Man withdraws mouse from ATM machine - January 27...Along with his cash, Gholam Hafezi found a string dispensed from an ATM machine in this Scandinavian country. To his surprise, the string turned out to be the tail of a mouse, which may or may not have survived the experience. A bank customer in Ersboda, northern Sweden, got more than he bargained for when he made a withdrawal from a cash machine and pulled out his money, followed by a mouse.
Gholam Hafezi was mystified when he didn't get a receipt for his 700 kronor ($104) withdrawal, but noticed instead what looked like a shoe lace hanging out of the machine, the local Västerbotten Folkblad newspaper reported.
Hafezi grabbed hold of it and to his amazement realized it was the tail of a mouse, with the head and the rest of the body stuck inside the machine.
“I pulled once more and then his tail came off,” said Hafezi who rushed in to the customer help desk at the neighbouring Coop Forum grocery store for help.
Staff at the store ignored his pleas, however, because the cash machine had nothing to do with the shop owners.
Hafezi eventually got help from staff who were looking after trolleys, and together they managed to extract the rest of the rodent from the machine
“One of them pulled out the mouse, and its head was left intact, although it was a little bloody. Then I got out my receipt,” Hafezi told the paper.
However, the shocked bank customer remains uncertain whether the rogue rodent survived the ordeal.
“I don’t know, but it was certainly still warm”, the shocked man replied, adding that he thought the mouse must have sneaked into the cash cartridge when the money was first loaded in.
Dog breeder welcomes 27 puppies in one week - Feb. 28...Two of German dog breeder Beatrice Oswald's dogs had litters in one week. One had 11 and the other 16, leaving her with 27 puppies over the course of three days.
A dog breeder in Germany has certainly found herself with plenty of hound to go around. Beatrice Oswald, a breeder based in Aken, on the banks of the Elbe River, was astonished when two of her mastiffs gave birth to a total of 27 puppies in three days’ time.
Oswald’s 2-year-old dog Elfi became a new mom first, welcoming a litter of 11 puppies on Jan. 13. And then, on Jan. 16, Oswald’s 3-year-old dog Anny gave birth to 16 puppies. Elfi and Anny haven’t quite been able to produce enough milk to feed all the hungry babies, so Oswald’s friends have been helping her bottle-feed the pups.
Oswald plans to keep caring for the furry mastiffs until they are old enough to be sold.
Mysterious philanthropist in Germany - Mysterious philanthropist in Germany, March 1...Individuals from this German town have been left pleasantly befuddled since November by a number of unexpected monetary gifts (who received them?). The generous donor even takes into account German tax law and never leaves more than the maximum nontaxable amount. So far the anonymous benefactor has given away the euro equivalent of £158,000 in a series of donations that started back in November in the Lower Saxony town of Braunschweig.
Sometimes found in mailboxes, other times tucked under doormats and once, as a priest found, left between the pews of a church the cash always comes in unmarked envelopes, and sometimes accompanied with instructions on how it should be spent.
In an indication that the "good Samaritan", as he or she has been dubbed, has knowledge of German tax law, the donations never exceed the maximum non-taxable sum of EUR 10,000.
The first recipient of the Samaritan's generosity was a local who had thousands of euros in cash stolen in a burglary. Since then a soup kitchen, a seriously disabled boy and a museum have been among those to receive an envelope.The philanthropist last struck last week leaving an envelope stuffed with 20 EUR 500 notes under the doormat of a hospice.
"We couldn't believe it at first," Eva Reuleke, a care manager at the hospice, told the DPA news service. "We had just been talking about how great these donations are." Just who the person is has become a subject of widespread debate in the Saxon town. Some talk of a guilt-laden criminal trying to shed ill-gotten gains while others have speculated that the Samaritan is a rich person who has not long to live.
The only clue as to the identity is that he or she reads the Braunschweiger Zeitung, the local newspaper, because many of the donations were made to people written about in the paper.
Robot jellyfish, The underwater world is no longer a safe place to escape the eyes of unmanned military drones. That's because U.S. Navy-funded scientists have developed a jellyfish-inspired robot called 'Robojelly' (video: watch it in action) that's capable of spying on America's enemies from beneath the waves Considering the diversity of the natural world, it's no wonder that biomimicry keeps coming up with amazing designs. The latest is an underwater robot that is based on a jellyfish and makes hydrogen fuel from the water it swims through. "Robojelly" is the work of researchers at Virginia Tech's Bio-inspired Material and Devices Laboratory and the University of Texas at Dalls' Nanotech Institute.
According to the Institute of Physics, the simple propulsion method of the jellyfish is the ideal model for a robot, as it is easy to mimic. The new part is the hydrogen fuel: From the IOP:
The robot is powered by heat-producing chemical reactions between the oxygen and hydrogen, which were injected from fuel tanks, and the platinum on its surface. The heat given off by these reactions is transferred to the artificial muscles of the robot, causing them to transform into different shapes.
Theoretically, Robojelly would never run out of fuel unless the oceans dried up. The next step is to power individual sections of the robot, to be able to control its movement in different directions.
Seen here looking suspiciously like a toilet plunger with no stick, a robotic jellyfish developed by Virginia Tech (not again!) and the University of Texas at Dallas plots its next stinging of an unsuspecting beach goer. "Hey GW -- if you get stung I'd pee on it for you." I know you would. "We should practice." No, we shouldn't.
The "Robojelly" mimic the movement of jellyfish, using a combination of oxygen and hydrogen gases to contract its "muscles," or "nano-platinum catalyst-coated multi-wall carbon nanotube sheets, wrapped on the surface of nickel--titanium shape memory alloy," according to an abstract published in the April issue of Smart Materials and Structures.
"To our knowledge, this is the first successful powering of an underwater robot using external hydrogen as a fuel source," Yonas Tadesse, one of the projects lead researchers, told the BBC.
The concept is that the jellyfish will be able to power itself indefinitely by drawing hydrogen from the water, and will be used in reconnaissance/search-and-rescue missions. Oooooooor taking pictures of mermaids changing out of their seashells.
Hit the jump for a brief video of the thing swimming.
A robotic swimmer that mimics the motion of a jellyfish has been built by researchers in the US. Dubbed "Robojelly", the swimmer propels itself using an "artificial muscle" built in part from carbon nanotubes and powered by hydrogen. Such robots could be used in a number of scientific, military and commercial marine applications, the researchers say. Robojelly has been built by a team led by Yonas Tadesse from Virginia Tech and the University of Texas at Dallas that is claiming "the first successful powering of an underwater robot using external hydrogen as a fuel source". As well as only producing water as a waste product, hydrogen is attractive for remote marine vehicles because, in principle, the fuel could be obtained from seawater using energy from the Sun. Deform and reform At Robojelly's heart is a commercially available nickel-titanium shape-memory alloy (SMA) – a deformable material that returns to its original shape when heated. The SMA is wrapped in a sheet of carbon nanotubes that itself is coated in titanium particles, which catalyse the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. The heat produced as a result of this oxidation then allows the SMA to revert to its original shape. Robojelly uses carbon nanotubes because they are highly porous, which allows the hydrogen and oxygen to reach the catalyst. And apart from being lightweight and very robust, nanotubes also conduct heat well, which is good because heat must be transferred quickly to and from the SMA during operation. The robot has an umbrella-like structure that mimics the propulsion strategy of the common jellyfish Aurelia aurita. The "bell" of the robot is made from silicone and is supported by eight springy steel ribs, with a string running alongside each rib from the edge of the bell to a pulley at the centre. Each string then goes down into a tube that holds the SMA actuator. In one design, all the strings are attached to one central SMA actuator, while in another design there are eight different actuators. One benefit of the latter design is that, in principle, different segments of the bell can be controlled individually. "This should allow the robot to be controlled and moved in different directions," explains Tadesse. Flapping bell To demonstrate Robojelly in action, the team placed it in a tank of water. A fixed amount of hydrogen and oxygen is then introduced to the tube, which warms up the SMA and makes it change shape. As it deforms, the alloy pulls on the strings, causing the bell to flap in one direction. As the SMA cools, the restoring force of the steel ribs makes the bell flap in the opposite direction. According to the team, an entire cycle can occur in less than 10 s. The team measured the deformation of the bell – defined as the distance moved by the edge of the bell divided by the length of its curve – and got a value of about 14%. This is smaller than the 29% achieved when the robot was electrically powered and the 42% that is typical of a living jellyfish. Although the researchers have so far only operated the robot jellyfish clamped at the bottom of a water tank, they are looking at ways of boosting the performance and efficiency of the system. The research is described in Smart Materials and Structures 21 045013 and a video of Robojelly can be viewed below
Jesus on stingray, When most people think of Jesus fish, they might think of fishes and loaves or bumper stickers. Erika Scheldt, 24, got a lot more literal when she photographed a stingray last Friday while playing on the beach at James Island, S.C.
When a dead cownose ray washed up on the beach, Scheldt took a photo of it, fascinated by the strange image on its back that looked vaguely familiar. "I just kind of thought it looked like a bearded homeless man," Scheldt told IslandPacket.com "But when I posted pictures on Instagram, one of my friends was like, 'That's Jesus.' And I was like, 'Oh, my God. You're right.'" Since encountering this ray of hope, she says she and other members of her family have been trying to come up with a name. So far, the top choice is Ray Rey, since "Rey" means "king" in Spanish.
Scheldt, a Catholic who is getting married this summer, doesn't think the ray sighting has any special message, but does see some interesting coincidences.
"I did think it was interesting, with Easter coming up," she told the Post and Courier. "And it's such a beautiful image on such a harmful thing."
Although almighty images have reportedly been seen on Wal-Mart receipts, the side of a cliff and even a fish stick, Jim Underdown of the Center for Inquiry Los Angeles, an organization that works to promote reason and science, says that humans are biologically tuned to put meaning to random patterns.
"There is a word, 'pariedolia,' that means assigning meaning to patterns that are actually just 'noise,'" he told HuffPost Weird News in December. "We are hard-wired to recognize patterns in whatever we do. It has helped us biologically, but it can also be a hindrance."
It's not as famous as Grilled Cheesus or the Nun Bun, but the image a James Island woman found Friday on the back of a dead cownose ray might be one day. "I just kind of thought it looked like a bearded homeless man," said Erica Scheldt, 24. "But when I posted pictures on Instagram, one of my friends was like, 'That's Jesus.' And I was like, 'Oh, my God. You're right.' "
Scheldt and family members have been trying since then to name her find. So far, they've come up with Ray Rey. "Rey" means king in Spanish.
Over the years, images of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, Mother Teresa and Buddha have been spotted on baseballs, lava lamps, cinnamon buns, beehives and grilled cheese sandwiches. Or at least they have in the eyes of some people.
Coincidentally, or maybe not, one of the most recent sightings of Jesus on an inaminate object came on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22, when a man in Espanola, N.M., found Christ on a tortilla.
But as far as it's known, never has such an image appeared here in the Holy City. Until last week.
Scheldt, a graduate student, was swimming Friday at Sullivan's Island while babysitting Gloria Orvin, 5, and one of her friends. Then some men warned her about rays in the water.
When Scheldt and the youngsters exited the ocean, the men showed her a dead ray that had washed ashore.
"They put it back in the water, and it came up again and got beached," she said. "The girls and I were looking at it, and I thought it looked like a homeless man on its back, so I snapped some pictures. It was dead, and I would have taken it with me, but I had no idea how to pick it up."
Cownose rays have a toxin-laden stinger high on the tail, close to the body.
She said others on the beach saw the face, but nobody else identified it as Jesus.
"I feel like if I did notice it and told people who were walking by, they would just think I was kind of weird," she said.
Scheldt, a Catholic who is getting married this summer at Christ our King Catholic Church in Mount Pleasant, said she didn't read anything into it, but she did see some coincidences.
"I did think it was interesting, with Easter coming up," she said. "And it's such a beautiful image on such a harmful thing."
Scheldt also pointed out that she is from Nashville, home of the famous Nun Bun, a cinnamon roll that has a strong resemblance to Mother Teresa.
Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/04/02/2022960/charleston-woman-sees-jesus-on.html#storylink=cpy
How badly I want to snuggle with them: Moderately if the stinger were pointing away from me
Comments: The stingray would normally not be included in this list at all, let alone in the "Very ridiculous" category. But I know a dirty little secret about stingrays. See, stingrays act all mysterious and lethal and shit—but a few years ago, I was in an aquarium and got a view of a stingray from the side…and stingrays are huge nerdsThe image of Jesus Christ has 'appeared' on numerous strange objects (like this, this and this), but a deceased cartilaginous fish has been a hitherto virgin canvas for the Holy Savior's likeness—until now. Erika Scheldt, 24, of Charleston, S.C., says she photographed a dead stingray (what kind?) on the beach, emblazoned with Jesus' bearded face
Mary J Blige Burger King, An ad featuring a leather-clad Mary J. Blige belting out a soul anthem about 'crispy chicken' and 'ranch dressing' has been yanked off the air by Burger King, following criticism that it has 'racist' undertones (find the ad). While critics see the ad's removal as admission of its racism, the restaurant chain says otherwiseFast food restaurants have used R&B and hip-hop to sell products before, and its not stopping anytime soon. As Burger King rolls out its new and improved health-conscious menu, they've tapped singer Mary J. Blige to star in their latest commercial. It begins with a customer walking up to the counter inquiring about the chicken snack wrap, and Blige follows by singing all of the new ingredients over an R&B beat. Do you feel this is a good look for a legend like Mary, or is this a major fail?
The spot premiered this week. In it, Blige sings soulfully about chicken snack wraps. But as the video went viral, some in the black community criticized the ad as stereotypical. The black women-oriented website Madame Noire likened it to "buffoonery." Burger King said Tuesday the commercial was pulled because of a licensing concern. The company said it hopes to have the Blige "ads back on the air soon," though a spokeswoman would not comment on whether they ads would be the same. The spokeswoman also noted that other celebrities, including Salma Hayek and Jay Leno, also are advertising the snack wraps.
A Burger King commercial starring Mary J. Blige — which has been passed around the web faster than you can make a Whopper – was pulled from the Burger King YouTube channel on Wednesday.
The clip, which you can still see on Gawker, features Mary J. obliging those behind Burger King’s new celebrity endorsement marketing strategy by standing on a table and belting out lyrics such as “crispy chicken,” “fresh lettuce” and “ranch dressing” to the tune of her song “Don’t Mind.”Well, someone at the fast-food behemoth clearly did mind, because the offending piece of advertising, which has sparked some to call the diva a sell-out, was swiftly pulled, apparently because of a vague “licensing issue” and not due to viral vitriol.
Even if the King has shunned the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, there is still plenty of celeb-happy content on Burger King’s YouTube channel.
Highlights include employees, male and female, swooning at David Beckham’s (rather wooden) request for a strawberry and banana smoothie, Salma Hayek making an order of “garden salad” sound sexy, and Jay Leno driving around a restaurant in a flashy car.
Chinese bowl 27 million, An extremely rare Chinese porcelain bowl earned nearly $27 million at an auction in Hong Kong. The bowl is said to have been made during the Northern Song Dynasty (how long ago was that?) and was expected to earn around $13 million. The bowl sale sets a new record for a piece of ceramic from that time period An extremely rare Chinese porcelain bowl fetched nearly $27 million on Wednesday, smashing pre-sale estimates by about three times, as Sotheby’s wrapped up its season’s sale in Hong Kong.
The modest-looking imperial ceramic bowl that was made around 900 years ago had been expected to fetch up to HK$80 million, but it was snapped up by an unidentified telephone bidder for HK$208 million ($26.7 million).
The price sets a new record for a piece of ceramic from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), according to Sotheby’s, dwarfing the price for a “Guan” Mallet Vase, which went for HK$67.52 million in 2008.
“The piece is possibly the greatest masterpiece of Song ceramic that we have ever offered in Hong Kong,” Sotheby’s Asia deputy chairman Nicolas Chow said.
“It is a piece of Ruyao, which is probably the most fabled type of Chinese ceramic ever to have been created,” he told reporters.
Eight hopefuls competed for over 15 minutes during intense bidding for the extraordinarily rare flower-shaped bowl, which Chow said drew worldwide bidders but “mostly from Asia”.
“We didn’t know it was going to be such a phenomenon,” he said.
“Ru” ceramics — named after one of five large kilns operating under the Song — are the rarest in China, and it is estimated that only 79 complete pieces remain in the world, most in museums.
The “Ruyao Washer” is the only bowl that features an organic floral shape and an opaque glaze.
The interest and price is testament to the vitality of Asia’s art market, which has witnessed explosive growth over the past decade — despite disappointing sales last year amid a fragile global economic outlook.
Sotheby’s five-day sale of wine, jewellery, ceramics, watches and Chinese art — an event seen as a yardstick of Asian collectors’ sentiment — suggested a rebound in the market.
Sotheby’s raked in HK$468 million on Tuesday from its fine Chinese paintings sale, more than double the forecast, in an auction that it said was dominated by “spirited competition from greater China”.
The star lot was Chinese painter Qi Baishi’s “Willows At The Riverside; Begonias” — a rare pair of gold screens depicting Chinese landscape and flowers that fetched HK$70.1 million, tripling its pre-sale estimates.
The two-day wine sale series over the weekend also beat estimates and achieved a total of HK$63.6 million after all lots were sold, driven by strong demand in the “mature, classic” Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne.
Hong Kong has emerged as one of the biggest auction hubs alongside New York and London, fuelled by China’s economic boom and demand from Asian collectors, especially cash-rich mainland Chinese buyers.
Global art auction sales rose to a record $11.5 billion in 2011, according to France-based market data provider Artprice, with China cementing its spot as the top market with $4.79 billion in sales
Hundreds flocked to a Beijing hotel Saturday for a glimpse of a rare Chinese porcelain bowl made almost 1,000 years ago that is expected to fetch more than $10 million when it goes under the hammer in Hong Kong next month.
But what was initially meant to be a public event was turned into a more private showing for potential buyers as organizers feared a stampede of visitors, after the bowl drew crowds in Shanghai on Wednesday and Thursday.
"An object has rarely generated so much excitement and for security reason we thought it would be preferable for our clients to view it within the confines of a private room," Nicolas Chow, deputy chairman for Sotheby's Asia, told Agence France Presse.
The flower-shaped Ru dish from the Northern Song Dynasty (1086-1125) features six sharp notches on the edge and a subtly translucent matte glaze, and is believed to be the only one of its type in the world, Sotheby's auction house has said.
Chow has called "the superb Northern Song lobed washer from the fabled Ru kilns" ... the "star of the season".
"It is the first time in 30 years Sotheby's has auctioned off a piece of ceramic this rare. I would say this is about the highest degree of rarity you can find."
Of the 79 surviving Ru ware dishes, the "Ruyao Washer" is the only one that features an organic floral shape and an opaque glaze, he said.
It was expected to sell for up HK$80 million ($10.3 million) at Sotheby's spring auction in the southern Chinese city on April 4.
Other pieces to go under the hammer include a large, early 15th-century blue and white dish from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and an Anhua stembowl from the Xuande reign (1426-35) featuring dancing dragon motifs.
More than 380 lots with an estimated worth of more than HK$650 million will be sold at the auction, Sotheby's said.
Hong Kong has emerged as one of the biggest auction centers after New York and London.
Chinese art prices have rocketed in recent years, fuelled by China's economic boom and a steady demand from rich Asian collectors, especially mainland Chinese buyers.
But a Sotheby's auction of imperial Chinese porcelain this time last year sold for less than pre-sale estimates.
After Shanghai and Beijing the bowl is to be shown in Taipei.
"The Taiwanese are probably among the most sophisticated collectors in the field of Chinese art," said Chow. "They'll pick something extraordinary to raise their collections."
A 900-year-old Chinese bowl has sold at an auction for nearly $27 million on Wednesday.
The extremely rare item was only expected to receive a winning bid of about one-third the eventual total during a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong, Associated Foreign Press reports. The purchase by an anonymous bidder breaks the previous record for the most expensive ceramic bowl from the era. Sotheby’s says the bowl is from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and easily tops a 2008 auction on a Guan Mallet Vase from the same era.
“The Ruyao Washer is among the most sophisticated achievements in Chinese ceramics. Its appearance on the market has created enormous excitement,” Sotheby’s Asia deputy chairman Nicolas Chow said.
Earlier estimates had the bowl going for about $10 million.It is said that only 79 complete pieces from the era remain in existence. Eight individuals took part in the 15-minute competitive bidding process, vying for the flower-shaped bowl.
The bowl comes from a private Japanese collection and is “arguably the most desirable piece of Ru official ware remaining in private hands,” according to Sotheby’s.
With China’s booming economy, Hong Kong has become one of the world’s top auction spots, behind New York and London.
Mike Tyson – the man who once bit off part of Evander Holyfield's ear –told Conan O'Brien Mike Tyson Brad Pitt wet noodle, Tuesday that 20 years ago, in the midst of a bitter public breakup with ex-wife Robin Givens (see photos of Givens), he saw her return home one night with Brad Pitt. "I went from a hard stallion to a wet noodle and it just totally overwhelmed me," Tyson said Oh, Brad Pitt. I bet you never knew how close you were to getting beaten to death by a young Mike Tyson in the early 90s, did you? Well, maybe not. Because your leading man jawline was apparently enough to make Tyson go “emotionally comatose,” regress from a “hard stallion to a wet noodle,” and lose any and all willingness to fight.
According to Tyson, who appeared on Conan last night to promote his new one man show in Vegas — which, we’re told, will be full of stunning revelations like this one — he and his ex-wife, Robin Givens, were still intimate following their divorce in 1989. One morning, a young Tyson decided to drive over to her house in search of an AM “romp.”
Givens wasn’t home, so Tyson waited in his car. And when he saw her car pulling up, he was hopeful — until Pitt got out of the car too, and his dreams were dashed. Surprisingly, everyone survived.
It’s no easy feat to emasculate Mike Tyson, but Brad Pitt managed to pull that off.
Tyson, appearing on Conan Tuesday to promote a five-night tell-all show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, explained how the hunky Fight Club star’s good looks served as a knockout punch to his morale some 20 years back.
Tyson told Conan that at the time, he was broken up with ex-wife Robin Givens, though they were still secretly hooking up, despite a fierce war of words in the media.
PHOTOS: Stars Divorced TWICE Before Age 40
One night as he sat in his car, waiting for her to return to her home, she pulled up with the future king of the A-list, whose main claim to fame at the time was his eye candy role in 1991’s Thelma & Louise.
“As I go to my car she drives up ... with the handsome Brad Pitt,” the fighter said, adding the first thought to run through his head was, ‘Aw man I ain’t getting’ no p***y tonight!”’
Ellen DeGeneres meets up with Brad Pitt in the lower ninth ward in New Orleans, La., for an interview airing Tuesday (March 20).
The 48-year-old actor and Ellen discussed the progress of his Make It Right organization, which builds safe, sustainable, and affordable homes for working families.
“I’m getting far too much credit for this. This took a lot of very smart people coming in and attacking the situation. It took the families determined to come back [after Hurricane Katrina] and their resilience and they’re defining what this thing was going to be. I get far too much credit for bringing some really smart people together,” Brad shared.
He also dished that one of his kids with partner Angelina Jolie might have a future in architecture!
Russ Berkman masters ticket, A desperate golf fan forced his pet pooch to be sick and then sifted through her vomit after she ate his entrance tickets for a prestigious tournament. Russ Berkman fed his beloved Swiss mountain dog Sierra with hydrogen peroxide after realising she had devoured the four sought-after passes to Augusta National Golf Club's Masters. He then pieced the scraps of the tickets he had won in a lottery back together so he could still fulfil a life-long dream and take his three friends to watch today's practice round.He told KJR Radio the first thing he did, when realising what exactly had been her tasty treat, was 'panic'. The Seattle resident then called up his girlfriend, who told him the only thing he could do to get the tickets for the Georgia tournament back undigested was: 'Well you gotta make the dog puke.'Feeding her the substance, which is reportedly safe for dogs to drink, she quickly threw up her meal. He added: 'Quite frankly, she didn’t really have much else in her stomach but that, so it worked out.'I grabbed a spatula, put (the vomit) into a Ziploc baggie and brought it inside on my kitchen counter. 'I started, I guess, either a CSI or surgical-type process to figure out what was going to be salvageable, if anything.' Each ticket had been chewed into 20 vomit-covered pieces. But he managed to put them back together. He added: 'We got about 70 per cent of all four tickets put together. It took about, I don’t know - about three cocktails deep [for me] was how long it took to put this thing all together.' Then, when he contacted Augusta National Golf Club to explain the situation, they reprinted his tickets. The 2012 tournament begins tomorrow, and will see Charl Schwartzel defending his title. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are favourites for this year's event.
Russ Berkman was one of the fortunate few who won a lottery to earn four tickets to today's practice round at the Masters. His Swiss mountain dog Sierra, however, ate the tickets, Berkman tells KJR radio, forcing him to induce the dog to vomit. He gave Sierra a mixture of water and hydrogen peroxide (safe for dogs), and sure enough, there was soon barf -- and ticket pieces. Berkman attempted to put back together the tickets, took photos, and called officials to tell them about his plight. Lucky for him, they believed his tale and reissued his tickets.
Russ Berkman was hours away from flying to Augusta, Ga., and professional golf's biggest event, the Masters Tournament (get Masters coverage), when he made a terrifying discovery: His dog had eaten one of his tickets (what breed of dog?). So, like any dutiful golf nut, he did what needed to be done. He made his dog throw up (how?) and reconstructed his ticket.
Kevin Bacon Kyra Sedgwick cousins, New revelations about famous couple Kevin Bacon, 53, and Kyra Sedgwick, 46, are coming to light. According to the PBS show "Finding Your Roots" (watch a clip), the two actors are actually distant cousins (how long have they been married?). The show uses DNA searches to uncover the family origins of celebrities Kevin Bacon and wife Kyra Sedgwick found out that they are distant cousins while filming PBS series "Finding Your Roots."I did this TV show where you learn so much about your family," Sedgwick said on the "Late Show With David Letterman" on Thursday. "I just found out so many things I didn't know." The program, which is hosted and written by Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, uses DNA research to find geological connections to famous Americans. The "Closer" actress told Letterman that she found she was related to Marilyn Monroe, former presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and her husband.
"Tenth cousins once removed," she said. "It was a little upsetting, I'm not going to lie."
Sedgwick and Bacon have been married for 23 years and have two children together - son Travis, 22, and daughter Sosie, 19. The couple, who wed in 1988, has also appeared in several films together.
Sedgwick won an Emmy in 2010 for her role as cop Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT drama series "The Closer," which debuted in 2005 and has featured Bacon as a director. TNT aired the show's seventh season series finale in September 2010.The actress had in December 2010announced she was leaving the series.
Bacon rose to fame with the 1984 musical movie "Footloose" and went on to star in films such as "Apollo 13," "Sleepers" and "Wild Things." His acting career has spurred a "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" trivia game.
Last year, Bacon opened up about the massive financial losses he and Sedgwick suffered as a result of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme and said Sedgwick's regular television job helped the family pull through.
In 2009, Madoff, 73, began serving a 150-year prison sentence for running the $50 billion dollar scam, which marks the biggest investment fraud in U.S. history. Bacon and Sedgwick were among scores of customers who were swindled.
Sedgwick and Bacon's episode of "Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates, Jr." is set to air on April 8 at 8 p.m. ET on PBS, watch a preview and a clip from Kyra Sedgwick's appearance on "Late Show With David Letterman" below.
When Hollywood power couple Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick agreed to have their family's history explored by Finding Your Roots they found out more than they bargained for -- they're cousins!
Genealogist Henry Louis Gates, Jr. led the research on Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, wed for 23 years, for the upcoming television show Finding Your Roots. The 10-part series for PBS is set to launch March 25.
Of the surprising discovery in the Bacon-Sedgwick families the historian explained, "It turns out they share two things -- they both are descendants from people who owned slaves, and they are indeed distant cousins."
"We don't have any prior agreements with anyone [over what could be disclosed] and we just did the stories," Gates added of the show's approach. "We have a team of genealogists. We have different genealogists for different people -- some are more expert on African-Americans, some on Jewish people, some on Ashkenazi-Jewish people, some on Asian people. But whatever we find, we try to boil it down to three or four narrative arcs."
Other famous names shocked by discoveries in their family's past? "Harry Connick, Jr. did not want to know he had Confederate ancestors, I'm sure," shared Gates. "We tell them [stars] and it's a total surprise."
The genealogist continued, "[We discovered] Robert Downey, Jr., two generations back... [there was] a murder in his family. He had no idea. I'm getting him reading the headlines from the New York Times about the murder of these ancestors."
No further word on other famous names expected to appear on the PBS series, though it seems Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick's relation may be the biggest shocker of them all.
Quick with the jokes, Gates concluded, "Talk about six degrees of separation, right?"
“Finding Your Roots,” a new show hosted by PBS, explores the history of notable families through genealogy. And who better to feature than actor Kevin Bacon?
The show brought “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” – a game that links people to the famous actor in only six steps – to a whole new level; revealing that there is more than just a loving bond between Bacon and his wife.
Kyra Sedgwick, who has been married to Bacon for 23 years and is mother of their two children (son Travis, 22, and daughter Sosie, 19) has been linked to her husband as a distant cousin.
Host of the PBS show, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., confirms the DNA connection in a report to Zap2It.com. The married couple “are indeed distant cousins,” reports Gates. “Talk about six degrees of separation, right?”
Happiest country in world, As part of a report for an upcoming United Nations meeting on well-being, a team of scientists has polled citizens from different countries to determine which nations are the happiest and which are the unhappiest.What is happiness? Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, wrote, “Happiness is a warm puppy.” John Lennon had a different take: “Happiness is a warm gun.”
Whatever happiness is to you, there’s some conditions under which it most readily blossoms. You need enough money to acquire a puppy or a gun, and enough free time to exalt in its warmth. You need the peace of mind that Big Brother isn’t about to come around the corner and take your gun (or puppy) away from you. And because fun things are even more fun when shared with others, you’ll be even happier if you have a family that encourages your passion, or at least a local chapter of the NRA or Kennel Club to hang out with.
The World’s Happiest Countries
A few years ago the directors of the Legatum Institute (part of billionaire Christopher Chandler‘s Dubai-based Legatum Group) were thinking about the wealth of nations. “We found ourselves asking two questions,” says spokesman Julian Knapp. “First, why have some nations — given a similar start — become more successful and wealthier than others? And having recognized that life is about more than simple material satisfaction, the second question: why are some nations happier and more satisfied than others?” Indeed why had Ghana and South Korean, having shared similar GDP’s in the 1950s, gone in such different directions, with Korea’s now $39,000 per capita and Ghana’s just $3,000.
After studying 40 years of data and outcomes, they settled on eight areas – the ingredients of prosperity: economy, entrepreneurship, governance, education, health, safety, personal freedom and social capital. Then they looked for reliable data from the likes of the Gallup polling organization that would let them rank countries on their performance in these areas. Add up the scores and you get the Legatum Prosperity Index.
In its recently released 2011 index, billed as an “inquiry into global wealth and well being,” Legatum ranks 110 countries on their overall level of prosperity. These countries comprise 93% of global population and 97% of GDP.
At No. 1 for the third year in a row: Norway. What’s it got that the rest of the world doesn’t? For one thing, a stunning per capita GDP of $54,000 a year. Norwegians have the second-highest level of satisfaction with their standards of living: 95% say they are satisfied with the freedom to choose the direction of their lives; an unparalleled 74% say other people can be trusted.
Cynics say Norway’s ranking is a fluke, that it’s a boring, godless (just 13% go to church), homogeneous place to live, with a massive welfare state bankrolled by high taxes. Without massive offshore reserves of oil and gas that it exports to the world through state-controlled Statoil, Norway’s GDP would be far smaller.
Natural resources help: Australia, which ranks third, is benefitting greatly from selling its coal, iron and natural gas to China. And yet some of the most resource-reliant nations, like Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, are far down the list. There’s clearly more to it than oil and ore. Joining Norway and Australia in the top 10 are their neighbors Denmark, Finland, Sweden and New Zealand. Equally small and civilized Switzerland and the Netherlands are also up there. Rounding out the top 10 is the United States at 10th and Canada (sixth).
What do these nations have in common? They are electoral democracies, for one. People are naturally happier when they feel like they have a say in how their countries are run. They also have abundant civil liberties (consider decriminalized drugs and prostitution in the Netherlands), though if your happiness is a warm gun you’ll be happier in the U.S. than in Europe. There are few restrictions on the flow of capital or of labor. Legatum’s scholars point out that Denmark (No. 2), for example, has little job protection, but generous unemployment benefits. So business owners can keep the right number of workers, while workers can have a safety net while they muck around looking for that fulfilling job.
Legatum’s researchers note that Australia’s rise from fifth in 2009 to third place exemplifies these positive traits. The Aussies have abolished trade protections, freed labor markets, reformed strict immigration laws and become one of the world’s most flexible economies.
Of perhaps utmost importance, nearly all the nations in the top 10 are adept at fostering entrepreneurship and opportunity. Legatum’s researchers concluded that a country’s ranking in this area is the clearest proxy of its overall ranking in the index. This means low business startup costs, lots of cellphones, plenty of secure Internet servers, a history of high R&D spending and the perception that working hard gets you ahead. The U.S. stands out with a fifth-place rank in entrepreneurism and first place in health, thanks to the world’s highest level of health spending, great vaccination levels, clean water, plentiful food and beautiful scenery.
It’s worth noting that there are some countries plagued by autocrats or natural disasters that don’t show up on the list. Burma, Cuba and North Korea don’t allow pollsters in to survey citizens. Other restive countries where sufficient data was unavailable are Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Haiti.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the three years of the Legatum Index is India. Since 2009 it has dropped 13 spots to 91st place. Per capita GDP is low at $3,600. Health care is extremely poor with high malnourishment and infant mortality and low vaccination rates. It lags in education with a literacy rate of 64%. In social capital, India ranks 104th; only 60% say they can rely on family or friends in a time of need. Only 21% find other people trustworthy. Social inequality perpetuated by a caste system means low levels of entrepreneurship and opportunity.
India might well wish it had Europe’s problems. Yet although Europe holds 14 of the top 20 slots in the index, not all is peachy. Ireland and Belgium have sagged two spots in the rankings since 2009; Italy and Greece are down four spots. Citizens in a number of European countries expressed flagging confidence in their governments as parliamentary power over economic decisions has been ceded to Brussels. Legatum’s researchers also noted surprise at a drop in personal freedom rankings in Finland and Sweden, which show slightly less tolerance for immigrants and minorities. Expect worse results for Europe next year.
It’s important to note that prosperity/happiness is not a zero-sum game; every country can improve simultaneously. Legatum notes that during the past three years scores have increased for 87 of 110 countries even if their overall ranking hasn’t risen at all. For instance, the more cell phones and Internet connectivity a country has the more opportunities they have to create networks. According to Legatum’s report, we all get more out of Facebook and Twitter than we realize: “Social networks are an asset that produces economic and wellbeing returns.”
For the most beleaguered countries, every little bit matters. An extra thousand dollars a year of income might not mean a lot to a Norwegian, but in the Central African Republic, where the average person gets by on $2 a day, it’s huge. Happiness there isn’t a puppy or a warm gun, it’s not having to bury your newborn before his first birthday. Click the next page to see the 5 happiest and 5 unhappiest countries.
Canada is the fifth happiest nation, according to the UN’s first-ever World Happiness Report.
The happiest countries in the world are all in Northern Europe: Denmark, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands.
The unhappiest nations were all in Sub-Saharan Africa: Togo, Benin, Central African Republic and Sierra Leone.
Quebecers are the happiest in the country. In the decades following Quebec's Quiet Revolution, they have had "steadily growing life satisfaction compared to residents of the rest of Canada."
According to the report, the world has become “a little happier” in the past three decades as living standards improved. One exception was the United States where life satisfaction hasn’t gotten better.
But it’s not only wealth that makes people content, the report says.
“Political freedom, strong social networks and an absence of corruption are together more important than income in explaining well-being differences between the top and bottom countries.”
Furthermore, “good mental and physical health, someone to count on, job security and stable families are crucial,” for individuals.
Some other report findings include:
• Happier countries tend to be richer countries. But more important for happiness than income are social factors like the strength of social support, the absence of corruption and the degree of personal freedom. • Unemployment causes as much unhappiness as bereavement or separation. At work, job security and good relationships do more for job satisfaction than high pay and convenient hours. • Behaving well makes people happier. • Mental health is the biggest single factor affecting happiness in any country. Yet only a quarter of mentally ill people get treatment for their condition in advanced countries and fewer in poorer countries. • Stable family life and enduring marriages are important for the happiness of parents and children. • In advanced countries, women are happier than men, while the position in poorer countries is mixed. • Happiness is lowest in middle age.
The report was published by the Earth Institute and was commissioned for the UN’s three-day Conference on Happiness, which began Monday. Click here to read the full report.
countries confirms a sneaking suspicion – money does buy you happiness, at least to a large degree. According to researchers, a majority of people spend their waking hours in the pursuit of money, and “it would be surprising if success at this pursuit had no influence whatsoever when people were asked to evaluate their lives.”
Denmark, with a per capita GDP of $36,000 in 2009 is the world’s happiest country. Indeed, a majority of the countries topping the poll have high levels of individual prosperity.
But while income influenced happiness on an overall life satisfaction level, their day to day happiness depended on how well an individual’s psychological and social needs were being met. With its tight knit social networks, Costa Rica ranked as the 6th happiest country in the world, beating richer nations like the United States.
The complete rankings list can be seen here, and the top 20 below.
Justin Bieber buys home, Screaming fans hoping to mob Justin Bieber will have to scale not one but two security gates, as the 18-year-old pop phenom just purchased a gated mansion near Los Angeles (in which affluent suburb?). After shopping around extensively (whose house did he consider buying?), the Biebs reportedly found this gem and even managed to negotiate the price down by about $1.5 million The ‘Boyfriend’ singer isn’t just showing his maturity in his new music. He is also growing up in his personal life now that he’s bought a property. TMZ reports that The Biebs bought a 9,000 square foot mansion in Calabasas, Calif. to the tune of $6 million. The town is about 22 miles outside of Hollywood, in the ‘burbs. The seller wanted around $7.5 million, but it’s a buyer’s market and The Biebs was able to talk him down to around $6 million.
Congrats on your new home, Biebs. Now, the next big question: When is Selena Gomez moving in? Even if she just sleeps over a whole lot, she’ll at least need her own bathroom to keep her toothbrush.
Mary Sue Maurer, the mayor of The Biebs’ new town, is beyond psyched about her city’s new resident, who should be moving in this summer. “Justin is welcomed to Calabasas and his privacy will be respected just like everyone else’s.”
Yeah, tell that to the paparazzi. Even though the home is in a gated community and has security, which made it more attractive to its new owner, those wily paps always find a way in. The Biebs is one of their preferred photographic targets, so he may still be fighting for his privacy. At least the locals will leave him the hell alone!
Teen singer Justin Bieber has officially reached adulthood. In honor of the birthday milestone, Bieber reportedly chose to drop a very grown-up $10.8 million on a modern mansion in L.A, according to the Daily Mail.
The $10 million-plus Hollywood Hills real estate purchase is a relatively small sum for the teen heartthrob; Forbes ranks Bieber number two on the list of Best-Paid Celebrities under 30, earning a reported $53 million in 2011.
Bieber’s new home is not the typical Mediterranean-style mansion popular to the area. Designed by architects Jeffrey and Rochelle Mills of Mills Studio, the home is made up of glass and steel boxes that appear to float above the home’s large pool and patio. With a whopping 9,400-square-feet of living space, the 5-bedroom home has plenty of room for the singer, his girlfriend Selena Gomez as well as his entourage of security and managers.
Bieber made his music debut in 2009 after a manager discovered YouTube videos of the singer. After releasing his first album with relative success, the singer reached international stardom with his song “Baby.”
The home features plenty of celebrity real estate amenities: glass chandeliers, retractable glass walls, gourmet kitchen, gym and massage room.
In keeping with the California lifestyle, the home features several outdoor spaces with enclosed gardens, terraces, and outdoor rooms.
The only thing holding Bieber back from moving in immediately is the previous tenant. As reported earlier, the rumor is that Ashton Kutcher has been renting the home for $50,000 a month.
If the Biebs picked up the home with a traditional mortgage, he can expect a monthly payment of $39,979, assuming a 20 percent down payment on a 30-year-fixed-rate mortgage.
The listing is held by David Findley of Partners Trust Real Estate Brokerage & Acquisitions.
Most 18 year olds would celebrate their steps to adulthood by going on a wild night out in nightclub, buy a kebab on the way home and then throw up on their mother’s carpet. Not Justin Bieber. The teen pop sensation, whose birthday was on 1 March, is treating himself to not one, but TWO mansions in The Los Angeles area and he’s cutting no corners as he looking to spend around $14 million! And isn’t he a good boy – one of the Mansions is for his mummy (ah, that’s so sweet!)According to celebrity gossip sources, the Lonely Girl singer has been house hunting for some time. Two of the properties that caught the barely legal adult’s eyes are in located in Calabasas, CA – the home of the Kardashians, Brittney Spears and some of the Jacksons family members. The sources also leaked out that the two Mansions are priced at $ 6 million and $ 8 million. It’s not the end of the real estate hunt for Bieber as he also got his eye on another property – a bachelor pad in Hollywood. The pimped-out pad, which is being rented by bad boy Ashton Kutcher, is on the market with a hefty price tag of $10 million.
One Direction turn down First lady - Boy band passes on White House invite, The British boy band One Direction has turned down Michelle Obama's invite to the White House's annual Easter Egg Roll. The group met Obama at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. They reportedly had to decline due to scheduling conflicts.
Hot British export One Direction have turned down an invitation to the White House. First Lady Michelle Obama invited the boyband to Monday's annual Easter Egg Roll when she met the gang at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday. But the five-piece - comprised of Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik - have not been able to free up their schedule.
A spokesman for the group, which was formed on the UK version of the X Factor in 2010, told Politico.com they had to decline 'due to prior commitments' and will be in Australia. It was previously reported how Mrs Obama had asked the group to come to the White House after being bowled over by their performance over the weekend at the Los Angeles event.
Ever the charmer, Harry amused the First Lady by asking how they order pizza from the White House. Michelle replied that they make their own. Harry went so far as to call Michelle a 'very attractive older woman.' Michelle in turn was obviously impressed with the British boys, and her daughters Malia, 13, and Sasha, ten, were every bit as excited as their mother, bouncing away alongside her.
Styles – who has dated 32-year-old Xtra Factor host Caroline Flack, said he had ‘too much respect for Barack’ to comment on the First Ladies’ stunning appearance, while Payne happily rated her an 11 out of 10. He said: ‘She’s a very classy woman, very elegant.’ Sadly due to commitments in Australia, One Direction were unable to accept Michelle's invitation.
martin luther king jr assassination anniversary, Wednesday marks the 44th anniversary of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tenn., where he’d gone to support a strike by black sanitation workers. In talking with the strikers, King suggested they were “going beyond purely civil rights questions to questions of human rights” by raising “the economic issue.” People should have the right not only to sit at a lunch counter but also the right to afford a hamburger, he told the audience. More than four decades later, while progress on King’s vision of racial justice is hardly complete, the United States has become a far more racially inclusive society. By contrast, we’ve lost ground on reaching the goal of economic justice, as inequality has reached record heights. Along the way, the American labor movement King traveled to Memphis to support has essentially collapsed, representing just 7 percent private sector workers, compared with more than one-third in the 1950s. Why has the nation advanced on King’s vision of racial equality and moved backward on his goal of economic equality? In part, the different trajectories can be explained by the difference between the laws governing civil rights and labor organizing. Compare the records of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and you see that the former has done little to protect workers while the latter has been quite successful in diminishing discrimination.The Civil Rights Act imposes powerful penalties on employers who discriminate on the basis of race, sex, national origin, or religion. It was updated in 1991 so that remedies for employees would include not only back pay but compensatory and punitive damages up to $300,000. Civil rights laws also allow plaintiffs to get discovery—to compel witness testimony and ask for documents, and give them access to jury trials. And when plaintiffs win in court, defendants have to pay up to double the hourly rate for their attorneys’ fees. The NLRA made it illegal to discriminate against employees for trying to organize a union, because lawmakers recognized that firms should not be allowed to use their power to intimidate workers. But the penalties in the law are weak. An employer who violates it must reinstate fired employees and give them with back pay, but that’s it. The NLRA also doesn’t provide for jury trials and affords little opportunity for discovery. In the end, the law gives businesses a strong incentive to ignore it. As labor lawyer Thomas Geoghegan writes: “An employer who didn’t break the law would have to be what economists call an ‘irrational firm.’ ” It’s time to bolster the NLRA by expanding the Civil Rights Act to add protection for employees seeking to organize a union. Just as it is illegal to fire someone for race or gender or national origin or religion, it should be illegal under this law to fire someone for trying to organize or join a union. Why include protection for labor organizing in a statute that protects people based on characteristics such as race or national origin? Three reasons: First, labor organizing is a basic human right, bound up with the critical democratic right to association. In a democracy, people have a right to join together with others to promote their interests and values. The Civil Rights Act applied the 14th Amendment’s guarantee that the government can’t irrationally discriminate to private sector employers. Adding to it a provision for labor organizing would likewise extend the First Amendment right of to employees in the private sector. Second, organized labor fights for the principle that individuals should be treated with decency, a core value of the civil rights movement. And because African-Americans and Latinos are disproportionately working-class, they have much to gain from a stronger union movement. Third, stronger unions, by protecting employees against arbitrary dismissals in general, can be a shield against the type of racial and gender discrimination that is forbidden by the Civil Rights Act. Most employees currently work “at-will”: they can be fired for “good cause, bad cause, or no cause.” Unions help protect against unfair firings that may be rooted in bias; they also help address employee grievances in the workplace, including complaints about race and sex discrimination. The Civil Rights Act is a national success story. It’s time to broaden its protections to workers who want to join a union.
Today is the 43rd anniversary of the April 4, 1968 assassination of the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, TN.
I wanted to make sure I wrote a post about the anniversary this year because I'm still a little upset at myself that I didn't do one last year. But then again I had a lot on my mind at the time and the winds of change were blowing through my life once again..
But back to talking about this day. Tavis Smiley calls him one of the greatest Americans our people have ever produced. Well, I can think of a few others in that class such as Frederick Douglass, Dr. Dorothy Height and Justice Thurgood Marshall, but I agree he's probably at the top of that short list.
I've had more than a few things to say on this anniversary, and I'll let you read my commentary on this day in prior years.
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There will be speeches by all the presidential hopefuls. The media will say that Obama has an edge because he’s black and ignore the race baiting by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and well the outright racism from the McCain camp. In my daughter’s school there will be a lesson on how thanks to Dr. King the white students and students of color can be in the same classroom and then the ESL students will be taken out of the class and miss important information being taught from 15 year old textbooks.
