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hollydolly · 02-11-2006, 08:34 PM

WARNING: This is NOT for the faint of heart or those who have just eaten.

http://www.comcast.net/news/strange/...06.02.11_10.50

Quote:

Woman Carrying Human Head Arrested in Fla.
By Associated Press
Fri Feb 10, 9:41 PM

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Airport baggage screeners found a human head with teeth, hair and skin in the luggage of a woman who said she intended to ward off evil spirits with it, authorities said Friday.

Myrlene Severe, 30, a Haitian-born permanent U.S. resident, was charged Friday with smuggling a human head into the U.S. without proper documentation.

Customs and Border Protection officials found the head Thursday, after Severe arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on a Lynx International Airlines flight from Cap Haitien, Haiti, said Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami.

"It still had teeth, hair and bits of skin and lots of dirt," Gonzalez said.

Severe told authorities she had obtained the package in Haiti for "use as a part of her voodoo beliefs," ICE Special Agent Erick Hernandez wrote in an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint.

"Severe also stated that the purpose of the package was to ward off evil spirits," Hernandez wrote.

Severe, who also was charged with failing to declare the head and transporting hazardous material in air commerce, faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted of all charges, prosecutors said.

Severe remained held Friday in lieu of a $100,000 bond. She is due back in federal court March 2.

Evil spirits my ass. That's just.... ewwwww..... *shudders*

Oscy · 02-11-2006, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hollydolly

Myrlene Severe...was charged with smuggling a human head into the U.S. without proper documentation.

Severe...was charged with failing to declare the head ...

So if I had the right documentation and declate it, I can travel with a human head?

Cfw828 · 02-12-2006, 02:52 PM

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10788453/

Quote:

N.Y., Northeast slammed by major snowstorm
Nearly 2 feet of snow blows into region; tens of thousands powerless
Updated: 1:52 p.m. ET Feb. 12, 2006
NEW YORK - A major storm slammed the mid-Atlantic and Northeast states with nearly 2 feet of windblown snow on Sunday, nearing record levels as it blacked out thousands of customers and shut down air travel from Washington to Boston.

Wind gusting to 40 mph blew the snow sideways and threatened coastal flooding in New England. And in a rare display, lightning lit up the falling snow before dawn in the New York metro area.

By late morning, 22.8 inches of snow had fallen in Central Park, the city’s second heaviest snowfall on record, surpassed only by the 26.4 inches that fell in December 1947.

“This is a dangerous storm,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said as he urged people to stay home.

The storm interrupted a relatively mild winter — and came right after America’s warmest January on record. The country’s average temperature last month was 39.5 degrees Fahrenheit, 8.5 degrees above average for January, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The old record for January warmth was 37.3 degrees set in 1953.

2,500 snow plows on the job
On Sunday, New York City had more than 2,500 snow plows and salt spreaders at work, along with snow-melting machines that could dispose of up to 60 tons of snow per hour, officials said.

Elsewhere, 21 inches of snow had fallen at Columbia, Md., between Baltimore and Washington, and thousands of customers in that state had no electricity. Hartford, Conn., and Wayne, N.J., reported 19 inches and Philadelphia’s northern and western suburbs measured up to 18, the National Weather Service said.

“It’s going to be a menace trying to clean it up,” Wayne Mayor Scott T. Rumana said on Sunday.

Radar showed snow falling from eastern Virginia to Maine as the nor’easter crawled up the coast.

Whiteout conditions were reported around Philadelphia and Trenton, N.J., with northerly wind gusting to 40 mph.

Few people ventured out into the storm if they didn’t have to. “I’m just out to get some doughnuts and coffee, then I’m going right back home,” said Chris Vasili of East Brunswick, N.J. “It’s not too good out here right now.”

Snowman time in Boston
Karen Gulley of Mansfield, Mass., took her two young children to Boston to visit the New England Aquarium, but their plans changed to snowman-building because of the storm. “It’s their favorite thing to do,” Gulley said.

Emil Krupczyn, a mechanic for the U.S. Postal Service, didn’t let the snow interfere with his 200-mile drive home to upstate New York from Manhattan, but he figured the journey would take about six hours.

“There’s no rushing in this stuff and if you don’t have no place to go, don’t go,” he said as he waited for a street to get plowed.

The possibility of coastal flooding was a major concern for Massachusetts, said Peter Judge, spokesman for the state’s Emergency Management Agency. Meteorologists predicted 2½-foot storm surges from Cape Ann to Cape Cod with seas off the coast running up to 25 feet.

More than 80,000 customers were without power in Maryland, according to Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. spokeswoman Linda Foy. She said it could be at least 24 hours before power is fully restored.

“It’s taking us a long time to even get to the locations where we can begin the restoration process,” Foy said.

Power down, flights canceled ...
Power also was out at thousands of homes and businesses in New Jersey, New York’s Long Island and Connecticut.

Most airlines canceled all flights at LaGuardia Airport, some of them until Monday, said Steve Coleman, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Kennedy and Newark airports.

Delta said it also canceled Sunday arrivals and departures at Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Providence, R.I., and Hartford, Conn.

New Jersey Transit suspended all bus service statewide, although most rail service continued operating. Amtrak reported a few cancelations and delays but said most trains remained in service.

... But heaven for skiers
However, the storm was good news for ski resorts after an unseasonably warm January dragged down business.

“The best thing for us is it puts snow in customers’ back yards and they think of snowboarding and down hill (skiing),” said Carol Lugar, president of Mohawk Mountain in Cornwall, Conn., which had up to 1 foot of snow by late Sunday morning.

“I personally love the snow,” she said. “I like snow shoveling. If you shovel snow all winter you can paddle a kayak or canoe all summer.”

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

And we've got to go out again sometime soon because it started snowing heavily again so looks like we've passed two feet at this point. Aside from that, I was about thigh high in snow and I'm not exactly extremely small.

**Katya** · 02-12-2006, 02:57 PM

I have yet to go outside today :X It's currently 19 but it feels like 2. Up here we're definitely getting 2+ feet of snow. I feel bad because my parents came up here just to see me in concert and now they have to stay an extra day because they knew it was going to be awful today to drive back.

And the lightning thing...we haven't gotten lightning yet but in December (the 9th), we got an hour-long blizzard in the middle of a normal snowfall and one HELL of a thunderstorm along with it. It was apocolyptic lol...it would've been hella cool, but I had to walk to class in it, so it sucked.

Shape · 02-12-2006, 03:09 PM

eek. that sucks.

*hugs Bay Area*

[EDIT]

Quote:

Cheney shoots man on hunting trip in Texas

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, his spokeswoman said Sunday.

Harry Whittington, 78, was “alert and doing fine” after Cheney sprayed Whittington with shotgun pellets on Saturday at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas, said property owner Katharine Armstrong.

Armstrong said Cheney turned to shoot a bird and accidentally hit Whittington. She said Whittington was taken to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital by ambulance.

Cheney's spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride, said the vice president was with Whittington, a lawyer from Austin, Texas, and his wife at the hospital on Sunday afternoon.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11312757/

Rory · 02-14-2006, 03:50 PM

The guy Cheney shot, Harry Whittington, had a heart attack today due to bird shot that had worked its way into his heart.

Oayis · 02-15-2006, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Mom, Daughter Have Babies 90 Minutes Apart

PROVO, Utah - A 42-year-old woman and her daughter each had babies 90 minutes apart, assisted by the same nurses in the same room at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

Both Sherri Callister, of Mona, and daughter Chelsee Bushman, 22, of Springville, were having pregnancy complications when the babies were delivered by Caesarean section last Thursday.

"At first, just finding out my mom was pregnant was a big surprise," Bushman said.

Bushman was due April 17, but her water broke early. She had been on bed rest in the hospital for three weeks when her mother, who was due around March 30, was admitted to the hospital for high blood pressure.

Bushman delivered first — 3-pound daughter Bentley May. Ninety minutes later, Callister had a son, 5-pound, 8-ounce Dakota Dean.

Bentley may be an hour and a half older, but her newborn uncle is much bigger.

"That pound and a half really makes a difference," Bushman said.

Callister said initially she had anticipated being sufficiently recovered from her own pregnancy to help her daughter when she gave birth.

"I haven't been much help to her," said Callister, who was hospitalized until Monday.

That's kind of funny, having an uncle younger than you are by an hour and a half.

Cfw828 · 02-17-2006, 12:54 PM

From FMQB.com

Quote:

Victory's Brummel Lambastes iTunes Model

As anticipation grows for what could be the label's biggest, Victory Records founder Tony Brummel is making his view on iTunes and the iPod era known. The in store date for Hawthorne Heights If Only You Were Lonely is February 28, but you won't find it or any other release from Victory on iTunes.

"Apple/iTunes do not care about Independent Labels or, for that matter, the record industry," explained Brummel in an email this week. "Without the music industry their site and their iPods are useless. Why did the major labels bend over and super serve Steve Jobs free content without negotiating a % of each iPod sale, variable pricing of singles (if the labels CHOOSE to make one available from an album) and other say in how the content is sold? Has anyone looked into any stock option kickbacks here? Since when do record companies give their content away without extracting an advance? If the major record companies wanted to take a stand they would PULL their content. But, if they all pulled their content in unison Apple would claim collusion… I say, pull it anyway. The defective hard drives are making people deaf as it is."

Brummel also questioned why labels are ready to eschew traditional brick and mortar stores for the digital world. Brummel questioned, "If only 4% of this business is iTunes who cares? Focus on the 96% which is traditional retail. Traditional retail supports music 1,000x more than iTunes does. If someone does not want to leave their house they can go to our webstore, Amazon or the hundreds of other online sites that sell music. For the very casual consumer there are digital consumption models that will work when and if properly deployed. People are using iTunes because they like the iPod. When Dell, or Samsung make a better device iTunes will lose relevancy."

But the thing that Brummel shows the most disdain for about iTunes is the reduction of art to digital commerce, pointing out that the beauty of release as a full length record is lost in the iTunes model. And not only is it lost, but the iTunes model is numbing Rock music consumers to the album concept.

"It is important for people to experience the entire album," he writes. "Not just a track(s). The Artist went into the studio and created a body of work. If you were buying a painting from Picasso would you have said 'Look Pablo. I like this painting man. But, I only like that corner part with the tree and the guy’s finger. How about you chop off that corner and I give you $1 instead of $10 for the painting? Is that cool? I really do not care about the rest of what you were trying to convey in that piece of work.' The artwork, the lyrics, the sequencing of the album typically tell a very important story. It is a work of art! If people are being conditioned to not listen to albums in this way they are nullifying the entire musical experience… at least in our genre as a rock label. As the owner of a label my favorite tracks are never the singles! Often, it is the most esoteric songs on the album that have the most depth and meaning (musically and lyrically) and you typically are not exposed to that song until you have played the album through 15-20 times. Great songs take time to sink in and you have to be exposed to them in order to make that happen."

Brummel not only decries the loss of artistic value through iTunes, but feels the monetary end is hurt as well, stating: "I absolutely believe that allowing people to cherry pick the tracks they want from each album cannibalizes full-length album sales and is ultimately detrimental to the Artists who created the music." While not in such a vocal manner as Brummel, that sentiment is also being displayed by Island Def Jam, who are withholding the Ne-Yo single "So Sick" from iTunes until after the album is released on February 28.

"iTunes makes music disposable," Brummel sums up his missive. "It makes it a faceless impulse item. It steals its soul. Aside from all of the above, I have and will never sign a deal with any company that tells me, 'The deal is non-negotiable. Go to our site, download the Agreement, sign it, and fax it to us. Everyone is paid the same amount (really…) and has the same terms. Regardless, we will not insert or include any Most Favoured Nations language in the Agreement to back this up.'”

Tony Brummel is known in the industry for saying what he believes in. Maybe this is why Wind-up held on for so long as far as giving their music up to download. While I've disagreed with some of the things he's said, I can't help but agree at the very least somewhat with what he's trying to say.

In addition, a story about payola on the record industry is currently at www.abcnews.com.

The story had been featured on ABC's Primetime Live on Wednesday.

The story features New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, and the story also includes small interviews with Joe Simpson (Jessica and Ashlee Simpson's father), Alicia Keys, and Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters and of his own new band Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders.

**TheLady** · 02-17-2006, 01:58 PM

Hmm...if having only 1 song by an artist is butchering their art, then why do music labels put out CD singles?? the answer: $$$$$. Fact is, there are very few CD's out there where I can listen to every track. Was I going to buy the whole "Fantastic 4" CD when I only wanted a copy of "Everything Burns"?

Fact: If CD's weren't so overpriced, people wouldn't be going to iTunes. Right now, music and everything is controlled by a handful of corporations. But, there is something we can all do . the iPods are something people want. no one is forcing industry execs to give their music to Apple. They realize digital media is the new way.

I also don't think he has the capacity to speak for every other industry head honcho.

Cfw828 · 02-18-2006, 01:07 AM

I think the point that he's trying to make is that record labels release singles to radio in the hopes that it'll get people to buy the album and I can see his point. I would think every artist that depends on music as their livelyhood thinks that way.

If you were an artist working for two years on an album and people only respect the work you did on a song that took you a week to write, what's the point of making an album?

I think years down the line, we might have the problem of dealing with artists only releasing a song at a time rather than put out a whole album...what happens after is all subjective. Either the music industry is strengthened by a focus on the best songs or the music industry suffers through another era of discouraged listeners and more one hit wonders.

***********************************

Continuing with the whole Cheney accident, this clip from the Daily Show is fucking hysterical.

02-12-2006, 02:57 PM	#274 (permalink)
Katya Outcast Genius Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Boston University/CT Age: 21 Posts: 6,186 Points: 5,332.77 Bank: 1,976,470.29 Total Points: 1,981,803.06 Donate	I have yet to go outside today :X It's currently 19 but it feels like 2. Up here we're definitely getting 2+ feet of snow. I feel bad because my parents came up here just to see me in concert and now they have to stay an extra day because they knew it was going to be awful today to drive back. And the lightning thing...we haven't gotten lightning yet but in December (the 9th), we got an hour-long blizzard in the middle of a normal snowfall and one HELL of a thunderstorm along with it. It was apocolyptic lol...it would've been hella cool, but I had to walk to class in it, so it sucked. __________________

02-14-2006, 03:50 PM	#276 (permalink)
Rory Fledgling Post Monkey Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Massachusetts Age: 19 Posts: 1,056 Points: 1,589.65 Bank: 515.77 Total Points: 2,105.43 Donate	The guy Cheney shot, Harry Whittington, had a heart attack today due to bird shot that had worked its way into his heart. __________________

02-17-2006, 01:58 PM	#279 (permalink)
TheLady Debate Forum's Head Bitch Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Axe-Murderering everyone in The Underground! Age: 28 Posts: 3,208 Points: 8,271.52 Bank: 5,529,221.65 Total Points: 5,537,493.17 Donate	Hmm...if having only 1 song by an artist is butchering their art, then why do music labels put out CD singles?? the answer: $$$$$. Fact is, there are very few CD's out there where I can listen to every track. Was I going to buy the whole "Fantastic 4" CD when I only wanted a copy of "Everything Burns"? Fact: If CD's weren't so overpriced, people wouldn't be going to iTunes. Right now, music and everything is controlled by a handful of corporations. But, there is something we can all do . the iPods are something people want. no one is forcing industry execs to give their music to Apple. They realize digital media is the new way. I also don't think he has the capacity to speak for every other industry head honcho. __________________

02-18-2006, 01:07 AM	#280 (permalink)
Cfw828 Mega Post Monkey Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: NYC and occasionally residing in Long Island. Age: 25 Posts: 6,432 Points: 68,408.33 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 68,408.33 Donate	I think the point that he's trying to make is that record labels release singles to radio in the hopes that it'll get people to buy the album and I can see his point. I would think every artist that depends on music as their livelyhood thinks that way. If you were an artist working for two years on an album and people only respect the work you did on a song that took you a week to write, what's the point of making an album? I think years down the line, we might have the problem of dealing with artists only releasing a song at a time rather than put out a whole album...what happens after is all subjective. Either the music industry is strengthened by a focus on the best songs or the music industry suffers through another era of discouraged listeners and more one hit wonders. *********************************** Continuing with the whole Cheney accident, this clip from the Daily Show is fucking hysterical. __________________

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