An Asian elephant that became addicted to heroin after being fed bananas spiked with the drug is to return home after undergoing a detox programme. The four-year-old animal, called Xiguang, received methadone injections for a year at five times the human dosage, state media said. It was illegally captured by traders in 2005 in south-west China. When police arrested the traders and freed the elephant, it was found to be suffering from withdrawal symptoms.
An Asian elephant that became addicted to heroin after being fed bananas spiked with the drug is to return home after undergoing a detox programme.
The four-year-old animal, called Xiguang, received methadone injections for a year at five times the human dosage, state media said.
It was illegally captured by traders in 2005 in south-west China.
When police arrested the traders and freed the elephant, it was found to be suffering from withdrawal symptoms.
A wounded soldier home from Afghanistan on sick leave was forced to spend the night in his car after a hotel refused him a room. Corporal Tomos Stringer was told by staff at Metro Hotel, in Woking, that it was company policy not to accept members of the armed forces as guests. The 24-year-old had travelled to the Surrey town to help with funeral preparations for a friend killed in action. It was so late that Cpl Stringer, who had broken his wrist jumping off an Army truck as it was attacked, had no choice but to bed down in his tiny, two-door car, arm covered in plaster. Cpl Stringer, of 13 Air Assault Support Regiment, The Royal Logistic Corps, has now returned to Afghanistan, but his mother, Gaynor Stringer, from Criccieth, north Wales, told The Times that she is still furious about the incident.
A wounded soldier home from Afghanistan on sick leave was forced to spend the night in his car after a hotel refused him a room.
Corporal Tomos Stringer was told by staff at Metro Hotel, in Woking, that it was company policy not to accept members of the armed forces as guests. The 24-year-old had travelled to the Surrey town to help with funeral preparations for a friend killed in action.
It was so late that Cpl Stringer, who had broken his wrist jumping off an Army truck as it was attacked, had no choice but to bed down in his tiny, two-door car, arm covered in plaster.
Cpl Stringer, of 13 Air Assault Support Regiment, The Royal Logistic Corps, has now returned to Afghanistan, but his mother, Gaynor Stringer, from Criccieth, north Wales, told The Times that she is still furious about the incident.
Woking is right in the middle of a large set of army bases. they'd better be making this right and fast or I imagine there'll be a lot of "unplanned" reprisals. keep to the Fen Causeway
The west coast of Turkey has a tradition of camel wrestling, which pits champion beasts from local villages against each other in a dusty stadium. But it tends to be as comic as it is exciting, since camels aren't natural-born fighters. They may not wear an elastic singlet or an athletic supporter, and they may have no talent for a full nelson. But camels can wrestle. Disbelievers are invited to visit the Aegean coast of Turkey in the winter, where villages and towns hold camel wrestling matches every weekend. Camel wrestling is an open-air stadium sport pitting two bulls against each other, encouraged by an alluring cow, who's paraded in front of the contestants and led away. The male camels froth at the nose and mouth, and then -- if the crowd is lucky -- start to fight. The object for a wrestling camel, usually, is to dominate his rival by sitting on him. Usually. The problem is that camels aren't built for battle. They can be nastily temperamental and prone to using their teeth; but a camel-wrestling match is a struggle for dominance using whatever method occurs to the animals at the time. The camels are muzzled -- colorfully -- to avoid bites, but a match might involve growling. Or it might be a chase around the arena. Or it might be a knock-down grudge match between genuinely belligerent camels trying to pin each other with their furry necks.
The west coast of Turkey has a tradition of camel wrestling, which pits champion beasts from local villages against each other in a dusty stadium. But it tends to be as comic as it is exciting, since camels aren't natural-born fighters.
They may not wear an elastic singlet or an athletic supporter, and they may have no talent for a full nelson. But camels can wrestle. Disbelievers are invited to visit the Aegean coast of Turkey in the winter, where villages and towns hold camel wrestling matches every weekend.
Camel wrestling is an open-air stadium sport pitting two bulls against each other, encouraged by an alluring cow, who's paraded in front of the contestants and led away. The male camels froth at the nose and mouth, and then -- if the crowd is lucky -- start to fight. The object for a wrestling camel, usually, is to dominate his rival by sitting on him.
Usually.
The problem is that camels aren't built for battle. They can be nastily temperamental and prone to using their teeth; but a camel-wrestling match is a struggle for dominance using whatever method occurs to the animals at the time. The camels are muzzled -- colorfully -- to avoid bites, but a match might involve growling. Or it might be a chase around the arena. Or it might be a knock-down grudge match between genuinely belligerent camels trying to pin each other with their furry necks.
Sarah Palin's presence on the stage at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul was hardly impressive. But her party hasn't seemed so human in a long time. Palin's weaknesses may turn out to be her greatest strength. Was Sarah Palin convincing on Wednesday night in St. Paul? There is a long and a short answer to that question. The short answer is no. The 44-year-old governor of Alaska recited in her thin voice a laundry list of accusations levelled at the Democratic candidate for president Barack Obama. One could describe her speech -- generously -- as brash. But it could just as easily be called hubristic. The longer answer, though, is yes. Palin did a great service for the Republicans. Her weakness, as it turns out, is her greatest strength. The party of George W. Bush, responsible for one unnecessary war (Iraq) and one necessary but unsuccessful war (Afghanistan), hasn't looked so human for a long time. Plainness, as it turns out, can be inviting -- and flaws can be beneficial.
Sarah Palin's presence on the stage at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul was hardly impressive. But her party hasn't seemed so human in a long time. Palin's weaknesses may turn out to be her greatest strength.
Was Sarah Palin convincing on Wednesday night in St. Paul? There is a long and a short answer to that question.
The short answer is no.
The 44-year-old governor of Alaska recited in her thin voice a laundry list of accusations levelled at the Democratic candidate for president Barack Obama. One could describe her speech -- generously -- as brash. But it could just as easily be called hubristic.
The longer answer, though, is yes. Palin did a great service for the Republicans.
Her weakness, as it turns out, is her greatest strength. The party of George W. Bush, responsible for one unnecessary war (Iraq) and one necessary but unsuccessful war (Afghanistan), hasn't looked so human for a long time. Plainness, as it turns out, can be inviting -- and flaws can be beneficial.
It's not just Barack Obama who has throngs of European supporters. A group of conservatives from across the Continent traveled to Minnesota to support their candidate for the US presidency: John McCain. Republicans celebrating their national convention have saved few words in hammering the Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama for his "celebrity" tour of Europe this summer. Yet Europe's conservatives were in attendance at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota, to proclaim their admiration for Republican Party candidate John McCain. Republican speakers at this week's presidential nominating pageant have delighted in ridiculing Europe as a pro-Obama home of stifling welfare states.
Republicans celebrating their national convention have saved few words in hammering the Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama for his "celebrity" tour of Europe this summer.
Yet Europe's conservatives were in attendance at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota, to proclaim their admiration for Republican Party candidate John McCain.
Republican speakers at this week's presidential nominating pageant have delighted in ridiculing Europe as a pro-Obama home of stifling welfare states.
He basically went up and bored the shit out of the entire country. Even the guys at RedState had to 'fess up.
And he used the green screen again! The cottage cheese in your lime-green jello! It was like watching tape of an infomercial from the '70s.
I kept waiting for Wilford Brimley to join him on stage to tell me about "diabeetus" and give me the phone number to Liberty Medical. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
MUNICH (Reuters) - Young men who die suddenly after being arrested by the police may be victims of a new syndrome similar to one that kills some wild animals when they are captured, Spanish researchers said on Tuesday. Manuel Martinez Selles of Madrid's Hospital Gregorio Maranon reached the conclusion after investigating 60 cases of sudden unexplained deaths in Spain following police detention. In one third of the cases, death occurred at the point of arrest, while in the remainder death was within 24 hours, Selles told the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology. All but one of the casualties were male and their average age was just 33 years, with no previous history of cardiovascular disease. "Something unusual is going on," Sells said.
MUNICH (Reuters) - Young men who die suddenly after being arrested by the police may be victims of a new syndrome similar to one that kills some wild animals when they are captured, Spanish researchers said on Tuesday.
Manuel Martinez Selles of Madrid's Hospital Gregorio Maranon reached the conclusion after investigating 60 cases of sudden unexplained deaths in Spain following police detention.
In one third of the cases, death occurred at the point of arrest, while in the remainder death was within 24 hours, Selles told the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.
All but one of the casualties were male and their average age was just 33 years, with no previous history of cardiovascular disease.
"Something unusual is going on," Sells said.
I wonder what might be causing this..... keep to the Fen Causeway
First, the vast majority of the population was deliberately mis-educated. You must study the peculiar way that public schools are funded in the USA - through private property tax. This ensures savage inequalities in American education based on class differences. And what doesn't wither and die from lack of funding is finished off by the fact that school textbooks in the US are subject to the strictest censorship by Christian right wing groups (google "Mel Gabler" for more info).So people in poorer or rural aliens are first hit with this tremendous social whammy right out of the gate.But who steps in to take the place of the neglected shattered local school system? The churches, mostly conservative churches. And what do you suppose the churches teach these people? Romans 13 and their lot in life. Suffer now - there will be rewards in the hereafter.Now even given all that, there's the other American ruling class safety valve - television. News and entertainment all all geared toward consensus opinion in the USA, especially broadcast channels and basic cable. The news is ruthlessly censored, many of the entertainment shows, like the popular cop shows, teach obedience and fear of authority. Then there's copious amounts of titillation and sports (bread and circuses). If religion is the opiate of the working classes (Marx often quoted as being derisive, he was actually sympathetic), than television is it's soma.The other thing Brits have to understand is that all three of the above facets also reinforce what I call the Cult of America, otherwise known as patriotism. The love of country and especially reverence for its various symbols, is drilled into people with the first flickering images of television coming through the crib slats.
First, the vast majority of the population was deliberately mis-educated. You must study the peculiar way that public schools are funded in the USA - through private property tax. This ensures savage inequalities in American education based on class differences. And what doesn't wither and die from lack of funding is finished off by the fact that school textbooks in the US are subject to the strictest censorship by Christian right wing groups (google "Mel Gabler" for more info).
So people in poorer or rural aliens are first hit with this tremendous social whammy right out of the gate.
But who steps in to take the place of the neglected shattered local school system? The churches, mostly conservative churches. And what do you suppose the churches teach these people? Romans 13 and their lot in life. Suffer now - there will be rewards in the hereafter.
Now even given all that, there's the other American ruling class safety valve - television. News and entertainment all all geared toward consensus opinion in the USA, especially broadcast channels and basic cable. The news is ruthlessly censored, many of the entertainment shows, like the popular cop shows, teach obedience and fear of authority. Then there's copious amounts of titillation and sports (bread and circuses). If religion is the opiate of the working classes (Marx often quoted as being derisive, he was actually sympathetic), than television is it's soma.
The other thing Brits have to understand is that all three of the above facets also reinforce what I call the Cult of America, otherwise known as patriotism. The love of country and especially reverence for its various symbols, is drilled into people with the first flickering images of television coming through the crib slats.
