Don't Panic! Lighten Up!S


Binoculars

New York, US: Turtles Crossing Runway Cause Flight Delays


Reuters
Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:54 UTC
Image
© Christina MohrmannA diamondback terrapin turtle.
Flights at John F. Kennedy International Airport were delayed shortly on Wednesday when about 150 diamondback terrapin turtles were spotted crossing a runway, authorities said.

The reptiles were trying to get to the other side of the runway to lay eggs on the sandy shores of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, which borders the airport.

Ron Marsico, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees operation of the region's airports, pilots from Jet Blue and other airlines halted their flights to let the expectant reptiles pass.

"Flight delays attributed to turtles were minor, about 15 minutes or so," he said.

Port Authority staff rushed out to the tarmac where, between takeoffs and landings, they scooped up the turtles and helped them on their way.

Naturalists said the 185-acre Jamaica Bay may be the diamondback's most popular breeding ground in North America.
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Handcuffs

US: 89-Year-Old Woman Dents Car with Cane, Helps Nab Pennsylvania Duo


The Associated Press
Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:37 UTC
Pennsylvania police say an 89-year-old woman used her cane to dent the car of two people who stole her friend's purse, and authorities were able to track down the getaway car based in part on the cane's imprint.

New Castle police Chief Thomas Sansone says the woman and her 82-year-old friend were accosted outside a pizza shop Sunday. Police say 27-year-old Jerry Brown Jr. grabbed the purse but couldn't peel away before the 89-year-old banged the car's trunk with her cane.

Police found the car, and, based on the description of the robber - and dents matching the cane - arrested Brown and 21-year-old Tatiana Vargas.

The two are jailed in Lawrence County on robbery charges and on warrants for unrelated crimes.
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Attention

UK - Video: Rochdale cake decorator shellshocked as she finds 29 double-yolkers in box of 30 eggs

Simon Coyle
Menmedia.co.uk
Fri, 24 Jun 2011 05:15 UTC
Image
© UnknownCRACKING … Charlotte Matthews shows of her double yolk bonanza.
A cake decorator was left shell-shocked when she cracked open 29 double yolk eggs in a row. Charlotte Matthews beat massive odds when she made the amazing discovery in a tray of 30 eggs.

The 26-year-old bought the box in Asda to make cakes and a Sunday morning fry-up.

And after cracking open 13 double yolks in a row she asked husband Gavin to film her while she opened the rest - watch the video below .
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Mr. Potato

US: Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann says she has the 'spirit' of John Wayne... Gacy

David Edwards
RawReplay
Mon, 27 Jun 2011 21:46 UTC
Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann was surely confused Monday when she suggested she had the "spirit" of a serial killer.

"Well what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too," she told Fox News prior to the official announcement of her candidacy in Waterloo.
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Smiley

Science Confirms It: Whining Is The Most Annoying Sound Ever

Sonia van Gilder Cooke
Time
Sat, 25 Jun 2011 23:30 UTC
whining
© Unknown
Finally, empirical evidence has arrived that whining is one of the most annoying noises ever. (As if you needed proof.)

In fact, childish whining is more distracting than the screech of a high-pitched table saw, according to a new study. To test people's tolerance for various sounds, scientists asked them to do math problems in silence, and then while listening to talking, "motherese" (aka baby talk), whining and machine noise. Just to make sure words weren't throwing the test-takers off, they recorded the speech in a foreign language.

The results? Whining tripped up subjects with their subtraction more than any other sound. "You're basically doing less work and doing it worse when you're listening to the whines," said study co-author Rosemarie Sokol Chang, a professor of psychology at SUNY New Paltz. "It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, everybody's equally distracted." Surprisingly, the other sounds made no difference to the participants' mathematical prowess.

It may be that evolution has honed whining to a perfect pitch in order to attract attention. But researchers say that in the scientific community, it's been ignored. "Since this is the most overlooked of the three attachment vocalizations, this result shows the need for more research on the structure and effectiveness of whining," write the researchers in the Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology.

Research subjects may not leap with joy at the prospect - in this case, perhaps, whining is allowed.
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Heart

UK: Woman finds son she gave up for adoption 36 years ago on Facebook

Nadine Bells
Yahoo News
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© LDPEPat Corlett with her sons Andrew, left, and Chris
Liverpool courier Pat Corlett logged into Facebook one day to find a message from a stranger waiting for her.

Chris Haworth, 36, wrote "Hi my name is Chris and I was born on 22nd June 1975. You may not want to reply to this ..."

The last time Pat had seen Chris - known then as David - was when he was six days old and she was giving him up for adoption.

"It was like a bomb going off, but a nice bomb," Pat, 54, said of the unexpected contact.

Chris told his birth mother that he enjoyed a happy childhood with his adoptive family, and now works as a coach driver. He kept David as his middle name.

Pat had long wondered what happened to the little boy she gave up when she was just 18, but was hesitant to search for him.
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Bizarro Earth

Planet Earth Doesn't Know How To Make It Any Clearer It Wants Everyone To Leave


Onion
Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:28 UTC
Image
© UnknownThe Earth says events like this should have made it "pretty obvious" what it's been driving at.
Earth - According to a statement released to the press Tuesday, the planet Earth has "just about run out of ways" to let its roughly 6.9 billion human inhabitants know it wants them all to leave.

Following a recent series of disastrous floods along the Mississippi River and destructive tornadoes across much of the United States - as well as a year of even deadlier natural catastrophes all over the world - the Earth said its options for strongly implying that it no longer wants human beings living on it have basically been exhausted.

"At this point, I think I've stated my wishes quite loudly and clearly," the Earth's statement to all of humanity read in part. "I haven't exactly been subtle about it, you realize. I have literally tried to drown you, crush you, starve you, dehydrate you, pump you full of diseases, and suck your homes and families into swirling vortices of death. Honestly, what more is it going to take for you people to get the message?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" the statement continued. "Get the f..k out of here. I want you to leave now."
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Blackbox

Dutch Man Replicates Noah's Ark?


MSNBC / Associated Press
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:32 UTC
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Smiley

Dog bites sausage-seller after vegan assault


Local
Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:37 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Man sells sausage. Vegan pushes man. Dog bites man. A bizarre scuffle between animal rights activists and a Berlin bratwurst seller on Saturday was settled abruptly by the intervention of a German shepherd.

Hendrik Z., a 29-year-old "grill walker" - one of Berlin's legion of small businessmen who wear a portable grill and sell hot bratwurst - got into a tiff with passing animal rights activists.

The sausage seller told daily Berlin Kurier he was plying his trade at his usual spot on the Schloß Bridge in central Berlin when a demonstration by the activists passed by. Two of the protesters approached the sausage seller and tried to put vegan stickers on the clear plastic window that surrounds the grill.

"Of course I had to stop that," he said. "I have nothing against vegetarians but I don't let anyone force their opinions onto me."
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Cow

UK: Cow with 'Unusual Intelligence' Opens Farm Gate with Tongue to Escape


The Daily Mail
Tue, 21 Jun 2011 20:20 UTC
Image
Udder genius: Daisy the cow expertly picks the lock of her pen gate in Co Armagh, Northern Ireland
A farmer has been forced to beef up the security in his cowshed after an unusually smart heifer found a way for her and her friends to escape.

Daisy the cow, from a farm in Co Armagh, Northern Ireland, has learned the trick to unbolting the gate to her pen with her tongue.

She deftly and accurately unfastens both bolts, allowing her and her bovine buddies access to the verdant fields outside for breakfast.

Farmer Tom Grant was left scratching his head after he found his cattle out munching grass in the morning, despite locking them up the night before.

He initially suspected cattle rustlers so, with the help of his brother, Vincent, Mr Brown set up a hidden camera to get to the bottom of the cattle conundrum.
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