The Victorian stage performer, Julia Pastrana lived a life of hardship, being labeled many things, such as The Bearded Lady, The Ape Woman, and The Marvelous Hybrid throughout her life. Even after marriage, she was used as a source of income, rather than treated as a dignified wife. Born with rare genetic conditions known as hypertrichosis and gingival hyperplasia, Pastrana suffered from severe excess hair all over her body, Reuters reported. Her physical appearance brought her the title of “the ugliest woman in the world” during the mid-19th century.

In the 1850s, she met and married an American man, Theodore Lent, who featured her in freak shows across the United States and Europe, where she would sing songs and dance, dressed in embroidered lace dresses. The talented Highland fling dancer grabbed the attention of many doctors, journalists, and scientists, making her very popular. Lent, her manager and husband at the time, posted an advertisement in The New York Times describing her as the “link between mankind and the ourang-outang.”

Regardless, Pastrana loved her husband dearly and became pregnant with their first child. On March 20, 1860, she gave birth to a baby boy who inherited her genetic conditions and died within 35 hours. Her narrow hips and petite frame led to childbirth complications and Pastrana died five days later, aged 26. Afterwards, Lent sent the bodies of his wife and son for embalming and used them as a means of survival for the next 20 years, exhibiting their mummified remains in various places. Finally, after many decades, Julia’s body was found at the University of Oslo in Norway; the remains of her mummified son were at some point mutilated and eaten by mice in 1976, according to historians.

Recently, Julia Pastrana was given a proper burial near her birthplace in Sinaloa, Mexico, where she can rest in dignity. The process of locating her body was challenging but not impossible; Laura Anderson Barbata, a New York-based visual artist worked hard for many years to find Pastrana. According to The New York Times, Ms. Barbata said, “I felt she deserved the right to regain her dignity and her place in history, and in the world’s memory; I hoped to help change her position as a victim to one where she can be seen in her entirety and complexity.”

The Catholic burial ceremony was exquisite, attended by many in the small town of Sinaloa de Leyya. Pastrana was buried in a white coffin adorned with white roses. Ms. Barbata described the ceremony as beautiful, quoting from Reuters, she said, “I was very moved. In all these years I’ve never felt so full of different emotions.”

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Two giant tortoises at an Austrian zoo named, Bibi (female) and Poldi (male) have finished their relationship as a couple. The turtles started their romance -115 years- at Basel zoo in Switzerland when they were young.

The world’s oldest animal marriage was about to hit rocky water, after two turtles, living together for over 115 years refused to share their cages. Both tortoises were born around 1887 according to the Austrian zoo.

According to the Austrian Times, the turtles were getting a “divorce”, after Bibi, bit off part of the male turtle, Poldi´s shell. Other attacks from Bibi against her life-long mate were also testified by the zoo. Bibi and Poldi weigh over 200 pounds each, and with horn-rimmed mouths and powerful jaws are capable to harm each other if they wanted to.

Now both turtles are living in different cages despite zoo staff’s efforts trying to reunite Poldi and Bibi with aphrodisiacs and interactive games. Zoo staff told the newspaper Austrian Times that the couple reached the point where “they could not stand each other”.

The idea of long-term relationships and break-ups in the animal kingdom appears bizarre because most reptiles are polygamous. Giant turtles find difficult getting a partner due to the shortage number of these species. Tortoises need 20-25 years in captivity and up to 40 in the wild to reach sexual maturity.

Male turtles show in the wild their power by stretching their necks at the highest point while they open their mouths. Unsuccessful males have been seen in the wild trying to have sex with other males, or even rocks. Coupling may last several hours and after mating, the female digs a deep cylindrical hole with her hind legs, into which she lays up to 16 billiard ball-sized eggs.

Monogamy is completely infrequent for reptiles. For instance, research in 2009 reported that “most female crocodilians prefer to mate over and over with the same male, despite encountering a vast array of eligible alligator each year,” Wired Magazine reported. Studies have shown that some birds who bred successfully with a partner one year have ·divorced” and moved on with another partner in following years.

Giant tortoises are the animals in the world with the longest life spans. The life expectancy of captive giant turtles is over 100 years, compared to a shorter span for those in the wild. For instance, a Galápagos tortoise named Harriet passed away at the age of 175 in 2006. Harriet´s death was associated with a heart failure. In the same year, an Aldabra tortoise called Adwaita died too. It was believed that Adwaita was 250 years old.

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This past week a young female student did something no one ever would have imagined. While sitting in her seat in her classroom at Marulamantsi Junior Secondary School in Botswana, she stood up and pulled out her sanitary pad while announcing to classmates that she wanted to eat her own blood off it.

After her classmates went into a frenzy, running out of the classroom, a pastor was called to come to the school and help the troubled young girl. Before the pastor arrived and after the children had left the room, teachers entered the room trying to hold the girl down and stop her from eating her own sanitary pad. In the midst of all the commotion, she bit one teachers thumb and knocked another teacher down before being restrained and confined to an office with some teachers. A female pastor arrived followed by a male pastor soon thereafter.

During this time, students were allowed to be picked up by their parents as well as some teachers, who requested to leave as a result of shock from the episode. For the students that stayed, they loitered around the school building while the pastors prayed with the girl. For the teachers that stayed, a meeting was gathered by representatives of the Ministry of Education in order to discuss how to handle the aftermath for the school.

After the pastors calmed the girl down enough to allow her out of the office, they took her to a local church.

The Director at the Department of Secondary Education, Benson Rauwe, knew nothing about the chaos until hours later but once he heard about the event he stated, “whoever called the pastors to come to school was wrong as the correct procedure was to take the student to hospital or wherever her parents recommended. A school is a learning institution and students who go there come from different religious denominations. However, we will get all the information from the school head’s report today, to get a better understanding of what transpired on the day.”

Additionally, Rauwe said, “if the report indicates that students were emotionally affected, we will then take action to assist them.”

The young girl has claimed that she is a Satanist and has wanted to kill her father for some time now.

Even though her parents’ were called during episode, they failed to show up.

The girl is now receiving the counseling she needs.

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Miracles of God are never limited and can be discovered in the most eccentric of ways. Such is the case of the mystery healing of asthmatics in Hyderabad, a city in India. The weirdness is to an extent of absurdity whereby the patient is made to swallow a live sardine wrapped in a yellow herbal paste.

As funny as it sounds, it is a practice that has been followed for nearly a century now, by a single family named Goud. They are the only trustees of this medicine, and have not commercialized it nor given out the recipe of this secret elixir.

As legend goes, the medicine was gifted to the Gouds by a Hindu Saint about 170 years ago, and he had warned them that the treatment would lose its effectiveness if commercialized. Not just it, he also blessed a well around their area Doodhbowli, which is in a mile’s distance from historic monument, Charminar in Hyderabad. The Goud family use the water from that well to mix the medicine. Currently there are three Goud brothers performing the treatment, and they strictly to adhere to the practice of their ancestors. And still to date, the medicine and treatment is free of charge. There is an alternative to the fish, for thick-headed vegetarians, they can swallow a banana instead of the fish. However the Goud’s emphasize on the importance of fish. Since the therapy is based to a large extent on the effectiveness of the fish. As the live fish moves down, it opens up the pores in the windpipe blocked by phlegm or mucus, making way for the herbal paste.

The treatment is said to be very simple. After swallowing the live fish, the patient is given another three doses of a different medicine on three successive auspicious days called ‘Arudra Karthi,’ ‘Punarvasu Karthi’ and ‘Pushyami Karthi’, which fall every 15 days in a regulated span of 45 days. Along with this, the patient is also put on a strict diet for a period of 45 days which is said to be harder than swallowing the fish itself by some patients, abstaining from most edibles. Harinath Goud, one of the three Goud brothers says, “unless you strictly adhere to the diet, the effect of the medicine will not be optimum.”

Simultaneously every fortnight, morning and evening, two pills made out of the paste are to be taken without fail with warm water. The reason for the fortnightly gap is as much of a enigma as the medicine, and is religiously marked on every patient’s calendar. The patient’s life resumes to normal on the 46^th day, but this is not the end of the treatment. The miracle also takes some time to show its success, and the Goud’s suggest that the fish medicine has to be taken for three consecutive years.

But does this treatment really work? Sheela Chakravorty, a patient who is satisfied with the results said: “The first time I took the fish, it was hard to follow the diet. I was tempted to eat, not delicacies, but simple things such as eggs and coffee, and maybe use a few spices that weren’t allowed. The next year, I was more relaxed and took it upon myself to follow it through. And I did. Today, I am 75 percent cured.”

Most patients notice an improvement in their state in the first year itself. However there isn’t any fixed pattern to recovery by this treatment. And then again there are a few people, who have shown no change, and the reason for this could be not strictly following the diet.

There is almost no scientific explanation for the cure. Yet thousands of asthmatics come to Hyderabad for this treatment both from India and other foreign countries to date to experiment this ‘wonder-therapy’ or like some say ‘God’s blessing,’ and many return eased off from this suffering of wheezing and severe breathing disorder.

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New notes from Captain Scott’s 1910 polar expedition have been rediscovered that reveal strange sexual tendencies in Adelie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae).

The notes were rediscovered at the Natural History Museum in Tring, England by Douglas Russell. Russell said, “as it was boldly headed ‘Not for Publication’ it immediately caught my eye.” After finding the notes Russell had them published in the journal Polar Record because, as he stated, the notes “were decades ahead of their time and possibly the first ever attempt to reveal the more challenging aspects of bird behavioral strategies to the academic world.”

The notes were written by the surgeon and medical officer for the expedition, George Levick. The expedition, known as the “Terra Nova” expedition, began in 1910 and ended in 1913. The journey, led by Naval Captain Robert Falcon Scott, attempted to be the first trip to the South Pole, but unfortunately Roald Amundsen beat them there.

During the expedition Levick recorded details on the lives of the Adelie penguin colony on Cape Adare, now the world’s largest colony. Levick’s work was groundbreaking, then and now, because he is the only scientist to date that has stayed and studied the penguins for an entire breeding cycle.

Levick wrote a paper when he returned to England entitled The Natural History of the Adelie Penguin but he left out the portion discovered by Russell. Instead Levick wrote a separate pamphlet called The Sexual Habits of the Adelie Penguins which was only given to a very select group of experts; so select that only one hundred copies were printed and only two remain.

What Levick observed horrified him as an English gentleman. His four-page pamphlet on this sexual deviation was printed in 1915 and detailed the penguins’ auto-erotic tendencies and aberrant behavior among unpaired youth such as necrophilia, sexual coercion, sexual and physical abuse of chicks, non-procreative sex, and homosexual behaviors. Levick was so disturbed by the behaviors he observed that he recorded his notes in Greek to disguise his notes. Levick wrote, “there seems to be no crime too low for these penguins… it is interesting indeed to note that, when nature intends them to find employment, these birds, like men, degenerate in idleness.”

Levick recorded several of these instances in his journal writing: “I saw another act of astonishing depravity today. A hen which had been in some way badly injured in the hindquarters was crawling painfully along on her belly. I was just wondering whether I ought to kill her or not, when a cock noticed her in passing, and went up to her. After a short inspection he deliberately raped her, she being quite unable to resist him.”

Levick also recorded: “this afternoon I saw a most extraordinary site [sic]. A Penguin was actually engaged in sodomy upon the body of a dead white-throated bird of its own species. The act occurred a full minute, the position taken up by the cock differing in no respect from that of ordinary copulation, and the whole act was gone through down to the final depression of the cloaca.”

According to modern researchers these acts may have been viewed as horrifying to Levick because he was anthropomorphizing the penguins. Current research shows that male penguins are chemically hardwired to respond in particular ways to females of a breeding age who appear to be compliant. This chemical reason seems to explain why the penguins engaged in necrophilia and rape.

These notes are now useful because the Adelie penguins are considered indicators for climate change. The Adelie need pack ice to dive off of for fishing; knowing the behaviors of the penguins and how they have changed will help scientists to better reveal warning signs.

Levick was one of six members who were forced to spend an entire summer (or Antarctic winter) in an ice cave after they were blocked  from their ship by ice. All six men survived and Levick went on to serve in World War I and founded the British Schools Exploring Society.

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A growl came first, followed by darkness in an isolated Australian desert, where a baby’s cry shattered the peaceful night. A nine-week-old baby vanished from inside the tent. Outside, her mother ear-piercingly shouted: “The dingo’s got my baby!”

My Daily News reported that, the first investigation into baby Azaria’s death found that she was taken by dingo from her parents’ tent, near Uluru, on the 17th of August, 1980. More than three decades later, Northern Territory coroner has opened a fourth inquest last Friday to investigate the disappearance of baby Azaria after her parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, gathered fresh evidence about dingo attacks on children.

According to Scotsman, Lindy Chamberlain was convicted and later cleared for murdering her daughter 32 years ago. She and her ex-husband have always maintained that a dingo took their child. Rex Wild, a lawyer assisting the coroner, spoke about several wild dog attacks and said,

“Although it [a dingo killing a child] may have been regarded as unlikely in 1980… it shouldn’t be by 2011-12; with the additional evidence in my submission, your honor should accept on the balance of probabilities that the dingo theory is the correct one.”

To most people, Azaria’s case is just a story largely known for its place in pop culture. Stuart Tipple, Chamberlain’s lawyer told Associated Press, “I think that the people that don’t think for themselves aren’t ever going to be convinced, and it really doesn’t matter what you show them. I could show them a video of the dingo taking the baby and it wouldn’t convince them — because they’ve made their mind up.”

Azaria’s dad, Michael Chamberlain told the court that the public has to be informed about the danger of dingoes. Fighting back tears, he said, “the propensity of dingoes to attack and kill children had become a fact since his daughter vanished more than 30 years ago.”

“Since the loss of Azaria I have had an abiding fear and paranoia about safety around dingoes. They send a shudder up my spine. It is a hell I have to endure” – Michael Chamberlain

Until today, Azaria’s cause of death is listed as unknown in her death certificate. Her parents are hoping that the new evidence found can set the record straight on her behalf. Azaria’s body has never been found. Many people, particularly Australians have been following this case since its beginning. Despite having Ms. Chamberlain’s name cleared for Azaria’s disappearance, a lot of people still doubt that a dingo was strong enough to drag the baby away and kill her.

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Having sold houses for a living for 24 years, Vick Dyer has faithfully attended his company’s international conferences for 14 years. This year, though, he’ll be making the trip of more than 700 miles under his own power ­– simply to make a point about technology.

On February 6 at 10 a.m., Dyer, 58, sets out from his Knoxville, Tennessee, office on his bicycle, pedaling some 40 pounds of gear and clothing 13 days on a mid-winter ride to the New Orleans Convention Center.

His route takes him across the breadth of four states and through 12 overnight stops, ending on stage before an expected 4,000 attendees of the Coldwell Banker Real Estate’s International Business Conference.

Dyer aims to use a 150-year-old transportation technology to focus attention on the newest communications technologies and their rising importance in real estate services, an integral part of this year’s conference theme, “Generation Blue Experience.”

Along the way, he plans to conduct business with clients from his bike, using a smart phone and an iPad. Dyer will also document his ride electronically, tracking progress with a GPS signal and a blog. In addition, he will stop at eight Coldwell Banker offices en route to exchange ideas on how technology can help colleagues become better real estate agents.

“The business tools we use now change every year, from online video to mobile marketing and cloud computing,” Dyer said. “My business has weathered the economic downturn well in part because I learned about these new tools and techniques at past conferences.

“I believe home ownership is the key to better times ahead. Now that the housing market is starting to rebound, this ride is my way of helping home buyers and sellers take advantage of new opportunities.”

The public is invited to see Dyer’s start at 10 a.m. on February 13 at the Bearden office of Coldwell Banker Wallace & Wallace REALTORS, 140 Major Reynolds Place, Knoxville, Tenn. For more information, call 865-584-4000

Image Courtesy of    Maxim Petrichuk / Shutterstock.com

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Dutch artist Katinka Simonse is known for killing and brutalizing animals for her performance art. Simonse, 31, goes by the name “Tinkerbell” and gives live presentations of animal abuse and mutilation. She claims she is drawing awareness to animal abuse and rejects the idea that her work is repulsive.

During one exhibition, she made 100 hamsters roll about in little balls around the gallery. She has also mutilated and dismembered dogs, put day-old baby chicks in a shredder, and has killed chicks and put hooks through their bodies, so she could hang them up. Simonse has said that she does this “to use an animal that is close to you in order to show what we do with the ones that are far from sight. I wanted people to think about that.”

Her acts has caused an outcry amongst animal rights groups, like the Dutch animal welfare party called Partij Voor de Dieren (Party for the Animals), and questions of why the Dutch government does not have stricter animal abuse laws. In a statement, the animal welfare group described the Dutch artist as disturbed and obsessive and that she used her shocking “art” as a way to get attention. They have petitioned the Houses of Parliament in the Netherlands to have stricter laws and harsher sentences for animal abusers.

Not only has Simonse abused animals in her performance art, she also brutalized her own pet cat, Pinkeltjie. When it became sick, she was not interested in paying for a veterinarian, so she broke her pet’s neck. Simonse then had the cat skinned and used its skin for a handbag.

During an interview on a television show called De Wereld Draait Door (The Turning World), Simonse laughingly showed the interviewer how she broke her cat’s neck and showed no regret for her actions. She described the killing of her three-year-old cat as a “mercy-killing”.

In a joint project with artist Coralie Vogelaar, Simonse published a book in 2009 of all the hate mail that people have sent her. It is entitled “Dearest Tinkerbell”. Not only was the actual hate mail included in the books, but also the names, addresses, and other personal information (like what is on their Amazon wishlists) of the people who sent the hate mail, a very controversial move on behalf of the artist and her publicist.

She has received over 100,000 hate emails from all around the world. Eighty percent of the hate mail was from America, and some of the other countries included the Netherlands, France, Russia, and the UK. There are currently two petitions aimed at at the Dutch government to stop Simonse and bring her to justice.

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A Massachusetts man recently discovered a forgotten part of his family’s past when, during a walk in their new neighborhood, his dog led him to his father’s childhood home from 70 years previous – a house that not even his father remembered, as he was only two when he lived there.

They’ve turned this story, along with other dog tales, into a book called Follow the Dog Home: How a Simple Walk Unleashed an Incredible Family Journey. The hardcover release was February 1, 2012. We all know February is the month for love, and who doesn’t love dogs? Corny? Yes. But the storyline isn’t.

After moving to Wellesley, Massachusetts for an anchor job with a major television sports network, Kevin began taking his German Shepherd, Beverly, for walks in the surrounding neighborhoods. They developed a route that included historic Atwood Street. Beverly kept veering toward one house in particular that had also caught Kevin’s eye previously, thinking it looked familiar but not knowing the reason.

After talking to a close family relative who had also once lived in Wellesley, Kevin was shocked to discover that the memorable house had once been a childhood home to his father, Bob Walsh, before WWII. After digging through old family photos that had been tucked away for years, Kevin uncovered a picture of his father as a toddler with his family on the house’s front porch, complete with their first family dog, Dee Dee.

Kevin’s father had been writing short stories about all of their family dogs through the years, but never knew about the photo. Its discovery was the pivotal moment that offered proof that the Walsh family’s journey with dogs had come back to the exact place where it started.

Follow the Dog Home, which Publishers Weekly called “quaint and most charming,” was written by Kevin Walsh, his father Bob, and his daughter Samantha. Bob lives in Ledyard, Connecticut, with his wife, Mary McGrattan. He is retired from a forty-year career in the pharmaceutical industry and now spends his days fishing, building fly rods, feeding the homeless, and traveling. Regularly by Bob’s side is his ever-faithful dog, Annie the Corgi.

Samantha, who is only ten, loves taking care of her family’s German Shepherd, Beverly, and dancing in ballet performances. She hopes to one day become a veterinarian.

Kevin lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with his wife, Jean, and daughters Samantha and Amanda. He is a seasoned sports and news broadcaster with Comcast SportsNet New England and New England Cable News. Kevin’s first book, The Marrow in Me, details his courageous journey as a bone marrow donor.

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Living out your dreams can have some limits in a town with 300 people and no stoplights. For Michael Hollinger, Bodie Hope, and Dylan “Rocky” Riley, three young men from Arkansas, the chance to live out one of their dreams became reality and they received the opportunity to meet their long-time hero, Storm Chaser Reed Timmer.

Passion for storm chasing came at a young age for Michael, who enjoys going out and chasing storms with his dad. That enjoyment spurred an immediate draw to the television program in which meteorologist Reed Timmer leads one of three storm-chasing teams, and Bosch is a sponsor.

Bosch held a Twitter “retweet” contest, which Michael entered and won. He later tweeted to Bosch that he works at an auto parts store and has sold Bosch ICON Wiper Blades because he showed customers the Reed Timmer television spot. In the midst of a conversation with Bosch, Michael mentioned, “Me and my friends even advertised Bosch Wiper Blades at a community function when we built the Mini Dominator. We worked hard on it!”

The “Mini-Dom” video became an instant hit with Bosch. The idea was a natural and Bosch worked to create a new video and to introduce Michael and his friends to their idol, Reed Timmer. The idea was for the boys and Bosch to pull a “Switcheroo” where Timmer’s storm chasing vehicle the Dominator would switch with their “Mini-Dom” while Timmer was inside a local convenience store, all scripted, caught on tape, and looking like the ultimate prank.

The “Mini-Dom” was a fun project the boys worked on around Halloween, built with cardboard, PVC pipe, chicken wire, and a 4-wheeler. After Timmer saw the pint-sized Dominator, he was amazed saying, “It has the anemometer and everything, it’s all decked out. You guys really are big fans.”

Michael, Bodie, and Dylan received the opportunity of a lifetime. Two of the boys had never even been on a plane before and now they can say they flew out to Chicago and shot a video with their idol, Reed Timmer. Michael mentions, “This has been a dream come true.”

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A pastor in Michigan wants people, who may feel uncomfortable in traditional churches, to feel more welcome at The Bridge, his non-denominational church, which recently started to feature a tattoo parlor inside.

Reverend Steve Bentley believes that mainstream religion has become futile in reaching out to their communities and that it no longer appeals to most of society. In an attempt to be more relevant to the mainstream, he has opened up a tattoo parlor called Serenity Tattoo.

Ryan Brown and Drew Blaisdell, the artists at Serenity Tattoo, work from 12:00-8:00 P.M. or by appointment, every day but Sunday. The parlor is located close to Bentley’s office and the Church’s water trough used for baptisms. The pastor has two tattoos himself, one of which he got at Serenity Tattoo.

He believes that tattoos are “morally neutral” and that they’re like ear piercings, though he acknowledges that some will oppose to a tattoo shop inside a church. The pastor said that since tattooing is such a prominent feature of today’s society, he wanted to make a place where people could come get a tattoo and still be aligned with their moral code.

“We are about doing church in a different way and being relevant to people,” Bentley said to the The Flint Journal. “You can get a tattoo in a clean environment. You can do it while still sticking to your moral code.” Some people believe tattoos and piercings should be considered taboo and signals bad morals. At the same time, most would agree that ear piercings are morally upright and more socially acceptable.

Brown, one of the artists, is a recovering alcoholic who thinks that being in a church setting has helped him stay on the right path and avoid temptation. He said, “I was running my own studio. I was just working. There wasn’t much purpose in it. I was struggling with whether I could keep my studio” and stay sober.

“I prayed a lot and decided the best thing was to close it, and come to the church. I figured I could have a lot more positive impact” here. The church takes up 30,000 square feet inside the shopping center where it is located. It was founded in 2009 as a means of reaching out to the 300,000 people in Genesee County that have never gone to church before.

Bentley said his congregation consists of around 1,000 people and he regularly visits the Serenity Tattoo’s customers, though not all of them come to participate in the church services.

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What do the U.S. Postal Service and Santa Claus have in common? Neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night will keep them from delivering dreams this holiday season. December 1 marked the start of the Postal Service’s annual “Letters to Santa” program, a campaign that’s helped fulfill the holiday wishes of children and their families for nearly a century.

“Letters to Santa” is an annual letter-writing program through which members of the public and charitable organizations respond to children’s letters addressed to Santa Claus, the North Pole and other seasonal characters. To announce that the letter adoption period has begun, a ceremony was held today at New York City’s Operation Santa command center at the iconic James A. Farley building with a special appearance by Santa Claus.

“We are delighted to once again kick off the holiday mailing season with the start of our annual ‘Letters to Santa program’,” said Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe. “The Postal Service is gearing up for a huge mail delivery to the North Pole to help Santa and his elves get ready for the big day.”

The Postal Service expects to deliver more than 16.5 billion cards, letters and packages between now andNew Years Eve. This year, a postmark of Santa in his sleigh being pulled by six reindeer will appear in the upper right-hand corner of holiday cards and letters.

“While Santa’s been making wishes come true a bit longer than the Postal Service, for more than two centuries he’s relied almost exclusively on postal employees to bring him letters from girls and boys around the country and to help him deliver their presents,” Donahoe said. “For nearly 100 years, the ‘Letters to Santa’ program has made dreams come true for those in need.

This is a time to celebrate how postal employees, charitable organizations, and businesses have made a difference in the lives of children coast to coast.” To learn more about the USPS “Letter to Santa” program or to view a list of participating Post Offices, visit usps.com/2011holidaynews

Visit USPS on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usps to learn how USPS can help simplify your holiday shipping needs. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500.

Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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Chef Penny slices some turkey, places it on a fancy plate, adds some trimmings, and serves it to Henry and Eloise, two of her eager holiday guests. Henry’s ears promptly fall into his plate while Eloise dives face first into her meal.

Not your usual Thanksgiving vignette, but this is no ordinary Thanksgiving dinner:  Henry is a Basset Hound, Eloise is an Old English Sheepdog and this feast was specially prepared for four-legged guests boarding at Best Friends Pet Care.

For the fifth year, each of Best Friends 42 U.S. locations will host a special feast on Thanksgiving Day for family pets boarding over the holiday. The meal will feature freshly roasted slices of turkey atop turkey-and-rice dog food, trimmed with green beans and carrots.  There’s a sweet potato biscuit for dessert.

“Pets are family members,” explains Renee Coughlin, VP of Marketing for Best Friends Pet Care. “If they were at home on Thanksgiving, they’d be sharing the holiday feast with their families. So, we decided that the dogs staying with us over the holiday should be able to celebrate with a special meal.”

The holiday fun kicks off Wednesday morning during drop-off, when clients arriving with their pets are greeted by the aroma of turkey slow-roasting in the lobby. Best Friends staffers don chef’s hats and leave no detail unattended as their special guests arrive. A few lucky dogs even get to taste test the meal that will be served on Thursday.

In the holiday spirit of sharing, boarders at Best Friends aren’t the only ones included in the Thanksgiving celebration. Each Best Friends location donates holiday meals to a local animal shelter so that homeless pets have the chance to enjoy a special treat, too.

About Best Friends Pet Care

Headquartered in Norwalk, CT, Best Friends Pet Care has led the pet care services industry in the U.S. for more than 20 years and offers boarding, daycare, grooming and training all under one roof.

Best Friends is the exclusive pet care provider for Walt Disney World® Resort and also operates pet care centers in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts,Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

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An exchange between two robots, facilitated by Cornell University researchers, resulted in a “bizarre and ill-tempered discussion” about god and philosophy. The two researchers,  Jason Yosinski and Igor Labutov, created a system in order to observe how ‘chatbots’ – online programs designed to hold conversations with humans – would fair when speaking with another computer instead of a human.

Labutov and Yosinkski created two avatars with voices – a British man that they named Alan and an Asian woman called Sruthi, Mail Online said. According to Mail Online, the conversation turned “sour” when Struthi asked Alan whether or not he believed in God. Alan replied, “It’s not everything.” This response angered Sruthi.

“Not everything could also be something, for example not everything could be half of something, which is still something and therefore not nothing,” Sruthi said. Another highlight of the conversation involved Alan referring to himself as a unicorn and calling Sruthi a “meanie.”

According to The Telegraph, machines like chatbots were designed to have the conversational abilities of humans, typically in an attempt to pass the Turing Test for intelligence. Alan Turing proposed the Turing Test in his 1950 research paper. The test was meant to measure how smart a computer was.

If, through conversation, the computer was capable of fooling a human into thinking they were human and not a machine, the computer could rightfully be deemed intelligent, Turning said. Different from the Turning Test, Yosinki and Labutov were less interested in seeing how computers mirrored the behavior of humans and more interested in observing an authentic computer-and-computer interaction, according to Mail Online.

The concept of a computer being able to speak is nothing new. Since coming online in 1997, Cleverbot, a web application, has engaged in about 65 million conversations with internet users around the world. People are able and encouraged to come to the site and chat with the cleverbots for one’s entertainment, for free.

According to msnBC, just like a human learning appropriate behavior by studying the actions of members of his or her social group, machines “learn” from dialogues with people. They are capable of storing the new knowledge they gain from each interaction and computers are able to refer to it the information during future conversations.

The unusual exchange between Alan and Sruthi will likely inform researchers that computers need more training before being able to speak logically to each other. But, regardless of how the experiment advances Cornell’s research efforts, the robot video was a major hit on YouTube.

With more than 2,000,000 views, comments posted beneath the video prove, if nothing else, that computer conversations are entertaining. “I could listen to this all day!” Jesseinpain posted. JoeyShambrook goes as far as to call the video, “epic.”

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Can ice cream – a simple sweet treat – be the cause of violent crimes?

For two variables to be correlated, there needs to be a relationship—a third factor must be available to explain the relationship of the two variables.

In this case, the third factor explaining the relationship between ice cream sales and violent crime rates is weather. When the temperatures are warm and it is sunny, there are greater social interactions because more people are out enjoying the sun.

During the summer months, as the temperatures gets higher and the humidity increases, one of the best ways to cool off is to eat ice cream. In fact, in 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as well as the third Sunday of that month as the National Ice Cream Month.

As a brief overview of how popular ice cream truly is, about 1.52 billion gallons of ice cream, including both hard and soft-serve, was produced in 2009, a decrease of 1.2 percent over 2008. It also represents approximately 26.2 percent of the entire frozen dairy product market.

Due to the high percentage of social interaction during warmer months, violent crime also increases, with the highest rates occurring during heat waves, which could suggest that heat promotes aggression.

Recently, strings of break-ins and robbery of air conditioners have occurred along the country. When installing ACs, some people forget to bolt them into the window panes, making stealing them much easier.

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The general image of the Apple Store is to “do what you want so long as you don’t break or steal anything.” To see just how far he could go, comedian Mark Malkoff pulled some interesting pranks on one Apple Store.

“It’s amazing what the Apple Store will allow,” Malkoff said. “There are hundreds of videos online of customers singing and dancing in the middle of the store. Not only do they allow house pets, but I have heard of customers successfully bringing in snakes. I can’t imagine that being tolerated at any other store.”

His first plan was to see if he could get a pizza delivered to him while he was shopping on the second floor of a Manhattan Apple Store. He gained positive reactions from the staff, one of whom remarked that the stunt was awesome when the pie was delivered and was also shocked that the pizza place was willing to deliver to someone inside a large retail store.

Malkoff was later joined by his wife for a romantic in-store dinner, complete with waiter service and dancing under a mirror ball while a solo trumpeter played a song.

The stunts do not stop there. On another day, Malkoff was able to receive help for his broken iPhone dressed as Darth Vader. One employee even urged him to use the force.

Though, the latest stunt may be the best yet. To see just how far he could push his luck, Malkoff brought in a goat. While there were more strange looks than before, he still was not rejected from the store.

“The staff at the Apple stores could not have been any nicer.” Mark said. “The fact they let me bring in a goat still makes me laugh.”

1000 Words / Shutterstock.com

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No one likes stepping in a mess left by another person’s dog. A new company, PooPrints, has begun offering its services to owners of apartment complexes to help motivate owners to pick up after their pets. Using DNA testing, apartment complexes in Lebanon, New Hampshire and Rockville Center, Long Island are now able to match a saliva sample from all of the dogs that live in the complex with any offending dog excrement.

PooPrints is a subsidiary of BioPet Vet Labs Inc. and was created with a number of goals in mind. Keeping public grounds clean has aesthetic and cost considerations, but the most important reason for using this service is environmental. According to PooPrints’ website, an average of 276 pounds of waste are produced each year by just one dog. After combining that number with the large number of dogs owned by people worldwide, that number grows to 20 billion pounds of waste produced each year, 40% of which is not picked up.

If it is not properly disposed of, that waste can cause a number of health and environmental concerns. It can easily enter local lakes, streams, and ponds, carrying a number of diseases such as parasites, bacteria, and viruses. This creates the risk of spreading these diseases directly to humans through accidental contact with these bodies of water. The danger increases when dog excrement is left in areas where children play. Children often put their hands in their mouths, which can lead to transmission of these diseases to humans.

Reception to this new method of holding owners accountable for cleaning up after their dog’s messes has been mixed. Some people had no problem with giving out their animal’s DNA, or even paying another small fee if it means their precious pooch is still able to reside with them. After all, it only gets expensive if they neglect to pick up after their dog.

However, there are those who feel that this method of tracking is too invasive. Some people are very private, and even something as seemingly small as tracking dog excrement is seen as a violation of that privacy. It makes people worry about the possibility of more and more control being exerted over the individual until almost no rights exist anymore.

Others are concerned about malicious actions from their neighbors such as at the apartment complex in New Hampshire. The only repeat offender denied the second charge, claiming that someone else in the complex was trying to deliberately get this person in trouble. This person claimed that someone must have watched where the excrement was thrown away, removed it, and placed it back on the ground. While this claim is not completely impossible, the complex owner did not see the possibility of such malicious intent and dismissed the argument.

This creative new method of catching lazy owners may not be the only solution to the problem, but it is certainly the most interesting. Only time will tell if this catches on, becoming a common practice in gated communities and apartments, or if it is only a fad that will fade away with time.

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A chupacabra was allegedly shot and killed in Texas by a 13-year old boy. The chupacabra is a mythical creature originally found in Puerto Rico. Sighting of the creature have been reported in Mexico and the Southwest United States. The chupacabra sucks the blood of livestock, especially goats. The descriptions of the chupacabra vary greatly but usually is a hairless four-legged creature.

According to a local television station in Texas, Carter Pope spotted a strange animal walking across a field. He called for his father and grabbed his gun, firing three shots. He killed the animal, who some believe is a sick coyote.

“It just walked across and started shaking, slowly moving across. No hair on it at all, the back legs were shriveled up, and I honestly think it was a chupacabra,” Pope told KSDK, the local station. Carter and his father collected hair and skin samples from the animal, and will get them tested to see if what the animal is.

Earlier this month, retired wildlife biologist Jack Crabtree and his wife spotted a similar hairless creature wandering by a creek at the back of their house in Lake Jackson, Texas. Despite the strange creature, Crabtree does not believe the creature was a chupacabra. “It was immediately clear to me it was a coyote with a severe case of mange,” said Crabtree, a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“It was obviously sick.” Crabtree sent the pictures that he and his wife took to the local newspaper jokingly. The newspaper did not take it as a joke and published the picture on the front page with a headline about chupacabra. “I’ve been amazed with the fascination people have with chupacabras and other mythical animals,” he said. “I’m really not a believer in chupacabras or Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman.”

Another potential spotting was ruined recently when testing showed that an animal shot in Nelson County, Kentucky was nothing more than a hairless raccoon.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlizbet/310495445/sizes/l/in/photostream/

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A British calculator that estimates the financial costs of a divorce has become a great phenomenon in China. As a consequence, several Asian couples have begun to reconsider if it’s worth it break up with their partners or not.

The calculator was released at the end of 2010 by a British company. It was invented by the U.K. Financial Education to the Consumer Department, and it’s a free online service that anyone can use in order to avoid any divorce financial problems.

According to the Chinese online media outlet Global Times, the calculator results have frightened a lot of couples that were considering divorce. This invention calculates division of property expense, economic child support litigation and the costs of losing hours of work. Based on these factors it shows the costs of divorce.

Despite the fact that this product was first seen as an entertainment tool, one of its users named Zhanghas has has recently said at the Global Times that after using this calculator he changed his mind on divorce. For him, getting divorced would leave him with only $29. In addition, in the future he would have to pay $247 per year to care for his son and pay rent on his house. It’s important to clarify that this calculator was configured based on the British standards, however most of people use this little machine to calculate estimate expenses data.

“If I would have known how expensive it would be to get divorce I would have never married,” Zhang said to the online media outlet.

He also pointed out that the calculator showed that he may lose more than half the property he shares with his wife. He admitted that thanks to this machine he learned how to better appreciate his marriage and family.

This calculator is not the first created to calculate the consequences of divorce. Divorce 360 provides help, advice and community for people contemplating, going through or recovering from divorce and the issues around it, such as custody, child support, alimony and litigation.

Divorce 360 has created a calculator   that the user can use to know what is going to happen to his marriage in five years. With just five quick questions they can calculate the chances of divorce:

Question 1: What is your gender?

Question 2:  When did you marry?

Question 3: What is your education?

Question 4: How old were you when you got married?

Question 5: How many years have you been married?

According to the Ministry of Civil Actions more than 465,000 marriages ended in divorce by the beginning of this year, making a total of 5,000 divorces per day.

Divorce has become an unfortunate reality. It is difficult, painful and complex. Only time will tell i  f these two “inventions” help to prevent or avoid the number of divorces in a close future.

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In Papua Island, Indonesia, tribesmen have discovered a shrub called “Gandarusa” that acts like a birth control pill. Potential benefits derived from this diverse range of flora are constantly undergoing study. Now, they have already discovered this amazing invention with positive consequences.

As one man from the tribe has said, “if you chew its leaves often enough, your wife won´t get pregnant.”

Indonesian scientists are analyzing the plant’s composition at the lab because if this is true, and effective, it will probably be sold in stores early next year.

The gandarusa pill works is by slowing down the activity of certain enzymes in the sperm that help them wriggle into a female’s ovum.

A recent study by the U.S. government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that more than 80 percent of women who have had sex with a man used birth control pills at some point. A male birth control pill could eat into this massive market, and because other options already existed (condoms and vasectomies) the male birth control pill would need to sell for a relatively cheap price.

Now is definitely man´s turn. Women have had the option of a safe, effective and reversible form of contraception since the development of the female oral contraceptive pill in the 1960s.

However, this is not something new; science has been trying to find something for men to prevent pregnancy for decades.  Malecontraceptives.org offers many options. It is an organization whose mission is to “speed the development of safe, effective and convenient contraceptives for men.” Here are a few of the options listed at malecontraceptives.org:

• Hormonal pills, implants, and/or shots. These methods would work by using male hormones to stop sperm production. They are similar in theory to female hormonal contraception.

 

• “Heat” methods. Have you heard that tighty-whitey’s can lower a man’s sperm count? Well, there’s something to the idea that heat reduces fertility…. Heat methods would allow men to systematically bathe their boys in heat (most likely water baths) to diminish sperm production.

 

• Non-hormonal pills. Certain pill-based drugs may limit sperm production and/or ejaculation in a variety of ways. One is nicknamed the ‘dry orgasm’ pill, which, as unappetizing as the name sounds, is simply a way to alter muscular contractions in the penis so that sperm does not enter the semen.

 

• Vas deferens-blocking methods. These methods are basically a temporary version of a vasectomy. They work by plugging the Vas deferens so that sperm cannot enter the semen. However, unlike vasectomies, they are reversible.

As a result some men have already shown their opinion against this new scientific advance. “I would rather rely on a solution that doesn’t involving medicating myself and the problems women have had with hormone therapy doesn’t make me anxious to want to sign on to taking a hormone-type therapy,” says Hardin, who is single and a college administrator.

This is not going to be easy for men because they are not used to this, but who said that it was for women. The product is expected to be on the market in early 2012.

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In a nation where formula is the preferred nutrient for infants, a healthier alternative to both traditional breast milk and formula may be available globally within the next ten years. A team of scientists from State Key Laboratories for Agro Biotechnology at China Agricultural University, led by director Li Ning, have recently published their findings involving a number of experiments with a herd of genetically altered Holstein cows. As a result of genetic modification, these cows produce milk that is in many ways similar to human breast milk. This finding, which was published this spring, has sparked a flurry of interest. While this is exciting news for those looking for a healthier alternative to formula, some are concerned about the safety of feeding genetically altered milk to infants.

If this does end up on the market, there are a number of benefits that this new milk has to offer. Because they were able to infuse these cows with specific human DNA as embryos, their milk now has large amounts of Lysozyme. This protein, found in large quantities in human milk, helps to prevent bacterial infections. Additionally, the proteins Lactoferrin and alpha-lactalbumin, were also produced in higher quantities, and these proteins help to boost immune levels. Not only would it help give infants whose mothers are unwilling or unable to breastfeed these important proteins, in the cows that were used in this experiment, it helped to prevent the bacterial infection mastitis.

The packaging that this new “human” cow milk would come in has not been decided on yet, but it will most likely be similar to the powder formula on the market today. Part of this experiment included using the temperature required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to pasteurize the milk to ensure that it still retained the nutritional integrity of the Lysozyme. They found that in order to process it into milk powder that a higher temperature is required, but it is still nutritionally sound. This milk is primarily for human infants, although it could be drunk by anyone, especially those with nutritional deficiencies or intestinal problems, since Lysozyme has been shown to increase gut health.

It also offers a nutritional choice for those who wish to give their picky toddlers a healthy nutritional boost. Some have combated the picky-eater syndrome that is common among two-to-five-year-olds by choosing to continue breastfeeding long after infancy. Some mothers extol the benefits of long-term breast feeding, and even the WHO recommends two years of breastfeeding, especially in poorer countries. Extended breastfeeding is clouded by negative stigma. Many people feel uncomfortable with the idea of a child who is able to walk and talk, but is still going to mom to have a drink. If this is put on the market, it could offer an alternative to a mother wanting to give her toddler greater nutrition, but not wanting to experience the negative social stigma or the inconveniences associated with breastfeeding.

Another possible benefit to adding Lysozyme is the increased shelf life in comparison to traditional formula. This would allow for shipping to a wider range of areas, and decreased loss of product in stores and at home due to expiration.

Despite the possible benefits, there are a number of serious concerns associated with giving infants milk from genetically altered cows. Especially in the United States and Europe, the general public is not very receptive to these types of products. An increase in the demand for organic and home-grown food has led to a number of companies deciding to change the ingredients in a number of their products, or offering slightly pricier organic and natural alternatives to their more highly processed foods. Even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does eventually allow this new milk to be stocked on grocery store shelves, the number of people willing to buy it is questionable. Only time will tell if this new “human” breast milk will be here to stay or if it will be soon forgotten for a better product.

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On May 2, somewhere in Moscow Nikolai prepared his supper, and the menu included human liver, stew, and potatoes… This could be the beginning of the first chapter of a horror novel, but reality comes to surprise us from time to time.

In gory scenes reminiscent of the horror film The Silence of The Lambs, Russian officers tracked down a man after a trail of body parts were found scattered across the Russian capital. Police found their suspect in his Moscow home eating a human liver with potatoes before finding the remains of the organ in a stew.

Nicolai Sadrin, the suspected killer, allegedly knew his victim Ilia Egorov. Sadrin, who suffered from mental illness according to police, confessed that he killed the 40 year old Ilia Egorov. The police stated that parts of the body such as the head, arms and legs, were found in the Moskovou river, but also scattered in basements and in rubbish bins in western Moscow.

“When the police came to arrest the suspect, he was eating a human liver with potatoes,” a police spokeswoman for the Moscow’s western district said. According to her, the cause of the victim’s death was not clear. “Detectives established the identity of the dead body by taking fingerprints, and after that police tracked down the suspected offender through a circle of the deceased’s friends,” police spokesman Alexei Savalyev told Russian news agency Ria Novosti. In Sadrin’s home, police found the tools that he used to dissect the corpse as well as the remaining part of the liver.

It must be a cannibalism epidemic in Russia, otherwise I can’t explain the fact that in very recent years outbreaks of cannibalism have occurred.

June 2008 – Eight members of a cannibalistic Satanist group in Yaroslavl, were given jail sentences for stabbing four teenagers, 666 times, and eating them afterwards. Indictments were handed out to Alexei Chistyakov, Konstantin Baranov, Ksenia Kovaleva, Nikolai Ogolobyak, Alexander Voronov, Aleksei Soloviev, Sergey Karpenko and Anton Makovkin. Police said that the killers enjoyed watching their friends die a painful death. The case details are so shocking that the hearings are closed to the general public.

January 2009 – Maxim Golovatskikh and his friend florist Yury Mozhnov, both 20, are accused of drowning Karina Barduchian in a bath, then carving up her body and serving her meat with potatoes to the lodger Ekaterina Zinovyeva. The murder was so brutal that it caused the trial to halt after a juror fell ill looking at the pictures of the girl.

April 2009 – Two men, identified only as 28-year-old Timur G. and 23-year-old Marat G. killed and methodically ate their elder brother Rafis in the central Russian city of Perm. Police grew suspicious when the brothers reported Rafis missing but were vague in giving details of their brother.

November 2009 – Sergei Gavrilov killed his 55 year-old mother Lyubov after she refused to hand over her pension. He wanted to spend the money on a drinking and gambling binge. The unbelievable thing in this case is that the Russian cannibal had his prison sentence reduced by nine months after a court accepted that he resorted to cannibalism out of hunger rather than preference.

You can call it either sickness, or madness, or just the latest trend. Nevertheless, it gives you the creeps, don’t you think?

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Whatever your opinion of the pageant industry or pageant moms may be, this story is teeming with vile exploitation no matter whose side you’re on. Back in March, British newspaper, The Sun published a disturbing article about thirty-four year old pageant mom Kerry Campbell who fairly bragged about giving her daughter, Britney, botox injections. She stated, “she is a lucky little girl and is going to be famous because of the benefits I am giving her so early.” Even more worrisome is that Britney, who is an eight year old, claimed to enjoy her treatments and even proclaimed her want for a boob and nose job so she could become a star.

Campbell appeared on Good Morning America in May and she defended the injections. Apparently, botox injections are not uncommon in the pageant world. Other mothers have been injecting their children with botox. Dr. Charles Sophy was also interviewed during the GMA segment. He was extremely critical of Campbell who cautioned against the long-term psychological affects of premature cosmetic alterations. If a child is eight and looking for wrinkles, there’s something that’s not quite right.

Unsurprisingly, shortly thereafter a criminal investigation was launched and Child Protective Services took Britney away from her mother. Then, in the vain of all other media villains Campbell released an obligatory statement of regret to The Sun where she declared she’d pursue therapy, never give her daughter botox ever again, and will work on reuniting and building a more positive relationship with her daughter. She proclaimed, “I want Sun readers to know that I love my daughter with all my heart. People have said so many horrible things about me, when all I wanted was the best for my child.” Really? She wanted the best for her child? Forgive me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t “the best” include empowerment and self-esteem building, healthful food and public television? If this were any other story, she cries, we wrestle with the moral implications of feeling bad for the broken psycho, and the story once wrought with such devastating controversy is filed away in the dusty cabinets of past media controversies.

Or so you’d think.

A few days after her interview on GMA Campbell released a baffling statement to TMZ in which she declares her real name is Sheena Upton and that The Sun offered to pay her $200 if she changed her name and followed a script stating that she gave her daughter botox treatments. She claims that she never injected her daughter, and that she had medical evaluations that showed no signs of ever receiving any cosmetic alterations. However, The Sun denies it all. They even sent a photographer to capture Campbell in action. The photograph of a sullen Britney being injected by her mother was front and center in the original article.

Regardless of what happened and who’s telling the truth, the fact remains that Sheena Upton/Kerry Campbell exploited her daughter for her own personal gain, be it monetary or for the promise of fame. No matter which way, it is a sordid situation.

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The old saying goes, “it takes all kinds to make a world.” That is truly the case for 104-year-old Huguette Clark.

She was born in 1906 to Montana copper tycoon William Clark. He won notoriety by purchasing a temporary seat on the senate in 1899. He moved the family to New York when he left the senate, and built a 121-room mansion on Fifth Ave. Huguette remained there until her father’s death in 1925. Soon after, at age 22 she married William Gower, the son of one of her father’s business associates. They divorced in 1930. Gower claimed that the marriage was never consummated. Nevertheless, she lived out her days as Mrs. Huguette Clark. Freudians, start your engines.

She moved further along Fifth Ave to live with her mother, and so began her life of solitude with the exception of her mother, of course and a few friends. There are no known photographs of her during this time, save for one that was taken in 1930 shortly after her divorce.

What she did in her free time is certainly perplexing. She had incurred a vast doll collection since her childhood, and she maintained that habit well throughout her life. Apparently, her housemaids even ironed the doll’s dresses. In her “free time” she ate sardines and watched “The Flintstones.”

Her mother died in 1963 and she continued onward with her enigmatic lifestyle. However, about twenty years ago, she decided to check herself into the hospital without medical reason. During this time, she burgeoned into philanthropist and donated large sums of money to her nurse and several charitable organizations. And in the hospital still, she maintained her solitude until her death last week.

Her life was kept relatively secret and her dream was to slip anonymously through the cracks of time. And yet, she certainly follows the trend and lure of posthumous fame. Still, nobody will ever know the reasoning behind her odd habits or her choice of solitude. That’s the way it is

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A recent research made from the social website Badoo.com has shown that Athens is the first country to lead the list that ranks numbers of online flirt relations per month and user.

Despite the fact that Paris is said to be the city of love, it was placed on the 38 position. And Italy, supposedly the land of the ‘lady-killers’, was placed on the eight position. The second place was handed to Moscow. From a total of nearly 200 cities all over the world, Madrid was the 31, London the 57, Berlin the 79 and New York the 89. Badoo analyzed 12 millions love contacts made in a month by 108 million users chatting in 180 countries.

The ‘Lonely Planet’ guide author in Athens, Victoria Kyriakopoulous, has stated that the results did not surprised her because the Greek capital was a seductive city with a hedonist style life, “Athenians love parties and dance, and flirting is part of their social interaction”.

The writer also added that the online services are just a new way of connecting to substitute the traditional love attraction dance, “old people flirt, married people also do it and youth are just using the new technology to do what Athenians have always done.”

The Badoo average user in Athens does around 25,7 online flirts per month – it is almost the double of users from Rio de Janeiro (12,4), Warsaw (12,1) or Prague (12,6). This is comparatively far from Paris (20,7), London (19), Berlin (17,7) or New York (16,1).

Tunis is among the three Arabian cities along with Kuwait and Beirut, that close the top ten with three ex Soviets cities (Moscow, Kiev and Baku) and three Italians (Turin, Roma and Bari).

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After a decision to upload pictures of their sextuplets, the McGhee family became an internet sensation. Via the social network site Facebook, a cybernaut charity set up in the family’s name has been able to aid the parents through their financial difficulties.

Their story goes to show that with today’s spread of social media, people are able to achieve amazing accomplishments through the internet. The possibilities seem endless if a certain cause is looking for support from the wider society.

In this case, the Afro-American couple Rozonno and Mia McGhee, had their life turned around with the arrival of their six sons. Their story began when the couple, unable to conceive a child on their own, decided to undergo a fertility treatment. Mia McGhee became pregnant with twins but before she could deliver them, the pregnancy was lost.

Undeterred by their loss, the couple persisted and kept trying to conceive a child. Soon, Mia was pregnant again but it turned out that she was to give birth to sextuplets. Despite the threat of financial problems, the McGhee’s decided to continue the pregnancy. After their birth, however, the economic issues became apparent.

That was when they decided to share their picture and story with the rest of the world through their Facebook profile. Shortly after that, things started to move fast – many facebook users were moved by the little family.

The pictures were so sensational that when they reached the famous American TV personality Oprah Winfrey, she gave the McGhee family and their miraculous sextuplets  a $250,000 credit at Walmart as well as a honeymoon in Las Vegas, despite the fact the couple got married 11 years ago.

The couple, who are both from impoverished backgrounds, started dating when they were in high school and married when they were 18 and 19 years old.

They were determined to create the kind of family they never had. With the help of the internet, it looks like they have.

To learn more about this amazing family visit: The McGhee Sextuplets

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An American man, age 48, had led a relationship with a woman via the Internet for two and a half years despite the fact that he had never actually seen the girlfriend. He had admitted that he had not been in love with her. However, this fact did not stop him from transferring a huge amount of money to her name in a number of different countries. After the transfer the ‘girlfriend’ appeared to have disappeared so the man decided to contact the police. He expressed the concern that his ‘girlfriend’ had been kidnapped. That was when the agents told him that his girlfriend never existed.

The RIA Novosti agency has informed that the man transferred around 200.000 dollars (150.000 Euros) to multiple bank accounts in a variety of countries through the internet before realizing that it was a fraud.

The man, who lives in Naperville City, Illinois, did not want to reveal his identity. Despite the fact that he had been instructed to send money to as far places as Niger, Malaysia, Great Britain and United States, he failed to suspect that the process was a scam.

Some weeks ago the man reported the police that his girlfriend had been raped in London. Police discovered that this girl never existed because the information that she had given to him belonged to a driving license number from the Florida State. When police told him the real issue he denied believing that that could be true.

The foreign bank accounts and the alien pictures are usually used by fraudsters to strike up online romances and relationships, social networking being one of the most prominent places for such encounters.

As a consequence, some mechanisms have been put in place to deal with this type of fraud. When banks discover the fraud, the administration is able to retrieve the lost funds. If the victim finds the deception serious enough to constitute a criminal offense, they are in a position to report the damage to their local authorities.

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Officials in west Siberia have announced their plans to begin a new scientific institute dedicated to studying yetis after a rash of reported sightings in remote areas.  The AFP is reporting that the region will host an international conference on the ape-like, mythological creatures later this year.

“Organizing an institute or a scientific center would be a logical continuation of research into the yeti,” the administration in Kemerovo, a Russian coal-mining region, in western Siberia said, according to the AFP. “The town of Tashtagol will host an international conference with leading experts into hominids. Based on its results, we will take a decision on opening a scientific research institute to study the yeti.”

Dr. Igor Burtsev, a researcher that will head the new institute at Kemerovo State University, said that around 30 Russian scientists are studying yetis, also known as the abominable snowman, and could work together at the planned institute.  “We think that the yeti is a separate branch of human evolution. It lives in harmony with nature,” he said. Dr. Burtsev believes that yetis are neandethal men who have survived.  He said that the primary goal of the institute is to “establish contact” with one of the creatures.

According to Yahoo! News, Burtsev told Russian newspaper Itar Press he believed he spotted evidence of a yeti after an expedition last year. “I saw markers [half-broken branches] the creature uses to mark the controlled territory,” he is quoted as saying. “In the woods I have found several artifacts to confirm my theory. I plan to find the Bigfoot’s shelter and even try to contact the creature.”

Dr. Burtsev claims that approximately 30 yetis live in a remote region of Mount Shoria in southern Siberia.  He strongly denies accusations that the ‘sightings’ are a bizarre attempt to attract tourists to the region.

Scientists say they have found 15 witnesses in the past year who gave statements that they saw the Abominable Snowman in one remote area. “’We spoke to local residents”, said Dr. Burtsev.  “They told us yetis were stealing their animals.”

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The Kiev Zoo in the Ukraine has seen dozens of otherwise healthy animals die in recent years.  Animal welfare groups suggest that malnutrition, a lack of medical care and mistreatment are to blame for the widespread deaths.

The Kiev Zoo has been described as an unkempt warehouse for those with fur and feathers.  Some animal advocates suspect that corruption is the main problem at the zoo which recently saw an elephant drop dead, perhaps from a poor died, Maya the camel died of a digestive illness that could have been prevented and Theo the zebra was killed after crashing into a metal fence trying to reach his female companions that he had been separated from.

Naturewatch, a British-based animal welfare group, is among the organizations calling for the 100-year-old zoo to be closed and its animals sent elsewhere in Europe.  “The Kiev Zoo will never attain any basic standards, it’s so far removed from any zoo in Europe,” said John Ruane of Naturewatch. “The conditions have been absolutely horrendous and no matter how many more directors were appointed the situation still remained the same.”

New managers that took over last October have said that nearly half of the zoo’s animals either died or mysteriously disappeared over two years under their predecessors.  A recent government audit found that thousands of dollars were misspent as animals were illegally sold and funds earmarked for their food and care disappeared. Ukrainian prosecutors have also opened an investigation.

Even with the management change, animals are still dying.  The Kiev zoo was once a favorite tourist attraction for families but began to deteriorate after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Animals were kept in cramped, poorly lit and poorly heated enclosures, fed improperly and left unattended, according to watchdogs.  The zoo then gained international notoriety in 2007 when it was expelled from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria after the tragic death of a female bear.

Officials are having a hard time determining exactly how many animals died or disappeared under the previous management. The zoo now has 2,600 animals from 328 species.  Oleksandr Mazurchak, deputy head of the Kiev city administration, said about 250 animals died due to “problems” during two years under Berzina. The government audit last year also found that 131 other animals were missing.

Tamara Tarnavska of the Kiev-based SOS animal rights group believes the zoo must be closed to protect its animals from further abuse.  “The zoo is in such a condition that it’s no longer a zoo, it’s a concentration camp,” Tarnavska said. “When I look those animals in the eyes, I am ashamed to be a human being.”

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A stray puppy that survived being put to sleep in an Oklahoma animal shelter is now dealing with his new-found fame, complete with a national television appearance and thousands wanting to adopt him.  Wall-E was among several dogs abandoned by the Sulphur Animal Shelter less than a month ago. A local veterinarian tried to euthanize the puppy due to overcrowding, but he somehow survived.

Veterinarian technician Amanda Kloski, who works at Arbuckle Veterinarian Clinic, began caring for Wall-E after he was found alive in a trash bin a day after he was injected twice –once in the foreleg and once in the heart – with a lethal dose of a sedative.  She noted the dog’s survival on a pet adoption website, drawing the attention of Marcia Machtiger of Pittsburgh, who helps rescue dogs. After Machtiger shared Wall-E’s story on Facebook, the offers for a new home began pouring in.

Nearly 3,000 people have expressed interest in adopting the puppy and $1,200 has been donated for his care so that there won’t be any more attempted euthanasia. He was flown to New York City to appear on “Good Morning America.” Concerns about his safety have arisen as some people have said they want to breed him to make money.

Kloski has been surprised by some of the phone calls and e-mails the clinic has received. She said one man traveled from Arkansas to the clinic in Sulphur, about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City, offering to take Wall-E off her hands and breed him.  “It’s been crazy,” Kloski said.

Since that incident, Wall-E has been going home with a designated individual each night, rather than staying at the clinic. Also, the clinic plans to have Wall-E neutered before he is sent to a new home.  The more serious applicants receive a formal application to fill out.

The good news about this pup’s story is that the national attention has provided some donations to the Sulphur Animal Shelter.  Donations from Texas and Washington have brought in about $220 for a new county-wide shelter in Murray County, said Audrey Ridlehoover, president of the Davis Oklahoma Animal Volunteers. Officials are hoping to raise $5,000 to $6,000.

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