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DENVER — Republican presidential candidate John McCain has chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, a senior McCain campaign official said on Friday. McCain was to introduce his choice at an event on Friday at midday in Dayton, Ohio. Palin, 44, was a relatively surprising pick, but one aimed at appealing to women voters who might have been disillusioned by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's decision to pick Biden as his No. 2 instead of Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. McCain and Palin, face the Democratic nominee Barack Obama and his No. 2, veteran Sen. Joe Biden, in the November 4 election. "She will be his partner in reforming Washington," said the senior McCain official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. By announcing his pick on Friday, McCain was hoping to divert attention from the Democratic convention in Denver, which concluded on Thursday night with a speech by Obama. The Democratic candidate opened a broad assault on McCain, accusing him of following the policies of unpopular President George W. Bush. "This is a bold choice of a strong conservative who is a reformer and will be greeted by the delegates in St. Paul with enthusiasm," said Republican strategist Scott Reed. McCain is preparing to accept his party's nomination for president at the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, next week. Source, Source Sen. Joe Biden (Democrat) I... see. So Obama added experience and McCain picked inexperience. Gotcha.
A Chinese man who swore to God that he didn't owe money to a neighbour was hit by lightning a minute later. The man, named Xu, made the oath in front of a crowd of neighbours in Fuqing city, reports Southeast Express. He vowed that he had never borrowed money from Mr Huang, who claimed Xu borrowed 500 yuan, the equivalent of £40, from him three years earlier. "He borrowed 500 yuan three years ago from me for a friend's marriage gift, but he has denied it ever since then," said Huang, who went to Xu's home to demand payment. "I told him that if he dared to swear to God that he didn't owe me the money, then I would waive his debt," said Huang. Xu made the oath, but was suddenly struck by lightning a minute later. He was immediately taken to hospital where doctors confirmed he had been hit by lightning. He is expected to make a full recovery. Source
SAO PAULO, Brazil — A disposable diaper has saved the life of an 18-month-old boy, breaking his fall from a third-floor apartment window, officials said Thursday. Caua Felipe Massaneiro survived a 30-foot (10-meter) fall because his diaper snagged on a security spike embedded in the concrete wall around his apartment building in the northeastern Brazilian city of Recife. The boy dangled from the spike for a moment, then "the diaper opened and the baby fell to the ground, but at a much slower speed," a police officer said. "The diaper obviously lessened the impact of the fall and saved the baby's life." "It was a miracle," said the officer who declined to be identified because she was not authorized to speak to the press. "He could also have been killed by one of the spikes." The child was treated for minor fractures at the Hospital Memorial Sao Jose, where spokesman Gilberto Tenorio said he was in stable condition. Police have opened an investigation to determine how the toddler fell out the window and "if parental negligence was one of the causes," the police officer said. The Folha de S. Paulo newspaper quoted Caua's father, 23-year-old Alexandre Cesar Massaneiro as saying that his son climbed onto a sofa underneath the window he fell from - "something he had never done before." "It wasn't the diaper that saved him," Massaneiro told the newspaper. "It was God." Source But where was God when you're child feel off the building in the first place?
PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- When it comes to marking up historic signs, good grammar is a bad defense. Two self-styled vigilantes against typos who defaced a more than 60-year-old, hand-painted sign at Grand Canyon National Park were sentenced to probation and banned from national parks for a year. Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson pleaded guilty August 11 for the damage done March 28 at the park's Desert View Watchtower. The sign was made by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the architect who designed the rustic 1930s watchtower and other Grand Canyon-area landmarks. Deck and Herson, both 28, toured the United States this spring, wiping out errors on government and private signs. They were interviewed by NPR and the Chicago Tribune, which called them "a pair of Kerouacs armed with Sharpies and erasers and righteous indignation." An affidavit by National Park Service agent Christopher A. Smith said investigators learned of the vandalism from an Internet site operated by Deck on behalf of the Typo Eradication Advancement League. Authorities said a diary written by Deck reported that while visiting the watchtower, he and Herson "discovered a hand-rendered sign inside that, I regret to report, contained a few errors." The fiberboard sign has yellow lettering with a black background. Deck wrote that they used a marker to cover an erroneous apostrophe, put the apostrophe in its proper place with correction fluid and added a comma. The misspelled word "emense" was not fixed, Deck wrote, because "I was reluctant to disfigure the sign any further. ... Still, I think I shall be haunted by that perversity, emense, in my train-whistle-blighted dreams tonight." Deck and Herson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to vandalize government property. They were sentenced to a year's probation, during which they cannot enter any national park or modify any public signs. They were also ordered to pay $3,035 to repair the watchtower sign. The TEAL Web site now has only this message: "Statement on the signage of our National Parks and public lands to come." Source, Source
If you're considering investing in anti-wrinkle creams or Botox injections to transform your face, it might be better to sleep on the problem. Researchers have developed a copper oxide pillow case, designed to iron out lines and crow's feet. In tests, those who used it for only four weeks had fewer wrinkles and lines than those with conventional bedding, the manufacturers say. Jeffrey Gabbay is the owner of the Cupron company, which used its expertise in making copper medical dressings to develop the pillow case along with a range of other copper sleep accessories including gloves and eye shields. He said: 'The surgeon doing our wound-healing trial remarked how an increase in collagen was helping to heal wounds. 'We wondered if it might work on fixing wrinkles and lines on the face. 'So we had some copper woven pillows made up and noticed that over a few days of lying on a copper pillow lines on the face started to soften.' Clinical trials, supervised by a dermatologist, were carried out on 57 volunteers for four weeks. The volunteers were given either an anti-wrinkle pillow, which feels no different from normal fabric, or a similar conventional pillow. By the end of the trial, those sleeping on copper pillows were statistically more likely to have experienced a reduction in the appearance of wrinkles. Mr Gabbay, a textile scientist who runs his firm from Israel, said: 'It has been the most fantastic discovery. 'The fabric has an impact on all lines but is best at ironing out the finer lines.' The researchers believe that moisture from the skin releases copper ions - charged atoms - from the pillow cases which stimulate the production of collagen below the surface of the skin. As we grow older, collagen production slows down, causing skin to be less taut and allowing wrinkles and lines to develop. So far the company has sold about 10,000 pillow cases on line in the U.S. for around £17 each, and hopes to launch its products in the UK. Dr David Fenton, a Londonbased dermatologist, described the pillow as 'interesting'. But he added: 'I would like to see a lot more independent, published research into its effects before people rush out and buy one.' Source Image Above The copper oxide pillow case is said to reduce wrinkles and crows feet and the range includes gloves and a mask
A school in northern Australia will review a ban on cartwheels, handstands and other gymnastic tumbles in the playground after a community backlash, the state education department said Wednesday. Belgian Gardens State School in Townsville, Queensland, recently banned all unsupervised gymnastic activities outdoors in what it called an effort to protect students from injury. The policy became nationwide news Tuesday when a parent complained to the Townsville Bulletin newspaper. Kylie Buschgens said her 10-year-old daughter had been punished for doing cartwheels, even on the grass, after students were told of the ban at a recent assembly. She told the newspaper that her daughter and other students now "sit around and do nothing" during recess and lunch breaks because they are not interested in other sports. Source Have any interesting articles you'd like to share? Article Request Thread.
PALM BAY — A 15-year-old is in juvenile custody after police said he chased his mother with a knife and beat his brother with a sugar cane because of a change in computer privileges. The teen, whose name is not being released by FLORIDA TODAY because of his age, was charged with aggravated assault and battery after police were called to a home on the 200 block of Silver Oak Road to investigate a disturbance. The teen was arrested Sunday and taken to the Juvenile Detention Center in Sharpes. No one was injured, reports show. Police said the boy was on the home computer when he grew angry over changes to the system made by his older brother. Police said the teen then threw several objects and picked up a knife and a stick of sugar cane. The older brother and mother told police the teen pushed his mother several times while clutching the knife. He also struck the brother with the sugar cane, police said. The teen told police he felt threatened by his mother and sibling. He was arrested by police and taken into custody. Source
Here's a tip - if you ever get lost and need to find north, locate a cow because they reportedly align themselves with Earth's north-south magnetic fields when grazing or resting. While birds, turtles and salmon are known to use magnetic guidance to migrate, cattle were not previously known to possess an inner compass. Farmers had found that cattle stood perpendicular to the sun to heat up their bodies on cold, sunny days, or parallel to the wind during winter days with particularly strong winds, scientists said in a study, But the farmers' wisdom and scientific studies had not provided answers to the common alignment of cattle during days with optimal weather, they said. "Amazingly, this ubiquitous phenomenon does not seem to have been noticed by herdsmen, ranchers, or hunters," said the study, co-written by Sabine Begall of Germany's University of Duisburg-Essen. "Because wind and light conditions could be excluded as a common denominator determining the body axis orientation, magnetic alignment is the most parsimonious explanation," said the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The scientists used Google Earth software to study the alignment of 8510 cows in 308 pastures around the world and 2974 red and roe deer in 241 locations in the Czech Republic. Source, Source
LONDON, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A Web site offers doctors' notes with the logo of the British National Health Service, allegedly for use by healthy people who want some sick leave. The site, doctorsnotestore.com, carries the warning that the notes are for "novelty use only," The Daily Mail reports. That leads to the question of why someone would pay 25 pounds (nearly $50) for a novelty sick note. The comments purporting to be from satisfied customers answer the question: "My employer didn't suspect a thing. I could have been fired for missing two weeks of work. It was wonderful doing business with you. Thank you!" Investigators for the NHS say the forgeries are good ones, with a genuine-looking logo and the names of real hospitals and doctors. Only the signatures appear to be forged. Buyers can choose a disease, how many days they need for recuperation and the hospital. The Web site tells them the notes will be available two days after they are ordered. Source Have any interesting articles you'd like to share? Article Request Thread.
ROME - An Italian priest and theologian said Sunday he is organizing an online beauty pageant for nuns to give them more visibility within the Catholic Church and to fight the stereotype that they are all old and dour. The "Miss Sister 2008" contest will start in September on a blog run by the Rev. Antonio Rungi and will give nuns from around the world a chance to showcase their work and their image. "Nuns are a bit excluded, they are a bit marginalized in ecclesiastical life," Rungi told The Associated Press after Italian media carried reports of the idea. "This will be an occasion to make their contribution more visible." Rungi, a theologian and schoolteacher from the Naples area, said that visitors to his site will have a month to "vote for the nun they consider a model." Nuns will fill out a profile including information about their life and vocation as well as a photograph. It will be up to them to choose whether to pose with the traditional veil or with their heads uncovered. "We are not going to parade nuns in bathing suits," Rungi said by telephone from his town of Mondragone. "But being ugly is not a requirement for becoming a nun. External beauty is gift from God, and we mustn't hide it." Rungi said the idea was first suggested to him by nuns with whom he regularly prays and works. He hopes there will be dozens of submissions once the Web site is started. The contest drew criticism from the association of Catholic teachers. "It's an initiative that belittles the role of nuns who have dedicated themselves to God," the group's president, Alberto Giannino, told Italy's ANSA news agency on Sunday. Source