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Russia: Women Urged to Strip to Support Putin as President


Reuters
Mon, 18 Jul 2011 10:55 UTC
An online campaign has been launched in Russia urging young women to support Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in a presidential vote by taking off their clothes, a lawmaker's site showed Sunday.

Called "Putin's Army," it features a video of a blonde student called Diana who struts along Moscow's streets in high heels and a black suit before scrawling "I will tear my clothes off for Putin" on a white top in red lipstick and starting to undo her clothes.

Inviting girls to strip off for Putin for the chance of winning an iPad2, the campaign comes ahead of the March 2012 presidential vote. Putin was president between 2000-2008 before handing the reins to his protege Dmitry Medvedev.

Widely seen as Russia's key decision-maker, Putin may return to the Kremlin next year.

"The goal: For Putin to be president!" said a statement on its page on social networking site vkontakte.ru/armiaputina, Russia's answer to Facebook.
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Health

Oregon, US: Injured Bald Eagle Gets Mouth-to-Beak CPR


KTVZ
Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:35 UTC
He's still not out of the woods, so to speak, but a badly injured bald eagle is still recovering well, a Bend veterinarian said Friday - despite a scare two days ago in which he had to perform mouth-to-beak CPR on the raptor, newly named "Patriot."

Two La Pine women found the bald eagle, apparently hit by a car, near Crane Prairie Reservoir last month. Three weeks later, about halfway through a hoped-for recovery period, the bird's fractured wing is healing, as is his dislocated elbow and wrist, said Dr. Jeff Cooney of Bend Veterinary Clinic.

After a contest in which NewsChannel 21 assisted, the eagle has been named Patriot - quite fitting for America's national symbol. More than 20 names were submitted, from "Spirit" to "Bend Franklin," and while it was close, "Patriot" received the highest number of votes, Cooney said.

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X

US: No One Bothers to Run in Small North Carolina Town's Election


The Associated Press
Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:08 UTC
The races for mayor and three commission seats are wide open in the small North Carolina town of Tar Heel - because no one bothered to run.

No one has registered as a candidate for the fall elections in the Bladen County town. The story was first reported by WECT-TV.

The ballots will be printed with blank spaces for voters to write in their choices.

Current Mayor Ricky Martin says he's not surprised no one wants the jobs. Even in a town of 117, it's hard work with little compensation. And Martin says state budget cuts mean the next elected officials might have to raise taxes.

Cynthia Shaw, the director of the county's board of elections, says it's the first time she has seen an entire town without a candidate.
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Dollar

South Carolina, US: Man Wrongly Accused of Not Paying Decade-Old Bills


The Associated Press
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
Mauldin - The head of a public utility in a says he's amazed someone saved 10-year-old records. Now the chief of the Greenville Water System is set to apologize personally to a customer wrongly accused of not paying two water bills dating to 2001.

WYFF-TV reports the utility sent past-due notices to Randy Massengale of Mauldin. Massengale says he called to say there must be a mistake, but employees refused to believe him and told him to pay up.

Massengale says he put the notices aside until a utility representative came knocking, threatening to shut off his water. But Massengale retrieved his old bank statement and check register, proving he paid a decade ago.

WYFF contacted utility chief executive David Bereskin, who called the case a fluke and promised an apology.
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Phoenix

Chinese toddler saved from a 10-story fall sings songs to her mother after waking from coma


Washington Post
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 17:57 UTC
Niu Niu
A two-year-old girl who fell out of the window of her 10th-floor home in east China's Zhejiang Province on Saturday, July 2, 2011 is seen in this image taken from video.
A Chinese press report says a toddler who fell 10 stories and survived after being caught by a passer-by has been singing songs. It's seen as progress the little girl is recovering from her extensive head injuries.

The 2-year-old girl nicknamed Niu Niu fell from her family's apartment window in eastern Zhejiang province on July 2. She woke up from a 10-day coma earlier this week.

Her mother says Niu Niu has sung four songs to her. Xinhua News Agency quoted her mother Sunday as saying it indicates her brain functions are recovering. Her mother had sung several of Niu Niu's favorite songs to try to wake her from the coma.
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Newspaper

Can Billy the Kid Ever RIP? New Mexico Uses Him to Promote Tourism

Zelie Pollon
Reuters
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 16:05 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Library of CongressHenry McCarty, a.k.a. Billy the Kid, is pictured in this undated photograph obtained by Reuters on December 16, 2010.
Wild West gunslinger Billy the Kid was shot and killed in southern New Mexico 130 years ago, but state officials still can't seem to let him rest in peace.

Last year, then-Governor Bill Richardson made headlines by suggesting he might pardon the 19th-century outlaw, only to decide against it on his last day in office.

This year, Richardson's successor, Governor Susana Martinez, has launched a statewide "manhunt" for the Kid in a campaign to boost tourism to the Land of Enchantment.

The promotion offers a $10,000 grand prize reward to the search "posse" that first completes a prescribed series of challenges in a scavenger hunt-like contest to slap the Kid with a symbolic arrest warrant.

The prize is based on the $500 reward posted for his capture in 1881 by New Mexico Territorial Governor Lew Wallace, adjusted for inflation.
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Life Preserver

Russia: Ferret Runs Away from Siberian Circus Due to 'Depression'

Tom Rose
Gather
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:21 UTC
Image
© Unknown
In a surprising twist on an old story, some performers, including a ferret, have run away FROM the circus. Why? Because relentless rain made them "depressed."

The news comes out of the Russian city of Chita, where the Siberian Circus has been battling the elements for weeks.

Constant rainfall is hampering the circus' ability to entertain their audience, and a few of the animal performers - the weasel, a monkey and a red-breasted parakeet - ran away.
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Smiley

Austrian Man tests law by claiming to be a 'pastafarian'


The Associated Press
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:39 UTC
Pastafarian
© AP Photo/Niko Alm, hoAn undated photo provided by Niko Alm on Thursday, July 14, 2011, showing his driving license photo. It has to be strangest piece of identification in Austria - if not the world.
Niko Alm wanted to test an Austrian law saying that head coverings would only be allowed in official documents for religious reasons.

So the tongue-in-cheek atheist applied for a new driver's license in his country with a photo of himself wearing a pasta strainer as headgear. Alm said he was a "pastafarian" and that the headpiece was required by his religion.

The application process took three years, but Alm said Thursday that he's now got his new license.

Police officials in the mostly Catholic country did not sound amused.

They said religion was never an issue in Alm's case, and that he succeeded because he fulfilled the only criterion required: leaving his face fully visible in the photo. Alm's new drivers license shows him wearing a pasta strainer as headgear. A tongue-in cheek atheist, Alm submitted the photo as part of applying for a new license to test an Austrian law stipulating that head coverings were allowed in official documents only for religious reasons. Alm said he was a 'pastafarian,' and the headpiece was required for his religion. Alm said that it took three years to have the licensee issued. Police officials say religion was never an issue. They say the photo fulfills the criterion of leaving Alm's face fully recognizable.
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Telephone

Obama Dials for Pizza, Gets Space Station


PhysOrg
Sat, 16 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© NASAThe International Space Station with Space Shuttle Atlantis on July 12 docked on the right and a Russian Soyuz on the far left. Astronauts aboard the ISS got a very long-distance call from US President Barack Obama, who joked that he thought he was dialing out for pizza.
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station got a very long-distance call Friday from US President Barack Obama, who joked that he thought he was dialing out for pizza.

Hot from giving a press conference at which he pushed Republicans to reach a deal on raising the US debt ceiling, the American president took time out to chat with the 10 astronauts currently aboard the ISS.

"I was just dialing out for pizza, and I didn't expect to end up in space," Obama quipped, raising a laugh from the gathered crew.

But turning serious, he told the astronauts how proud he was of them and said their work "ushers in an exciting new era to push the frontiers of space exploration and human spaceflight."

"The space program has always embodied our sense of adventure and exploration and courage," the president said.

He said he wanted to thank all the men and women of NASA for the work that has been poured into the 30-year space shuttle program which will end when Atlantis and its crew of four return to Earth next week.
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Vader

If Star Wars was made by environmentalists...


endciv.com
Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:09 UTC
Derrick Jensen imagines Star Wars, as if it was written by environmentalists

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