applied using a complex system of pulleys and counterweights, "we saw the detachment" from the reef thanks to undersea cameras, he said.
Girotto said the cameras did not immediately reveal any sign of the two bodies that were never recovered from among the 32 who died Jan. 13, 2012 when the Concordia slammed into a reef and capsized after the ship's captain steered the luxury liner too close to Giglio Island.
Images transmitted by robotic diving vehicles indicated that the submerged side of the hull had suffered "great deformation" from all its time on the granite seabed, battered by waves and compressed under the weight of the ship's 115,000 tons, Girotto said.
The initial operation to lift the Concordia from the reef moved the ship just 3 degrees toward vertical, leaving the vessel some 62 degrees shy of being pulled upright. While a seemingly small shift, the movement was significant enough to be visible: A few feet of slime-covered hull that had been underwater became visible above the waterline.
Engineers were waiting for the operation's completion before declaring success: The entire rotation was expected to last as long as 12 hours, with crews prepared to work into the night if need be.
So far, "rotation has gone according to predictions," and no appreciable pollution from inside the ship has spewed out, said Franco Gabrielli, chief of Italy's Civil Protection agency, which is overseeing the operation.
Giglio is part of a Tuscan archipelago in a marine sanctuary where dolphins romp and fish are plentiful.
The operation, known in nautical parlance as parbuckling, is a proven method to raise capsized vessels. The USS Oklahoma was parbuckled by the U.S. military in 1943 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
But the 300-meter (1,000-foot), 115,000-ton Concordia has been described as the largest cruise ship ever to capsize and subsequently require the complex rotation.
The operation involves engineers using remote controls to guide a synchronized leverage system of pulleys, counterweights and huge chains looped under the Concordia's carcass to delicately nudge the ship free from its rocky seabed and rotate it upright.
During the rotation process, a series of tanks fixed on the exposed side of the hull will be filled with water to help pull it down.
Once the ship is upright, engineers hope to attach an equal number of tanks filled with water on the other side to balance the ship, anchor it and stabilize it during the winter months. The flat-keeled hull itself will be resting on a false seabed some 30 meters (100 feet) underwater, made out of a platform and cement-filled sandbags that fill in the gaps of the sloping, jagged reef.
When it comes time to tow the ship in spring, the tanks will gradually be emptied of the water so the ship becomes buoyant enough to float off the seabed, working like a giant pair of water wings.
For over a year, residents of the fishing island have watched from shore as cranes and barges have moved into place to try to remove the hulk from their port. A few dozen gathered Monday morning on a breakwater to witness the operation getting underway, while others glimpsed it from shore as they went about their daily business.
One woman walking her dog near the harbor sported a T-shirt with "Keep Calm and Watch the Parbuckling Project" written across it in English. A variation on other T-shirts read: "Keep calm and think of Giglio Island." Gigliese, as locals call themselves, had raced to the aid of the survivors who staggered shivering from the sea that wintry night, bringing them blankets, warm clothing and invitations into their homes.
"There is a little tension now. The operation is very complex," said Giovanni Andolfi, a 63-year-old resident who spent his career at sea working on tankers and cruise ships and watched the operation from port.
Engineers have dismissed as "remote" the possibility that the Concordia might break apart and no longer be sound enough to be towed to the mainland to be turned into scrap. Should the Concordia break apart during the rotation, or spew out toxic materials as it is raised, absorbent barriers were set in place to catch any leaks.
The reef sliced a 70-meter-long (230-foot) gash into what is now the exposed side off the hull, letting seawater rush in. The resulting tilt was so drastic that many lifeboats couldn't be launched. Dozens of the 4,200 passengers and crew were plucked to safety by helicopters or jumped into the sea and swam to shore. Bodies of many of the dead were retrieved inside the ship, although two bodies were never found and might lie beneath the hulk.
The Concordia's captain is on trial on the mainland for alleged manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship during the chaotic and delayed evacuation. Capt. Francesco Schettino claims the reef wasn't on the nautical charts for the liner's weeklong Mediterranean cruise.
Parbuckling was supposed to begin before dawn, but the operation was pushed back by an overnight storm that delayed the positioning of a barge near the wreckage that serves as the command control center. After the storm blew away, seas were calm.
Costa Crociere SpA, the Italian unit of Miami-based Carnival Corp., is picking up the tab for the parbuckling and its intricate preparation. The company puts the costs so far at 600 million euros ($800 million), though much of that will be passed onto its insurers.
Despite the disaster, locals have come to appreciate the crews who have spent more than a year working on the wreckage; they have mingled with locals and contributed to their economy, renting out hotel rooms and vacation apartments that would otherwise have gone vacant during the winter months.
Andolfi, the seaman, called the crews "the best brains in the field." But he was eager to see them finish.
"I would like Giglio to return to what it was before, a beautiful place of uncontaminated nature," he said.
Project is at www.theparbucklingproject.com
The Costa Concordia ship lies on its side on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, I...
GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy (AP) — Engineers on Monday succeeded in wrestling the hull of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia from the Italian reef where it has been stuck since it capsized in January 2012, leaving them cautiously optimistic they can rotate the luxury liner upright and eventually tow it away.
Never before has such an enormous cruise ship been righted, and the crippled Concordia didn't budge for the first three hours after the operation began, engineer Sergio Girotto told reporters. But after some 6,000 tons of force were applied using a complex system of pulleys and counterweights, "we saw the detachment" from the reef thanks to undersea cameras, he said.
Girotto said the cameras did not immediately reveal any sign of the two bodies that were never recovered from among the 32 who died Jan. 13, 2012 when the Concordia slammed into a reef and capsized after the ship's captain steered the luxury liner too close to Giglio Island.
Images transmitted by robotic diving vehicles indicated that the submerged side of the hull had suffered "great deformation" from all its time on the granite seabed, battered by waves and compressed under the weight of the ship's 115,000 tons, Girotto said.
The initial operation to lift the Concordia from the reef moved the ship just 3 degrees toward vertical, leaving the vessel some 62 degrees shy of being pulled upright. While a seemingly small shift, the movement was significant enough to be visible: A few feet of slime-covered hull that had been underwater became visible above the waterline.
Engineers were waiting for the operation's completion before declaring success: The entire rotation was expected to last as long as 12 hours, with crews prepared to work into the night if need be.
So far, "rotation has gone according to predictions," and no appreciable pollution from inside the ship has spewed out, said Franco Gabrielli, chief of Italy's Civil Protection agency, which is overseeing the operation.
Giglio is part of a Tuscan archipelago in a marine sanctuary where dolphins romp and fish are plentiful.
The operation, known in nautical parlance as parbuckling, is a proven method to raise capsized vessels. The USS Oklahoma was parbuckled by the U.S. military in 1943 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
But the 300-meter (1,000-foot), 115,000-ton Concordia has been described as the largest cruise ship ever to capsize and subsequently require the complex rotation.
The operation involves engineers using remote controls to guide a synchronized leverage system of pulleys, counterweights and huge chains looped under the Concordia's carcass to delicately nudge the ship free from its rocky seabed and rotate it upright.
During the rotation process, a series of tanks fixed on the exposed side of the hull will be filled with water to help pull it down.
Once the ship is upright, engineers hope to attach an equal number of tanks filled with water on the other side to balance the ship, anchor it and stabilize it during the winter months. The flat-keeled hull itself will be resting on a false seabed some 30 meters (100 feet) underwater, made out of a platform and cement-filled sandbags that fill in the gaps of the sloping, jagged reef.
When it comes time to tow the ship in spring, the tanks will gradually be emptied of the water so the ship becomes buoyant enough to float off the seabed, working like a giant pair of water wings.
For over a year, residents of the fishing island have watched from shore as cranes and barges have moved into place to try to remove the hulk from their port. A few dozen gathered Monday morning on a breakwater to witness the operation getting underway, while others glimpsed it from shore as they went about their daily business.
One woman walking her dog near the harbor sported a T-shirt with "Keep Calm and Watch the Parbuckling Project" written across it in English. A variation on other T-shirts read: "Keep calm and think of Giglio Island." Gigliese, as locals call themselves, had raced to the aid of the survivors who staggered shivering from the sea that wintry night, bringing them blankets, warm clothing and invitations into their homes.
"There is a little tension now. The operation is very complex," said Giovanni Andolfi, a 63-year-old resident who spent his career at sea working on tankers and cruise ships and watched the operation from port.
Engineers have dismissed as "remote" the possibility that the Concordia might break apart and no longer be sound enough to be towed to the mainland to be turned into scrap. Should the Concordia break apart during the rotation, or spew out toxic materials as it is raised, absorbent barriers were set in place to catch any leaks.
The reef sliced a 70-meter-long (230-foot) gash into what is now the exposed side off the hull, letting seawater rush in. The resulting tilt was so drastic that many lifeboats couldn't be launched. Dozens of the 4,200 passengers and crew were plucked to safety by helicopters or jumped into the sea and swam to shore. Bodies of many of the dead were retrieved inside the ship, although two bodies were never found and might lie beneath the hulk.
The Concordia's captain is on trial on the mainland for alleged manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship during the chaotic and delayed evacuation. Capt. Francesco Schettino claims the reef wasn't on the nautical charts for the liner's weeklong Mediterranean cruise.
Parbuckling was supposed to begin before dawn, but the operation was pushed back by an overnight storm that delayed the positioning of a barge near the wreckage that serves as the command control center. After the storm blew away, seas were calm.
Costa Crociere SpA, the Italian unit of Miami-based Carnival Corp., is picking up the tab for the parbuckling and its intricate preparation. The company puts the costs so far at 600 million euros ($800 million), though much of that will be passed onto its insurers.
Despite the disaster, locals have come to appreciate the crews who have spent more than a year working on the wreckage; they have mingled with locals and contributed to their economy, renting out hotel rooms and vacation apartments that would otherwise have gone vacant during the winter months.
Andolfi, the seaman, called the crews "the best brains in the field." But he was eager to see them finish.
"I would like Giglio to return to what it was before, a beautiful place of uncontaminated nature," he said.
Project is at www.theparbucklingproject.com
Sylvan Lake man accused of trying to steal women's underwear by wearing them out of store
David Osterhoff arrested at Kohl's store in West Bloomfield
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. -
A 20-year-old Sylvan Lake man has been arrested on accusations he tried to steal women’s underwear by wearing them out of a store.
West Bloomfield police said David Osterhoff was arrested Wednesday at a Kohl’s.
Police said loss prevention officers noticed Osterhoff going in and out of the dressing rooms in a strange way. At one point, he took two pairs of women’s underwear with him.
After Osterhoff bought about $100 of stuff, loss prevention officers confronted Osterhoff about where the women’s underwear was.
Police said Osterhoff said he was wearing them and admitted he hadn’t paid for them.
He was arrested on a larceny charge.
for more details and a pic of him...... http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...re/-/1719418/22019824/-/114guxrz/-/index.html
David Osterhoff arrested at Kohl's store in West Bloomfield
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. -
A 20-year-old Sylvan Lake man has been arrested on accusations he tried to steal women’s underwear by wearing them out of a store.
West Bloomfield police said David Osterhoff was arrested Wednesday at a Kohl’s.
Police said loss prevention officers noticed Osterhoff going in and out of the dressing rooms in a strange way. At one point, he took two pairs of women’s underwear with him.
After Osterhoff bought about $100 of stuff, loss prevention officers confronted Osterhoff about where the women’s underwear was.
Police said Osterhoff said he was wearing them and admitted he hadn’t paid for them.
He was arrested on a larceny charge.
for more details and a pic of him...... http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...re/-/1719418/22019824/-/114guxrz/-/index.html
Popular bathroom wipes blamed for sewer clogs in N. Y.
BEMUS POINT, N.Y. (AP) — Increasingly popular bathroom wipes — pre-moistened towelettes that are often advertised as flushable — are being blamed for creating clogs and backups in sewer systems around the nation.
Waste water authorities say wipes may go down the toilet, but even many labeled flushable aren't breaking down as they course through the sewer system. That's costing some municipalities millions of dollars to dispatch crews to unclog pipes and pumps and to replace and upgrade machinery.
The problem got so bad in this western New York community this summer that sewer officials set up traps — basket strainers in sections of pipe leading to an oft-clogged pump — to figure out which households the wipes were coming from. They mailed letters and then pleaded in person for residents to stop flushing them.
"We could walk right up, knock on the door and say, 'Listen, this problem is coming right from your house,'" said Tom Walsh, senior project coordinator at South & Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer Districts, which was dispatching crews at least once a week to clear a grinder pump that would seize up trying to shred the fibrous wipes.
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies, which represents 300 waste water agencies, says it has been hearing complaints about wipes from sewer systems big and small for about the last four years.
That roughly coincides with the ramped-up marketing of the "flushable cleansing cloths" as a cleaner, fresher option than dry toilet paper alone. A trade group says wipes are a $6 billion-a-year industry, with sales of consumer wipes increasing nearly 5 percent a year since 2007 and expected to grow at a rate of 6 percent annually for the next five years.
One popular brand, Cottonelle, has a campaign called "Let's talk about your bum" and ads showing people trying to wash their hair with no water. It ends with the tagline: "You can't clean your hair without water, so why clean your bum that way?"
Manufacturers insist wipes labeled flushable aren't the problem, pointing instead to baby and other cleaning wipes marked as nonflushable that are often being used by adults.
"My team regularly goes sewer diving" to analyze what's causing problems, said Trina McCormick, a senior manager at Kimberly-Clark Corp., maker of Cottonelle. "We've seen the majority, 90 percent in fact, are items that are not supposed to be flushed, like paper towels, feminine products or baby wipes."
Waste water officials agree that wipes, many of which are made from plastic, aren't the only culprits but say their problems have escalated with the wipes market.
Vancouver, Wash., sewer officials say wipes labeled as flushable are a big part of a problem that has caused that city to spend more than $1 million in the last five years replacing three large sewage pumps and eight smaller ones that were routinely clogging.
To prove their point, they dyed several kinds of wipes and sent them through the sewer for a mile to see how they would break up. They didn't.
Those labeled flushable, engineer Frank Dick said, had "a little rips and tears but still they were intact."
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, which serves Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland, has also spent more than $1 million over five years installing heavy-duty grinders, while the Orange County, Calif., Sanitation District, in a single year recorded 971 "de-ragging" maintenance calls on 10 pump stations at a cost of $320,000.
Clogging problems in Waukesha, Wis., prompted the sewer authority there to create a "Keep Wipes out of Pipes" flier. And Ocean City, Md., and Sitka, Alaska, are among cities that have also publicly asked residents not to flush wipes, regardless of whether they are labeled flushable.
The problem got worldwide attention in July when London sewer officials reported removing a 15-ton "bus-sized lump" of wrongly flushed grease and wet wipes, dubbed the "fatberg."
The complaints have prompted a renewed look at solving the problem.
The Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, the trade group known as INDA, recently revised voluntary guidelines and specified seven tests for manufacturers to use to determine which wipes to call flushable. It also recommends a universal do-not-flush logo — a crossed-out stick figure and toilet — be prominently displayed on non-dispersible products.
The waste water industry would prefer mandatory guidelines and a say in what's included but supports the INDA initiatives as a start. Three major waste water associations issued a joint statement with INDA last week to signal a desire to reach a consensus on flushability standards.
"If I'm doing the test, I'm going to throw a wipe in a bucket of water and say it has to disintegrate," said Rob Villee, executive director of the Plainfield Area Regional Sewage Authority in New Jersey.
Nicholas Arhontes, director of facilities support services in Orange County, Calif., has an even simpler rule for what should go down the toilet.
"Only flush pee, poop and toilet paper," he said, "because those are the only things that sanitary sewers were really designed for in the old days."
http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20130923/US--Wipe.Woes/
Associated Press
BEMUS POINT, N.Y. (AP) — Increasingly popular bathroom wipes — pre-moistened towelettes that are often advertised as flushable — are being blamed for creating clogs and backups in sewer systems around the nation.
Waste water authorities say wipes may go down the toilet, but even many labeled flushable aren't breaking down as they course through the sewer system. That's costing some municipalities millions of dollars to dispatch crews to unclog pipes and pumps and to replace and upgrade machinery.
The problem got so bad in this western New York community this summer that sewer officials set up traps — basket strainers in sections of pipe leading to an oft-clogged pump — to figure out which households the wipes were coming from. They mailed letters and then pleaded in person for residents to stop flushing them.
"We could walk right up, knock on the door and say, 'Listen, this problem is coming right from your house,'" said Tom Walsh, senior project coordinator at South & Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer Districts, which was dispatching crews at least once a week to clear a grinder pump that would seize up trying to shred the fibrous wipes.
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies, which represents 300 waste water agencies, says it has been hearing complaints about wipes from sewer systems big and small for about the last four years.
That roughly coincides with the ramped-up marketing of the "flushable cleansing cloths" as a cleaner, fresher option than dry toilet paper alone. A trade group says wipes are a $6 billion-a-year industry, with sales of consumer wipes increasing nearly 5 percent a year since 2007 and expected to grow at a rate of 6 percent annually for the next five years.
One popular brand, Cottonelle, has a campaign called "Let's talk about your bum" and ads showing people trying to wash their hair with no water. It ends with the tagline: "You can't clean your hair without water, so why clean your bum that way?"
Manufacturers insist wipes labeled flushable aren't the problem, pointing instead to baby and other cleaning wipes marked as nonflushable that are often being used by adults.
"My team regularly goes sewer diving" to analyze what's causing problems, said Trina McCormick, a senior manager at Kimberly-Clark Corp., maker of Cottonelle. "We've seen the majority, 90 percent in fact, are items that are not supposed to be flushed, like paper towels, feminine products or baby wipes."
Waste water officials agree that wipes, many of which are made from plastic, aren't the only culprits but say their problems have escalated with the wipes market.
Vancouver, Wash., sewer officials say wipes labeled as flushable are a big part of a problem that has caused that city to spend more than $1 million in the last five years replacing three large sewage pumps and eight smaller ones that were routinely clogging.
To prove their point, they dyed several kinds of wipes and sent them through the sewer for a mile to see how they would break up. They didn't.
Those labeled flushable, engineer Frank Dick said, had "a little rips and tears but still they were intact."
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, which serves Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland, has also spent more than $1 million over five years installing heavy-duty grinders, while the Orange County, Calif., Sanitation District, in a single year recorded 971 "de-ragging" maintenance calls on 10 pump stations at a cost of $320,000.
Clogging problems in Waukesha, Wis., prompted the sewer authority there to create a "Keep Wipes out of Pipes" flier. And Ocean City, Md., and Sitka, Alaska, are among cities that have also publicly asked residents not to flush wipes, regardless of whether they are labeled flushable.
The problem got worldwide attention in July when London sewer officials reported removing a 15-ton "bus-sized lump" of wrongly flushed grease and wet wipes, dubbed the "fatberg."
The complaints have prompted a renewed look at solving the problem.
The Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, the trade group known as INDA, recently revised voluntary guidelines and specified seven tests for manufacturers to use to determine which wipes to call flushable. It also recommends a universal do-not-flush logo — a crossed-out stick figure and toilet — be prominently displayed on non-dispersible products.
The waste water industry would prefer mandatory guidelines and a say in what's included but supports the INDA initiatives as a start. Three major waste water associations issued a joint statement with INDA last week to signal a desire to reach a consensus on flushability standards.
"If I'm doing the test, I'm going to throw a wipe in a bucket of water and say it has to disintegrate," said Rob Villee, executive director of the Plainfield Area Regional Sewage Authority in New Jersey.
Nicholas Arhontes, director of facilities support services in Orange County, Calif., has an even simpler rule for what should go down the toilet.
"Only flush pee, poop and toilet paper," he said, "because those are the only things that sanitary sewers were really designed for in the old days."
http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20130923/US--Wipe.Woes/
Associated Press
Sorry double posted the above.
2 died in pwc accident === http://www.baynews9.com/content/new...icles/bn9/2013/9/28/_2_injured_in_tour_b.html
Yeah I saw the article on facebook ...rented 2 skis, played chicken with a tour boat and 1 didn't make it.
So stupid but also sad.