People pray at tree outside St. Johns Cathedral in Fresno, California, say tree weeps God's tears
Experts: Tree drips with bug excrement, not tears
As the mid-day sun beat down, a group of parishioners huddled under a tree looking for shade, but seeking a miracle.
Rosemarie Navarro, a parishioner at a Fresno, California Catholic Church says, "I said my prayer and asked the Lord to give me a miracle cause I'm really, really sick."
Navarro counts herself among the believers, a small but growing group that thinks the liquid dripping from this Crape Myrtle tree is the tears of God.
Parishioner Maria Ybarra says, "When you say 'glory be to God in Jesus name' the tree starts throwing out more water."
On close inspection, arborist Jon Reelhorn agrees, something is falling from the tree in front of St. Johns Cathedral. But it isn't water.
"The aphides will suck the sap, the sap goes through the aphid and then it is a honey dew excrement from the aphid and it gets so heavy in the summertime that it will drip down," Reelhorn says.
Society's Child
Chief Mountain, arguably the most sacred site on the Blackfeet Reservation, has been leased for oil and gas development. 9 leases were signed at the base of Chief Mountain, according to BIA records, in May 2013. Tony Bynum, East Glacier Photographer and Conservationist, publicized the information last Thursday, August 8th.
Events are being planned at the base of Chief Mountain for Saturday, August 17th. For more information, please visit:
Events are being planned at the base of Chief Mountain for Saturday, August 17th. For more information, please visit:
Texas parents were horrified to discover the camera they were using to monitor their 2-year-old and keep her safe was hacked, and what the hacker did was chilling.
"We just use it to listen," said Mark Gilbert, hacking victim.
For two years, Marc Gilbert and his wife have come to rely on their internet cameras.
"We almost couldn't live without it," Gilbert said.
With them, they could watch their two toddlers in their rooms. But over the weekend, someone else was watching, too.
"It felt like somebody broke into our house," he said.
Gilbert says he first heard a voice from down the hall. As he and his wife got closer, what it was saying got worse.
"He said, 'Wake up, Allyson, you little (expletive).'"
"We just use it to listen," said Mark Gilbert, hacking victim.
For two years, Marc Gilbert and his wife have come to rely on their internet cameras.
"We almost couldn't live without it," Gilbert said.
With them, they could watch their two toddlers in their rooms. But over the weekend, someone else was watching, too.
"It felt like somebody broke into our house," he said.
Gilbert says he first heard a voice from down the hall. As he and his wife got closer, what it was saying got worse.
"He said, 'Wake up, Allyson, you little (expletive).'"
© AP Photo/Iowans for Animal Liberation
In this photo provided by Iowans for Animal Liberation is the 2013 butter cow at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa. Authorities confirmed Monday, Aug. 12, 2013, that people had gained access to the display, poured red paint over the butter sculpture and scrawled, â??Freedom for all,â?? on a display window. Police said the damage was cleaned up quickly Sunday morning and the display opened as usual.
In this photo provided by Iowans for Animal Liberation is the 2013 butter cow at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa. Authorities confirmed Monday, Aug. 12, 2013, that people had gained access to the display, poured red paint over the butter sculpture and scrawled, â??Freedom for all,â?? on a display window. Police said the damage was cleaned up quickly Sunday morning and the display opened as usual.
Iowans for Animal Liberation claimed responsibility for the attack in a news release emailed Sunday night, saying members hid in the cavernous Agriculture Building on Saturday night and emerged after the fair closed for the day. They then broke into a refrigerated room where the sculpted cow and other butter sculptures are displayed and poured red paint over the cow.
The words "Freedom for all" were scrawled on a display window.
"The paint represents the blood of 11 billion animals murdered each year in slaughterhouses, egg farms, and dairies," the group said in the statement. "We intend this action to serve as a wake up call to all who continue to consume meat, dairy, eggs, leather, and all animal products: You are directly supporting suffering and misery on the largest scale the world has ever known."
Chilling video from a home in Dekalb County, Ga., shows local police entering a house illegally, berating the home's residents and then tackling them to the ground.
The entire incident took place because the mother of the home, Natania Griffin, was two weeks late on paying a $1,000 fee to the county.
Griffin's 23-year-old son, Donovan Hall, recorded the event. He was alarmed and confused when police began banging loudly on his door in the middle of the night.
"I was immediately confused as to why the police would be at my house," Hall told the Huffington Post. "The knocks became more and more aggressive."
On the video, Hall timidly opens the door and asks the police why they are at the house. But police quickly enter the home and soon pin Donovan and his brother on the ground.
The entire incident took place because the mother of the home, Natania Griffin, was two weeks late on paying a $1,000 fee to the county.
Griffin's 23-year-old son, Donovan Hall, recorded the event. He was alarmed and confused when police began banging loudly on his door in the middle of the night.
"I was immediately confused as to why the police would be at my house," Hall told the Huffington Post. "The knocks became more and more aggressive."
On the video, Hall timidly opens the door and asks the police why they are at the house. But police quickly enter the home and soon pin Donovan and his brother on the ground.
© AconcaguaNews
Two sick condors, male and female, being cared for at a vet clinic in the city of Los Andes, Chile.
Two sick condors, male and female, being cared for at a vet clinic in the city of Los Andes, Chile.
Witnesses said a large number of birds were flying erratically and several collapsed while trying to land on rocks.
Two of the birds died electrocuted in power lines and other collided with rocks on the hills. Bystanders and Chilean uniformed police personnel (Carabineros) rescued 17 birds, 10 males and 7 females, of various ages.
The birds were taken to a veterinary clinic in the city of Los Andes for assessment and recovery.
Six of the birds which were in worse condition were later transferred to Santiago Zoo facilities for intensive care.
According to the veterinary staff of the Agriculture and Livestock Service of Chile (SAG), the birds showed obvious symptoms of poisoning, including diarrhea and phlegm in their beaks.
© Unknown
Illustration by Matt Mahurin
Illustration by Matt Mahurin
In the wake of recent news that the NSA is spying on Americans, I have been particularly struck by the argument that "if you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear."
At first blush, this argument might seem sound - after all, if the government is merely conducting anti-terrorism surveillance, non-terrorists shouldn't be affected, right? But if you look more closely, you'll see this idea is full of holes.
The "nothing to hide" argument mistakenly suggests that privacy is something only criminals desire. In fact, we choose to do many things in private - sing in the shower, make love, confide in family and friends - even though they are not wrong or illegal. Who would not be embarrassed if all of their most intimate details were exposed? Fences and curtains are ways to ensure a measure of privacy, not indicators of criminal behavior. Privacy is a fundamental part of a dignified life.
The "nothing to hide" argument also has things backwards when it suggests that we are all worthy of suspicion until proven otherwise. Our system of justice treats us all as innocent until proven guilty. That applies in everyday life - when the government wants to spy on our daily activities and private conversations - as much as it applies in court. The state bears the burden of showing there is a good reason for suspicion, not the other way around. The refrain "nothing to hide" should not be a license for sweeping government surveillance.
Well at least one former political operative is willing to come out and say the truth - abortion opponents' true goal is not to make abortion clinics safer, but to close all abortion clinics.
In a recent op-ed published in the Huntsville Times, J. Pepper Bryars, the former press secretary and speechwriter for Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, writes about an Alabama state law that places onerous and medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion providers. In defending that law he quotes a representative from Planned Parenthood Southeast:
"'The true goal of the law is to make all abortion illegal and inaccessible in Alabama,' said Nikema Williams, vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood Southeast, when the Alabama bill passed last April. Despite all the talk about ensuring the facilities are safe and well-regulated, Williams and others believe the true goal is to close the state's abortion clinics."
Bryars' response: "Of course it is."
As bad as things get for Republicans -- with women, with minorities, with youths -- there's always been one group they can count on: the old. But now one Democratic pollster sees evidence that even seniors are starting to turn on the GOP.
Just 28 percent of voters 65 and older had a favorable view of the Republican Party in a national survey conducted last month by the Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg, versus 40 percent who had a positive view of the Democrats. That's a reversal from a poll Greenberg conducted in early 2011, when 43 percent of seniors saw Republicans favorably and 37 percent saw Democrats that way.
"It is now strikingly clear that [seniors] have turned sharply against the GOP," Erica Seifert, a senior associate at Greenberg's firm, wrote on the company's website this week. "We have seen other voters pull back from the GOP, but among no group has this shift been as sharp as it is among senior citizens."
Comment: Seniors are waking up to the fact that the elites don't have any interest in their well-being and will savage social programs whenever the opportunity arises. They may see the Republican party as the enemy of social safety nets, but unfortunately, the Democrats are no better.
Woman weeps over Social Security cuts: 'There's no way for me to eat less!'
Number of Americans in poverty at record high
Slashing social programs for the poor and elderly for token tax increases for the uber-rich
Democrats, Republicans plot post-election assault on Medicare, Social Security
A judge in the US has ordered a baby's first name to be changed from Messiah to Martin, arguing that the only true messiah is Jesus Christ, reports say.
The judge said the name Messiah could put the boy "at odds" with peopleThe parents of seven-month old Messiah DeShawn Martin had gone to court in Tennessee over his last name. But Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew ordered the first name changed too, local broadcaster WBIR-TV said. Last year more than 700 babies were named Messiah in the US, according to the Social Security Administration.
Christianity sees Jesus as the Messiah, while Judaism uses the term to mean an anticipated saviour of the Jews. Dictionary definitions say the word can mean anyone seen as a saviour or a liberator.
'No choice'
The judge in Cocke County said the name Messiah could cause the boy difficulties if he grew up in a predominantly Christian area.
"It could put him at odds with a lot of people and at this point he has had no choice in what his name is," Judge Ballew said.
The judge said the name Messiah could put the boy "at odds" with people
Christianity sees Jesus as the Messiah, while Judaism uses the term to mean an anticipated saviour of the Jews. Dictionary definitions say the word can mean anyone seen as a saviour or a liberator.
'No choice'
The judge in Cocke County said the name Messiah could cause the boy difficulties if he grew up in a predominantly Christian area.
"It could put him at odds with a lot of people and at this point he has had no choice in what his name is," Judge Ballew said.
Comment: Just goes to show that one person's divine miracle is another person's bug poop.