Two Year Old Smokes Like an Adult
In the western world, smoking is considered to be unacceptable, but in China it seems the earlier you start the better.
Whilst in the western world smoking is considered to be socially unacceptable, and smokers are being marginalized, it seems that it China people respect people who take up the deadly pastime as early as possible.
In an incredible recording, a two year old is sitting on a moped surrounded by adults, and lights a cigarette like Bruce Willis in ”Die Hard“, after eliminating a whole company of bad guys, using only a pocket knife and a toothbrush.
Instead of taking the cigarette away from the youngster, and whacking him in the head, they cheer him on, and the person behind him on the motorbike, probably his father, proudly smiles and watches the two year old blowing clouds of smoke.
The little boy was an attraction, because a group of curious onlookers gathered to watch the boy make smoke signals. Take a look at the video: Two Year Old Smokes Like an Adult.
Unable to ID Guilty Twin, Judge Spares Brothers Death Penalty
Saturday, February 07, 2009
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Identical twin brothers escaped the death penalty in a Malaysian drug trafficking trial after the court ruled authorities could not prove which man committed the alleged crime, news reports said Saturday.
"I ... can't be sending the wrong person to the gallows," the New Straits Times newspaper quoted the judge in the case as saying.
Police arrested the 27-year-old brothers in August 2003 after they found large amounts of opium and marijuana in a house to which one of the twins had the key, the New Straits Times and national news agency Bernama reported.
Both men were charged, but Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Zaharah Ibrahim ruled Friday that only the twin with the key could be proven to be the owner of the drugs.
Because the brothers' identical features made it impossible for officers testifying to point out which one had been found with the key, she had no choice but to acquit both men.
She called the ruling "a very unique case." Court officials familiar with the case could not immediately be reached.
The twins wept and hugged each other after the judge read her verdict, the reports added.
Malaysia has a mandatory penalty of death by hanging for drug trafficking. More than 200 people have been executed since capital punishment was implemented for the offense in 1975.
Oldest Human Hair Found in Hyena Poop Fossil?
Charles Q. Choi
February 6, 2009
The oldest known human hairs could be the strands discovered in fossil hyena poop found in a South African
Researchers discovered the rock-hard hyena dung near the Sterkfontein caves, where many early human ancestor fossils have been found.
But the hairs' age "covers just before when we think modern humans emerged, and overlaps with the existence and end of Homo heidelbergensis,"
"The hairs could belong to either of them, or of course to [a species] not yet recognized," added Backwell, whose findings appeared online January 31 in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
Not King of the Hill
Backwell and her colleagues used tweezers to extract 40 fossilized hairs resembling glass needles from one of the hyena coprolites.
Scanning-electron-microscope images revealed wavy bands of scales on the hairs—a pattern typical of modern primates, with human hair being the closest match
(Related photos: "Best Microscopic Images of 2008 Announced" [October 15, 2008].)
Man Cuts Off Own Penis, Flushes the Toilet
He was normal until he turned 20, after which his girlfriend forced him to marry, he became psychologically ill, which led to the incident.
A psychiatric patient, a 45 year old from Nis, Serbia cut off his penis with a kitchen knife, and then threw it into the toilet and flushed it. However, he underwent surgery in Nis’ hospital on time, and his life is not in danger, writes Press Online.
After his father’s death, the 45 year old lived with his mother, who saw him on the couch after he cut off his organ. She immediately called an ambulance.
”He attended psychiatric therapy a few times for a few months each. We did not have problems with him, but he was aggressive towards his mother. However, we did not expect that he would harm himself like this“ said one of the neighbours for Press.
This was confirmed by his mother, who said that her son abused and beat her for years, but stressed that he was very calm for the last three years.
”After his father’s death he stopped beating me. He said that he only has me. He was scared that he would end up in a psychiatric hospital if I die“ said the desperate mother, whose son fell ill aged 20.
”He started acting weird…“
”He finished school, got a job and found a girlfriend. However, back then she started insisting on marriage, and he started acting weird. It was established that he fell psychologically ill. When he was home he refused to drink medication, so he received injections. He smoked and drank coffee a lot, he totally physically broke down“ said his mother.
On Monday, February 2, his mother woke up at around 5am, and found her son unusually crouched, sitting on the couch. She entered the bathroom, and was shocked to see that the whole room was covered in blood. She could not even imagine what he had done.
After he was transferred to the urology clinic, the young man admitted that he cut off his organ with a kitchen knife, threw it into the toilet, and flushed it. They did not find the severed organ, so it was impossible to sew it back on.
Boy, six, dies after ice fall
By STAFF REPORTER
Published: Today
A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy has died after falling through ice into a fishing pond.
The child - named locally as Ben Newell - and another 12-year-old boy thought to be his brother, had been on the ice near in Streethouse, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, when it cracked, plunging them both into the water.
The older boy was rescued by a firefighter while fire service divers pulled the younger boy out.
He was flown by air ambulance to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield yesterday afternoon where he died just after 7pm.
A man who tried to save the boy has told of rescuers’ desperate attempts to pull the child above water.
David Powell, 37, said: ”When we arrived I didn’t know there were two boys, I could see one holding on to something above the surface of the water and my thought was relief that he was OK.
”Then I realised there was a second boy. People were obviously trying to get him out, with tree branches and jumpers tied together. People were jumping on the ice, trying to break it and get through but it was really thick.“
He said his own eight-year-old son Josh had been playing by the pond with the two boys, but had refused to walk on the ice with them. When he saw them fall he had tried to help them himself before running to neighbours’ houses to try to find ropes.
Mr Powell and other passers-by tried for around five minutes to rescue the boy from under the ice before the fire service arrived.
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue pulled the older boy from the water using throw lines, but were only able to reach his brother when six firefighters using specialist water rescue equipment waded into the water.
Both boys are believed to have lived on a housing estate situated across a field from the fishing pond.
Hazardous
Other victims of the cold snap have been gifted A-level student Francesca Anobile, 16, who died after her makeshift sledge crashed through a barbed wire fence in Rotherham last Tuesday, and two walkers who ventured out in icy conditions in the Lake District.
More snow is due today as local authorities sought to calm fears that a national shortage of salt to treat roads will leave them hazardous for motorists.
Overnight temperatures are expected to plunge as low as minus 10C (14F).
David Sparks, chairman of the Local Government Association’s transport board, said fresh supplies of salt were en route to the UK.
Efforts to make roads safe from freezing weather are ”under control“, he insisted, warning that public panic was not helping.
Girl, Five, In Drink-Drive Ordeal
:59pm UK, Tuesday July 29, 2008
A five-year-old girl was rescued from a car which her mother was driving drunk when she was spotted banging on the windows screaming: "Stop Mummy driving!"
Passers-by who witnessed the car being driven erratically in Falkirk, Scotland, called the police, who pulled it over and found the driver to be four times over the limit.
The woman pleaded guilty at Falkirk Sheriff Court to three charges, one under the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 and two under the Road Traffic Act 1988.
These included having a breath alcohol level of 158 microgrammes in 100ml of breath, which is nearly four-and-a-half times the legal limit of 35.
She was released on bail and will be sentenced next month.
A spokesperson for Road Safety Scotland told Sky News: "This is a truly shocking case. Sadly, it illustrates that people are still prepared to get behind the wheel of a car after drinking alcohol, despite the possible consequences.
"We would urge drivers of all ages and experiences to heed the warnings and to keep this case at the forefront of their mind.
"Our message is simple: 'Don't take the risk. Don't take the car - you've too much to lose'."
The woman was one of 181 people were stopped for drink-driving during the second week of an annual country-wide crackdown on driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
During the two-week period, 13 drivers were arrested for being unfit through drugs and 10 for being unfit through drink.
Over the fortnight of the campaign 343 people were arrested, an increase of 11 on last year.
Those stopped included a 29-year-old primary school teacher who was arrested after she was involved in a minor collision with a minibus full of children in Edinburgh. No-one was injured.
She was found to be allegedly nearly four times the limit.
A 29-year-old man was arrested near Livingston after he was spotted driving erratically and colliding with the central reservation of the M8.
The look of love? Women are attracted to men with big pupils, says study
Last updated at 12:49 AM on 08th February 2009
Researchers have discovered what women are really thinking when they look into a man’s eyes – and it is all about the size of their...pupils.
Women become attracted to men with large pupils just as they are approaching their most fertile time of the month, the study at Edinburgh University found.
Scientists suggest that it may be because it indicates that the man is sexually interested in them and available for mating. Pupil size made no significant difference for the rest of the menstrual cycle.
Was Jennifer Aniston's character Beth in the film He's Just Not That Into You attracted to her boyfriend Neil, played by Ben Affleck, because of his big pupils?
In the research, published in respected journal Personality And Individual Differences, photographs of six equally attractive men were presented to a judging panel of ten women.
But for each man, three versions of the photo were produced, with the pupils large, medium or small.
The pictures of the men were then mixed up and put into pairs for the women to rate.
Participants recorded their age, whether they were using hormonal birth control, the date of onset of their menstrual period preceding the test and the length of their menstrual cycle.
The results revealed that attraction to large pupils shot up four days before day 13 of the menstrual cycle, the usual monthly peak in fertility.
2 Mice Carrying Plague Disappear From New Jersey Lab, FBI Says No Public Health Risk
Saturday, February 07, 2009
TRENTON, N.J. — The frozen remains of two mice injected with the organism that causes plague have not been accounted for seven weeks after being discovered missing at a University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey facility in Newark, the university said Friday.
The FBI investigated and determined there was no risk to public health or any indication of the terrorist link.
It wasn't the first time plague-infected mice have disappeared from the New Jersey facility. Four years ago, in September 2005, three live mice infected with bubonic plague bacteria disappeared from various cages. Officials later said they believed the rodents had died.
UMDNJ's Public Health Research Institute issued a four-paragraph statement about the December incident late Friday saying it believes the red hazardous waste bag containing the dead mice was sterilized and incinerated along with another bag.
"Although the mice in the missing bag were used in vaccine experiments involving the bacteria Yersinia pestis, the organism that causes plague, UMDNJ has no reason to believe that this situation poses a risk to the safety or health of UMDNJ staff or the community at large," the university said in its prepared statement.
University spokesman Jerry Carey said he did not know why UMDNJ waited seven weeks to disclose the missing mice.
Bryan Travers, a spokesman for the FBI office in Newark, told The Star-Ledger of Newark that the FBI determined there was "no nexus to terrorism or risk to public health."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also investigated after the Dec. 19 discovery that mice were missing. A CDC spokesman had no immediate information on the status of its investigation.
Dr. David Perlin, director of the research institute, said the experiment was part of a National Institutes of Health bioterrorism program to test a vaccine for plague. The infectious disease often caused by bites from rodent fleas is of interest to researchers because of its potential for use by bioterrorists.
Perlin said when mice die during an experiment, they are double bagged, labeled then sprayed with a disinfectant before being placed in a freezer for storage, where they are kept for the duration of the research. Afterward, the bagged remains are sterilized then shipped offsite for incineration.
"Any time you are putting something wet in the freezer, there's a chance bags can stick together, and frequently they do," he said of the disinfectant-sprayed bags.
The rodents had been infected with the plague, Perlin said, but he said they posed no threat to research staff or the public in part because they were dead. They were also housed in a secure facility that follows protocols for a biohazard site, he said.
Millions of people died from plague in the Middle Ages, when homes and work places were inhabited by flea-infested rats. Antibiotics are effective against plague, but the disease can be fatal if an infected person is not treated quickly, the CDC Web site says. There is currently no vaccine.
Perlin said the institute has begun taking inventory of all logged hazardous waste bags before sterilization following the incident.
'WHY ONLY AM I HERE?'
FIRE HERO CRIES FOR LOST 'BROTHERS' AT TRIAL
By DENISE BUFFA and ADAM NICHOLS
TRIAL BY FIRE: Eugene Stolowski weeps yesterday at the Bronx blaze-manslaughter trial.
Last updated: 3:45 am
February 7, 2009
Posted: 3:07 am
February 7, 2009
A firefighter temporarily paralyzed when he plummeted from a fourth-floor window to escape the "Black Sunday" inferno broke down yesterday as he desperately tried to understand why he lived through the ordeal while two of his fellow Bravest died.
"Why am I here and they're not here?" Eugene Stolowski sobbed. "They had kids, too."
Stolowski was speaking outside the Bronx courtroom where he was the last of the surviving firefighters to testify in the manslaughter trial of the owner, the manager and two tenants of the East 178th Street building where the blaze erupted.
They're accused of splitting an apartment with a false wall that prevented the firefighters from seeing the deadly flames gathering strength until it was too late to safely escape.
Stolowski described the bittersweet emotion of raising his own kids, while the children of his colleagues were left fatherless.
"It's a blessing every day, to be able to see them and watch them grow up," said the father of three, whose wife gave birth to twins after he suffered a near-fatal neck injury when he plummeting from the Bronx building in January 2005.
"[Firefighter John Bellew's wife] Eileen's in court, she's got four kids and John's not around. [Lt. Curtis Meyran's wife] Jeanette, she's got three kids, and Curtis isn't around, so, you know, for me, that's the guilt that I have."
The Bravest were forced to leap 50 feet from the building to escape the intense blaze. Stolowski, firefighter Brendan Cawley and two others survived, while Bellew, 37, and Meyran, 46, died.
Stolowski, a seven-year veteran, went out of the window head first. The impact left him with an injury described as "internal decapitation" - survival from which is extremely rare.
"My head became dislodged from my spinal cord," he said. "They put me back together and put my head back on, basically."
"I shouldn't be walking and I should be dead. I was paralyzed for almost two months.
"But I don't have any regrets. I did my job, and I would do it again."
Stolowski's testimony included an emotionally charged account of how he helped two firefighters out of the window.
He remembered how he and Cawley dangled Meyran from the window by his clothes before letting him drop.
Stolowski, a six-year FDNY veteran, then helped Cawley out of the window before he jumped.
Recounting the memories in the court left him emotionally wrecked, he said.
"I think it's tougher [in court] than it was in the fire. I'd rather be fighting fires than doing what they do in there."
Boy, 5, 'taken by croc' in floods
By Robyn Ironside
The Courier-Mail
February 08, 2009 01:46pm
A BOY, 5, is feared to have been taken by a crocodile in a flooded north Queensland creek at Cape Tribulation as his seven-year-old brother watched.
The victim is believed to have entered the water chasing his pet dog when the crocodile attacked.
Police said the boy was walking with his brother earlier today when he followed his dog into flood waters.
"He disappeared in the water, and his brother saw a large crocodile in the vicinity of his disappearance", the police statement said.
For continuing coverage of this story, go to The Courier-Mail.
Foxy Knoxy ‘brought men home,’ trial hears
By Nick Pisa
Last updated at 9:20 AM on 08th February 2009
On trial: Amanda Knox is led away to her prison cell during the murder trial
The girl on trial for killing Meredith Kercher brought strangers home, an Italian court heard.
Amanda Knox is jointly accused with her former boyfriend of the British student’s brutal murder after Meredith, 21, refused to take part in a sex game.
Filomena Romanelli, 29, a legal secretary who shared the house with the two girls, said of the 21-year-old American known as ‘Foxy Knoxy’: ‘She would bring strangers home.
'Both her and Meredith were young and pretty, they were sweet and made friends easily. They got friendly with the boys who lived below and met people at university.
‘Meredith never brought men home – the only people who came to the house were two of her English girlfriends. I never directly saw Amanda bring anyone home but she would tell me when I saw her.’
The girls had earlier fallen out over house cleaning, the court in Perugia was told. Miss Romanelli said: ‘There was a bit of tension over the cleaning rota in the house.
'I know Amanda missed her turn a couple of times.’
Miss Romanelli was shown a photograph of an 11in kitchen knife which prosecutors claim is compatible with wounds on Meredith’s neck. She said: ‘It is a very common knife but I don’t recognise it, I don’t recall it being in the house.’
Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini said the knife had been found in the kitchen of Knox’s boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, 24.
Victim: Police believe Meredith was brutally killed after she refused to take part in a sex game
Knox, dressed in a purple top and jeans, listened intently during the hearing as her father, Curt, sat behind her. Last night the judge adjourned the trial until Friday.
He allowed the two to meet and they hugged for several seconds.
No lemonade? Call the cops!
By WINK News
By The Associated Press
Story Created: Feb 7, 2009 at 2:05 PM EST
Story Updated: Feb 7, 2009 at 2:06 PM EST
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Authorities in South Florida say a man was arrested after calling 911 to complain that a fast food restaurant had run out of lemonade.
Boynton Beach police say Jean Fortune, 66, has been charged with abuse of 911 communication.
Police say Fortune called the emergency telephone number and told authorities that a Burger King in Boynton Beach did not have any lemonade.
Baby boy is mauled to death by two family dogs
Last updated at 10:12 AM on 08th February 2009
A three-month-old baby was mauled to death by two dogs at his grandmother’s home yesterday.
Little Jaden Mack suffered fatal neck injuries after being savaged by a Staffordshire bull terrier and a Jack Russell.
He had been left at the house in Ystrad Mynach, near Caerphilly in South Wales, by his parents, Christopher and Alexandra Mack, who were going away for the weekend.
Mauled: Jaden Joseph Mack was killed after two dogs set upon him as he was being looked after by his grandmother
Neighbours rushed to the scene after hearing screams in the early hours of yesterday morning but were too late to save him. Heather Organ, 47, said: ‘It seemed as if somebody was very distressed or being attacked. I came out and saw my neighbour and he knocked on the door.
‘When the door opened, two dogs ran out. At the time I didn’t realise what had happened so, rather than let the dogs get hurt, I picked up the Jack Russell and ushered the other one off the road. The grandmother came out and she was screaming, ”The baby’s dead! He’s dead!“
‘When I went into the room the baby was obviously dead. He had a severe injury to his neck and, with that, the police arrived.’
Ms Organ added: ‘It was dreadful. There was blood on the floor. I know people can’t prove anything but it does suggest that it was the dogs.’
Another neighbour, who declined to give his name, added: ‘It was the worst screaming I have ever heard. It was sickening.’
Tragic: Neighbours said the little boy's grandmother rushed into the street in hysterics after discovering her grandson
Another neighbour, Gail Jones, 45, said: ‘You see these stories on the television and you don’t think it is going to happen on your street.
‘I know one person tried to give the baby the kiss of life, so you can imagine what state he is in. Your heart goes out to the family. It is just tragic.’
Jaden was taken to nearby Prince Charles Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
The grandmother, Denise Wilson, 53, who lives a mile away from Jaden’s parents, was taken to hospital for shock but was later released to help police with their investigation.
Mr and Mrs Mack, who married last year, were too distressed to talk last night.
Neighbours said they were overjoyed when Jaden was born and posted pictures of him on the internet. They said the baby was regularly looked after by his grandmother and had stayed at her home several times before.
Ron Willetts, 57, said Mrs Wilson had bought the Staffordshire bull terrier – named Tyson after the boxer Mike Tyson – two years ago after having problems with a peeping tom. ‘This guy was peering through her window and she was scared out of her wits. I saw the man at the house a couple of times, but the police never caught him,’ said Mr Willetts.
‘I know Mrs Wilson had been nervous being on her own and got the dog for company.
We used to see both dogs at the window of the house,’ he said. ‘They seemed very friendly and, as far as I know, Mrs Wilson has never had any trouble with them.’ 
Investigation: Forensic officers at the house in Ystrad Mynach in south Wales today where Jaden was killed
Chief Inspector Jim Baker of Gwent Police said: ‘Although the exact cause of death has yet to be established, it is believed the fatal injuries were caused by the family dogs.’
The dogs have since been destroyed. Mr Baker added: We would like to reiterate that dogs should never be left unsupervised with children.’
It is thought that about 3,000 people a year require hospital treatment after dog attacks.
In September 2006 five-month-old Caydee Lee Glaze was mauled to death by two rottweilers at her family’s pub in Leicester.
Three months later, on New Year’s Day 2007, five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson was savaged to death by her uncle’s pit bull at her grandmother’s home in St Helens, Merseyside.
And at Christmas that year, 13-month-old Archie-Lee Hirst was mauled to death by a rottweiler at his grandparents’ home in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
