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A pair of circus elephants caught in a freezing blizzard have their fast-thinking minders to thank for saving their lives—with two cases of vodka!
The two Indian elephants found themselves in quite the predicament when hay in the truck used to transport the enormous pachyderms caught fire. The caravan had to pull over to the side of the road and release the massive beasts—in the middle of a raging Siberian snowstorm.
The pair's trainers quickly went into action to save the elephants from certain death, mixing the handy cases of vodka with warm water and forcing the animals to drink it while jogging around until help could arrive. The elephants "roared like it was the jungle" according to a local official. The elephants didn't get away completely unscathed: they did suffer minor frostbite on their legs and ears, but should make a complete recovery.
The elephants are part of a Polish circus troupe touring Siberia. Although the vodka apparently helped the elephants in this case, veterinarians and doctors alike warn that while alcohol makes you feel warmer, it actually reduces the body's core temperature, creating more danger in a life-threatening cold weather emergency.
The poor East Coast of the United States. Not only has it been pummeled by a series of terrible storms, (including one so horrific a new meteorological term "Super Storm" had to be coined to describe it accurately) now the menacing Godzilla has been spotted just off-shore!
Observant geeks viewers of local affiliate WBZ out of Boston, Massachusetts, snapped some hilarious screen caps of what appears to be the mighty radioactive reptile Godzilla terrorizing the East Coast (and giving the long suffering residents of Tokyo a bit of a reprieve from his continuous nuisance and destruction). The anomalous image appears in the radar echoes of a winter storm skirting the coastline near Boston and Provincetown.
Of course, it is simply a coincidence that the mythical beast just happened to appear on the date of 12/12/12...
Second Update: Although downgraded to a tropical storm, Bopha continues to pack a punch as it brings heavy winds and rains to the northern part of the Philippines, which was relatively unaffected by the typhoon during its first hit on the southern islands only a few days ago. Tropical Storm alerts are in place and officials warn of low-lying flooding and potentially deadly landslides throughout the region. The official death count is 950, with hundreds more still missing or unaccounted for in the wake of the killer storm.
Emergency Bulletin: Weather forecast models predict the remnants of Typhoon Bopha will make a dramatic U-Turn, possibly striking the Philippines for the second time in only four days. Government officials are scrambling to prevent further tragedy should the storm hit again. Some models have the storm taking a turn out to the South China Sea, but either way, the storm will probably bring more heavy rains to a region already flooded and in ruins, with more strong winds and possible landslides and dangerous flooding.
President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines has declared an official "State of Calamity" across the Southeast Asian nation after Super Typhoon Bopha brought death, misery and destruction to the country.
The death count currently stands at 560 but officials have stated that number will continue to rise precipitously as rescue workers scramble to uncover survivors left in the rubble of buildings blown down by the intense winds or washed away by the record-breaking storm surge.
The president's declaration of a state of national calamity will now allow local governments
to access funds for rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts in areas left in complete devastation from the nightmarish storm. One of the worst hit areas was the poor, remote Compostela Valley region
on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, where thousands of shanty homes were swept away, many with entire families inside seeking refuge from the killer storm.
Illegal logging and mining in the region is being blamed
for the high number of fatalities in the southern Philippines where
typhoon Bopha also created a very wide “horror-river” in
New Bataan. Heavy rains from the typhoon swept down hills that have been stripped of trees and topsoil due to deforestation and illegal mining. The flood waters created an "inland tsunami" that washed across hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land, destroying everything in its path.
Meteorologists stated that the conditions surrounding Typhoon Bopha were highly unusual, with a confluence of weather events creating a "Super Typhoon", not unlike the strange sequence of events that brought about "Super Storm" Sandy that devastated the Eastern Seaboard of the United States in October. Weather experts warn the trend of highly destructive storms will more than likely increase dramatically, as the intensification of global climate change wreaks havoc on weather patterns, leading to more and more "super" storms.
World leaders and government officials from around the planet have been forced to issue appeals for calm while growing panic circles the globe regarding the so-called "End of the World" as the date of December 21, 2012, draws closer.
The panic stems from a massive disinformation campaign created by the world media, claiming that the ancient Mayans, who lived in what is current day Mexico and Central America, predicted the end of the world on that date. Although no data suggests the Mayans predicted anything of the sort, the media has attached itself eagerly to the idea, spreading fear and panic throughout the world. The purpose of the disinformation campaign is to throw the world's population off the course of the truth about what is currently taking place on our planet, with the dramatic and intense changes in climate, as well as dire changes in our geological and socioeconomic stability. A dramatic alteration in both human and animal behaviors has disturbingly taken over the headlines of the evening news, rendering the news depressing and unbearable to watch. The disinformation campaign has worked like a charm.
When the December 21st date comes and goes without any appreciable event (as it undoubtedly will), the media will again go into overdrive, assuring the population that there is simply nothing wrong or unusual about the confluence of events currently underway, giving the world a false sense of security and allowing people to rest on their laurels and continue to live in deep denial.
Russian governmental officials urged calm among its citizens today, as thousands of people have begun to stockpile on non-perishable food and other emergency items to survive any coming Apocalypse. Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, even addressed the situation. "I don't believe in the end of the world," before adding somewhat
disconcertingly: "At least, not this year," he stated, by way of reassurance. Many stores ran out of certain food items, as well as kerosene, batteries and candles.
Pope Benedict made a special appeal from the Vatican last week, telling followers to remain calm and to have faith during these highly difficult and uncertain times, as the Euro crisis continues its stranglehold on Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal. He offered a prayer for peace and calm to the people of the world, urging people not to believe "false prophets" and their predicitions. The current escalation in hostilities between Israel and the Gaza Strip also has people on the edge regarding Armageddon.
Panic-buying has also been reported out of China, where State run media keeps a tight hold on all news being reported, as well as using highly sensitive Internet filters to control what Chinese citizens can read online. The panic started when posters on the Chinese version of Twitter commented that "Three Days of Darkness" would take place in the days leading up to December 21. Unlike the Judeo-Christian culture, the Chinese culture has not been noted for a preoccupation with the end of the world.
Thousands of believers have flocked to the town of Bugarach, France, where rumors of an oasis where people can survive Armageddon. atop a mountain have surfaced. A commune of survivalists have been congregating at the top of Pic du Bugarach, a location famous for UFO sightings and paranormal activity.
Mexican officials have tightened security around the famed Mayan pyramid of Chichen-Itza in the Yucatan, out of fear that "suicide" cults will stage a mass death near the site as the December 21st date looms ever closer. The truth regarding the Mayan calendar "end date" and its actual purpose are not known, although many experts believe the date was simply a warning to people living in the future to look out for this particular time, as the people living during the era would have to endure great and difficult challenges in order to survive. The Mayans were obsessed with mathematics, the Cosmos and the cycle of life, and knew things about the universe that we are only now beginning to re-learn, courtesy of our modern technology.
Even that modern technology that we now depend on has turned against us: The Webbot Project, a computer software program that patrols the Internet and seeks out specific changes in linguistic patterns, has also predicted that we are living in the "End of Days" and foresees a cataclysmic event on the global horizon within the next year.
The December 21st date does coincide with Earth's direct alignment with the "Galactic Center" of the universe. Little is known about the significance of this event, but it obviously held great merit to the Mayan people.
Motorists in Switzerland who are craving a bit of vehicular romance before heading into work each day are in luck, as the European nation has given the green light to roadside "sex boxes" to be used by prostitutes and their clientele.
The city of Zurich has passed an ordinance that will allow for construction of the sex boxes, which will begin appearing city-wide next year, and will provide a more discreet, safer location for local sex workers to rendezvous with their johns. The "boxes" are actually parking garage cubicles that will allow for a vehicle to park inside, where the prostitute and his or her client can get down to business in relative privacy. The proposed site will be able to handle approximately thirty vehicles and their passengers at a time.
Although the world's oldest profession is completely legal in Switzerland, local authorities have struggled for years to control the crime and violence often associated with the illicit trade. The decision was also prompted by local residents who have grown weary of seeing the sex workers patrolling the streets and neighborhoods where they live, often engaging in sex acts in public, in open view of passing pedestrians and motorists, including young children.
The prostitutes who use the sex boxes will also be required by law to take out medical insurance and to be tested for STDs. They will also have to pay a licensing fee and will have to "clock in" each day by inserting €5 into a machine in order to enter a cubicle.
Drive-in sex boxes have been used in neighboring Germany for the past several years, apparently to great success...
Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder after a "hideous" gargoyle statue recently sold at auction for a record-setting £66,000 ($105,000 US).
Despite the statue's grotesque appearance, people fought to obtain the unique objet d'art when it hit the auction block this week at the Wooley & Wallis auction house in Salisbury, England. The statue was created by the prestigious pottery manufacturers the Martin Brothers circa the turn on the 20th Century.
The figure depicts a squat, smiling gargoyle holding onto its ample chest with gnarled fingers, with a beaming smile on its porcinelike face. Auctioneers attribute the record sum paid for the figurine to the upcoming release of the new film The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings saga based on the classic books of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Gargoyles first began appearing over 2000 years ago, originating in Ancient Greece and Egypt. They became popular cathedral and building adornments during the Middle Ages, as they were used to decorate buildings and to provide a spout for rainwater to drain. They also became popular as a good-luck charm, as many people believed that placing gargoyles atop structures would help keep evil spirits at bay.
Mi libro paraniñostituladoEl Largo Viajedeun Pequeño Colibrí ya está disponible paracompraren línea en Amazon.com y también en CreateSpace.com. Nelson
... El Largo Viaje de un Pequeño Colibrí cuenta la maravillosa historia
de dos colibríes, Nelson y su hermano Mateo, y sus increíble viaje
volando de sus casa de verano en Indiana a sus casa de invierno en
San Miguel de Panixtlahuaca, Oaxaca, México antes de que el frío amargo llega, no importa lo que cueste. Hay
luchas difíciles junto con destellos de esperanza en el camino,
mientras los colibríes se enfrentan increíbles dificultades para
sobrevivir, encontrando enemigos y hacer nuevos amigos. Por último, es
la historia de cómo el amor, la fe y la esperanza pueden guiarnos a lo
largo de nuestros más difícil de odiseas y cómo el poderoso amor de la
familia y los amigos se puede hacer todas las cosas en vida posibles.
Al contar lahistoria de loscolibríes ysuincreíble odisea, también estoy contando la historia demiles de inmigrantesMexicanosque viven y trabajanen los EstadosUnidos, quetienen cada unola esperanzacerca de suscorazones devolver a suquerido Méxicoun día yreunirse con susfamilias.
Nelson...El Largo Viajedeun Pequeño Colibrí es un cuento hermoso de la esperanza y el verdadero poder de amor que ningún niño se olvidará. Es un maravilloso regalo de Navidad o cumpleaños para los niños de las edades de 3 a 8, especialmente los niños de padres inmigrantes que han luchado para encontrar el respeto, la dignidad y una vida buena en los Estados Unidos. El libro se enseñará a los niños a nunca perder la esperanza, a conquistar sus miedos en la vida y ser siempre fuerte.
El libroprontoestará disponible enunaedición en idiomaInglés también. Compre sucopia hoy!
Actor Larry Hagman has passed away after a battle with throat cancer at the age of 81.
Hagman starred in two of the most enduring and popular television series of all time. He got his first big break starring as astronaut Major Anthony Nelson in the popular 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie co-starring Barbara Eden as the beautiful Genie with magical powers, who was always creating trouble for the master of her dreams. The show has become one of the most iconic sitcoms of the era and has been in syndication for the past five decades.
Hagman entrenched his icon status with the role of the incredibly devious JR Ewing on the prime time hit soap opera Dallas, centered around the machinations of the oil baron at the family homestead "Southfork" and his relationships with family, friends and especially his enemies. The famous "Who Shot JR?" episode remains one of the most watched television programs of all time, as almost one hundred million Americans tuned in to see the dastardly JR receive his comeuppance. The show was a global phenomenon, watched in over one hundred countries and making Hagman a household name worldwide.
The show was so popular that cable network TNT decided to resurrect the Ewing clan for an updated version of the series, Dallas: The Next Generation, which debuted last season to good reviews and solid ratings.
Hagman was born into show biz royalty. His mother was the beloved actress of stage and film Mary Martin, who originated the role of Peter Pan in the smash hit Broadway musical. He is survived by his wife of 52 years Maj, his son Preston, daughter Heidi and five grandchildren. He was surrounded by family and friends at the time of his death, including co-star Linda Gray, who played JR's long-suffering wife Sue Ellen, as well as Patrick Duffy, who played JR's angelic brother Bobby.
TNT
said in a statement: 'All of us at TNT are deeply saddened at the news
of Larry Hagman's passing. He was a wonderful human being and an
extremely gifted actor. 'We will be forever thankful that a
whole new generation of people got to know and appreciate Larry through
his performance as J.R. Ewing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his
family at this very difficult time.
TNT
said in a statement: 'All of us at TNT are deeply saddened at the news
of Larry Hagman's passing. He was a wonderful human being and an
extremely gifted actor. 'We will be forever thankful that a
whole new generation of people got to know and appreciate Larry through
his performance as J.R. Ewing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his
family at this very difficult time.
TNT
said in a statement: 'All of us at TNT are deeply saddened at the news
of Larry Hagman's passing. He was a wonderful human being and an
extremely gifted actor. 'We will be forever thankful that a
whole new generation of people got to know and appreciate Larry through
his performance as J.R. Ewing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his
family at this very difficult time.
Two Bangor, Maine, news anchors lived out Johnny Paycheck's classic anti-establishment anthem "Take This Job and Shove It" by announcing their immediate resignations at the end of a live news broadcast on Tuesday evening!
It seems co-anchors Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio of ABC affiliate Channel 7 had grown very frustrated with how the television news division was being managed by the Top Brass. The news team had more than twelve years of working for the station, but a rift with upper-management's continual interference with the anchor's stories and reports brought about the live-action drama.
"Some recent developments have come to our attention ... and departing
together is the best alternative we can take," Consiglio told stunned viewers. The duo did not inform any of the management or staff at the station of their decision to resign their jobs until announcing it at the end of the evening news broadcast, in a move worthy of the classic "I'm mad as Hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" moment from the Oscar-winning film Network.
"We wanted to be able to say a thoughtful, heartfelt good-bye to our
viewers and to the many communities we served over the years," Michaels
told NBC News in an email sent out today. "We scripted something to keep from
getting off-course and emotional."
The station's vice-president and general manager Mike Palmer told the Bangor Daily News that the incident was "unfortunate but not unexpected. We’ll hire experienced people to fill these positions sooner rather than later," he told the newspaper.
Michaels and Consiglio already have plans to move forward: Michaels told viewers she will pursue freelance writing, while Consiglio said he'll continue his career "in another capacity."
There has been a mad-dash run on junk food staples Twinkies and Ho Hos after the Hostess manufacturing company announced it was closing shop after more than 82 years in business, leaving a terrible economic impact in its wake.
A small union's stubbornness during contract negotiations is receiving the lion's share of blame for the closing, which will put more than 18,000 Americans out of work just before the holiday season as well as the loss of all-important tax revenue from local factories and outlets that sell Hostess products. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January of this year.
After the closing was announced yesterday, fans of the company's baked goods headed out in droves to their local outlets, loading down on boxes of the tasty treats before they disappear from store shelves forever. Some of the company's outlet stores in the North East US sold out of their complete stock in a matter of hours, with panicked buyers snapping up boxes in a feeding frenzy.
Boxes of Twinkies and Ding Dongs were being listed at online auction site eBay for hundreds of dollars each. White bread staple Wonder Bread also flew off the shelves. "I guess I'll have to keep a hundred loaves of Wonder Bread in my freezer," said one harried consumer, her shopping cart piled high with bread.
More bad news for news-weary Americans as another staple that has been a part of all of our lives for so long fades to black...
A
small union's stubbornness in contract talks with Hostess is being
blamed for the shutdown of one of America's snack food icons, the loss
of 18,500 jobs just before the holiday season and much-needed tax
revenue from hundreds of plants and shops across the country.
A
small union's stubbornness in contract talks with Hostess is being
blamed for the shutdown of one of America's snack food icons, the loss
of 18,500 jobs just before the holiday season and much-needed tax
revenue from hundreds of plants and shops across the country.
Meteorologists are carefully monitoring another severe weather system that has the potential to impact the US East Coast for Thanksgiving week.
The bad news comes only weeks after "Superstorm Sandy" brought misery and havoc to the entire Eastern Seaboard, devastating beach communities with a horrific storm surge, cutting electricity to millions of people and killing hundreds of people from the Caribbean to New England. The storm is estimated to have created well over one billion dollars US in damages.
To add insult to injury, a strong Nor'Easter storm brought heavy snows, winds and storm surge to the same region only a week later. Now, yet another storm system is being tracked for the area.
Current computer
models predict the storm could hover along the East coast, or just offshore,
for a few days before making landfall, kicking up big waves and tidal flooding
sometime in the middle of next week. It could raise coastal water levels
from 1 to 3 feet, depending on wind and tidal conditions.
All of this comes at the worst possible time, with next week being the busiest travel period of the year in the United States. The storm also could dampen Black Friday retail sales, already reeling from the sluggish economy and weather-related disasters.
Some good news: At least during the early stages, the storm should not be as intense as
last week's nor'easter. However, it may get stronger during the middle
of the week, at which point it could wobble into eastern New England or
get kicked out to sea.
Scientists at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, have created in the laboratory a mass of living, moving proteins, not unlike in the 1958 B-movie classic The Blob starring Steve McQueen (and its inferior 1980s remake).
In the film, a meteorite that falls from space creates a red, gooey blob that continues to grow as it devours everything in its path. The lab created "blob" can propel itself across a surface, mimicking the movements of a living creature.
The mass–called self-propelled polymers– is comprised of miniscule droplets extracted from living cells. The proteins feed on the same energy as those found in living bodies, allowing the mass to move at the slower-than-snail like pace of 8 nanometersper step – less than the width of a wisp of smoke.
Scientists hope that the gel can be used to deliver medicine more efficiently into the body or to perhaps target cancer cells and prevent them from growing or spreading to other parts of the human body. As the material is created from natural, biological matter, there would be less of a chance that the body would reject it.
The material also displays signs that it can self-heal and self-generate, which could be highly useful in treating burn victims. The gel could also have industrial uses, and could be used in television and computer screens, making images even more clearer and brighter.
"This is a little bit of a Frankenstein experiment," Professor Zvonimir Dogic of Brandeis University told New Scientist magazine.
People who bite their nails compulsively (of which I am one), might soon see their disgusting but (relatively) harmless bad habit classified as an obsessive/compulsive disorder!
The American Psychiatric Association —which publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)—has announced that they will now classify nail biting as an obsessive/compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD is most-commonly characterized by unreasonable or irrational thoughts and fears
(obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions), such as washing your hands several hundred times a day from fear of bacteria and germs.
For you more casual nail biters (I'll place myself in this category so I don't feel like a total nutjob), relax. Only more severe cases where people have actually eaten away their entire nails to the point of contracting infections will currently be classified as OCD.
You casual nail biters, howevershould read this word of caution from medical experts: Biting away at your fingernails can contribute to skin infection, aggravate existing conditions of the nail
bed, and increase the risk of colds and other infections by encouraging
the spread of germs from the nails and fingers to the lips and mouth.
My mother used to dip my nails in castor oil to keep me from biting them as a child, until I developed a taste for the nasty stuff! I'll have to think of something that tastes more disgusting to soak my nails in now...
A strange, large cylinder shaped object filmed flying into Mexico's erupting Popocatépetl volcano is eerily similar to an object witnessed by thousands of people in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia this past week.
A large bright object was seen hovering in the skies over the Appalachian mountain region of the United States on Tuesday of this week. Amateur astronomer Allan Epling of Pike County, Kentucky, was alerted to the object when a visitor's grand-daughter informed him there was "a strange plane flying in the sky". Epling quickly grabbed his digital camera and began filming the bizarre object that appeared to be hovering at an extremely high altitude. Epling says the object would alternate between growing brighter and dimmer, in a pulsating manner. The object remained stationary and was observed in the skies by other witnesses for at least two hours.
Fast forward a few days to this related story about a very similar, cylinder shaped object filmed over the highly active Popocatépetl volcano located outside of Mexico City. The mystery object was caught by a network television camera installed to monitor the potentially dangerous volcano, which has experienced increased seismic activity over the past year. A strange, bright, cylinder-shaped object can be seen entering the camera's view before apparently falling into the volcano's enormous crater as it exhales a cloud of ash. The object has been estimated to be at least one kilometer in length and approximately 200 meters wide. Astronomers have examined the footage taken from both Kentucky and Mexico and so far are perplexed about exactly what the objects could possibly be. You can view video of the object falling into the volcano at the following YouTube link:
Edit: The NOAA has projected the path of the massive storm to turn inland at Delaware and going far inland, passing directly over Washington, DC, before turning north to pass over Philadelphia, New Jersey as well as New York City. Keep in mind this is still an early projection and the storm [hopefully] will alter its course:
Residents of the US East Coast are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping that Hurricane Sandy doesn't turn into the "Nightmare Before Halloween" super-storm (dubbed "Frankenstorm" due to the potential for a hybrid cyclone) that many forecast models are currently predicting.
Hurricane Sandy pounded Jamaica yesterday as a strong Category 2 storm, killing at least two people, bringing torrential rain, high winds and a dangerous storm surge to the Caribbean island nation. More than 70% of the island's population are currently without power or essential services. The storm quickly made its way to nearby Cuba, where it is currently battering the eastern part of the island.
Many of the current forecast models for the projected path of the storm have the monster skirting the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, with possible multiple landfalls anywhere from Virginia to Long Island, New York. The most current forecast models have meteorologists deeply concerned that the storm will collide with an early winter storm now forming in the West, and a strong blast of arctic air from Canada that would create a "Perfect Storm" scenario, referring to the monster Nor'Easter that did hundreds of millions of dollars in damages along the US East Coast in 1991 and was the basis of the bestselling book by Sebastian Junger and the movie of the same name starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.
The "Perfect Storm" is likely to hit during a full moon when tides are near their
highest, increasing the chances of severe coastal flooding the NOAA has warned. With many trees still with leaves and the potential for snow, power outages caused by falling trees
could last through to Election Day, some meteorologists fear. Some are saying this storm has
all the earmarks of a billion-dollar nightmare for the coast.
People living along the entire Eastern Seaboard are being urged to have emergency plans in place, should the storm strengthen and become a severe threat. Evacuation orders should be taken seriously, and citizens are asked to check on elderly or sick relatives.
Some forecast models have the storm skirting the US coast before heading out to sea. Let's hope that is what happens with this storm...
