Interesting Current Events

[VinReaper]

Mother of two becomes Japan's oldest boxer at 44
Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:02pm EST

TOKYO (Reuters) - A 44-year-old mother of two has become Japan's oldest professional boxer after passing the Japanese board's license test.

Kazumi Izaki, who has daughters aged 21 and 14 and herself turns 45 next week, laced up her first pair of boxing gloves in 2001.

"She has passed," the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) told Reuters Friday.

"This is first time she has held a JBC license and she is now Japan's oldest pro boxer."

Under JBC rules, applicants for a license must be under 32 but Izaki was allowed permission to fight because she previously won a Japanese title, albeit one not recognized by the country's governing body.

Hiroaki Yokota had held the distinction of being Japan's oldest professional boxer but the 46-year-old declined to renew his license.

"I try not to think about my age," the former aerobics instructor told reporters.

"I'm a mum but I'm going to give it everything I've got.

"I wanted to show my children that if you give up, then you're washed up!"

(Reporting by Alastair Himmer; Editing by John O'Brien)

[VinReaper]

Gun that killed JFK assassin in pop culture auction
Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:06pm EST

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It is billed as the best pop culture collection ever assembled -- ranging from the gun used to kill the assassin of President John F. Kennedy to the Wicked Witch of the West's hat from "The Wizard of Oz."

Collected over the past 25 years by South Florida property developer Anthony Pugliese, the collection, which also includes a whip and the holy grail from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," will be put up for auction next month in Las Vegas.

Arlan Ettinger, president of New York-based auction house Guernsey's, said the collection of 850 lots could fetch more than $5 million when it goes under the hammer at The Palms Resort and Casino on March 15 and 16.

"This collection is as good as it gets," said Ettinger, with "The Maltese Falcon" resin statuette sitting on his desk alongside the gun used to kill Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and the "Braveheart" sword from the Oscar-winning film.

"Most collections have one or two great things and then things trail off from there," he said. "This collection, there would have to be 100 items here, any one of which would be a star attraction anywhere else."

He said the Colt Cobra revolver used by Jack Ruby to kill Oswald in 1963, just days after Oswald was arrested for assassinating Kennedy, could fetch several million dollars alone. The initials of detectives who handled the gun are scratched on it.

"The whole world saw that unfold live and here's the very gun and the hat that Jack Ruby was wearing," said Ettinger, adding that the tag tied to Oswald's toe to identify his corpse and a lock of his hair were also to be auctioned.

Also up for grabs is the jacket worn by Beatle John Lennon in the "Imagine" video, the wedding dress worn by pop star Madonna in her "Like a Virgin" video, a "Superman" costume worn by Christopher Reeve, and an Andy Warhol paint brush.

Ettinger said Pugliese was selling his collection, which he had kept in a large vault at his offices, because it "had been his passion, but now has taken a back seat" to a green housing development he was working on.

Other items to be auctioned include a Federal Bureau of Investigation badge that belonged to the bureau's founder J. Edgar Hoover, a wig worn by Elizabeth Taylor for "Cleopatra," and the leather jacket worn by actor Brandon Lee when he was accidentally shot and killed while filming "The Crow."

(Editing by Eric Beech)

[VinReaper]

Jack the Ripper returns
Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:01pm EST

By Jeremy Lovell

LONDON (Reuters) - Jack the Ripper is about to return to the part of London he made his own private killing ground in one of history's most infamous unsolved crimes.

But in a country that has made headlines in the past week with the conviction of two serial murderers, the inhabitants of the now prosperous but once poverty-ridden East End of London need have no fears.

The return of the 19th century prostitute killer is in the form of an exhibition looking at the era, the area, the victims and the possible perpetrators of the crimes that shocked the nation and have since become a rich seam of popular fiction.

"We explore Jack the Ripper in the context of the East End and explain who lived there and what it was like to live there," said exhibition curator Julia Hoffbrand.

"The murders and the media interest they generated shone a light into a terrible conditions in the area which was riddled with prostitution, dirt, violence and crime," she told Reuters at a preview of the exhibition this week.

The lurid news coverage of the murders even prompted Queen Victoria to write asking if more could be done for the destitute women of the squalid, disease-ridden and vermin infested area.

The exhibition, which opens in London's Museum in Docklands on May 15 and runs to November 2, also peels away some of the myths surrounding the murderer whose identity remains to this day a topic of heated speculation.

It is commonly assumed that the Ripper killed and mutilated five young prostitutes.

But using police records the exhibition reveals that the authorities believed up to 11 murders may have been committed by the same person between April 1888 and early 1891.

"What emerges is the fact that an unknown number of women were actually murdered in the area at the time," Hoffbrand said.

Current theories also tend to focus on the killer being a member of the gentry -- and possibly even royalty -- wreaking his sadistic revenge on women from the gutter.

But Hoffbrand noted that most of the names mentioned in this context did not appear until after World War Two, and speculated that this previously absent class distinction may have been a result of the social upheavals that followed the conflict.

"The people mentioned at the time were Jews -- a group that had only recently moved into the East End -- doctors and radical socialists. They were all people who lived in the area. The outsider theories came many years later," she said.

The name came from a letter written in red ink in a flowing hand that was sent to the central news agency and starts: "I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they won't fix me just yet..." and was signed Jack the Ripper.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of lectures and talks and guided walks down the streets where the Ripper committed his bloody deeds 120 years ago.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

VR

[VinReaper]

The last element, weighing 100 tonnes, of the ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS) experiment is lowered into the cave at the European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN (Centre Europeen de Recherche Nucleaire) in Meyrin, near Geneva February 29, 2008.

Physics lab completes world's largest jigsaw puzzle
Fri Feb 29, 2008 11:05am EST

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - A 100-tonne wheel, the last piece of an ambitious experiment that scientists hope will help unlock the secrets of the universe, was successfully lowered into an underground cavern on Friday.

It is the final major element in the ATLAS particle detector, the largest of four detectors being hooked up to the world's most powerful particle accelerator which the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) hopes to start up around the middle of 2008.

"This last piece completes this gigantic puzzle," CERN said in a statement.

The wheel was lowered down a 100-metre shaft and aligned within a millimeter of other detectors at CERN, the world's leading centre for particle research located at a sprawling complex along the Swiss-French border.

The ATLAS detector will measure particles called muons expected to be produced in particle collisions in the accelerator, known as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The LHC will recreate conditions just after the Big Bang, which many scientists believe gave birth to the universe, by colliding two beams of particles at close to the speed of light.

"As particles pass through a magnetic field produced by superconducting magnets, this detector has the ability to accurately track them to the width of a human hair," CERN said.

Experiments at the LHC, which lies in an underground tunnel measuring 17 miles in circumference, should allow physicists to take a big leap on a journey that began with Isaac Newton's law of gravity, it said.

Science has been unable to explain fundamental questions such as how particles acquire mass. The experiments will also probe the mysterious dark matter of the universe and why there is more matter than antimatter.

"Soon the first protons will be smashed together and the secrets of our universe will begin to unravel," CERN said.

CERN spokesman James Gillies said: "We know about 4 percent of the universe. The LHC might teach us about what the remaining 96 percent of the universe is made of, what cosmologists call dark matter."

Once the LHC starts running, it is likely to take a year for "new physics" to emerge, he said. Useful science is expected to continue unfolding for up to 20 years.

Some 10,000 scientists from around the world have worked on the complex apparatus since construction began in 1994.

The majority, some 6,000, are from CERN's 20 European member states although Americans are the largest single nationality (1,000), followed closely by Russians, according to Gillies.

Before the LHC can be started up, some 38,000 tonnes of equipment must be cooled to minus 456 degrees Fahrenheit for the magnets to operate in a superconducting state. This is done using many tonnes of liquid nitrogen and liquid helium.

"That is actually colder than outer space. It is a very big task," Gillies said. "It's essentially how a refrigerator works, it is just an extraordinarily large one and the temperature is incredibly cold."

VR

[VinReaper]

Ben Roethlisberger signs 8-year extension with Steelers
By DAN NEPHIN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 7 minutes ago


PITTSBURGH (AP)—Ben Roethlisberger signed an eight-year extension worth $102 million with the Pittsburgh Steelers that makes him one of the NFL’s highest-paid players.

The deal includes more than $36 million guaranteed, and keeps Roethlisberger with the Steelers through 2015.

“Ben has been an outstanding leader on the field for the Steelers since his rookie year and we are very happy to know that he will be our quarterback for many years to come,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said Monday in a statement.

Roethlisberger turned 26 on Sunday and said the contract was a great birthday present.

“This is about being a Pittsburgh Steeler for as long as I can be. I love Pittsburgh,” Roethlisberger said. He said he “wanted to be like the Dan Marinos, like the John Elways, guys who played with one team their whole career.”

The Pro Bowl quarterback led the Steelers to a Super Bowl victory two years ago and has been the starter in all four of seasons he’s been with the team.

Roethlisberger threw 32 touchdown passes with only 11 interceptions in leading the Steelers to the playoffs this season, bouncing back from an injury-marred season.

He was hurt in a serious motorcycle accident in the 2006 offseason, then underwent an appendectomy. Although he started 15 games, his play was subpar. He threw 23 interceptions, three more than he had thrown in his first two seasons, and Pittsburgh failed to make the playoffs.

This season, he led the Steelers to a 10-6 record and the AFC North title before they were eliminated by Jacksonville in the playoffs.

Roethlisberger was the third quarterback taken in the ‘04 draft, behind Eli Manning and Philip Rivers, and the 11th choice overall. He started 13 games his rookie season and was voted offensive rookie of the year, the first quarterback to win the award since it was first given in 1957. The next year he led the Steelers to a Super Bowl victory.

VR

[VinReaper]

Boss bans smelly undies

The boss of a Serbian company has banned staff from coming into work with dirty underwear.

Milomir Gligorijevic said: "I am fed up with people with poor personal hygiene standards. I have now made it a sackable offence for people to come in without having a shower - or with dirty underwear."

He has also banned staff from smelling after eating garlic - warning that they need to make sure they brush their teeth - and use perfume and deodorant.

Gligorijevic, who runs a 30-staff stationery company in the capital Belgrade, sent out an official memo to all employees demanding they adopt good standards of personal hygiene.

The memo warned all employees to make sure they brush their teeth, take showers regularly and change their underpants every day.

He did not say how he would make sure his clean underpants rule was followed but warned it would be enforced.

I can't believe that this had to be enfoced!

VR

[VinReaper]

World's fastest commute!



A Swiss company has created the world's fastest ever road vehicle - a 340mph bullet-shaped cross between a motorbike and a car.

The Acabion GTBO looks like a jet fighter ****pit on wheels - with stabilisers - and has the power-to-weight ratio of a Formula One car

The high-performance vehicle is neither motorbike or car so designers had to invent a new category of vehicle called a Road Streamliner.

Its makers claim it could reach 300mph in 30 seconds - much quicker than the Bugatti Veyron which takes 55 seconds to reach its top speed of 250mph.

An electric version with a top speed of around 300mph is also planned and its designer, former Porsche engineer Peter Maskus, sees it as the future of high-speed, low-emission transport.

Dr Maskus said: "The Acabion GTBO minimises weight and maximises power and aerodynamic efficiency. The effects are just out of this world."

Manufacturers expect the GTBO to be in production and on the road within three years. The bad news is the asking price is likely to be £1.5million.

VR

[VinReaper]

World's first six-legged octopus discovered



* Story Highlights
* Six-legged octopus has been dubbed a 'hexapus' by marine experts
* Octopodes have eight arms and legs and missing limbs usually grow back
* Experts say that Henry's two missing limbs stem from a birth defect

By CNN's Saeed Ahmed

(CNN) -- English marine experts have laid their hands on an octopus that's missing two of its own: a six-limbed creature that they have dubbed 'hexapus.'

Ordinarily, octopodes have eight arms and legs. And should they lose one or more in an accident, they can grow the limbs back.

Which is what makes 'Henry' -- as staffers at Blackpool Sea Life Centre in northwest England have dubbed their find -- so unique.

His missing limbs stem from a birth defect.

"If you look closer between the legs, there's webbing that attaches each of the arms together," John Filmer of the Sea Life Centre told CNN Tuesday. "You'd assume if he'd lost one of his legs in an accident, there would be space for an arm to grow back.

"But there's no space for two extra legs to grow back. That's just how he is."

Staffers called others zoos and aquariums and scoured the Internet to see if there were records of similar creatures.

"No one has ever heard of another case of a six-legged octopus," said display superviser Carey Duckhouse.

'Henry' was picked up from a local zoo along with seven other octopodes for a new exhibit at the center. No one noticed his missing legs until he attached himself to the inside of his glass tank.

They named him 'Henry' because it alliterated well with 'hexapus.'

"It has also been mentioned in the grapevine that he was named after King Henry the VIII who had six wives when he should have had eight," Filmer, the centre's marketing director, said.

Until Henry, the most famous six-legged octopus was one that appeared in a 1955 B-movie, 'It Came From Beneath The Sea.'

As was common of many science fiction movies of the era, the film was made on a shoestring budget -- and designers left off two legs from the creature because of budget contraints.

Octopuses are renowned for having three hearts, blue blood and the ability to alter their skin complexion in the blink of an eye.

But, said the center, "(e)ven these astonishing characteristics however are commonplace compared to Henry's unique tally in the leg department."

Shouldn't it be a SEXTOPUS and not an octopus? And what do they call it to be PC, HEXAPUS!!

I just thought I should put that out there!!!

VR

[Primal]

Originally Posted by VinReaper

The K9 above is Brutus, a military K9 at McChord. He's huge - part Boxer
and part British Bull Mastiff and tops the scales at 200 lbs. His handler
took the picture. Brutus is running toward me because he knows I have some
Milk Bone treats, so he's slobbering away! I had to duck around a tree just
before he got to me in case he couldn't stop, but he did. Brutus won the
Congressional Medal of Honor last year from his tour in Iraq. His handler
and four other soldiers were taken hostage by insurgents.
Brutus and his handler communicate by sign language and he
gave Brutus the signal that meant 'go away but come back and find me.
The Iraqis paid no attention to Brutus. He came back later and quietly tore
the throat out of one guard at one door and another guard at another door.
He then jumped against one of the doors repeatedly (the guys were being
held in an old warehouse) until it opened. He went in and untied his
handler and they all escaped. He's the first K9 to receive this honor.
If he knows you're ok, he's a big old lug and wants to sit in your lap.
Enjoys the company of cats.

Original Post -Nuff

VR

I thought this story was too good to be true.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/brutus.asp

Cool story though.

[VinReaper]

Originally Posted by Primal

I thought it was too good to be true.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/brutus.asp

Cool story though.

That's too bad!!!

I knew I should have checked out snopes first before posting it!

But I will still enjoy the patriotism it purveys.

Thanks Primal!

Also, should I take it down, since it is really not news?

VR