Messed Up Facebook Poll

Someone made a ridiculous poll on facebook that said:

"Should Obama be killed?

A. Yes

B. Maybe

C. If he messes with healthcare

D. No"

I know the important concept and right of freedom of speech, but I cant get over how creepy this poll is. Its good though, that the creator of the poll has been identified by the secret service. I think this person should have had to identify himself as the creator of the poll when he published it.

The funny part now is that the most used poll on facebook now is called: "Should the creator of the 'Should Obama Be Killed Poll' be arrested?"

exiling sexiling

Tufts University has come up with a set of rooms to be enforced in residence halls that bans "sexiling" roommates. Sexiling- the act of kicking out of exiling ones roommate from the dorm for a certain ammount of time, to have sex, is now banned.

I dont know HOW they will enforce the rule, but I definitely agree with the reasoning behind it...It's good that previously sexiled roommates are getting their rights to their rooms back. The rule also says that one roommate's sexual relationship is not allowed to interfere with the other roomates privacy, studies or social life.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/09/29/relerford.tufts.sex.WHDH

Epic Synchronized Robot Dance (Austrailia)

"SYDNEY (AFP) – A group of more than 300 Australian university students grooved their way into the history books Tuesday, setting a new world record for the largest ever robot dance."

"A total of 318 people swung in robotic unison on the lawns of the University of Melbourne to take the record, previously held by a group of 276 students from Britain's University of Kent."

This makes me really excited to see so much enthusiasm over such a simple, silly thing-- the robot dance. I feel like the world would be a better place if people put this much energy into important issues. Kudos, Australians, kudos.

SUPERFETATION!

In Arkansas, a woman is pregnant with two fetuses, but they are NOT twins. Already pregnant with a baby girl, Julia Grovenburg conceived a second baby weeks after the first one. Though the babies will probably be born on the same day, they will not be considered twins because they did not come from a single egg, or two eggs at the same time. Superfetation kind of sounds like a lame superpower...

GIANT BABY!!!!

This might make anyone think twice before having a baby! I cant imagine carrying almost 20 pounds for a pregnancy!!

"An Indonesian woman has given birth to an 8.7-kilogramme (19.2-pound) baby boy, the heaviest newborn ever recorded in the country, a doctor said Wednesday."

The mother is diabetic, which may account for the increased growth rate: "When a diabetic mother's glucose level is high during pregnancy, the baby can receive too much glucose and grow too large, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists."

Doctors performed a C-section to get the baby out. Since his birth, the baby boy is on a non-stop feeding schedule.

Start of an HIV vaccine:

This is a really exciting article to read:

"A vaccine to prevent HIV infection, the virus that leads to AIDS, has shown modest results for the first time, researchers have found, raising hopes that a disease that kills millions every year may someday be beaten."

The vaccine trial took place in Thailand and included more than 16,000 HIV negative participants. Half were given a placebo and the other half were given the real vaccine. After a 6-month period:

"Fifty-one people in the vaccine group eventually contracted HIV, compared with 74 in the placebo group."

The HIV booster was shown to possibly reduce the risk of HIV contraction by 31 %

This is one of the most important articles I have come across this year. It will have so much potential to prevent such a huge problem the world faces.

Anglo-Saxon Treasure Hoard Found!

In London, amateur treasure hunter, Terry Herbert found a hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure while searching his friend's farmland with a metal detector. The collection is described as:

"...the largest Anglo-Saxon treasure ever discovered, a massive collection of gold and silver crosses, sword decorations and other items, British archaeologists said Thursday"

FYI: Anglo-Saxons were a germanic people who dominated England from the 5th century to 1066.

The loot consists of:

"1,500 pieces of gold and silver, some inlaid with precious stones. So fine is the craftsmanship that experts say it could have belonged to Anglo-Saxon royalty."

The hoard is thought to be worth seven figures

My Instrument

When we were first assigned this project, I was a little reluctant to make a working instrument. I am completely musically inept (I took piano lessons for 8 years but I still cant read notes). I started out sketching simple percussion instruments, all variations of a drum, but soon moved on to a more mechanical approach. I got the picture of a crank-powered percussion device in my head, sketched it, got raw materials at Lowes and completed it in the wood-shop. I really enjoyed making this object because it gave me a chance to become more familiar with the machines in the wood-shop, something I've been meaning to do for the past year.

Ban on Bird Lady

77 year old Claire Butcher of Lynn, MA has been banned from 38 city parks because of her failure to comply to the policy of not feeding wild animals. After several complaints from neighbors about the animals pooping on their driveways and flocking around their houses Butcher continues to bring shopping carts full of bread and dogfood to the park.

“We’ve tried to work with her and unfortunately she’s refused,” Phelan said. “Claire has been out there feeding the geese, sea gulls and pigeons to the tune of hundreds of them.

“For the people who live in front of these ponds, it’s nasty what’s left there after she’s done,” he said. “Residents are having to hose off their driveways and front yards. Their lawns are gone and they’re begging for help. This is no laughing matter anymore as far as the city is concerned.”

Phelan said he’s willing to squirrel away the criminal charges if Butcher simply abides by the no-trespass order. But Butcher said she wants her day in court: “The city doesn’t have a leg to stand on. I want the judge to tell me whether I can feed them or not feed them. As long as he listens to my side of the story and gives me a fair shake, that’s all I ask.”

Im guessing she isn't going to stop

China Taking Steps to Control Climate Change

Recently at a U.N. summit about climate change, President of China, Hu Jintao promises that China will take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. China and the U.S. are the world's two largest greenhouse gas emitters. The U.S. still has a long way to go on reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, and President Hu Jintao has not yet said in specifics how his country will help prevent climate change.

"In what was called the first speech on climate change by a Chinese leader at the United Nations, Hu outlined some specific steps but provided no firm target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming."

Its really promising that China is at least verbalizing their goals for improving the environment, but I feel that more specific methods and innovations need to be discussed in order for the plans to be taken seriously

Love-struck Taiwan thief arrested

This is my favorite story yet:

In Taiwan, a man stabbed an 18 year old nurse in the back during a messy robbery last week. He then came back later to apologize and profess his love to her.

"When I noticed how lovely you look, I changed my mind," he wrote in a love note he placed on the nurse's scooter, apologising and offering compensation.

Police arrested the unnamed man as he waited for the nurse to return.

"The suspect was caught as he tried to express his love for the victim," said a police officer accompanying the woman, who was not seriously injured.''

This story is something one would find in the Darwin awards....It reminds me of one story where a man robs a woman and then give her his number so she can call him to go on a date. The woman promptly gave the number to the police.

Yet another mental institute escape!

I am starting to see a trend this week with patients escaping from mental hospitals.

Joshua Barnes escaped from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice medical facility in Galveston, Texas on sunday

"According to Clark, Barnes busted a hole through a wall in his room and then broke through a thick window.He apparently tied bedsheets together, rappelled down the side of the building to a roof, and then jumped to the ground."

The inmate apparently started serving 35 years in January for several felonies (burglary and assault, and 2 escape charges).

Global Warming Oddly Helps Shipping Routes...

Two German ships have become the first Western commercial vessels to navigate the Northeast Passage - a shipping route which goes from Asia to Europe around the Russian Arctic.

One of the captains told the BBC that their journey opened new, exciting possibilities for the whole international shipping community.

"I was slightly surprised by what we saw," he told us as we stood on the bridge of his cargo lifter.

"There was virtually no ice on most of the route. Twenty years ago, when I worked in the eastern part of the Arctic, I couldn't even imagine something like this.

"I think it will soon be possible to navigate the Northeast Passage all year round. We were escorted by an ice-breaker but, frankly, we could have done without it. This is great news for our industry."

In the past, no foreign ships were allowed to cross the Northeast Passage.

But now Russia's security concerns have given way to the desire for a slice of the fat pie which is the international shipping business.

"This is an event of huge strategic importance," said chief commercial officer of the Arkhangel Sea Port Viktor Vorobyov. "It will signal the rebirth of this shipping route, and the renaissance of the whole of the Russian North."

Now heres the environmental concerns:

"This is a very clear signal of how weak the Arctic ice has become," says Alexei Kokorin of WWF Russia.

The Northeast Passage route has alarmed some conservationists

"The area of really heavy ice in the Arctic is now 10 times smaller than 10 or 20 years ago. Global warming is becoming more and more dominant - and it will affect all of us".

I think it is really interesting that global warming has actually helped Russia's economy. Its really ironic that such a dominating issue of today has caused success with a certain shipping route.

Escaped Legally Insane Killer at Large (Washington State)

Here's a story which I find completely absurd and disturbing:

A legally insane killer was on the loose in the state of Washington on Saturday, two days after he escaped during a field trip to a county fair, authorities said.

Authorities are combing Washington state for Phillip Paul, who is described as a criminally insane killer.

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Phillip Paul was able to elude a massive manhunt in Spokane County, Washington, after escaping on Thursday, a spokesman for the sheriff's department said.

Though Paul had been confined in a mental institution because of a murder confession, he was allowed to be part of a trip to a county fair Thursday.

Paul, 47, escaped from the fair around noon, which launched the massive manhunt and brought criticism from many, including state government officials. Sheriff's officials told CNN affiliate KREM-TV that Paul also escaped briefly in 1991 and assaulted a law enforcement officer.

Paul was committed to Eastern State Hospital after admitting he strangled and slit the throat of community activist Ruth Motley in 1987, KREM-TV reported. According to court documents obtained by KREM, Paul believed Motley was a witch and killed her in response to voices in his head.

He subsequently burned a deer carcass as a sacrifice, according the documents.

The extent of Paul's illness was disturbing even to mental health professionals, KREM reported.

"He's the only paranoid schizophrenic -- I've seen hundreds, maybe thousands of them -- that frightened me," Dr. Frank Hardy, a licensed psychiatrist, says in one of the documents, according to KREM. "The first time I took one look at him -- and I've never done this before or since -- I asked the jailer to remain in the room while I examined him.

"I believe he would respond to his delusions and his voices again" if released, Hardy wrote.

What I want to know is WHY the mental hospital would allow individuals who are dangerous to themselves and others out in crowded public areas. Of all places to take a paranoid schizophrenic, they took him to a crowded state fair, where he could easily get lost and hide in the crowd. It just seems like a bad idea in general...

German School Shooting

School Shooting in Germany- (no deaths)

"ANSBACH, Germany – An 18-year-old student armed with an ax and knives lobbed Molotov cocktails at his high school in southern Germany on Thursday, wounding eight pupils and a teacher before he was shot and arrested by police."

police arrived immediately and shot him 5 times. The student was armed with 3 molotov cocktails and was throwing them at the school. Two teenage girls were wounded:

"Two teenage girls were seriously injured by the attacker — one suffering burns and the other head injuries, said Dreher. It was not immediately clear whether the second girl was attacked with the ax or a knife. Authorities did not say how the seven people who suffered light injuries — six students and a teacher — had been attacked."

Police are still not sure of the teenager's motive for the violence. A more deadly shooting at a German school took place earlier this year, and has caused Germany to enforce stricter gun policy

Ancient Synagogue Found in Israel:

While digging the foundation for a new hotel, the site of an ancient synagogue was unearthed.

Dates back to around 50 BCE

In the 120 square meter main hall, archaeologists found a carved stone with a menorah on it. This finding shows the rarity of the find:

"The menorah engraving is the first of its kind to be discovered from the Early Roman period according Avshalom-Gorni who said the site joins just six synagogue locations that are know to date from the same time. She said synagogues from this period were extremely rare in part because many Jews during that time were in the habit of visiting the main temple in Jerusalem three times a year as opposed to attending local houses of worship."

Thrilled about the discovery, the company that was set to build a hotel on the property will make a multi-cultural and multi-religious center at the site.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/09/11/jerusalem.synagogue/index.html

PIRATES

What: Recently, Somalian pirates attacked a North Korean Cargo Ship headed towards the Middle East. The pirates approached the ship in speed boats, firing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Heres the cool part: The cargo ship crew fought off the pirates by speeding up the boat and throwing fire bombs (molotov cocktails) at the pirates.

Who won: The Korean ship crew

Around the world, countries are taking steps against modern day pirates:

"In response to the growing scourge, Spain's government has agreed to allow tuna boats operating in the Indian Ocean to hire private security guards armed with high-powered rifles."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32861189/ns/world_news-africa/

Showing Time Lapse In One Image

Plastic Bag Ban-Mexico City

Ban on plastic bags (Mexico City)

I am really optimistic to hear that Mexico City, in an attempt to become more eco-friendly, is placing a ban on plastic shopping bags. In addition to grocery store use, plastic bags are used in Mexico as containers for cheaper bulk products, such as shampoo and food items. Use of the plastic bags makes the products cheaper (less spent on packaging).

"The new law complements the city's efforts to turn one of the planet's biggest and messiest waste-management systems into the greenest in Latin America, if not the developing world. Mexico City only recycles about 6 percent of the 12,500 tons of trash it generates daily — but aims to compost or burn for energy 85 percent of it by 2013."

"The real challenge to the city's new attack on plastic bags is the unregulated informal economy of street vendors, who feed the bag addiction. The Mexico City Chamber of Commerce estimates there are 35,000 vendors in the downtown area alone — many of whom spend their days scooping everything from chili-covered grasshoppers, a Mexican delicacy, to ribbon headbands into plastic bags."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32758015/ns/world_news-world_environment/

Jumpy Jumpy Stop-Motion (just for kicks!)

my second stop-action film