http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060526/...ermany_swan_dc
That's...kind of weird.

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From MSNBC...

INDIANAPOLIS - A family sat by their daughter’s hospital bedside for weeks after an auto accident before they realized that the blond-haired young woman was not their daughter after all, but another college student injured in the wreck.

Their own daughter, it turned out, was dead and buried.

In a tragic mix-up, one family was incorrectly told their daughter had died in the April 26 crash in Indiana, and another was erroneously informed their daughter was in a coma.

The two young women looked remarkably alike, and the one in a coma suffered facial swelling, broken bones and cuts and bruises, and was in a neck brace.

The family of Taylor University student Laura VanRyn, 22, disclosed the mix-up Wednesday on a Web log that they had used to record detailed updates on the young woman’s recovery.

“Our hearts are aching as we have learned that the young woman we have been taking care of over the past five weeks has not been our dear Laura, but instead a fellow Taylor student of hers, Whitney Cerak,” the VanRyns said on the blog.

The family said that as the young woman began regaining consciousness at a rehabilitation center in Grand Rapids, Mich., she said things that made them question her identity.

Confusion after coma

As recently as Monday, the VanRyns reported: “While certain things seem to be coming back to her, she still has times where she’ll say things that don’t make much sense.”

Officials at Taylor University, an evangelical Christian college in Upland, Ind., about 60 miles from Indianapolis, confirmed the case of mistaken identity.

“We rejoice with the Ceraks. We grieve with the VanRyns,” said Taylor spokesman Jim Garringer. He said the Grant County coroner notified the school of the error.

Four Taylor students and an employee were killed when their van was struck by a tractor-trailer that had drifted across a highway median. Those in the van worked for Taylor’s dining services and were preparing for a banquet for the inauguration of a new president of the 1,850-student school.

It was not clear who mistakenly identified the victims or how the error happened. The coroner’s office did not immediately return a call. But the VanRyns, who are from Caledonia, Mich., said their daughter and Cerak, 18, of Gaylord, Mich., bore an “uncanny resemblance.”

Most of the crash victims had funerals with closed caskets. A month ago, an overflow crowd of more than 1,400 people turned out for what they thought was Cerak’s funeral in Gaylord, Mich.

Family blogged woman’s recovery

The VanRyn family used the blog to provide progress reports on the young woman, reporting, example, that her hair was in pigtails or braids, that she managed to feed herself some applesauce, that she played a game of “connect four” with one of the therapists and did quite well, and that she performed an exercise in which her therapist gave her a word and she had to supply the word’s opposite.

A call to the VanRyns was not immediately returned. An attorney for the Cerak family did not return a call either.

Prosecutors are weighing criminal charges against the truck driver, saying he may having fallen asleep at the wheel.

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That's so sad. I can't imagine missing your own daughter's funeral like that. Likewise for the other family, going through all that grief believing theirs was dead.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117...-13762,00.html



A NEW species of dinosaur has been named in honour of J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potter books.

The 66 million-year-old dragon-like monster has been given the title Dracorex hogwartsia because it resembles the kind of fantastical creature encountered by the teenage wizard. The nearly complete skull of the previously unknown dinosaur was found by three friends during a fossil-collecting trip in South Dakota in the US.
The dinosaur's name comes from the Latin words for dragon and king and Rowlands's fictional Hogwarts School.

The author said the honour had brought her new credibility with her children, who are passionate about dinosaurs. "The naming of Dracorex hogwartsia is easily the most unexpected honour to have come my way since the publication of the Harry Potter books," she said yesterday.

"I am absolutely thrilled to think that Hogwarts has made a small mark upon the fascinating world of dinosaurs."

Paleontologist Robert Bakker said the beast, now on display at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, would not look out of place in a Potter book: "(It) carried an armour-plated head of almost magical configuration, covered with knobs and spikes, horns and crests. I was staring at the skull last summer and the name just popped into my head, hogwartsia."

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DAPHNE, Ala. -- Worried about the safety of her family during a stormy Memorial Day trip to the beach, Clara Jean Brown stood in her kitchen and prayed for their safe return as a strong thunderstorm rumbled through Baldwin County, Alabama.

But while she prayed, lightning suddenly exploded, blowing through the linoleum and leaving a blackened area on the concrete. Brown wound up on the floor, dazed and disoriented by the blast but otherwise uninjured.

She said 'Amen' and the room was engulfed in a huge ball of fire. The 65-year-old Brown said she is blessed to be alive.

Firefighters said its likely she was hit by a bolt of lightning that apparently struck outside and traveled into the house yesterday afternoon. She was found lying on the floor by her 14-year-old granddaughter.

Fire officials think the lightning likely struck across the street from the couple's home and traveled into the house through a water line. The lightning continued into the couple's backyard and ripped open a small trench.

A family member said he will no longer assume it is safe to be indoors during a lightning strike.

Dime-sized hail and wind gusts of up to 45 miles-per-hour moved across coastal Baldwin County. As much as three inches of rain fell in some areas in three hours.
source

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What upsets me is not that you lied to me, but that from now on I can no longer believe you. -Nietzsche

From MSNBC:

TAVARES, Fla. - A couple tried to hire a hit man to kill their three grandchildren and daughter-in-law to stop them from testifying against their son in his rape trial, authorities said.

The couple, ages 60 and 59, were charged with four counts each of criminal conspiracy to commit murder. They were being held without bond.

Police said they initially offered $100 to an undercover sheriff's deputy to kill their son's wife, their 10-year-old granddaughter, two step-grandchildren, ages 14 and 16, and the family dog. More money was promised after the killings, said Lake County sheriff's Sgt. Christie Mysinger.

The couple's 31-year-old son has been jailed since November on 22 charges of sexual battery on a child, lewd and lascivious molestation and showing obscene material to a minor, court records show.

Detectives say his daughter and stepdaughter are the victims. The Associated Press has withheld the names of the grandparents and the family members to protect the children's identities.

The man tried to solicit a fellow jail inmate to kill his family, the arrest report said. An informant told detectives about the plot and they arranged to meet the man's parents Tuesday at a Best Western motel in Tavares, a lakefront community about 30 miles northwest of Orlando, police said.

"(The deputy) said, 'You want me to kill everyone, including the dog?' They agreed," Mysinger said.

The son's attorney, Peter Sartes, said he had no details on the parents' arrest. It was not clear who was representing his parents.

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k, let's count the ways this is shitty:

1) Your grandparents want to kill you.
2) Your dad is a child molester, and on top of that, chose you and another family member as his victims; his parents sympathize with him.
3) Four people and one dog are worth a combined $100, which equates to $20 a head.
4) WHAT DID THE DOG DO!?

Lioness in zoo kills man who invoked God

Well, I suppose that's one way to find out, although there are less fatal ways to go down the existential path.

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Seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow.- Oscar Wilde

BHUBANESWAR: A woman, who claimed to have fallen in love with a snake got married to the reptile as per Hindu rituals at Atala village of Orissa's Khurda district, 14 km from here.

The unusual marriage took place on Wednesday with over 2,000 people taking out a procession to celebrate the event.

Attired in a silk saree, 30 year-old Bimbala Das was seen sitting for around one hour as priests chanted mantras to complete the ritual.

The snake which lived in an ant hill near her home, however, was not around and a brass replica of a serpent was kept by the side of the woman instead.

Bimbala said: "Though snakes cannot speak nor understand, we communicate in a peculiar way. Whenever I put milk near the ant hill where the Cobra lives, it (the snake) always comes out to drink."

"I always get to see it every time I go near the ant hill. It has never harmed me," she claimed.

When Bimbala disclosed her idea of marrying a snake, villagers reportedly appreciated it saying the marriage will bring good fortune to the area. They also came forward to offer a grand feast for those who came to attend the marriage.

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Since the government gets to use imaginary money to cover its ass, how come I can't use Monopoly money to pay my mortgage?

Humans are marrying reptilians? Yeesh...what next?

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Someone ought to tell Bush that.

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Updated: June 5, 2006, 3:50 PM ET
Tennessee backup QB suspended after DUI arrest
Associated Press

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee quarterback Jim Bob Cooter was suspended indefinitely Monday after campus police arrested him on a drunken-driving charge.

Coach Philip Fulmer cited a violation of team rules. He said Cooter will miss the season opener Sept. 2 against California and undergo an alcohol evaluation before he can return.

"Jim Bob has let the team down and embarrassed himself and his family by his actions," Fulmer said. "He has benefited greatly by being part of the Tennessee family, and with that comes great responsibility for his actions."

Cooter was arrested Saturday after campus officers noticed a sports utility vehicle crossing the center line and driving on the wrong side of the street, according to a campus police report. Cooter failed three field sobriety tests.

The quarterback was charged with first offense driving under the influence, the report said. A female passenger was charged with underage consumption of alcohol.

"He did not behave in a responsible manner, and he understands very clearly that even though this is his first offense, there will be consequences," Fulmer said.

Cooter earned his bachelor's degree in May but is to play as a graduate student this fall. He did not attempt a pass in 2005 and made late appearances in one game each in 2003 and 2004 after redshirting in 2002.