Deadly Child Virus In China

This Friday there were 3,321 reported cases of a deadly virus, enterovirus 71, which causes hand, foot and mouth disease in kids. China's health ministry dispatched specialists to eastern China's Anhui province where the death toll has risen to 22.

978 kids are hospitalized, 48 are critical. "Authorities in Anhui.. are doing utmost to treat the children and strengthen disease control," said Wang Yan, a Anhui province official. 32 specialists in Fuyang City are to direct rescue work in Anhui.

A nationwide ordered stated said "all levels must recognize the importance and urgency of preventing the spread of infectious disease." The order also stated this was needed to guarantee the smooth staging of the Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing.

Source: www.cnn.com

Man With Each Arm Stuck in Machinery Uses Toe to Call 911

Florida: A man in Fort Walton Beach was freed by firefighters Thursday and airlifted to a hospital after getting his arms stuck at work around 2 a.m. They came to his rescue after he managed to dial 911 with his big toe on his flip phone.

He managed to shake the phone from his belt and dial it after kicking off a shoe and using the other foot to help pull off the sock.The press-like machine that looked like an elevator would've held him until morning if no call was made; he was alone.

A compressor was shut off behind the building by firefighters and the worker was then pried out of the machinery with a thick metal bar. According to rescuers, both arms should be fine.

Source: www.nwfdailynews.com

Pensioner Grows New Finger with "Pixie Dust"

Lee Spievaka, a 69 year old who sliced off his finger by accidentally sticking it into a model plane’s propeller, has grown a new fully-functional finger thanks to what he calls "pixie dust".

His doctor calls the substance extra cellular matrix, which comes from the University of Pittsburgh and is being studied for its properties of stimulating wounds to grow, rather than form scar tissue.

Hopes for the cellular matrix are high that it may one day be used to repair severely burnt skin or even damaged organs.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Man attempts to cash $360,000,000,000 check

21 year old Charles Ray Fuller of Crowley TX, was arrested on April 22 on an accusation of forgery. The bank became suspicious when he attempted to cash the check, and called police.

Fuller claims his girlfriend’s mother gave him the check to start a record business. The bank and police called the mother; she claims she did not give him the check.

Fuller was also accused of unlawful carrying of a weapon and possession of marijuana.

Source: www.dallasnews.com

Professor buys Lemonade Drink With Alcohol in it for 7 yr Old Son

Prof. Christopher Ratte attended a ball game with his son and bought him an alcoholic lemonade for a drink. On noticing the boy drinking from the can a security guard reported the incident to the police.

The child was taken to the Children's hospital and it was determined that no alcohol was in his system. CPS stepped in and the child was put into foster care.

The child was in care for two days. "I'd never drunk it, never purchased it, never heard of it," stated the professor, it's certainly not what I expected when I ordered a lemonade for my 7-year-old."

Source: www.upi.com

Humans Came Close to Extinction, Study Says

An extensive genetic study by researchers at Stanford University suggests that human beings nearly became extinct about 70,000 years ago, apparently because of a drought. The population may have dropped to as low as 2,000 individuals.

Researcher Spencer Wells calls the finding "truly an epic drama, written in our DNA." Human beings emerged in Africa about 200,000 years ago with "mitochondrial Eve," the mother of all humanity, and spread to other places 60,000 years ago.

Little has been known about the intervening 140,000 years, but the new study suggests that severe environmental conditions between 135,000 and 90,000 years ago forced people into tiny, isolated groups. The worldwide human population today is 6.6 billion.

Source: news.yahoo.com

London Smells Like %$#@

A stiff breeze blows across the European continent, bringing with it the smell of manure from Dutch farms. Dutch farmers, banned from spreading the stinky stuff during winter, are spreading it 'en masse', trying to rid themselves of over-supply.

The manure maneuver is going to leave a foul smell in the noses of Londoners for a couple more days until the wind direction changes. According to the Met Office, the scent is worse that usual due to stagnant winds which let the aroma build up.

London newspapers have dubbed the phenomenon 'Le Stink.' A National Farmers Union spokesman said if UK leaders go ahead with a similar idea to ban winter-time manure spreading, the UK has nothing to look forward to but more smelly days.

Source: www.cnn.com

Wal-Mart Corporate Executives Gone Wild -- Videos for Sale

In 2006, Wal-Mart abruptly ended a handshake deal with Flagler Productions, a video production company that recorded Wal-Mart's corporate meetings. The cancellation of the verbal agreement caused Flagler to lay off most of its employees.

Now, Flagler is offering three decades worth of Wal-Mart meetings for sale on video, featuring everything from tough talk bashing unions to Wal-Mart executives dressed up as women.

Perhaps ironically, Wal-Mart is defending itself in a lawsuit that alleges that Wal-Mart discriminated against women in its management promotion policies. Wal-Mart says it doesn't think there will be much interest in the videos.

Source: www.abcnews.go.com

'The Simpsons' Removed by Venezuelan TV

A Venezuelan TV channel has yanked an 11:00am showing of "The Simpsons" off the air because it may be inappropriate for children. After receiving numerous complaints from viewers, the program was pulled Friday. Taking its place: "Baywatch Hawaii."

The TV station reportedly pulled the program after worrying that the series at that hour could violate national regulations prohibiting "messages that go against the whole education of boys, girls and adolescents." Put in place by Hugo Chavez.

"We are hoping it will continue to have a good rating, because 'The Simpsons' worked very well - so much so that it had the highest levels of viewership for that morning timetable in the history of the channel," G.M. German Perez Nahin commented.

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Olympic Charade Goes On ...While fearless Protestor Attempts to grasp the Torch

Sir Steve Redgrave started by passing the torch, where 80 sport and performers will continue on the 31 mile run from Wembley to the O2 Arena. Three arrests occurred as the torch arrived at a bus to carry the torch, within seconds.

Nick Cleg Lib Dem Leader urged PM Brown not to accept his role in receiving the flame until China communicates with the Dalai Lama. Voicing how he felt he expressed Browns partaking in this, was just "wholly inappropriate".

He continued by pointing out the reality how human rights have been continually abused. Dame Kelly Holmes will end the run before lighting the torch in front of 5,000 onlookers. This has high lighted the Chinese Olympics but not in the way they would

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

9-Year-Old Tennis Girl Banned for Grunting

9-year-old Lauryn Edwards has been banned from her tennis club for grunting. An opposing player complained about Edwards's grunts, and she was then banned. Edwards looks up to Russian star player Maria Sharapova, whose grunts have caused controversy.

Edwards, who has been playing tennis since she was 4, said: "It feels natural to do my noise. I'm not faking it. It makes me play better. When I don't do it, I don't play my best tennis. And now people have told me I can't play if I do it."

The tennis club told her father, Duncan, that if he guaranteed she'd stop grunting, she would be allowed back on the court. His reply was, What do they want me to do? Put Band-Aids over her mouth? They made her cry on the court when they told her."

Source: sports.espn.go.com

Spy Row Not Over for McLaren

Ron Dennis, McLaren team boss, has been summoned to an Italian magistrate's court in relation to last year's Formula One spy row which saw McLaren kicked out of the constructors' championship and copping a big fine.

Ferrari has taken legal action in Italy, despite the Formula One's FIA -- the sport's governing body -- considering the matter done and dealt with. McLaren have confirmed the summons, and added three other team execs will also be heard in the court.

Source: BBC

Republican primary highlights divisions in Ga.

Mike Huckabee won the Republican primary here Tuesday by lopping off Georgia's top quarter and driving straight down the center of the state in a broad swath three-to-six counties wide.

John McCain took second place by carving off ham-like slabs of the state's southwest and southeast corners with Mitt Romney jamming Metro Atlanta into his column.

Somebody needs to put all those pieces back together again, or Republicans in Georgia could have problems in November.

"The party has a lot of work to do," agreed Gwinnett County Republican chairman Gregory Howard.

The past few weeks showcased Republicans' passion for politics and their enthusiasm for their candidates. While more Democrats than Republicans voted in Georgia on Tuesday, the GOP set its own record, with 950,000 ballots cast.

The race also showcased a split in the party, one that bears attention by its leaders. Huckabee was a clear favorite of many evangelicals and social conservatives. McCain led among disaffected Republicans, those who have started to look skeptically at the Bush Administration and the war in Iraq. Romney took some of the evangelical vote from Huckabee and some of the fiscal conservative vote.

But the race also featured some nasty cuts as they candidates, and sometimes their local surrogates, took aim at one another.

Romney accused Huckabee and McCain of being in cahoots to rob conservatives of their voice. McCain and Romney called each other liberals. Romney treated Huckabee like pest, and Huckabee got his back up about it. And state Republicans frequently joined in.

Huckabee, of course, got the last laugh, and the majority of Georgia delegates, but for those on the ground in the state, the rift is real. But its impact is difficult to gauge.

Howard thinks Republicans need to remember their history. There are eight pillars that form the Republican Party foundation, he said: cutting taxes, reducing the size of government, balancing the budget, fiscal responsibility, creating a strong national defense, fighting terrorism, emphasizing free enterprise, getting tough on crime and emphasizing social issues.

"Look at the candidates (for president). They're all good Republicans," Howard said. "The thing is, their focus is on different pillars."

And while McCain focuses more on a strong national defense and fighting terrorism, and Huckabee is more about taxes and social issues, one does not outweigh the other, Howard said.

"It's going to take the party leadership reinforcing that these people can be strong in three of these pillars and still be considered a great candidate," he said.

Mark DeMoss, an Atlanta-based Republican consultant and evangelical, was an early and vocal Romney supporter. He was in Boston with Romney on Tuesday, and said he is frustrated by what he sees as one-topic voters.

DeMoss is worried that many of his fellow evangelicals in Georgia backed Huckabee just because the man used to be a Southern Baptist minister and is "one of them." "And everyday I talk to some who can tell me nothing else about him," DeMoss said. "And I just don't think that's responsible. I don't think that's responsible leadership or citizenship."

But Shawn Davis, Huckabee's Georgia spokesman, said the concept of Huckabee winning only because of evangelicals is getting tiresome. In fact, he said, exit polls showed independents going more for Huckabee then McCain.

Kay Godwin of Blackshear, in south Georgia, is a major Huckabee supporter, and echoed Davis' thoughts.

"It was a combination" of things, she said. His support for the Fair Tax, his values, the man himself all made a difference. Plus, he had a terrific campaign here, she said.

It was, she said, "our deep-rooted core conservative values and our tremendous grassroots efforts."

Godwin couldn't predict whether the campaign would carry over and hurt the party. U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss both endorsed McCain late in the campaign and were widely criticized by Republican congressmen and state lawmakers for the move. Will Isakson and Chambliss suffer for that?

"I don't know," Godwin said. "You'll just have to wait and see. I don't know."

At least one group of Republicans is ready to mend the rift. The Georgia Federation of Young Republican Clubs adopted a resolution on Tuesday criticizing conservative talk radio hosts for adding to the divisiveness and said it's time for Republicans to come together, no matter who becomes the eventual nominee.

Sam Olens, chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners and a member of Romney's state leadership team, said he sees the on-going primary campaign as a positive.

I find it exciting that the race is still active in both parties," he said. "I for one think that's good for both parties and very exciting for the public."

Still, Olens said, there often is the need for healing after primaries.

"I share some of those same concerns," he said, "but once again, as a Republican, it's my hope that the healing will happen sooner rather than later because I hope that one of the two Democrats don't become president."

That is the party's ultimate salve, said party chairwoman Sue Everhart. They don't want to see an Obama or another Clinton presidency.

"In a presidential year, momentum really goes from the top of the ticket down and Republicans are just a passionate bunch," he said. "I can tell you, we'll win Georgia with our candidate in November."

ajc.com