Majandra has fans all around the world and I thought it would be interesting to start a thread where we could post an article from our hometown papers that you find interesting for us to discuss. The stories can be funny, inspirational or current events that you want to discuss. I know it will be hard for fans of other countries and that the stories might not be translated. It doesn't have to be a local story though so don't worry about that.

So here is the first newpaper article.

Posted on BostonHerald.com

Dog tags return to Vietnam vet 37 years later

By Associated Press

Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - Updated: 11:59 AM EST

GLASGOW, Ky. - The words came out of the blue to Freddie Ford.

“I found your dog tag,” the caller on the other end of the phone said.

Ford, who served in the Army in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969, lost the tags 37 years ago at Camp Evans when he was hit by shrapnel. After being issued a new pair, Ford didn’t think about the lost tags again, until the phone call came last month.

The caller was Bob McMahon, a Hancock, N.H. resident who has made four trips to Vietnam with his wife Ann, since 2001, buying dog tags that once belonged to American soldiers. McMahon said the sale price is usually about $1.

“We travel around Vietnam getting them,” McMahon said. “Most of them end up in Saigon, because that’s where the tourists are. They sell them as souvenirs. Doesn’t that just kick you in the gut?”

McMahon, who also served in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970, estimates that they have returned 1,600 dog tags to former soldiers.

“You don’t leave your men behind,” he said. “Those dog tags represent the men who were over there.”

Reuniting Ford with his dog tags took a few phone calls, then a quick quiz to make sure the right person had been found. McMahon started reciting Ford’s service number. When Ford recited the rest from memory, McMahon knew he found the right veteran.

Ford, who lives outside Glasgow, remembers all the metal being removed from his uniform while he was being treated.

“When it came time to get all my stuff back, my dog tags were gone,” Ford said.

*********

I had heard a similar story a few years ago on the network news about two business men who had seen dog tags while in Vietnam on business and that they had bought them and returned them either to the soldier or the soldier's family. They had also gone back several times to buy more dog tags.

I can only imagine what love ones must going through when a soldier is reported MIA and for some of these people these dog tags are the only closure they will ever receive. These people, Mr. McMahon and his wife and those business men are heroes, especially to the love ones of these soldiers who didn't make it home.

what a cool but kinda sad story. My dad had some and when i was in high school i use to wear them some kinda fashion statment. They never really ment anything to me but when you look at it in this prespective they mean a lot. cool story thanks for posting.

This is a great idea Val..

I think that is true for many people. I never thought about what a pair of dog tags could mean to people. Then you read something like this and you realize just how important they are.

Wow.....what a touching story and what an amazing thing for Mr McMahon and his wife to do.

This is a really great idea Vallygirl

From the inspiring to the 'you've got to be kidding me' spectrume. Ok I saw this when I was signing on AOL. It's a little gross, so be warned.

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/body-...S00010000000001

Body Parts Found in Nude Dancer's Home


Police say Linda Kay, 31, an exotic dancer, decorates her home with skulls, hands and other human body parts.

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. (July 25) - A severed hand was found at the home of an exotic dancer who decorated her home with skulls, and she was charged with improper disposition of human remains, authorities said.

Friends said the hand had been given to the woman by a medical student.

Police responding to a report of a suicidal person at the home of 31-year-old Linda Kay discovered the large, roughly severed hand in a jar of formaldehyde on a bedroom dresser, according to the police report. The subject of the suicidal person report was not located, authorities said.

Six skulls were found in another room and the Middlesex County medical examiner determined that all are human.

Kay was arrested Friday and freed on $100,000 bail pending arraignment Wednesday. No lawyer had filed papers on her behalf Tuesday, a court administrator said.

No telephone number was listed for Kay and there was no immediate comment from her.

Two people who knew Kay told The Star-Ledger of Newark that the hand, which Kay nicknamed "Freddy," was a gift from a medical student who frequented an all-nude juice bar where she dances.

Kay's mother, Patricia Ann Kay, told the newspaper that her daughter bought the skulls from a mail order catalog. She said her daughter has always been fascinated with the macabre, and when she was a girl she collected animal skulls and snake skeletons.

"She has a flair for the dramatic," Patricia Ann Kay said. "I have never tried to stop my children from doing whatever they want. As long as they are happy, aren't hurting anyone, and it's keeping them out of the poor house."


07/25/06 13:37 EDT

Oh where to begin...um all nude juice bar . Sounds like it should be in a health club for crying out loud. Call me old fashion but your nude bars should be dark and seedy like they show in the movies .

Ok seriously, what the heck is up with this mother. Unless the child want to be a forensic anthropologist and that's why they are interested in skeltons then yes I can see you allowing them to examine bones in a controlled enviroment...like in a science class or maybe at a science or natural history museum. Not digging up Fluffy after a few months.

But if your child just get's a kick out of playing with the bones of a dead animal then take them to a doctor because they have issues. Plus can you imagine the germs and god knows what she was being exposed. I mean hello your daughter has a hand in a jar of formaldehyde sitting on her dresser calling it Freddy...she needs help!!! But hey she's not in the poor house . The mother is just as wacked as the daughter.

Val,

That last article was disturbing, baffling, and kind of humorous in a twisted way - all at the same time.

I've never run across a nude juice bar myself - not that I would ever feel the need to frequent it if I had! I know that nude clubs are not allowed to served alcohol, but a juice bar never occurred to me.

The mother needs a reality check. Parents should encourage their children to follow their dreams and make themselves happy - to an extent! I don't think Charles Manson's mom would have said -"Go ahead Charlie and murder all the people you want if it makes you happy" Granted, like the mother said, the daughter wasn't hurting anybody, but come on! I'd argue that having a pet hand had to have done some damage to the child.


Here's an interesting article from the Detroit Free Press. I really feel for this young guy.

An absent dad's letter to a son he never knew

July 26, 2006

BY BRIAN DICKERSON

FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
A 17-year-old from Fraser is suing his mother in Macomb County Circuit Court to learn the identity of his biological father.

The teen, whose anonymity is being protected by the court -- a few judges, it seems, still make reasonable concessions to the special vulnerability of the young -- says DNA tests suggest his biological dad is someone other than the man who raised him.

His mother insists the father is the ex-husband with whom she raised her son until her 1995 divorce -- the same ex-husband whose lawsuit seeking relief from child-support obligations was rejected in 2004 -- and that the DNA tests that piqued her son and ex-husband's suspicions are false.

Now Macomb County Circuit Judge Mark Switalski will decide whether to dismiss the teen's lawsuit or let his attorney question the mother under oath.

If there's anything sadder than the spectacle of a son suing his mom, I've not stumbled across it in my quarter-century of wading through courtroom pathos.

But if the facts revealed so far establish anything, it's that the 17-year-old known in court papers as "Minor J" needs some good fatherly counsel, and he needs it now.

I have no idea whether the alternate dad Minor J suspects is responsible for his conception even exists. But I've a pretty good idea what such a man would say, assuming he had a little wisdom and a bit of sympathy for Minor J:

Dear Son,

I read about your lawsuit in the paper and felt the same mixture of shame and grief that overtakes me every time I think of you, which is more often than you might imagine.

I'm not sure, when all is said and done, whether not having me in your life has cost you all that much. It's cost me plenty.

For starters, there's the guilt of knowing I left another man to assume all the disciplinary and financial responsibilities that were properly mine. When I think how little I've contributed, I feel like a real jerk.

Then again, that other guy got to watch you grow up. Sometimes, when I imagine all I've missed, I think I'm the one who was cheated.

I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish by learning my identity now. Your lawyer said in the newspaper that you want to know whether you face any hereditary risk of cancer or hypertension, although I have to say that's not the way any 17-year-old I've ever met thinks.

Far as I know, my genetic contribution doesn't put you at higher risk for any of those things. But just to be safe, why not assume you are at risk? A few more helpings of broccoli a month won't kill you.

It sounds to me like the real impetus for this lawsuit comes from your mom's ex-husband. He's been trying to prove that you're somebody else's kid for a couple of years now -- which is kind of odd, given that you live with him. And I'm guessing your lawsuit, which he supports, has more to do with his anger than with your curiosity. I'm sorry you got caught up in all that.

I guess all I'm saying, son, is that you can stop looking for your "real" father; he's the man who raised you, whatever the DNA tests say. I don't think I'm in any position to help you -- or harm you, for that matter -- any more than I already have.

All the best,

The Dad Who Never Was

That is just so sad. The man who may or may not be his biological father should be ashamed. You were part of that child's life from the time he was born and when you get divorced you decide to claim he's not his biological son so he won't have to financially support him. The boy is better off without him.

That's awful!!

thats soo sad

Heh the nude dancer and her pet hand Freddy are on the lam (ok Freddy's not with her but I couldn't restist).

I wonder how hard it would be to find a fugitive hand!

I guess you could say this is a creepy example how life imitates art.

from MSN.com

Body Washes Up Near Set of 'CSI: Miami'
Sep 17, 5:13 AM EST


MIAMI -- A man's body floated up near where a crew was filming a scene for the crime show "CSI: Miami," authorities said.

The body washed up early Friday in Biscayne Bay at Bicentennial Park, which film crews were using as a helicopter staging ground for aerial shots of a fictional offshore investigation for the CBS show, police said.

A homeless man spotted the body and alerted an off-duty police officer who was working security on the set, police said. The body had no signs of injury, and the death was not considered suspicious, according to authorities.

"Unfortunately, it's not unusual during certain times of the year that people who have fallen in the bay, either homeless or people who were asleep or in some cases boaters who had a mishap, fall into the bay and turn up days later," said Detective Delrish Moss, a Miami police spokesman.

It's not the first dead body to unexpectedly appear on a "CSI" set. One was found this week in a Los Angeles building where "CSI: New York" was filming. Police also didn't consider that death suspicious.

Oh I meant to bring over the first body that was found last week while filming CSI:New York. Yeah that is just a bit creepy.

Yeah that is... I wonder how the people on the set would have felt?

Ewwwww that is real creepy

This is an article from my local paper. It was also a top story on MSNBC as well. Doesn't make me exactly proud of my home town though. It's kind of fitting since it's Halloween time.

Just a side note - my friend is the chief forensic investigator mentioned in the article. I would not want that job! I left out the pictures. Trust me, you don't want to see them!

Police seize skeleton
Mummified corpse put in eBay auction

By SHANNON MURPHY
Times Herald

The mummified remains of a human body found in a Port Huron woman's home are expected to be analyzed by an anthropologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

Port Huron police confiscated the skeletal remains from the Jenkinson Street home Tuesday evening. Police Capt. Don Porrett said officers received a tip resident Lynn Sterling was selling the remains on the Internet auction site eBay.

St. Clair County Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz examined the skeleton Wednesday and confirmed it was that of a human, said Mary Palmateer, chief forensic investigator at the medical examiner's office.

The MSU anthropologist will examine the skeleton to determine factors such as how old it is.
Sterling said she was selling the item for a friend, had done research and contacted an attorney before posting the remains on eBay. The mummy, she said, was taken from a Detroit school several years ago.

Sterling estimated the mummy is at least 100 years old.

"It's an anatomical, medical-use skeleton," she said. "I would never have put it on (eBay) if I thought it was anything other than an anatomical, medical thing."

The posting was removed from eBay Wednesday morning because it violated a policy against selling human remains, company spokeswoman Catherine England said.

The Web site allows the sale of skeletons for medical use, but it does not allow mummified remains to be sold.

Sterling said many doctors and professors e-mailed her about the posting because the mummy was preserved through a different process than what is used today.

"I know it was probably someone's child or family member at some point, but people donate their bodies to science all the time," she said.

Porrett said police will continue to investigate but don't expect to seek charges against Sterling or the mummy's owner.

"How bizarre at Halloween time to have your own mummy," he said.


Contact Shannon Murphy at (810) 989-6258 or semurphy@gannett.com.

from http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dl...EWS01/610120303

Ewww Keri, that is just wrong

Ok I think it's safe to say we've come a long way.

Pot Smokers Now Get Home Delivery
Drug Dealers Turn to More Corporate Style of Doing Business
By TOM HAYS, AP

NEW YORK (Nov. 7) - In a city where you can get just about anything delivered to your door - groceries, dry cleaning, Chinese food - pot smokers are increasingly ordering takeout marijuana from drug rings that operate with remarkable corporate-style attention to customer satisfaction.

An untold number of otherwise law-abiding professionals in New York are having their pot delivered to their homes instead of visiting drug dens or hanging out on street corners.

Among the legions of home delivery customers is Chris, a 37-year-old salesman in Manhattan. He dials a pager number and gets a return call from a cheery dispatcher who takes his order for potent strains of marijuana.

Within a couple of hours, a well-groomed delivery man - sometimes a moonlighting actor or chef - arrives at the doorstep of his Manhattan apartment carrying weed neatly packaged in small plastic containers.

"These are very nice, discreet people," said Chris, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition only his first name be used. "There's an unspoken trust. It's better than going to some street corner and getting ripped off or killed."

The phenomenon isn't new. It has long been the case around the country that those with enough money and the right connections could get cocaine or other drugs discreetly delivered to their homes and places of business.

But experts say home delivery has been growing in popularity, thanks to a shrewder, corporate style of dealing designed to put customers at ease and avoid the messy turf wars associated with other drugs.

"It's certainly been the trend in the past 10 years in urban areas that are becoming gentrified," said Ric Curtis, an anthropology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice who specializes in the drug culture.

The corporate model - and its profit potential - were demonstrated late last year when the Drug Enforcement Administration announced that it had taken down a highly sophisticated organization dubbed the Cartoon Network. DEA agents arrested 12 people after using wiretaps and surveillance and making undercover buys.

Authorities estimated that since 1999, the ring made a fortune by delivering more than a ton of marijuana, some of it grown hydroponically - without soil - in the basement of a Cape Cod-style home on 10 acres in Vermont, where an informant reported the smell of the crop was overpowering.

The dealers, working out of a roving call center, processed 600 orders a day - from doctors, lawyers, Wall Street traders - even on Christmas, investigators said. Authorities refused to give names, but in one conversation overheard last October, a courier boasted about the ring's upscale clientele, according to court papers.

"We know comedians. We know celebrities," the courier said. "So you might meet a rapper, a singer. We go to a lot of people."

One former customer named Lucia, a 30-year-old employee at an entertainment cable network, recalled blatant deals done at the company's Manhattan headquarters. Executives and employees alike would pool their orders as if they were buying lunch together, then await the arrival of a courier, Lucia said.

The cost was $60 for one plastic case holding two grams of marijuana - a steep markup, but worth it because of convenience and quality, she said.

"It was kind, kind bud," she said. "Yummy stuff."

The emphasis on customer service and satisfaction was evident at one stash house, where agents found more than 30 pounds of marijuana in plain view, already packaged for holiday delivery, court papers said. The packages featured the drug ring's cartoon character logo and the greeting, "Happy Holidays From Your Friends at Cartoon!"

The operation's alleged mastermind, John Nebel, "should have been the CEO of a Fortune 500 company," said his attorney, Steve Zissou.

Instead, Nebel, who is awaiting trial, could get a minimum of 10 years in federal prison if convicted. Prosecutors also are demanding the forfeiture of $22 million in cash, homes, cars, motorcycles and a boat owned by him and his cohorts.

At Lucia's workplace, employees were "bummed" by the news of Nebel's bust, Lucia said. But worries that the office might get raided evaporated, and other dealers stepped in, though "their product does not hold up to Cartoon," she said.

Investigators seized customers' names and addresses from the drug operation's computer logs. But those people face little risk of prosecution, authorities said.

Authorities conceded the home delivery trade will probably survive because of the high demand for marijuana and the low penalties for dealing it.

Under state law, most marijuana offenses "are not treated as very significant crimes," said Bridget G. Brennen, the city's special narcotic prosecutor. "That is why you see the marijuana delivery services proliferating. Their exposure is slight."


11-07-06 01:05 EST

Ok this is just crazy.

Grandmother Puts Infant in Airport X-Ray
AP

LOS ANGELES (Dec. 20) - A woman mistakenly put her 1-month-old grandson through an X-ray machine at Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said.


A startled security worker noticed the shape of a child on the carry-on baggage screening monitor and immediately pulled him out, the Los Angeles Times reported for a story in Wednesday's editions.

The infant was taken to a local hospital, where doctors determined he did not receive a dangerous dose of radiation.

"This was an innocent mistake by an obviously inexperienced traveler," said Paul Haney, deputy executive director of airports and security for the city's airport agency.

The incident happened early Saturday, airport officials said.

Haney said in 1988, an infant in a car seat went through an X-ray machine at the Los Angeles airport.

Thats nuts!!!!

I love this comment:



Ya thinkkkkkkkkk

Sometimes I just have to shake my head. It's a wonder some people can muddle their way through the day.

thats almost as dumb as the guy here in Australia that put a kid into a dryer cos it spilt something on its clothes the kid ended up with severe burns..poor thing

He put the child in a dryer. Ok that is just horrible.

Ok I signed on and saw this on MSN and had to bring it over.

Diver describes being partly swallowed by shark

Jan. 23: Australian diver pokes a 10-foot shark in the eye, enabling him to escape the Great White's bite.

Updated: 12:55 p.m. ET Jan 24, 2007

SYDNEY, Australia - An Australian diver on Wednesday told of how he wriggled free from the jaws of a Great White Shark that had half-swallowed him head first, saying he could feel the shark’s teeth sink into his weight vest.

“I’ve never felt fear like it til I was inside those jaws, with those teeth getting dragged across my body,” abalone diver Eric Nerhus told the Nine television network from his hospital bed a day after the attack off Australia’s south-east coast.

Nerhus, 41, was partly swallowed by the 9-foot shark when it attacked at less than three feet below the surface, but said he managed to fight his way free by jabbing the shark’s eye with his free left hand.

“I went straight into its mouth, front onwards. My shoulders, my head and one arm went straight down into its throat. I could feel the teeth crunching up and down on my weight vest,” he said.

Nerhus said he was collecting abalone when the shark struck, knocking the regulator, which supplies oxygen, from his mouth and leaving him inside the shark’s open jaws and throat.

“I put my left arm down the side of its face because my head and shoulders and right arm were right down in its throat. Half my body was in its mouth,” Nerhus said.

“I felt down to the eye socket with my stiff fingers. I poked my fingers into the eye socket, which the shark reacted to in a way that it opened its mouth a bit, and I just tried to wriggle out,” he said.

As he pulled his head from the shark’s mouth, it crushed his goggles against his face, leaving Nerhus with a broken nose.

He estimated he was in the shark’s grip for up to two minutes. Once free, he grabbed his regulator for air and began to surface slowly, worried the shark circling him would attack again.

“It was just circling around my flippers, around and around in tight circles,” he said. “As I was coming up out of the water, it was coming up under my legs.”

Nerhus was pulled from the water by his son and other divers in their fishing boat before being flown to hospital, where he was treated for lacerations around his body and his broken nose.

The diver said he was lucky to survive, but he was determined not to die in the jaws of a shark.

“I couldn’t think of a worse way to go than to end up as fish food. That’s why I fought back. I was determined I didn’t want to go like that. I like life too much,” Nerhus said.

“I’m so fortunate that my survival instincts and reflexes took over,” he said.

Well I don't know how many of you guys are footie fans but I thought this was fun:

'Lack of Becks Appeal'

This was the scene (pic of deserted stadium) at the LA Galaxy Stadium when the doors were opened to welcome the signing of David Beckham. Stands stood empty as a free fun-filled open day packed with a full schedule of attractions for eager fans got underway.

Only 300 people turned up at the swanky 27,000 seater stadium and the event had to be cancelled early. A skills clinic with coaches from the David Beckham Soccer Academy was cancelled due to lack of interest after only one person signed up for it - and that was the journalist from the reporting British paper!!! Beckham, 31 was still in Madrid but his new team-mates turned out to meet supporters and sign autographs.

Unfortunately, they were left twiddling their thumbs and even the club's mascot, a bizarre green alien *what's wrong with aliens * in football boots called Cozmo, had his head in his hands. One fan who did turn up, Manuel Rodriguez 23, said 'I knew Beckham wasn't going to be here in person but I would have thought there would've been more excitement among LA folks'.

This is NOT the rabid fan worship 'Goldballs' is used to at all!!!!!

I was wondering around the net looking up Vegemite when I stumbled across this site "Homeland Stupidity" and here I found this news article...

Skip a parent-teacher meeting, get a fine
By Rob Miller
Posted: February 3, 2007 6:27 am
Share this story: del.icio.us reddit.com Newsvine

Apparently attempting to out-do California’s recent attempt to tell parents how to raise their children, the Texas State Legislature has introduced a bill that will fine parents $500 if they miss or choose not to attend a meeting with their child’s teacher.

The bill was introduced by Republican Wayne Smith, who claimed the measure would help forge bonds between teachers and parents, helping kids along the way.

Teachers, however, see the measure in a different light. Kathy Carlson, an elementary school teacher in Carrollton, Texas, voiced her opposition to the measures: “Sometimes I think [that parents] think we’re out to get them. When you’re talking about fining and pressing criminal charges, it kind of reflects that attitude…”

Under the proposed legislation, schools would send a choice of three dates to parents. Parents who failed to respond or who failed to attend the scheduled meetings would be arrested, fined up to $500, and receive a criminal record.

Concerns over enforcement of the law will likely prevent its passing; it also faces opposition from many state Representatives, including Public Education Committee chair Rob Eissler. However, the bill is just one in a string of recent encroachments into the role of parent on the part of state governments: with people apparently supporting the spirit of such measures — if not necessarily the proposed punishments — then it would appear only a matter of time before they become law.


P.S. the site is www.homelandstupidity.us/

That's a tad harsh methinks

Here's some Roswell related news regarding Diane Farr who played Majandra's mother on Roswell.

from http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20015274,00.html

Awww that's lovely news. Congrats to Diane and her husband and welcome to the world little Beckett Lovely name.

Ok, it's official Kieth Richards is the biggest sicko out there.

Keith Richards: 'I Snorted My Father'
By Associated Press
2 hours ago


Keith Richards appears in the press room of the ...
LONDON - Keith Richards has acknowledged consuming a raft of illegal substances in his time, but this may top them all. In comments published Tuesday, the 63-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist said he had snorted his father's ashes mixed with cocaine.

"The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father," Richards was quoted as saying by British music magazine NME.

"He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared," he said. "... It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive."

Richards' father, Bert, died in 2002, at 84.

Richards, one of rock's legendary wild men, told the magazine that his survival was the result of luck, and advised young musicians against trying to emulate him.

"I did it because that was the way I did it. Now people think it's a way of life," he was quoted as saying.

"I've no pretensions about immortality," he added. "I'm the same as everyone ... just kind of lucky.

"I was No. 1 on the `who's likely to die' list for 10 years. I mean, I was really disappointed when I fell off the list," Richards said.

EEEWWWWWWWW!!!!!

The creepy thing was when I saw it I wasn't completely shocked, he's always been a wacko.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20038172,00.html


This is so sad it's almost funny. I for one applaud the judge for treating her like everyone else. Even other celebrities, like Michelle Rodriguez from Lost, have served more jail time for similar offenses. 45 days in jail for violationg your probabtion TWICE, driving without a license, and worst of all - 2 DUIs seems like a bargain for me. It's not even like she would have to share a cell or mix with the other prisoners since she is a so called "celebrity". As someone who has lost people they loved to a drunk driver, I hope the punishment sticks. Maybe 45 days in jail will give her some time to think about something besides herself. Maybe it will give her time to think about how wearing underwear is a good idea when being photographed getting out of a car too.

Well said kashinn, I could not agree with you more though unfortunately, I seriously doubt Ms Hilton will serve her 45 days

She deserves to go to jail. Why should she think that just because of who she is, she can have 'special' treatment.
Jeez, if it was anyone else, ie. Not famous or grossly rich, they would be thrown in jail. She should just accept it and stop being so spoilt.
Grrr.. I could really rant about this

I know what you mean. I'd have more respect for her if she just shut up and did her time but she's acting like she's being put away for life. Ok...spending time in the slammer can't be a nice prospect but she's been sentenced for a reason. Just get on with it Paris, you are going to come out to probably even more publicity and work than ever before god help us!!!

absolutely! I dont think I can handle much more publicty from Paris I dont dislike her, but she really just behaves so spoilt.

Can someone explain to me why you would buy a ticket to watch 14 minutes of lip synching? Though to be fair, I can't really see myslef buying a ticket to see Britney do anything. I know that often pop artists like her do sound better if they lip sync, but come on!

Check out this video:

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&...4f-5cf117720d26

A Siberian woman gave birth to her 12th child at 43. That is impressive enough for me, but the baby weighed 17lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All I can say is God Bless her and I hope she had a C-section!

According to the news report, the record for the largest baby goes to a woman in Italy whose child weighed in at 22 lbs back in the 1950s. Did they even have C-sections back then? How is it physically possible to birth a child that large? My niece weighed that much at 2 years old!

I've seen pics of this baby and ouch is all I can say. Even with a c-section that must have been extremely painful.

yeah, ouchie wowii... think about that poor woman lugging around 17 pounds of extra weight in her stomach all her previous children weighed more than average

Ok what is wrong with this world when K-Fed is considered a good parent. Those children should be taken away from both of them.

I totally agree with that.
I used to be a huge Brit fan and I mean I still like her old songs but the way she behaves now I just can't stand her anymore. She is throwing away her life and kids for what?!
It's actually sad. The kids are totally adorable and they deserve better.

Ok, this is why I absolutely love and adore Jason Varitek from The Boston Red Soxs. He is just a such a nice man and dang I wish I was trick or treating in his neighborhood.

Varitek Hands Out Autographs on Halloween
Posted Nov 2nd 2007 4:05PM by Matt Watson
Filed under: Boston, Red Sox, AL East, The Word

While this whole Red Sox Nation thing can get kind of annoying for non-Boston-loving baseball fans, it's not hard to see why the team has such appeal. Earlier this week it was Jonathan Papelbon cracking wise on Letterman; now, it's Jason Varitek giving kids in his neighboorhood the best Halloween ever. From Andrew Ryan in the Boston Globe:

This Halloween, Jason Varitek gave trick-or-treaters something infinitely more valuable than a king-sized Snickers bar. The Red Sox captain sat in a lawn chair at the top on his driveway and handed out autographs, signing baseballs, hats, shirts, pillow cases stuffed with candy, and a green alien glove from a youngster's costume.
...
Two police cruisers came to direct traffic and control the crowd, which swelled to some 50 youngsters and parents on a leafy block in the tony village of Waban, in Newton.

I wonder if any of those kids ended up with the missing World Series ball in their pillow case ... I don't know if these guys really are more personable than most teams or if we're just being exposed to it because of the intense media attention they receive, but that's definitely pretty cool. What's next, Dice-K home videos?

Okay, something very, VERY, grave has happened in the finland pixie world . Yesterday, Nov. 7th 2007, was the first school shootdown in Finland. An 18- year old boy of the school brought a gun with him and killed 9 people (including himself, the principle, a 25 year old single mother of two little kids and 1 other girl and 5 boys). It never seemed possible for this to happen. It was, and don't take offence!!, "the American thing". Everything just spread out really fast and now everything seems really dark and people are mourning, even here in my town about 500 km away from the school. The most concerning thing is that some other young people in the same situation will take an example of this and we can't feel safe anymore. What makes this really disgusting is that the guy posted a diary in the internet where he told all about his plans and his ambitions concerning this. There he said, and I quote; "I don't want to be a part of this twisted and rotten society. Like some wise men have said, the society is not worth of defending.. it's worth of killing." and he said he was a Darwinist with the power of deciding who lives and who dies. Also he posted videos on YouTube that were titled; Jokela High School Massacre and Just Testing My Gun.

Some of the students described how they had ran through the school and had seen bodies lying there and people were jumping out the second floor windows and everything.

Here is a BBC news article about it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7084349.stm

Sorry if this seems a little preaching but I'm still get upset thinking about this and it shows..

EDIT// oh.. My.. GOD! There's an article from one Roger Boyes at the Times news paper where he says that: "The Finnish people are depressed and commit a lot of suicides." "The friendships between the finnish youth has moved on to the internet. A lot of people open up the computer when they come home from school. YouTube and computer games are a big part of the youths lives. A childs first text message gives pride to the parents." "These factors, combined with the third biggest gun ownership, make this Jokela incident a very Finnish tragedy." I honestly don't know wether to laugh or cry. That's propably the biggest load of rubbish I have personally heard in my life (of course, no offence). Is that how you really see us Finns??

Saanå, I am so sorry to hear aout this . I know it seems like something that only happens in America but I think that is really only wishful thinking. Granted it does happen in the US more but it has happened in Australia, China, Japan, Germany and Argentina.

It is becoming worst and worst. Part of it is that people ignore the warning signs, including parents and school officials. Part of it is all the violence that we are exposed to daily on tv and at the movies. Plus I don't know what the gun laws are like in your country but they are a joke here and are too easy to get your hands on.

Just know we are here if you need to talk about this. This unfortunately is a topic we've discussed over here because of Majandra's movie State's Evidence deals with teen violence, school shootings and teen suicide.


Val

thanks vallygirl. this was something i just needed to write somewhere.. kind of like therapeutic writing