[rlpw]

I am Pan the Man so Pan me if you can

[Intrepid Homoludens]

You just wait.

[rlpw]

On topic again... for a change

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/09/18/D8K7DT600.html

Fish Is Used to Detect Terror Attacks
Sep 18 1:59 PM US/Eastern
By MARCUS WOHLSEN
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO

A type of fish so common that practically every American kid who ever dropped a fishing line and a bobber into a pond has probably caught one is being enlisted in the fight against terrorism.
San Francisco, New York, Washington and other big cities are using bluegills _ also known as sunfish or bream _ as a sort of canary in a coal mine to safeguard their drinking water.
Small numbers of the fish are kept in tanks constantly replenished with water from the municipal supply, and sensors in each tank work around the clock to register changes in the breathing, heartbeat and swimming patterns of the bluegills that occur in the presence of toxins.
"Nature's given us pretty much the most powerful and reliable early warning center out there," said Bill Lawler, co-founder of Intelligent Automation Corporation, a Southern California company that makes and sells the bluegill monitoring system. "There's no known manmade sensor that can do the same job as the bluegill."
Since Sept. 11, the government has taken very seriously the threat of attacks on the U.S. water supply. Federal law requires nearly all community water systems to assess their vulnerability to terrorism.
Big cities employ a range of safeguards against chemical and biological agents, constantly monitoring, testing and treating the water. But electronic protection systems can trace only the toxins they are programmed to detect, Lawler said.
Bluegills _ a hardy species about the size of a human hand _ are considered more versatile. They are highly attuned to chemical disturbances in their environment, and when exposed to toxins, they experience the fish version of coughing, flexing their gills to expel unwanted particles.
The computerized system in use in San Francisco and elsewhere is designed to detect even slight changes in the bluegills' vital signs and send an e-mail alert when something is wrong.
San Francisco's bluegills went to work about a month ago, guarding the drinking water of more than 1 million people from substances such as cyanide, diesel fuel, mercury and pesticides. Eight bluegills swim in a tank deep in the basement of a water treatment plant south of the city.
"It gave us the best of both worlds, which is basically all the benefits that come from nature and the best of high-tech," said Susan Leal, general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
New York City has been testing its system since 2002 and is seeking to expand it. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection reported at least one instance in which the system caught a toxin before it made it into the water supply: The fish noticed a diesel spill two hours earlier than any of the agency's other detection devices.
They do have limitations. While the bluegills have successfully detected at least 30 toxic chemicals, they cannot reliably detect germs. And they are no use against other sorts of attacks _ say, the bombing of a water main, or an attack by computer hackers on the systems that control the flow of water.
Still, Lawler said more than a dozen other cities have ordered the anti-terror apparatus, called the Intelligent Aquatic BioMonitoring System, which was originally developed for the Army and starts at around $45,000.
San Francisco plans to install two more bluegill tanks. "It provides us an added level of detection of the unknown," said Tony Winnicker, a spokesman for the city's Public Utilities Commission. "There's no computer that's as sophisticated as a living being."

[Giligan]

Student attempts to join ancient Chinese army
German dresses as ancient terra cotta warrior, mimics them at museum


HONG KONG - A German art student tried to join a Chinese dynasty’s army — but he volunteered centuries too late.

The 26-year-old man — identified only as “Pablo” or by his Chinese name “Ma Lin” — made a dusty brown suit of armor, a tunic and a helmet, and attempted to blend in with the ancient warriors of the terra cotta army in the western city of Xi’an, the Hong Kong newspapers Ming Pao Daily News and Wen Wei Po reported on Monday.

The outfit matched the uniforms worn by the thousands of terra cotta soldiers buried in the tomb of the Emperor Qin Shihuangdi, who ruled between 221-210 B.C., the papers said. The soldiers—one of China’s greatest archaeological discoveries—are displayed in a Xi’an museum.

Pablo entered the museum Saturday with his uniform packed in a suitcase, the papers said. Once inside, he quickly changed into the outfit, jumped over a barrier and joined the soldiers, who stand in hundreds of rows.

He blended in so well that security guards had difficulty finding him, Ming Pao said.

“I got to the area where he was supposed to be, looked around a bit and didn’t see Ma Lin,” the paper quoted a guard as saying. “He just looked too much like a terra cotta warrior.”

Dragged out by guards
The papers showed photos of security guards dragging Pablo out of the excavation pit where the soldiers are displayed.

Wen Wei Po quoted Pablo as saying he has been obsessed with the soldiers since his childhood. He reportedly said that he only planned to have a photo of himself taken standing near the museum’s excavation pit.

“But when I saw the soldiers, I got too excited and just couldn’t stop myself from jumping into the pit,” he was quoted as saying.

Since he didn’t damage the soldiers, Pablo was released after getting a lecture from the security officials, the papers said.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

"I must say, the man smelled horribly
of urine and cheap beer breath, I only
bit him out of self defense, I assure you."

Man bites panda after zoo attack | BBC News, 20 September 2006

A drunken Chinese tourist says he bit a panda who attacked him after he jumped into a zoo enclosure to "hug" the bear.

Zhang Xinyan, 35, had drunk four draught beers before deciding to enter the Beijing Zoo pen belonging to six-year-old male panda Gu Gu. The startled Gu Gu bit both legs of his intruder, who responded by biting "the panda on its back", Mr Zhang was quoted by state media as saying.

Mr Zhang said he had not realised pandas could be violent. He told the Beijing Morning Post that he had come to the Chinese capital "only to see the pandas".

"The seven-hour train ride was exhausting, and I drank bottles of beer when I arrived then had a nap," he added.

Punishment

The newspaper said Mr Zhang had a "sudden urge" to touch Gu Gu with his hand, so he jumped over the waist-high railing into the enclosure.

"When he got closer and was undiscovered, he reached out to hug it," the newspaper added. Mr Zhang was bitten first on his right leg, and then on his left.

Newspaper photographs showed him lying on a hospital bed with blood-soaked bandages over his legs.

"I bit the panda on its back but its fur was too thick," Mr Zhang recalled.

He went on: "No one ever said they would bite people. I just wanted to touch it."

Zoo spokeswoman Ye Mingxia said the panda was unharmed and they were not considering punishing Mr Zhang yet.

"He's suffered quite a bit of a shock," she told the Associated Press by telephone.

[rlpw]

Oh man I gotta do this now!! can you find Hump-Hump the Panda? Press 4

http://www.killfrog.com/02/canyouhear.html

[saucyminx]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

"I must say, the man smelled horribly
of urine and cheap beer breath, I only
bit him out of self defense, I assure you."

Man bites panda after zoo attack | BBC News, 20 September 2006

That news made me laugh. People can be stupid too.

[rlpw]

From Annanova



Teacher used kinky alphabet
A US school teacher has apologised after accidentally using a kinky alphabet in a handout letter to parents.
The font depicts male and female stick figures contorting into sexual positions resembling letters of the alphabet.
It was used on the front of a spelling handout given to parents of pupils at a school, in Pine Tree, New York state, reports the Times Herald-Record.
The teacher reportedly had no idea the alphabet was offensive when she downloaded the font from the internet.
"I definitely believe it was a mistake," said Kelly Stegmann, president of the parent teacher association at Pine Tree Elementary School.
Teachers and many parents didn't know what they were looking at until they received a letter of apology from Pine Tree principal Jean Maxson.
"This packet was reviewed by a number of people, including myself," Maxson wrote. "I take full responsibility for this inappropriate publication."

[rlpw]

from The Smoking Gun

Blow-Up Dolls Jail Bait?

Feds say perv possessed anatomically-correct inflatable child toys

SEPTEMBER 21--Federal agents investigating the online trafficking of child pornography were surprised recently to learn of the latest sick twist in their pervert hunt: pedophiles are now consorting with child-sized blow-up dolls. While executing a search warrant on August 23 at a Long Island home, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents discovered several "inflated, anatomically-correct child sexual dolls, which were dressed as children," according to an arrest warrant, a copy of which you'll find below. In a footnote, ICE agent Richard Branda noted that, "during the course of this investigation agents became aware that inflatable sexual dolls of children are apparently sold in the same manner as inflatable sexual dolls of adults." Probers were raiding the Levittown home of Peter List, 59, as part of an online kiddie porn probe; they netted thousands of photos and video clips depicting children engaged in sexual conduct. List was arrested on a felony count and later released from a federal lockup on $300,000 bond. He was named Tuesday in a six-count indictment charging him with possession of child pornography. The indictment includes a provision seeking the forfeiture of List's computer equipment and "three inflatable child dolls." During the ICE raid, List, a hospital employee, told agents that he had dressed the inflatable dolls himself.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

[RLacey]

I don't know... not that I think child pornography is a good thing, but you'd have thought that we'd rather have them messing around with blow-up dolls than with actual children...

[Giligan]

Jeez, that's sick.

[rlpw]

From the UK Daily Mail websight

Baby wig craze
It's never too long before the latest craze to sweep America makes its way to the UK but most would wish this one really hadn't.

Celebrity wigs designed for babies up to nine months old and are set to hit the market, to the outrage of children's charities.

There's a Bob Marley style dreadlock wig, a Samuel L Jackson afro as seen in movie Pulp Fiction and a Donald Trump comb-over - perhaps for that mature look.

For the girls there's flowing pink locks based on singer Lil' Kim.

But Michelle Elliott of Kidscape said as well as unnecessary the wigs could be dangerous.

"This is ridiculous. Any parent who buys one of these wigs for their child needs their head examining."

Wigs are incredibly uncomfortable for a start. Babies are wonderful but dirty little things and the last thing they need is a wig."

The wigs are manufactured by California-based firm BabyToupee and cost £14.

The firm's website says its aim to "show that while parenting can be a great responsibility, it can also be a source of endless amusement."

Founder Graham Farrar said: "Having a baby doesn't mean you have to stop having fun or do everything by the book. We don' take ourselves or our products too seriously."

[Stoofa]

Originally Posted by rlpw

From the UK Daily Mail websight

Baby wig craze
It's never too long before the latest craze to sweep America makes its way to the UK but most would wish this one really hadn't.

Celebrity wigs designed for babies up to nine months old and are set to hit the market, to the outrage of children's charities.

There's a Bob Marley style dreadlock wig, a Samuel L Jackson afro as seen in movie Pulp Fiction and a Donald Trump comb-over - perhaps for that mature look.

For the girls there's flowing pink locks based on singer Lil' Kim.

But Michelle Elliott of Kidscape said as well as unnecessary the wigs could be dangerous.

"This is ridiculous. Any parent who buys one of these wigs for their child needs their head examining."

Wigs are incredibly uncomfortable for a start. Babies are wonderful but dirty little things and the last thing they need is a wig."

The wigs are manufactured by California-based firm BabyToupee and cost £14.

The firm's website says its aim to "show that while parenting can be a great responsibility, it can also be a source of endless amusement."

Founder Graham Farrar said: "Having a baby doesn't mean you have to stop having fun or do everything by the book. We don' take ourselves or our products too seriously."

A ha! I knew Tom and Katie's kid had a toupee on in those photographs.

[rlpw]

Here's the webby
http://www.babytoupee.com/

[Stoofa]

Toupee!



Somewhere I have a picture of me in a wig when I was a baby. I'll post it when I find it.

[Melanie68]

Boy, three, buys car on internet

[rlpw]

Supreme Court Rejects Texas Sex-Toy Case
Oct 02 11:03 AM US/Eastern






The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider whether a Texas law making it a crime to promote sex toys shaped like sexual organs is unconstitutional.
An adult bookstore employee in El Paso, Texas, sued the state after his arrest for showing two undercover officers a device shaped like a penis and telling the female officer the device would arouse and gratify her.

The employee, Ignacio Sergio Acosta, says a Texas law outlawing the manufacture, marketing or dissemination of an "obscene device" including those shaped like sex organs is unconstitutional because it prevents individuals from using such devices, violating their right to sexual privacy.

Colorado, Kansas and Louisiana have held such laws unconstitutional, while Georgia, Mississippi and Texas have upheld them, said Acosta's lawyer in urging the Supreme Court to take the case.

An El Paso County court granted Acosta's motion to dismiss a criminal complaint against him, but an appeals court reinstated it, saying the Texas law did not infringe on private sexual behavior.

The bar against promoting obscene devices has been found in other court cases not to infringe on a right to use obscene devices at home, the court of appeals for the Eighth District of Texas ruled.

Acosta also said the Texas law should be examined in light of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas criminal law banning gay sex as an unconstitutional invasion of privacy.

The case is Ignacio Sergio Acosta v. state of Texas, 05-1574.

[rlpw]

Domino's Brownie Bust
The Smoking Gun



Cops: Duo broke into franchise to bake up batch of chocolaty treats
SEPTEMBER 26--Meet Alex Sawyer and Andrew Wilkins. The North Carolina couple was arrested earlier this month after an apparent case of the munchies led them to break into a Domino's Pizza branch and bake up a batch of the fast food chain's new brownies. The pair was nabbed at 5:30 AM on September 7 after a Stallings Police Department officer noticed a suspicious car--with keys in its ignition and a warm engine--parked outside a small strip mall. When Sawyer and Wilkins noticed police on the scene, they fled out the Domino's front door and were apprehended after a short chase, said Sergeant Mike Kane. Sawyer, a 21-year-old hair stylist, and Wilkins, a 20-year-old carpet cleaner, were arrested and later charged with breaking and entering and larceny, both felonies. Additionally (and not surprisingly), Sawyer was found carrying a marijuana pipe, for which she was hit with a misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia count. Kane told TSG that when he entered the Domino's, he discovered that the establishment's ovens were on and a box of brownies had been freshly baked. Investigators determined that Wilkins had previously worked at the Domino's and was fired for allegedly stealing a cash box. Kane said that Wilkins told him that he went to the closed store to return a set of keys and was not there to steal anything. Though Wilkins did acknowledge the pre-dawn baking: "I was just making food, I was hungry." Police recovered the brownies, valued at $5, and found no evidence that anything had been taken from the eatery. At the time of the duo's arrest, Kane had not yet had the opportunity to taste the Domino's Brownie Squares, which were added to the chain's menu in late-August. He subsequently tried out the dessert, which boasts a "warm, chocolaty center," and pronounced them "killer."

[Melanie68]

Equine surprise for new landlady

The new landlady of a Tyneside pub has spoken of her surprise at discovering that one of the regulars is a horse.

Jackie Gray recently took over the Alexandra Hotel in Jarrow and said she was shocked when carthorse Peggy joined owner Peter Dolan for a pint.

The 12-year-old female, which has a taste for John Smiths and pickled onion crisps, has apparently been visiting the pub for several years.

Mrs Gray was taken aback at first but says Peggy is no bother at all.

She said: "When I bought the pub a few weeks ago I heard rumours that one of the regulars was a horse but I didn't quite believe them.

"It was a hot day when the horse came in and I was shocked at first because I have never run a pub before."

Retired oil rigger Mr Dolan, 61, from Jarrow, bought Peggy six years ago and discovered her fondness for the pub when she followed him inside.

She had been tied up, but the rope was so long she was able to follow Mr Dolan right up to the bar.

He said: "Peggy's no bother at all. Most of the regulars know her as she's been coming in here for years and for them Peggy's a bit of a novelty. She's a proper lady."