Mother rescues son from a foreign land...

The NY Post reports that "It began with an e-mail on her MySpace page: "He is fine. He is healthy. I will try to get him back for you."
Queens schoolteacher Tiffany Rubin's heart leapt. After months of searching, it was the first real lead that her 7-year-old son, kidnapped by his father and taken to South Korea, could be found.
"I was like, 'Oh, my God,' " she told The Post, recalling how she felt the first time she read the e-mail.
But it would take an ex-CIA agent, a Christian charity, bottles of makeup to conceal her black skin and some cash at the airport to get him back.
The boy wept for his mother while he was held by his father - begging to come home and be reunited with her.

The relationship between Rubin and her boyfriend, Jeffrey Salko, was never storybook. The unmarried couple broke up when their son, Kobe Lee, was 4 months old. They spent the next six years in court fighting over custody.
It wasn't until Salko, who Rubin says wasn't paying child support, was in danger of losing visitation rights that he took a drastic, illegal step. Salko disappeared with the boy last August, when Kobe was on a two-week visit at his Brooklyn home.
Rubin jumped on the Web to try to locate her son.
For weeks, she joined chat groups and pleaded her case to MySpace members in Seoul, where Salko, 37, also known as Kang-Shik Lee, has family. In late November, the MySpace tipster said the boy had been located.
As promised, the tipster contacted the US Embassy. But absent some sign of abuse, the Foreign Service staff and Korean police who visited Salko in December had no authority to remove Kobe.
Rubin, 30, decided to take matters into her own hands. She couldn't afford the five-figure cost of a bounty hunter, so she turned to Michael Miller and his American Association for Lost Children..."

Here's the rest of this amazing story.

Here's the link to the American Association for Lost Children.

Zoo Welcomes Baby Elephant

CNN reports that "A baby elephant born this month at the Maryland Zoo walks with his mom."

Landmine Beauty Pageant...

Our friends at the BBC report that "Landmine victims are to take part in a beauty contest in Angola, where tens of thousands have been injured by mines.
The pageant has been organised by Angola's de-mining commission, and aims to restore the confidence of victims and raise awareness of their plight.
Millions of mines were planted in Angola during a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002.
The "Miss Landmine Survivor" contest will be held on 2 April in a luxury hotel in the Angolan capital, Luanda.
Eighteen women will take part, one from every province in the country.
All of the contestants have been maimed by landmines.

The co-ordinator of Angola's de-mining commission, Madalena Neto, says the aim of the competition is to restore self-esteem in women injured in mine explosions, and to show that there is beauty in all people.

She says she wants the contestants to become ambassadors for victims of landmines.
Tens of thousands of Angolans have lost limbs or suffered other injuries in mine explosions.
And they continue to do so, even though the war ended six years ago.
It is rare to visit an Angolan town or village without seeing people struggling to cook, care for children or otherwise get on with their lives whilst struggling with a stick or, if they are lucky, a pair of crutches or an artificial limb.
The UN says that, despite an extensive de-mining programme, millions of landmines remain littered across Angola - and this means great stretches of the country are still out of bounds, too dangerous to farm or to travel through.
Perhaps the "Miss Landmine Survivor" contest will remind the rich and powerful in central Luanda that there is still a lot of work to be done, both in terms of ridding the country of landmines and of improving the lives of their victims."

"Man fatally shoots wife while installing satellite TV system"

The Kansas City Star reports that "Officials are trying to determine whether to file charges against a man who fatally shot his wife while trying to install a satellite television system in their home.
Patsy D. Long, 34, of Deepwater, MO, was pronounced dead early Saturday evening after being shot in the chest with a .22-caliber handgun. Her husband, Ronald Long, fired the shot from the inside of their home after several unsuccessful efforts to punch a hole through the exterior wall using other means.
The woman, who was outside the house, was hit by the second of two shots fired by Ronald Long, the Henry County Sheriff’s Department said.
Sheriff’s Department spokesman Maj. Robert Hills said a person involved in such a case normally would be charged with manslaughter, but that was up to the prosecutor.
“Once we complete a diagram of the incident, we will be submitting everything to the prosecuting attorney and let him decide if he wants to press criminal charges,” Hills said.
Henry County Coroner Scott Largent declined to release details about Patsy Long’s death until the Sheriff’s Department completes its investigation."

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"'Miss Bimbo' Web Site Sparks Outrage in Britain"

This is ridiculous...
FoxNews reports that "
A Web site that encourages girls as young as 9 to embrace plastic surgery and extreme dieting in the search for the perfect figure was condemned as lethal by British parents' groups and health-care experts Monday.
The "Miss Bimbo" Internet game has attracted prepubescent girls who are told to buy their virtual characters breast-enlargement surgery and to keep them "waif thin" with diet pills.
Health-care professionals, a parents' group and an organization representing people suffering from anorexia and bulimia criticized the Web site for sending a dangerous message to impressionable children.
In the month since it opened the site, which is aimed at girls aged from 9 to 16, has attracted 200,000 members.
Players keep a constant watch on the weight, wardrobe, wealth and happiness of their character to create "the coolest, richest and most famous bimbo in the world."
Competing against other children, they earn "bimbo dollars" to buy plastic surgery, diet pills, facelifts, lingerie and fashionable nightclub outfits.
The Web site sparked controversy when it was introduced in France last year, where it attracted 1.2 million players...
Susan Ringwood, the chief executive of Beat, a Norwich, England-based organization that supports those suffering from eating disorders, said that the Web site could make girls believe that weight and body size manipulation were acceptable.
The Miss Bimbo site was set up by Nicholas Jacquart, a French entrepreneur. He moved to Tooting, South London, recently and with a 30-year-old businessman called Chris Evans set up Ouza Ltd to promote the Web site in Britain.
Its introduction came as research showed that British children as young as 6 were developing acute eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. On Monday it emerged that increasing numbers of British teenagers were undergoing breast enlargement surgery.
Registration on the Miss Bimbo site is free but it makes money by charging £1.50 (about $3.00) per text message to buy "dollars" to spend on the characters.
On the rules section it states that despite contestants wanting "to keep your bimbo waif thin ... every girl needs to eat, every now and again."
It suggests feeding the character to prevent her dying of starvation...
Jacquart claims the game teaches children about the real world and is simply harmless fun.
"The game is structured in such a way that it simply mirrors real life in a tongue-in-cheek way," he said. "It is not a bad influence for young children. They learn to take care of their bimbos. The missions and goals for the bimbos are morally sound and teach children about the real world.
"If they eat too much chocolate in the game, it is bad for their bimbos' bodies and their happiness levels compared to if they eat fruit and vegetables, which reinforces positive healthy eating messages," Jacquart added. "The breast operations are just one part of the game and we are not encouraging young girls to have them."
Evans admitted that the story in the script had been created by "lads" and no professional advice was sought about how girls may interpret issues surrounding weight loss and gain.
Nick Williams, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, said that he was appalled when he saw his daughters Katie, 9, and Sarah, 14, on the site pondering whether to buy their character breast operations and facelifts...
Users are set targets:
Level 7After you broke up with your boyfriend you went on an eating binge! Now it's time to diet ... Your target weight is less than 132 lbs
Level 9Have a nip-and-tuck operation for a brand new face. You've found work as a plus-size model. To gain those vivacious curves, you need to weigh more than 154 lbs
Level 10Summertime is coming up and bikini weather is upon us. You want to turn heads on the beach don't you?
Level 11Bigger is better! Have a breast operation
Level 17There is a billionaire on vacation ... You must catch his eye and his love! Good luck"

Here is the entire story.

Here is the web site. So what do you think?

"Dolphin woos with wood and grass"

The BBC reports that "A South American river dolphin uses branches, weeds and lumps of clay to woo the opposite sex and frighten off rivals, scientists have discovered.
Researchers observed adult male botos carrying these objects while surrounded by females, and thrashing them on the water surface aggressively.
Writing in the journal Biology Letters, they say such behaviour has never before been seen in any marine mammal.
The boto lives in only two rivers, and numbers are thought to be declining.
A group of British and Brazilian researchers studied the dolphin's unique courtship behaviour over three years in the Mamiraua Reserve, a flooded rainforest area on the Amazon.
"You see them coming up with bits of wood or lumps of rock in a very ritualised manner," recalled Tony Martin from the Sea Mammal Research Unit at St Andrews University.

"Quite often they'd slowly come up above the surface in a vertical posture holding this stuff in their mouths, then sink down rotating on their own axis.
"They would also throw it or smash it against the surface, and it does appear that the waving around and bashing is to impress the ladies; but at the same time there's a lot of aggression between adult males, and we have to infer that's part of it."
Professor Martin's group established that rock carrying and branch thrashing were almost exclusively the preserve of adult males, and that they did it more when lots of adult females were present.
Although the males were more aggressive towards each other at these times, they were never seen to hit each other with the rocks or plants...

This research stemmed from a larger project, Projeto Boto, aimed at conserving the Amazon dolphin and its habitat.
River dolphins are among the most threatened of all cetaceans; the baiji, a native of the Yangtze in China, may already have gone extinct in the last two years, while numbers of the Indus or blind river dolphin of South Asia are believed to be down to around the 3,000 mark.

Compared to these species, the South American dolphin is in good health in its traditional haunts along the Amazon and Orinico rivers. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species suggests "there are probably tens of thousands of botos in total".
But the future does not appear secure. The Red List concludes that the boto is threatened by dams (causing fragmentation of their habitat) and pollution, such as from mercury used in gold mining..."

Here is the rest of the story.

Tiger Woods: The Next Picasso?

ABC News reports "The top golfer takes a swing at creating art that'll be auctioned for charity."

Here is the video.

Hospital bridles at horse in elevator...

The BBC reports that "A Hawaiian hospital has restated its rules on pets after a man took a horse up in a lift (elevator) in a bid to cheer up a sick relative with his favourite steed.
Man and beast were stopped by security guards only after reaching the third floor, after apparently passing through the lobby unchallenged.
The patient was allowed to see them but it turned out to be the wrong horse.
A hospital spokeswoman said there was a visitation policy for dogs and cats, but not for horses.
"We just hope people understand this is not a place for a horse," said Lani Yukimura at Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
"It's a very dangerous thing. Our greatest concern is patient care."
Security managed to remove the visitor and the horse with "just a few scuff marks", she added.
According to the Star Bulletin newspaper, the man had arrived after staff at the front desk went home, and called from the lobby to announce his arrival.
After he and the horse were escorted out, he put the animal in a trailer in the car park and left, the paper adds."

Buddhist dog praying...

The Agence France-Presse reports that "Buddhists clasp their palms together to pray for enlightenment, but Conan, a chihuahua, appears to have more worldly motivations.
The dog has become a popular attraction at a Japanese temple after learning to imitate the worshippers around him.
"Conan started to pose in prayer like us whenever he wanted treats," said Joei Yoshikuni, a priest at Jigenin temple on the southern island of Okinawa.
"Clasping hands is a basic action of Buddhist prayer to show appreciation. He may be showing his thanks for treats and walks," he said.
Conan, a two-year-old male with long, black hair and a brown collar, sits next to Yoshikuni in front of the altar and looks right up at the statue of a Buddhist deity.
When the priest starts chanting and raises his clasped hands, Conan also raises his paws and joins them at the tip of his nose.
Visitors to the temple look on with curiosity.
"It's so funny that he does it," said Kazuko Oshiro, 71, who has frequented the temple for more than 25 years.
"He gets angry when somebody else sits on his favourite spot. He must be thinking that it's his special place," Oshiro said.
Conan, originally a temple pet, has become so popular that people come in to take pictures almost every week, the priest said.
Yoshikuni estimated that the temple receives 30 percent more visitors, especially young tourists, than it would otherwise.
"I'm glad that people feel more comfortable visiting the temple because of Conan," he said as he jokingly joined his hands and bowed to the dog."

Wild Steer Take Over Town

ABC News reports that "A transport truck accident unleashes four steer in an Ontario neighborhood."

Pool tragedy claims little girl...

FoxNews reports that "The family of a 6-year-old girl whose intestines were partially sucked out by a Minnesota swimming pool drain last year says the child has died.
Family attorney Bob Bennett says Abigail Taylor's parents were with her when she died Thursday evening at a Nebraska hospital.
Abigail was injured on June 29 when she sat on a pool drain and its powerful suction ripped out part of her intestinal tract. She had small bowel, liver and pancreas transplants at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in December but suffered complications.
The child's injury led to federal legislation to make pools safer.
"The world's less better off without Abigail Taylor," Bennett said.
Kara Haworth, spokeswoman for the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, confirmed that Abigail had died. She said she could not comment further. She said Abigail's doctors were not available on Friday.
Abigail, of Edina, was injured June 29 when she sat on a wading pool drain at the Minneapolis Golf Club in St. Louis Park and its powerful suction ripped out part of her intestinal tract. She underwent transplant surgery at the Nebraska hospital to receive a new small bowel, liver and pancreas.
She later suffered setbacks, including a cancerous condition sometimes triggered by organ transplants.
After she was injured, her parents, Scott and Katey Taylor, campaigned for legislation that could help prevent similar accidents. In December, Congress approved legislation to ban the manufacture, sale or distribution of drain covers that don't meet anti-entrapment safety standards.
The legislation, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, is named for another victim, the 7-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker. She drowned at a graduation party in 2002, when the suction from a drain pinned her..."

Here is the entire story.

"Hamsterballing"?...

The BBC reports that "The chicken poo catapult, hamsterballing and a play in a toilet.
It can only be the week's weird and wonderful video stories in Newsbeat's Odd Box with Dominic Byrne."

Instead of a leg operation, she gets a new ass...

The Daily Telegraph from Australia reports that "A GERMAN pensioner is taking a hospital to court after she turned up for a leg operation - and got a new anus instead. The woman woke up to find she had been mixed up with another patient suffering from incontinence who was to have surgery on her sphincter.
The clinic in Hochfranken, Bavaria, has since suspended the surgical team.
Now the woman is planning to sue the hospital - although she still needs the leg operation and is searching for another hospital to do it."

Unusual Way Of Keeping Your Dead Pet's Memory

The BBC reports that "A Newcastle couple have found a unique way of keeping their beloved dead pets close to their hearts - by having the dog hair made into woolly jumpers.
Beth and Brian Willis lost their white Samoyed, called Kara, 12 years ago and Swedish Lapphund, Penny, in 2002.
After seeing a picture of Princess Diana wearing a dog fur stole at Crufts, they collected thousands of dog hairs from brushes and carpets.
The pair said the his and hers dog memorials were "warm and waterproof".
Mr Willis, who worked for Pickfords Removals for 27 years, wears his doggy jumper into town every Saturday to do the weekly shop. The 73-year-old said: "They are extremely warm and pretty much waterproof. I've always got a sweat on by the time I get from the bus to the shops."
Mother-of-three Mrs Willis first used the fur of Kara, to knit her husband's sweater in 1990.

Mrs Willis, 71, said she had the idea after seeing a picture of Princess Diana wearing a dog fur stole at Crufts.
She said: "Kara was a pedigree Samoyed. She was so posh, if she could have talked she'd not have spoken to the likes of us.
"We found out from the breeders we got the pups from that it was possible to use their coat for clothes.
"It is the most amazing stuff. It's like mohair but more lightweight and more soft, and the more you wash it, the more soft and fluffy it gets."
Mrs Willis added: "People are surprised when they find out we're wearing dog wool clothes. Some think it's disgusting and ask how we can do it, but it seems very normal to us."
Even now, Mrs Willis has enough hair left over to make a new jumper, and it has been sent to a friend in Derby to be spun."

On the rocks?... Not this drink

FoxNews reports that "Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission officials were rattled last Thursday by the discovery of over 400 bottles of illegal booze, each containing a 10-inch rattlesnake in the bottle, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
After receiving a tip several weeks ago, TABC agents raided Bayou Bob’s Brazos River Rattlesnake Ranch in Palo Pinto County after the reptile-infused vodka was sold to undercover agents, the paper reported. 411 bottles of the serpent sauce were seized.
“In my 20 years with the TABC, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Sgt. Charlie Cloud told the Star-Telegram.
TABC officials told the Star-Telegram that they plan to file charges this week for the sale of alcohol without a permit and possession of alcohol with the intent to sell. Penalties for those charges include up to a year in the county jail and fines up to $1,000 upon conviction.
Infusing alcohol with snakes or scorpions is believed to possess aphrodisiac properties, TABC officials told the paper. The practice, in which alcohol is poured over the body of a snake or scorpion, is popular in Asian cultures."

Here is the story from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Go to Phuket... Get a whistle

The Associated Press reports that "Female tourists visiting the Thai island of Phuket will be given whistles to sound in case of an emergency, the Tourism Ministry said Monday, two days after the murder of a Swedish woman in broad daylight.
The whistles are part of a campaign to increase security on Phuket, one of Thailand's most popular tourist destinations, after the shocking killing of 27-year-old Hanna Charlotta Backlund of Sweden, said Tourism Minister Weerasak Kohsurat.
Backlund was stabbed to death Saturday while taking a walk on Mai Khao beach, on the northern tip of Phuket. Her attacker remains at large.
The safety whistles will be shaped like the symbol commonly used to designate women — a circle above a cross — and can be worn around the neck, said Phuket police Maj. Sathabhorn Sangaunsuk, who will be overseeing the project.
The ministry also plans to increase the presence of security guards around the island and publish safety manuals that will be distributed to tourists, the minister said in a statement.
Authorities said the plan was just devised and they did not immediately know when distribution of whistles would begin."

Caught trying to rob from cops

ABC News reports that "two minors attempted to hold up a police station in Florida."

Sledder almost gets hit by car

ABC News reports that "a 20-year-old narrowly avoids being hit by a car during downhill snow ride." It sure looks to me in the video that he was taking a huge chance in trying to beat the car. You can see the car approaching in the top right of the video before he begins his run.

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