Celebrity "gifting" reaps what money can't buy
By Jill Serjeant
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Reuters) - What do you get for the star who apparently has everything?
How about a diamond-encrusted bra and panty set? Or a 22-carat gold leaf and crystal hammer, value $2,500?
These are just some of the goodies being sent to Oscar nominees this year in an explosion of celebrity gifting by companies hoping for the kind of publicity that money can't buy -- a star seen using their phone, wearing their purse or gushing about their coffee machine.
What started out in 1989 as a discreet thank you gift from Oscar organizers to the (unpaid) presenters of the Academy Awards has turned into a multimillion-dollar industry that has spawned a wave of freelance gifting and the arrival of the "gift lounge" at most of Hollywood's movie and music awards ceremonies.
"It's certainly something that the Elizabeth Ardens and Casios and Procter & Gambles of the world have seen and deemed to be so valuable that they do it year after year," said Lash Fary, owner of Los Angeles-based Distinctive Assets.
Fary, whose company has a reputation for "impressing the seemingly unimpressible," said his first gift bag -- for Grammy presenters seven years ago -- was worth $5,000. Companies pay a hefty fee to Fary to have their items included as gifts.
This year his Grammy gift basket was worth about $65,000 including a guitar and a coupon for Lasik eye surgery. His Oscar "loser bag," to be handed out after the March 5 award show to the non-winning Oscar nominated actors, actresses and directors, ranges from the sublime (three days in a private suite at a Las Vegas hotel) to the mundane (a stain removing pen and a tin of breath mints).
"Seven years ago it was a much harder pitch ... (but) our industry has been fueled by pop culture magazines. They need celebrity content," Fary said.
The payback for this year's Victoria's Secret gift to the best actress Oscar nominees -- a $15,000 bra and panty set embellished with a (removable) Chantal Thomass gold and diamond brooch -- is less tangible.
"It may not be something that you will see as obvious on the red carpet but (lingerie) is something that is very close to every woman," said Victoria's Secret spokeswoman Sara Tervo.
"We're not about exploiting exactly what bra and panty some celebrity wears but we do have a lot of celebrities that like our products. For us it is always valuable to have high-profile women that are fans of our brand," Tervo said.
'IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS'
Swag is not always about lavish items like the $22,000 cruise to Antarctica, which was included in the Golden Globes gift basket. One recent gift lounge -- a private room where celebrities are introduced to their swag and its makers -- featured $1,000 worth of Tupperware and a single cup coffee maker.
"When you have everything at your disposal, it's sometimes the little things that mean more," said Fary, who said most celebrities are both genuinely grateful for the gifts and happy to work without charge when they turn up at awards shows.
Some commentators have criticized the ethics of showering already rich stars with free stuff but Fary says they are confusing philanthropy with marketing.
"The only backlash is one of misunderstanding," he said. "It's no worse than Budweiser buying an ad at $1 million for 30 seconds at the Super Bowl."
In a twist to the gifting explosion, the Web site Swagtime.com was launched four months ago to allow non-celebrities get their hands on some of the goodies.
Billed as "what was exclusive is now inclusive," the site tells consumers what was in those celebrity baskets and where they can buy the next big thing. It also auctions gift bags for charity and promotes the smaller businesses pitching their wares to the stars.
Fary sees no sign of the gifting phenomenon ending any time soon. "It's just like taking a bottle of wine to a dinner party. It's just polite. It's never going to go away."
TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES
Moderator: S2k Moderators
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
"Death to Yankees" senator loses US visa
LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - A Bolivian senator, a close ally of President Evo Morales known for her raucous chanting of "Long live coca, Death to the Yankees!," said on Wednesday the United States had canceled her entry visa.
Leonilda Zurita, who is seen as one of the leftist president's closest confidantes, told local media U.S. consular officials had told her she was considered a terrorist, something she dubbed "an offense against Bolivian women."
Zurita, from the region of Chapare -- the focus of U.S.-funded coca eradication programs -- was a prominent figure in the December election that returned Morales, who took power promising to develop his country's coca crop.
Zurita said she realized the visa had been canceled when she tried to travel to Miami to take part in a meeting organized by a Florida university. No one from the U.S. Embassy in La Paz could immediately be reached for comment.
The congresswoman is one of the most prominent advocates of expanding coca production, which has alarmed Washington as it struggles to control flow of its derivative cocaine into the United States.
She said recently: "We need, and we can, develop markets for our coca ... China is particularly important. The Chinese like herbs and they'll like our coca tea."
LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - A Bolivian senator, a close ally of President Evo Morales known for her raucous chanting of "Long live coca, Death to the Yankees!," said on Wednesday the United States had canceled her entry visa.
Leonilda Zurita, who is seen as one of the leftist president's closest confidantes, told local media U.S. consular officials had told her she was considered a terrorist, something she dubbed "an offense against Bolivian women."
Zurita, from the region of Chapare -- the focus of U.S.-funded coca eradication programs -- was a prominent figure in the December election that returned Morales, who took power promising to develop his country's coca crop.
Zurita said she realized the visa had been canceled when she tried to travel to Miami to take part in a meeting organized by a Florida university. No one from the U.S. Embassy in La Paz could immediately be reached for comment.
The congresswoman is one of the most prominent advocates of expanding coca production, which has alarmed Washington as it struggles to control flow of its derivative cocaine into the United States.
She said recently: "We need, and we can, develop markets for our coca ... China is particularly important. The Chinese like herbs and they'll like our coca tea."
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
If you curse at them, they will come?
By Paul Tait
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) - Australia launched a new A$180 million ($133 million) advertising campaign Thursday which seeks to attract international tourists by swearing at them.
"Where the bloody hell are you?" asks the new campaign launched by Australian Tourism Minister Fran Bailey.
Bailey said the campaign will target potential tourists in China, Japan, India, the United States, Germany and Britain and would be rolled out in the next few weeks.
It echoes the hugely successful "Put another shrimp on the barbie" tourism campaign of the 1980s, which featured singlet-wearing comedian Paul Hogan and which lured an estimated 250,000 American tourists to Australia.
The new campaign, which can be seen on Tourism Australia's Web site (http://www.wherethebloodyhellareyou.com), features a series of Australian backdrops.
It begins with characters saying: "We've poured you a beer and we've had the camels shampooed, we've saved you a spot on the beach ... and we've got the sharks out of the pool."
A bikini-clad woman then asks: "So where the bloody hell are you?."
Bailey and Prime Minister John Howard both defended the campaign against complaints about the use of the word "bloody," a mild profanity used to express annoyance.
"It's a colloquialism, it's not a word that is seen quite in the same category as other words that nobody ought to use in public or on the media or in advertisements," Howard said.
"I think the style of the advertisement is anything but offensive but is in fact in context and I think it's a very effective ad," he told reporters in Sydney.
Howard complained last month about the decline of good manners in Australian society, blaming the drop in standards on increasing vulgarity on television.
Bailey said the campaign had been tested in some of Australia's key markets and had been successful, although she gave no details.
"This is presenting Australia as we are. We're plain-speaking, we're friendly. It's using the vernacular," Bailey told reporters.
While the "shrimp on the barbie" campaign attracted thousands of tourists, its crassness caused many Australians to cringe.
It was followed in 1995 by a A$100 million ($74 million) campaign -- then Australia's biggest single marketing and advertising campaign -- which sought to convince the world Australia also had culture.
Bailey said Australia's tourism industry was worth A$73 billion and employed 500,000 Australians.
By Paul Tait
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) - Australia launched a new A$180 million ($133 million) advertising campaign Thursday which seeks to attract international tourists by swearing at them.
"Where the bloody hell are you?" asks the new campaign launched by Australian Tourism Minister Fran Bailey.
Bailey said the campaign will target potential tourists in China, Japan, India, the United States, Germany and Britain and would be rolled out in the next few weeks.
It echoes the hugely successful "Put another shrimp on the barbie" tourism campaign of the 1980s, which featured singlet-wearing comedian Paul Hogan and which lured an estimated 250,000 American tourists to Australia.
The new campaign, which can be seen on Tourism Australia's Web site (http://www.wherethebloodyhellareyou.com), features a series of Australian backdrops.
It begins with characters saying: "We've poured you a beer and we've had the camels shampooed, we've saved you a spot on the beach ... and we've got the sharks out of the pool."
A bikini-clad woman then asks: "So where the bloody hell are you?."
Bailey and Prime Minister John Howard both defended the campaign against complaints about the use of the word "bloody," a mild profanity used to express annoyance.
"It's a colloquialism, it's not a word that is seen quite in the same category as other words that nobody ought to use in public or on the media or in advertisements," Howard said.
"I think the style of the advertisement is anything but offensive but is in fact in context and I think it's a very effective ad," he told reporters in Sydney.
Howard complained last month about the decline of good manners in Australian society, blaming the drop in standards on increasing vulgarity on television.
Bailey said the campaign had been tested in some of Australia's key markets and had been successful, although she gave no details.
"This is presenting Australia as we are. We're plain-speaking, we're friendly. It's using the vernacular," Bailey told reporters.
While the "shrimp on the barbie" campaign attracted thousands of tourists, its crassness caused many Australians to cringe.
It was followed in 1995 by a A$100 million ($74 million) campaign -- then Australia's biggest single marketing and advertising campaign -- which sought to convince the world Australia also had culture.
Bailey said Australia's tourism industry was worth A$73 billion and employed 500,000 Australians.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Fla. Bill Would Give Dogs a Place at Table
By DAVID ROYSE, Associated Press Writer
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Some Florida cities would like to throw a dog a bone — or maybe a burger and some fries. Dogs would be able to sit with humans at outdoor restaurant tables in some communities under a measure advancing in the Florida Legislature.
The bill, approved by a House committee Wednesday, would create a three-year test program to allow cities to grant restaurants that want to host dogs special permission to do so under certain conditions.
Rep. Sheri McInvale, an Orlando Republican, filed the bill after some restaurant owners complained because they were threatened with fines for allowing doggy dining. The city supports the proposal.
"We are getting a renaissance downtown," said Kathy Russell, Orlando's director of government relations. "We've got designer restaurants and designer dogs, and (people) would like to have a designer cup of coffee with their designer dog."
Dogs would only be allowed to dine at outside tables under the plan. No restaurant would be required to let the dogs in, and cities would not be required to offer the variance from the law that normally bars canines. The dogs also would have to be on leashes.
But some say giving Fido a seat at the table raises serious questions. The issue of dog bites may be a concern for individual restaurant owners, McInvale said. The bill would require restaurants to have $1 million worth of liability insurance to be eligible to be exempted from the law.
"Everybody's not a dog person, and some people are afraid of dogs," said Rep. Terry Fields, a Democrat.
Tiffany Hickem, who shuttles her 9-month-old shelty Delaney between her home in Delray Beach and Gainesville where Hickem is a student at the University of Florida, would love to take the puppy to restaurants.
It would mean fewer hours Delaney would have to hang out at home all alone.
"Anytime I can take her out and do something with her, even if it's while I'm doing something, it gives her a chance get a little more socialized," Hickem said.
The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association is against the bill because different restaurants will have to follow different laws depending on what city they're in. The restaurant lobby probably won't howl too loudly about the proposal, though.
"Our membership is somewhat split on this," said the FRLA's general counsel, Richard Turner, who, for the record, has a puppy at home.
The bill has one more committee stop to make before it can go to the full House for a vote. A similar measure is awaiting Senate committee hearings. Some lawmakers still have questions — albeit humorous ones.
"Does it mean if we pass this bill, it would eliminate doggy bags?" asked Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami.
By DAVID ROYSE, Associated Press Writer
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Some Florida cities would like to throw a dog a bone — or maybe a burger and some fries. Dogs would be able to sit with humans at outdoor restaurant tables in some communities under a measure advancing in the Florida Legislature.
The bill, approved by a House committee Wednesday, would create a three-year test program to allow cities to grant restaurants that want to host dogs special permission to do so under certain conditions.
Rep. Sheri McInvale, an Orlando Republican, filed the bill after some restaurant owners complained because they were threatened with fines for allowing doggy dining. The city supports the proposal.
"We are getting a renaissance downtown," said Kathy Russell, Orlando's director of government relations. "We've got designer restaurants and designer dogs, and (people) would like to have a designer cup of coffee with their designer dog."
Dogs would only be allowed to dine at outside tables under the plan. No restaurant would be required to let the dogs in, and cities would not be required to offer the variance from the law that normally bars canines. The dogs also would have to be on leashes.
But some say giving Fido a seat at the table raises serious questions. The issue of dog bites may be a concern for individual restaurant owners, McInvale said. The bill would require restaurants to have $1 million worth of liability insurance to be eligible to be exempted from the law.
"Everybody's not a dog person, and some people are afraid of dogs," said Rep. Terry Fields, a Democrat.
Tiffany Hickem, who shuttles her 9-month-old shelty Delaney between her home in Delray Beach and Gainesville where Hickem is a student at the University of Florida, would love to take the puppy to restaurants.
It would mean fewer hours Delaney would have to hang out at home all alone.
"Anytime I can take her out and do something with her, even if it's while I'm doing something, it gives her a chance get a little more socialized," Hickem said.
The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association is against the bill because different restaurants will have to follow different laws depending on what city they're in. The restaurant lobby probably won't howl too loudly about the proposal, though.
"Our membership is somewhat split on this," said the FRLA's general counsel, Richard Turner, who, for the record, has a puppy at home.
The bill has one more committee stop to make before it can go to the full House for a vote. A similar measure is awaiting Senate committee hearings. Some lawmakers still have questions — albeit humorous ones.
"Does it mean if we pass this bill, it would eliminate doggy bags?" asked Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Unlikely dog tale tops U.S. best-seller list
By Jon Hurdle
PHILADELPHIA, Penn. (Reuters) - The tale of a rambunctious puppy is proving its staying power in the dog-eat-dog world of U.S. best-sellers.
With more than 1 million copies in print, "Marley and Me -- Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog" has struck a chord with dog lovers who are laughing and crying over author John Grogan's account of his yellow Labrador retriever.
The story is more than a recounting of Marley's antics that include chewing through doors, expulsion from obedience school, clawing paint off concrete walls, devouring furniture, swallowing valuable jewelry and swooning over soiled diapers.
The excitable, good-natured lab also knows how to protect the family's tiny children and consoles the couple when they grieve over a miscarriage.
The nonfiction book has been on The New York Times bestseller list for 17 weeks. It seems likely to break the barrier of a million copies sold, a feat generally accomplished by no more than a dozen books each year in the U.S. hardcover non-fiction market.
"It's really not just a dog book," Grogan said in an interview with Reuters.
"Before Marley, our life was about career, relationship, and ourselves," said Grogan, a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. "He helped us shift from an egocentric life to something more generous."
In the book, Grogan wrote: "Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things -- a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in the shaft of winter sunlight.
"And as he grew old and achy, he taught he about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty."
Grogan said he realized the appeal of Marley's story after the 13-year-old dog died in 2003, and he wrote about the experience in his newspaper column.
The column evoked responses from some 800 readers, 20 times the volume of mail his columns usually generated.
Readers now post their own "world's worst dog" stories on his Web site. At his book signings, some people bring their dogs, some seek his advice but most just want to share their dog stories, he said.
Grogan's publisher Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins, set an initial print run of 50,000 copies. But as sales took off, it has gone back to the press for 24 runs, with 1.17 million copies in print as of February 22.
Fox 2000 has bought the movie rights to the book and plans to put it on a fast-track production schedule, a Morrow spokesman said.
Bob Wietrak, vice president of merchandising for the Barnes & Noble chain of bookstores, said the book's success was due to its focus on broader human themes. "It's about the human condition, it's about relationships, it's about family."
By Jon Hurdle
PHILADELPHIA, Penn. (Reuters) - The tale of a rambunctious puppy is proving its staying power in the dog-eat-dog world of U.S. best-sellers.
With more than 1 million copies in print, "Marley and Me -- Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog" has struck a chord with dog lovers who are laughing and crying over author John Grogan's account of his yellow Labrador retriever.
The story is more than a recounting of Marley's antics that include chewing through doors, expulsion from obedience school, clawing paint off concrete walls, devouring furniture, swallowing valuable jewelry and swooning over soiled diapers.
The excitable, good-natured lab also knows how to protect the family's tiny children and consoles the couple when they grieve over a miscarriage.
The nonfiction book has been on The New York Times bestseller list for 17 weeks. It seems likely to break the barrier of a million copies sold, a feat generally accomplished by no more than a dozen books each year in the U.S. hardcover non-fiction market.
"It's really not just a dog book," Grogan said in an interview with Reuters.
"Before Marley, our life was about career, relationship, and ourselves," said Grogan, a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. "He helped us shift from an egocentric life to something more generous."
In the book, Grogan wrote: "Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things -- a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in the shaft of winter sunlight.
"And as he grew old and achy, he taught he about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty."
Grogan said he realized the appeal of Marley's story after the 13-year-old dog died in 2003, and he wrote about the experience in his newspaper column.
The column evoked responses from some 800 readers, 20 times the volume of mail his columns usually generated.
Readers now post their own "world's worst dog" stories on his Web site. At his book signings, some people bring their dogs, some seek his advice but most just want to share their dog stories, he said.
Grogan's publisher Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins, set an initial print run of 50,000 copies. But as sales took off, it has gone back to the press for 24 runs, with 1.17 million copies in print as of February 22.
Fox 2000 has bought the movie rights to the book and plans to put it on a fast-track production schedule, a Morrow spokesman said.
Bob Wietrak, vice president of merchandising for the Barnes & Noble chain of bookstores, said the book's success was due to its focus on broader human themes. "It's about the human condition, it's about relationships, it's about family."
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Brazil bishops say go easy on Carnival sex, booze
BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil's Roman Catholic Church urged revelers on Thursday to abstain from reckless sex, too much alcohol and violence during the country's Carnival celebrations.
"We are not against people having fun but caution them against hurting others or abandoning good customs," said Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo, head of the National Conference of Brazil Bishops.
Carnival begins across Brazil, the largest Catholic country in the world, this weekend and crowds of people indulge in a frenzy of drinking, dancing and often licentious behavior.
Although the pre-Lenten festival has its roots in Christian tradition, it provides an annual headache for the church.
Agnelo told reporters "Carnival is not intrinsically bad" but said the use of condoms and "day-after pills" were incentives for promiscuous behavior.
The government will hand out 25 million free condoms to promote safe sex during the several days of parties, revelry and parades. In northeastern Salvador, health officials will provide "next-day pills," Correio da Bahia newspaper reported.
"We don't want a stand-off with the government but the question is whether this is good for society, for Carnival," said Odilo Pedro Scherer, conference secretary-general.
The Rio de Janeiro archdiocese this week barred Mocidade Carnival samba troupe from taking a float with a statue of the Virgin to the Sambadrome parade strip, saying that the use of sacred images in a profane festival may offend Catholics.
The group, one of 14 competing for the champion's title with lavish floats and thousands of bright costumes in Brazil's most famous Carnival, said it will abide and probably cover the statue with a veil.
BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil's Roman Catholic Church urged revelers on Thursday to abstain from reckless sex, too much alcohol and violence during the country's Carnival celebrations.
"We are not against people having fun but caution them against hurting others or abandoning good customs," said Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo, head of the National Conference of Brazil Bishops.
Carnival begins across Brazil, the largest Catholic country in the world, this weekend and crowds of people indulge in a frenzy of drinking, dancing and often licentious behavior.
Although the pre-Lenten festival has its roots in Christian tradition, it provides an annual headache for the church.
Agnelo told reporters "Carnival is not intrinsically bad" but said the use of condoms and "day-after pills" were incentives for promiscuous behavior.
The government will hand out 25 million free condoms to promote safe sex during the several days of parties, revelry and parades. In northeastern Salvador, health officials will provide "next-day pills," Correio da Bahia newspaper reported.
"We don't want a stand-off with the government but the question is whether this is good for society, for Carnival," said Odilo Pedro Scherer, conference secretary-general.
The Rio de Janeiro archdiocese this week barred Mocidade Carnival samba troupe from taking a float with a statue of the Virgin to the Sambadrome parade strip, saying that the use of sacred images in a profane festival may offend Catholics.
The group, one of 14 competing for the champion's title with lavish floats and thousands of bright costumes in Brazil's most famous Carnival, said it will abide and probably cover the statue with a veil.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Four charged in human-tissue theft ring
By Scott Malone
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York authorities on Thursday charged four men with illegally harvesting and selling tissue from 1,077 dead people in the past four years, possibly including the remains of British broadcaster Alistair Cooke.
The men, including the chief executive of a company that sold human tissue for medical implants, were indicted on charges including conspiracy, unlawful dissection and forgery.
Prosecutors said the men, working with a Brooklyn funeral home, got bones and organs from the bodies of people who were not organ donors. The tissue was then sold via legitimate medical channels for use in procedures like hip replacements.
Many of the deceased would have been ineligible as donors due to illness or age, including Cooke, a longtime host of the U.S. TV program "Masterpiece Theater" and known for his Letter from America BBC broadcasts, who died in 2004.
During a 15-month investigation which included the exhumation of six bodies, authorities discovered that after removing bones, the men had replaced them with plastic pipes to maintain an intact appearance. In some cases, they also left gloves, aprons and other things in the bodies.
"Bones and tissues were removed from the bodies and replaced by pipes," Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes told a news conference the removed parts were sold throughout the country for use in medical procedures.
What was particularly disturbing was that "no medical precautions were taken to ensure that these tissue transplants were free from disease or defect," he said.
Hynes said it was unclear if any of the tissue had actually been implanted in patients.
The indictment named former dentist Michael Mastromarino, funeral home operator Joseph Nicelli, as well as Lee Crucetta and Christopher Aldorasi as participating in the scheme. The most serious charge on the 122-count indictment, of enterprise corruption, carried a possible 25-year sentence.
Attorneys for the four men could not be reached for comment.
Hynes said the group obtained bodies through a Brooklyn funeral home, Daniel George & Sons. Death certificates and consent forms were forged to make it appear the deceased wanted to donate their bodies and that they were eligible to do so.
"Invariably, the detectives (investigating the case) found the deceased were made younger and healthier on paper," said Ray Kelly, New York's police commissioner.
For Cooke, who died at 95 from cancer, the men altered documents to show he died at 85 of a heart attack, Hynes said.
The tissues were sold by Mastromarino's Fort Lee, New Jersey-based company, Biomedical Tissue Services Ltd., which was ordered to cease operations last month by the Food and Drug Administration. At least three companies that bought materials from Biomedical Tissue Services have issued recall notices of some of their products in recent months.
Hynes said the four men made at least $2 million through the scheme.
Transplanting of tissues such as muscle, skin and bone is common in the United States and the trade in implantable body parts is legal, providing that certain conditions are met.
By Scott Malone
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York authorities on Thursday charged four men with illegally harvesting and selling tissue from 1,077 dead people in the past four years, possibly including the remains of British broadcaster Alistair Cooke.
The men, including the chief executive of a company that sold human tissue for medical implants, were indicted on charges including conspiracy, unlawful dissection and forgery.
Prosecutors said the men, working with a Brooklyn funeral home, got bones and organs from the bodies of people who were not organ donors. The tissue was then sold via legitimate medical channels for use in procedures like hip replacements.
Many of the deceased would have been ineligible as donors due to illness or age, including Cooke, a longtime host of the U.S. TV program "Masterpiece Theater" and known for his Letter from America BBC broadcasts, who died in 2004.
During a 15-month investigation which included the exhumation of six bodies, authorities discovered that after removing bones, the men had replaced them with plastic pipes to maintain an intact appearance. In some cases, they also left gloves, aprons and other things in the bodies.
"Bones and tissues were removed from the bodies and replaced by pipes," Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes told a news conference the removed parts were sold throughout the country for use in medical procedures.
What was particularly disturbing was that "no medical precautions were taken to ensure that these tissue transplants were free from disease or defect," he said.
Hynes said it was unclear if any of the tissue had actually been implanted in patients.
The indictment named former dentist Michael Mastromarino, funeral home operator Joseph Nicelli, as well as Lee Crucetta and Christopher Aldorasi as participating in the scheme. The most serious charge on the 122-count indictment, of enterprise corruption, carried a possible 25-year sentence.
Attorneys for the four men could not be reached for comment.
Hynes said the group obtained bodies through a Brooklyn funeral home, Daniel George & Sons. Death certificates and consent forms were forged to make it appear the deceased wanted to donate their bodies and that they were eligible to do so.
"Invariably, the detectives (investigating the case) found the deceased were made younger and healthier on paper," said Ray Kelly, New York's police commissioner.
For Cooke, who died at 95 from cancer, the men altered documents to show he died at 85 of a heart attack, Hynes said.
The tissues were sold by Mastromarino's Fort Lee, New Jersey-based company, Biomedical Tissue Services Ltd., which was ordered to cease operations last month by the Food and Drug Administration. At least three companies that bought materials from Biomedical Tissue Services have issued recall notices of some of their products in recent months.
Hynes said the four men made at least $2 million through the scheme.
Transplanting of tissues such as muscle, skin and bone is common in the United States and the trade in implantable body parts is legal, providing that certain conditions are met.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Japan's blondes vanish as women turn to dark side
By Isabel Reynolds
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) - It's a case of the vanishing blondes.
Ten years ago, a stroll through central Tokyo could leave travelers wondering what country they were in as they watched a parade of tanned, fair-haired women walking tall in precarious platform shoes.
Now fashion has moved on and hairdressers say bleached blonde tresses are going the way of fake tans, although a dark brown tint still seems more popular than natural black.
The only fair-haired women to be seen on the covers of Japanese fashion magazines nowadays are foreign models.
Even Ayumi Hamasaki, the Japanese pop world's answer to Madonna, has dyed her trademark platinum locks sleek black to stay ahead of the curve.
"What's seen as attractive now is to look well groomed and cute," said hairdresser Yuko Shimizu of the afloat-f salon in Tokyo's trendy Aoyama district. "People want natural-looking shiny hair, whereas dyeing it blonde tends to damage it."
Neighboring countries are providing inspiration, with popular actresses Zhang Ziyi of China and Choi Ji-woo of South Korea often seen showing off their glossy dark hair in TV commercials that emphasize their Asian identity.
Japanese women of a certain age have long tinted their tresses to cover the grey.
Light-colored hair was popular because it was believed to make the face appear brighter and to be easier to coordinate with Western-style fashions, hairdressers say.
Admiration for European hair made even mousy brown tones a more desirable option than black, while younger Japanese of both sexes sought to express individuality with a palette of colors.
While brassy blonde is out, hairdressers say few fashion-conscious Japanese women are prepared to go completely natural, since many feel poker-straight black hair is unflattering.
"Black hair simply doesn't suit Japanese women any more, because their complexions are fairer than they used to be," said Kenichi Uehara, a veteran stylist at the Double salon in Harajuku, an area popular with young people.
"Magazines put forward the idea of black hair, but women aren't actually taking it up," he added. "The idea is to find a color that's not too light but not too dark."
By Isabel Reynolds
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) - It's a case of the vanishing blondes.
Ten years ago, a stroll through central Tokyo could leave travelers wondering what country they were in as they watched a parade of tanned, fair-haired women walking tall in precarious platform shoes.
Now fashion has moved on and hairdressers say bleached blonde tresses are going the way of fake tans, although a dark brown tint still seems more popular than natural black.
The only fair-haired women to be seen on the covers of Japanese fashion magazines nowadays are foreign models.
Even Ayumi Hamasaki, the Japanese pop world's answer to Madonna, has dyed her trademark platinum locks sleek black to stay ahead of the curve.
"What's seen as attractive now is to look well groomed and cute," said hairdresser Yuko Shimizu of the afloat-f salon in Tokyo's trendy Aoyama district. "People want natural-looking shiny hair, whereas dyeing it blonde tends to damage it."
Neighboring countries are providing inspiration, with popular actresses Zhang Ziyi of China and Choi Ji-woo of South Korea often seen showing off their glossy dark hair in TV commercials that emphasize their Asian identity.
Japanese women of a certain age have long tinted their tresses to cover the grey.
Light-colored hair was popular because it was believed to make the face appear brighter and to be easier to coordinate with Western-style fashions, hairdressers say.
Admiration for European hair made even mousy brown tones a more desirable option than black, while younger Japanese of both sexes sought to express individuality with a palette of colors.
While brassy blonde is out, hairdressers say few fashion-conscious Japanese women are prepared to go completely natural, since many feel poker-straight black hair is unflattering.
"Black hair simply doesn't suit Japanese women any more, because their complexions are fairer than they used to be," said Kenichi Uehara, a veteran stylist at the Double salon in Harajuku, an area popular with young people.
"Magazines put forward the idea of black hair, but women aren't actually taking it up," he added. "The idea is to find a color that's not too light but not too dark."
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Man indicted for showing how to make firebomb
By Marty Graham
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Reuters) - A radical environmental activist has been indicted by a federal grand jury for demonstrating how to build a firebomb in a speech just 15 hours after a fire that his group claimed responsibility for destroyed a large apartment complex being built nearby.
Rodney Adam Coronado, a 39-year-old member of the Earth Liberation Front, was indicted on a charge of giving instructions on how to build a destructive device, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. The indictment was unsealed on Wednesday.
The law under which he was charged has been used just four other times since it was enacted in 1997, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Shane Harrigan. The law makes it illegal to tell others how to build destructive devices with the intent of having them commit crimes.
"In the speech, Coronado mentioned the fire that had just occurred," Harrigan said. "We have to prove his intent was to have others go out and commit arson."
No one has been charged in the August 1, 2003, early morning fire that did about $50 million in damage to the complex being built in University Town Center, a high technology and business center near the University of California San Diego.
Authorities say the case is still under investigation.
The Earth Liberation Front took responsibility for the fire, leaving a banner at the site and sending an e-mail to a local newspaper.
Coronado has told reporters he showed people how to build a firebomb, which he used to destroy an animal testing facility in Michigan in 1992. He served four years in prison for that arson.
He is in federal custody in Tucson, Arizona, awaiting sentencing after being convicted of going into a public recreation area to disrupt efforts to trap and move mountain lions there.
Three people who attended Coronado's speech were jailed for refusing to testify before the grand jury about the content of the speech. All have been released.
By Marty Graham
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Reuters) - A radical environmental activist has been indicted by a federal grand jury for demonstrating how to build a firebomb in a speech just 15 hours after a fire that his group claimed responsibility for destroyed a large apartment complex being built nearby.
Rodney Adam Coronado, a 39-year-old member of the Earth Liberation Front, was indicted on a charge of giving instructions on how to build a destructive device, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. The indictment was unsealed on Wednesday.
The law under which he was charged has been used just four other times since it was enacted in 1997, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Shane Harrigan. The law makes it illegal to tell others how to build destructive devices with the intent of having them commit crimes.
"In the speech, Coronado mentioned the fire that had just occurred," Harrigan said. "We have to prove his intent was to have others go out and commit arson."
No one has been charged in the August 1, 2003, early morning fire that did about $50 million in damage to the complex being built in University Town Center, a high technology and business center near the University of California San Diego.
Authorities say the case is still under investigation.
The Earth Liberation Front took responsibility for the fire, leaving a banner at the site and sending an e-mail to a local newspaper.
Coronado has told reporters he showed people how to build a firebomb, which he used to destroy an animal testing facility in Michigan in 1992. He served four years in prison for that arson.
He is in federal custody in Tucson, Arizona, awaiting sentencing after being convicted of going into a public recreation area to disrupt efforts to trap and move mountain lions there.
Three people who attended Coronado's speech were jailed for refusing to testify before the grand jury about the content of the speech. All have been released.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Early beaver-like mammal swam with the dinosaurs
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A creature that looked like a beaver, right down to its flat paddle-like tail and webbed feet, lived 164 million years ago alongside dinosaurs, U.S. and Chinese researchers reported on Thursday.
It might not have gnawed trees as modern beavers do -- its teeth suggest it ate fish -- but the little animal had fur and even the inner ear structure of a mammal, they report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
Thomas Martin of the Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg in Frankfurt, Germany, said the finding showed mammals had conquered the water 100 million years earlier than anyone thought.
"This exciting fossil is a further jigsaw-puzzle piece in a series of recent discoveries, demonstrating that the diversity and early evolutionary history of mammals were much more complex than perceived less than a decade ago," Martin wrote in a commentary.
The fossil was found in the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation in China, a deposit rich in the fossils of dinosaurs, early insects and other creatures. It dates to 164 million years ago.
Qiang Ji and colleagues at Nanjing University in China and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh said the animal, which they named Castorocauda lutrasimilis, would have weighed just 500 grams (18 ounces).
"It is the most primitive taxon in the mammalian lineage known to have fur and has a broad, flattened, partly scaly tail analogous to that of modern beavers," they wrote.
They found remnants of fur, scales on the tail and, in between the back toes, webbing.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A creature that looked like a beaver, right down to its flat paddle-like tail and webbed feet, lived 164 million years ago alongside dinosaurs, U.S. and Chinese researchers reported on Thursday.
It might not have gnawed trees as modern beavers do -- its teeth suggest it ate fish -- but the little animal had fur and even the inner ear structure of a mammal, they report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
Thomas Martin of the Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg in Frankfurt, Germany, said the finding showed mammals had conquered the water 100 million years earlier than anyone thought.
"This exciting fossil is a further jigsaw-puzzle piece in a series of recent discoveries, demonstrating that the diversity and early evolutionary history of mammals were much more complex than perceived less than a decade ago," Martin wrote in a commentary.
The fossil was found in the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation in China, a deposit rich in the fossils of dinosaurs, early insects and other creatures. It dates to 164 million years ago.
Qiang Ji and colleagues at Nanjing University in China and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh said the animal, which they named Castorocauda lutrasimilis, would have weighed just 500 grams (18 ounces).
"It is the most primitive taxon in the mammalian lineage known to have fur and has a broad, flattened, partly scaly tail analogous to that of modern beavers," they wrote.
They found remnants of fur, scales on the tail and, in between the back toes, webbing.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Ill. Governor Confused by 'Daily Show' Bit
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (AP) - Gov. Rod Blagojevich wasn't in on the joke. Blagojevich says he didn't realize "The Daily Show" was a comedy spoof of the news when he sat down for an interview that ended up poking fun at the sometimes-puzzled Democratic governor.
"It was going to be an interview on contraceptives ... that's all I knew about it," Blagojevich laughingly told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in a story for Thursday's editions. "I had no idea I was going to be asked if I was 'the gay governor.'"
The interview focused on his executive order requiring pharmacies to fill prescriptions for emergency birth control.
Interviewer Jason Jones pretended to stumble over Blagojevich's name before calling him "Governor Smith." He urged Blagojevich to explain the contraception issue by playing the role of "a hot 17-year-old" and later asked if he was "the gay governor."
At one point in the interview, a startled Blagojevich looked to someone off camera and said, "Is he teasing me, or is that legit?"
The segment, which aired two weeks ago, also featured Illinois Republican Rep. Ron Stephens, a pharmacist who opposes the governor's rule. Stephens has said he knew the show was a comedy.
"I thought the governor was hip enough that he would have known that, too," Stephens said.
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (AP) - Gov. Rod Blagojevich wasn't in on the joke. Blagojevich says he didn't realize "The Daily Show" was a comedy spoof of the news when he sat down for an interview that ended up poking fun at the sometimes-puzzled Democratic governor.
"It was going to be an interview on contraceptives ... that's all I knew about it," Blagojevich laughingly told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in a story for Thursday's editions. "I had no idea I was going to be asked if I was 'the gay governor.'"
The interview focused on his executive order requiring pharmacies to fill prescriptions for emergency birth control.
Interviewer Jason Jones pretended to stumble over Blagojevich's name before calling him "Governor Smith." He urged Blagojevich to explain the contraception issue by playing the role of "a hot 17-year-old" and later asked if he was "the gay governor."
At one point in the interview, a startled Blagojevich looked to someone off camera and said, "Is he teasing me, or is that legit?"
The segment, which aired two weeks ago, also featured Illinois Republican Rep. Ron Stephens, a pharmacist who opposes the governor's rule. Stephens has said he knew the show was a comedy.
"I thought the governor was hip enough that he would have known that, too," Stephens said.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Zoo Puts Giraffe on Birth Control
JERUSALEM (AP) - Vets at the Biblical Zoo have a tall order — stopping a baby boom among giraffes.
After the giraffe population tripled to nine in recent years, outgrowing the zoo on the edge of Jerusalem, the most fertile female — Shavit — has been put on birth control. The 5-year-old has been injected with birth control hormones, delivered by dart, after giving birth twice in four years.
Zoo spokeswoman Sigalit Dzir said Thursday that while the babies are cute and female giraffes make good mothers, there isn't enough room for more. Zoo keepers are also worried about inbreeding.
The zoo recently moved two giraffes to a zoo in Singapore, but American and European zoos don't want animals from Israel because of the risk of foot-and-mouth disease, Dzir said, adding that it's also difficult to transport giraffes overseas.
Shavit has received an injection of hormones that will prevent her from getting pregnant for at least a year. During the year, Shavit will be monitored, and the Biblical Zoo will share its information with other zoos around the world, including those in Berlin and San Diego.
Other zoos also administer birth control, but dart delivery is unique, said Dr. Nili Avnimagen, the zoo's head vet.
JERUSALEM (AP) - Vets at the Biblical Zoo have a tall order — stopping a baby boom among giraffes.
After the giraffe population tripled to nine in recent years, outgrowing the zoo on the edge of Jerusalem, the most fertile female — Shavit — has been put on birth control. The 5-year-old has been injected with birth control hormones, delivered by dart, after giving birth twice in four years.
Zoo spokeswoman Sigalit Dzir said Thursday that while the babies are cute and female giraffes make good mothers, there isn't enough room for more. Zoo keepers are also worried about inbreeding.
The zoo recently moved two giraffes to a zoo in Singapore, but American and European zoos don't want animals from Israel because of the risk of foot-and-mouth disease, Dzir said, adding that it's also difficult to transport giraffes overseas.
Shavit has received an injection of hormones that will prevent her from getting pregnant for at least a year. During the year, Shavit will be monitored, and the Biblical Zoo will share its information with other zoos around the world, including those in Berlin and San Diego.
Other zoos also administer birth control, but dart delivery is unique, said Dr. Nili Avnimagen, the zoo's head vet.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Fugitive Python Found by Plumbing 'Snake'
By The Associated Press
REXBURG, Idaho - Bessy the Burmese python is recovering in an animal shelter after spending two weeks dodging searchers and an infrared camera in a 57,000-square-foot apartment complex.
The 8-foot-snake's hiding spot was found Tuesday by another "snake" — a 100-foot-long device with a camera on the end normally used to locate plumbing problems in hard-to-reach places.
"It's the most interesting plumbing job I've had so far," said Kip Salas of Advanced Plumbing, who discovered Bessy in the bathroom ceiling after a three-hour search of the southeastern Idaho apartment below the unit from which she escaped.
"I'm just glad she's alive and not hurt too badly," Chelsea Stanford, the python's owner, told the Post Register.
After finding the snake, Stanford and animal control officers tried to lure her out with a white rat snack without success. So they lassoed Bessy with a steel collar and dragged her from the hole in the ceiling. Bessy received some scratches during her ordeal — and an eviction notice.
"We're going to let it eat, then it's leaving the building forever," said Kevin Kennedy, the apartment owner, who wanted the snake out of the complex dead or alive.
Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia and some islands in the East Indies. They can grow to 20 feet, weigh up to 200 pounds, and live about 25 years. Not venomous, pythons wrap their bodies around small animals to suffocate them before eating them whole.
Bessy went missing two weeks ago after apparently escaping through a hole in a bathroom wall. Stanford put up notices around the complex about the missing python, which caused some residents to refuse to spend the night in their apartments.
"We weren't too nervous but we'll definitely sleep better," said resident Ben Brown after Bessy's capture. "As long as there aren't any rattling noises in the walls."
By The Associated Press
REXBURG, Idaho - Bessy the Burmese python is recovering in an animal shelter after spending two weeks dodging searchers and an infrared camera in a 57,000-square-foot apartment complex.
The 8-foot-snake's hiding spot was found Tuesday by another "snake" — a 100-foot-long device with a camera on the end normally used to locate plumbing problems in hard-to-reach places.
"It's the most interesting plumbing job I've had so far," said Kip Salas of Advanced Plumbing, who discovered Bessy in the bathroom ceiling after a three-hour search of the southeastern Idaho apartment below the unit from which she escaped.
"I'm just glad she's alive and not hurt too badly," Chelsea Stanford, the python's owner, told the Post Register.
After finding the snake, Stanford and animal control officers tried to lure her out with a white rat snack without success. So they lassoed Bessy with a steel collar and dragged her from the hole in the ceiling. Bessy received some scratches during her ordeal — and an eviction notice.
"We're going to let it eat, then it's leaving the building forever," said Kevin Kennedy, the apartment owner, who wanted the snake out of the complex dead or alive.
Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia and some islands in the East Indies. They can grow to 20 feet, weigh up to 200 pounds, and live about 25 years. Not venomous, pythons wrap their bodies around small animals to suffocate them before eating them whole.
Bessy went missing two weeks ago after apparently escaping through a hole in a bathroom wall. Stanford put up notices around the complex about the missing python, which caused some residents to refuse to spend the night in their apartments.
"We weren't too nervous but we'll definitely sleep better," said resident Ben Brown after Bessy's capture. "As long as there aren't any rattling noises in the walls."
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
150 Vie for Wild Turkey Calling Title
By KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) - Gobbles, clucks and coos spill out of the grand ballrooms, but there are no live turkeys on the floor of the Opryland Convention Center. Instead, about 150 men, women and children are doing their best imitations at the championship of turkey calling, the annual Grand National Wild Turkey Calling championships.
The National Wild Turkey Federation Convention that began this week brings some 40,000 hunters and exhibitors from across the nation to Nashville, but the spotlight is on the turkey callers.
"When you get up on that stage, you're nervous," said three-time champion Jim Pollard from Heflin, Alabama. "Your hands are shaking, your palms are sweaty. It's hard to keep control."
Standing alone on a stage in front of a completely silent crowd, the competitors are at times visibly nervous, wiping sweat from brows and pacing back and forth.
A giant TV screen zooms in on hands and faces, as the callers are asked to perform four different sounds in four minutes.
The calls can be high-pitched whistles like the "kee-kee run," which is used by hunters to imitate a young turkey. One call — a "cluck and purr" — is much softer and competitors typically sit down on the stage to concentrate on the sound.
"I thought I had a beautiful run until the last call, which was a cluck and purr," Pollard said. "It's a finesse call — you've got to lighten up on everything and be real easy on it. I flubbed up on it and my scores showed it."
This year's championships feature a new category — friction calling — for callers who produce the turkey sounds by rubbing objects together, typically a slate or a metal box that is scraped with a stick.
"Friction calls are some of the most realistic calls there are," Pollard said.
When the National Wild Turkey Federation started in 1973, there were only about 1.3 million wild turkeys in North America. Today, the population stands close to 7 million birds.
Scott Vance, the federation's director of conservation partnerships, said the organization has helped revitalize turkey populations with trap and transfer programs and by working with government agencies to conserve turkey habitats.
Turkey hunting is "really a one-on-one situation where you have to mimic the calls to attract the animals to you," Vance said. "You really feel like you're connected."
___
On the Net: National Wild Turkey Federation
By KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) - Gobbles, clucks and coos spill out of the grand ballrooms, but there are no live turkeys on the floor of the Opryland Convention Center. Instead, about 150 men, women and children are doing their best imitations at the championship of turkey calling, the annual Grand National Wild Turkey Calling championships.
The National Wild Turkey Federation Convention that began this week brings some 40,000 hunters and exhibitors from across the nation to Nashville, but the spotlight is on the turkey callers.
"When you get up on that stage, you're nervous," said three-time champion Jim Pollard from Heflin, Alabama. "Your hands are shaking, your palms are sweaty. It's hard to keep control."
Standing alone on a stage in front of a completely silent crowd, the competitors are at times visibly nervous, wiping sweat from brows and pacing back and forth.
A giant TV screen zooms in on hands and faces, as the callers are asked to perform four different sounds in four minutes.
The calls can be high-pitched whistles like the "kee-kee run," which is used by hunters to imitate a young turkey. One call — a "cluck and purr" — is much softer and competitors typically sit down on the stage to concentrate on the sound.
"I thought I had a beautiful run until the last call, which was a cluck and purr," Pollard said. "It's a finesse call — you've got to lighten up on everything and be real easy on it. I flubbed up on it and my scores showed it."
This year's championships feature a new category — friction calling — for callers who produce the turkey sounds by rubbing objects together, typically a slate or a metal box that is scraped with a stick.
"Friction calls are some of the most realistic calls there are," Pollard said.
When the National Wild Turkey Federation started in 1973, there were only about 1.3 million wild turkeys in North America. Today, the population stands close to 7 million birds.
Scott Vance, the federation's director of conservation partnerships, said the organization has helped revitalize turkey populations with trap and transfer programs and by working with government agencies to conserve turkey habitats.
Turkey hunting is "really a one-on-one situation where you have to mimic the calls to attract the animals to you," Vance said. "You really feel like you're connected."
___
On the Net: National Wild Turkey Federation
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
'Love It' Slogan Dropped From N.H. Signs
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - New signs on New Hampshire's borders tell visitors, "You're going to love it here." The only problem is the governor and other top officials hate them.
"Right now, every time I go past those things I'm embarrassed," Senate Majority Leader Robert Clegg said Thursday.
Gov. John Lynch acknowledged that he, too, can't wait to get rid of the beige signs that depict a small village along with the "love it" slogan.
"It's true. I want to be there when they take out the first one," he said.
The Senate passed a bill Thursday to require the state motto, "Live Free or Die," on highway welcoming signs. The motto could replace the "love it" slogan on the beige signs, or, more likely, appear on new signs.
Sen. Robert Letourneau, R-Derry, who sponsored the bill, favors the latter.
"I don't think adding the motto to an ugly sign will do any good," he said.
The new signs started going up last year, replacing blue and yellow "welcome" signs. Except for one in Lebanon, the old signs did not have "Live Free or Die" on them.
The estimated cost of replacing the roughly 50 signs is $10,000, according to the bill.
Sen. Peter Burling, D-Cornish, said it will cost much more, and tried unsuccessfully to raise the official estimate to $100,000. He proposed leaving existing signs in place but adding the motto to ones erected in the future.
The bill now goes to the House.
The motto honors the state's most distinguished Revolutionary War hero, Gen. John Stark. According to the state Web site, Stark used it in a toast in 1809 when poor health led him to decline an invitation to a reunion of the 1777 Battle of Bennington in neighboring Vermont. Stark said, "Live free or die; death is not the worst of evils."
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - New signs on New Hampshire's borders tell visitors, "You're going to love it here." The only problem is the governor and other top officials hate them.
"Right now, every time I go past those things I'm embarrassed," Senate Majority Leader Robert Clegg said Thursday.
Gov. John Lynch acknowledged that he, too, can't wait to get rid of the beige signs that depict a small village along with the "love it" slogan.
"It's true. I want to be there when they take out the first one," he said.
The Senate passed a bill Thursday to require the state motto, "Live Free or Die," on highway welcoming signs. The motto could replace the "love it" slogan on the beige signs, or, more likely, appear on new signs.
Sen. Robert Letourneau, R-Derry, who sponsored the bill, favors the latter.
"I don't think adding the motto to an ugly sign will do any good," he said.
The new signs started going up last year, replacing blue and yellow "welcome" signs. Except for one in Lebanon, the old signs did not have "Live Free or Die" on them.
The estimated cost of replacing the roughly 50 signs is $10,000, according to the bill.
Sen. Peter Burling, D-Cornish, said it will cost much more, and tried unsuccessfully to raise the official estimate to $100,000. He proposed leaving existing signs in place but adding the motto to ones erected in the future.
The bill now goes to the House.
The motto honors the state's most distinguished Revolutionary War hero, Gen. John Stark. According to the state Web site, Stark used it in a toast in 1809 when poor health led him to decline an invitation to a reunion of the 1777 Battle of Bennington in neighboring Vermont. Stark said, "Live free or die; death is not the worst of evils."
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Rio's residents flee Carnival as tourists take over
By Peter Blackburn
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - You live in Rio, one of the world's greatest party cities. It's Carnival, perhaps the world's greatest city party. So how do you celebrate?
By getting out of town.
Nearly 700,000 tourists are expected to invade this seaside city for the world's biggest Carnival fiesta, but a similar number of locals will flee to somewhere cooler and quieter.
Carnival kicks off in Rio on Friday when fat King Momo, Lord of Misrule, receives the keys of city and presides over five days of music and mayhem, ending only on March 1, Ash Wednesday, the start of the Christian Lenten season of repentance that leads up to Easter.
"It's just too chaotic and noisy," said dentist Andrea Calmon, who will seek refuge with her family at the Cabo Frio beach resort, a 2-1/2-hour drive north of Rio.
Calmon said all five of the dentists in her practice will leave Rio during the Carnival holiday.
"The others will cool off in the mountains but my children prefer the beach," said Calmon.
An estimated 20 percent of the Carnival tourists will be foreigners. Many come from the United States, but most visitors to the city are from the neighbouring Brazilian states of Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo.
Ten cruise ships carrying more than 30,000 passengers are expected to call on Rio during the next five days.
Many Cariocas, as Rio residents are called, see Carnival as an opportunity to get out.
"We've done it all before ... now I just want to relax," said Janet Araujo, who runs a cycle shop in Copacabana and plans to take off to the family weekend home up the coast.
Hundreds of thousands of locals and foreigners watch and join Carnival street processions throughout the city as well as glittering parades by 14 samba schools down the purpose-built Sambadrome avenue on Sunday and Monday nights.
"The Sambadrome parades are beautiful, but the heaving and shoving frightens me ... I prefer to stay at home and watch it on TV," said housemaid Maria Jose da Silva Otavio, from Bonsuccesso favela in northern Rio.
Electrifying drummers, quicksilver samba girls and spinning flag bearers mostly hail from Rio's numerous favelas, or slums, which are also home to violent drug gangs.
"Samba rhythm is repetitive and the 'boom, boom' of the drums deafening. Give me rock music," said concierge Sidney Goncalves, 28.
By Peter Blackburn
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - You live in Rio, one of the world's greatest party cities. It's Carnival, perhaps the world's greatest city party. So how do you celebrate?
By getting out of town.
Nearly 700,000 tourists are expected to invade this seaside city for the world's biggest Carnival fiesta, but a similar number of locals will flee to somewhere cooler and quieter.
Carnival kicks off in Rio on Friday when fat King Momo, Lord of Misrule, receives the keys of city and presides over five days of music and mayhem, ending only on March 1, Ash Wednesday, the start of the Christian Lenten season of repentance that leads up to Easter.
"It's just too chaotic and noisy," said dentist Andrea Calmon, who will seek refuge with her family at the Cabo Frio beach resort, a 2-1/2-hour drive north of Rio.
Calmon said all five of the dentists in her practice will leave Rio during the Carnival holiday.
"The others will cool off in the mountains but my children prefer the beach," said Calmon.
An estimated 20 percent of the Carnival tourists will be foreigners. Many come from the United States, but most visitors to the city are from the neighbouring Brazilian states of Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo.
Ten cruise ships carrying more than 30,000 passengers are expected to call on Rio during the next five days.
Many Cariocas, as Rio residents are called, see Carnival as an opportunity to get out.
"We've done it all before ... now I just want to relax," said Janet Araujo, who runs a cycle shop in Copacabana and plans to take off to the family weekend home up the coast.
Hundreds of thousands of locals and foreigners watch and join Carnival street processions throughout the city as well as glittering parades by 14 samba schools down the purpose-built Sambadrome avenue on Sunday and Monday nights.
"The Sambadrome parades are beautiful, but the heaving and shoving frightens me ... I prefer to stay at home and watch it on TV," said housemaid Maria Jose da Silva Otavio, from Bonsuccesso favela in northern Rio.
Electrifying drummers, quicksilver samba girls and spinning flag bearers mostly hail from Rio's numerous favelas, or slums, which are also home to violent drug gangs.
"Samba rhythm is repetitive and the 'boom, boom' of the drums deafening. Give me rock music," said concierge Sidney Goncalves, 28.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Whisky cargo goes up in flames on German highway
NUREMBERG, Germany (AFP) - A shipment of Scotch whisky went up in flames on a highway in southern Germany when a tyre on the truck carrying it to Greece burst.
The 51-year-old British driver smelled burning and disconnected the trailer of the truck just before the tyre burst in the early hours of the morning.
The whisky bottles broke and the highly flammable liquid caught fire, giving off a cloud of smoke and a strong odour of drink.
"The air smelled strongly of whisky and the flames could be seen from far away," a policeman in the southern city of Nuremberg said.
The damage is estimated at about 200,000 euros (240,000 dollars).
NUREMBERG, Germany (AFP) - A shipment of Scotch whisky went up in flames on a highway in southern Germany when a tyre on the truck carrying it to Greece burst.
The 51-year-old British driver smelled burning and disconnected the trailer of the truck just before the tyre burst in the early hours of the morning.
The whisky bottles broke and the highly flammable liquid caught fire, giving off a cloud of smoke and a strong odour of drink.
"The air smelled strongly of whisky and the flames could be seen from far away," a policeman in the southern city of Nuremberg said.
The damage is estimated at about 200,000 euros (240,000 dollars).
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Conn. Man Sells Holy Hardware on eBay
MANCHESTER, Conn. (AP) - Thomas Haley was unloading supplies for his job at Hardy's Hardware when he said something odd caught his eye: the face of Jesus Christ on a piece of sheet metal.
Now, Haley and a co-worker are hawking the holy hardware on eBay, hoping potential bidders will agree that the blurry oil stain on the sheet metal does, indeed, resemble Jesus.
"I mean, it hasn't done anything miraculous as of yet, but seeing it is kind of groovy," said Haley, 23. "Just seeing it brightens people's day."
Haley said he was unloading a supply truck two weeks ago at the Manchester hardware store when he turned a corner and was awe-struck by the holy likeness gazing back at him from the $15.49 piece of sheet metal.
Since then, Haley and 18-year-old co-worker Jonathan Jackson have shown the piece to a few other workers and customers, and even took it on a short pilgrimage to a nearby hair salon. They say several people agreed with their assessment, although a few suggested it looks more like legendary rock singer Jim Morrison of The Doors.
"Some people said, 'Are you sure it's Jesus?' and I think, 'Who else would come to give us a sign, Groucho Marx?' " Jackson said. "I think it's a good thing. Maybe it's trying to give some people hope."
The online eBay auction for the potentially pious sheet of metal started Wednesday, but no potential buyers had placed the minimum $19.95 bid as of Saturday afternoon.
The auction is scheduled to end March 1 unless someone pays the "buy it now" price: $10,000.
Haley said that whatever money is raised will be split between him, Jackson, another worker, and two customers. But he's still a little ambivalent about the sale.
"I feel kind of bad just pawning off Christ," Haley said.
___
Information from: Journal Inquirer
MANCHESTER, Conn. (AP) - Thomas Haley was unloading supplies for his job at Hardy's Hardware when he said something odd caught his eye: the face of Jesus Christ on a piece of sheet metal.
Now, Haley and a co-worker are hawking the holy hardware on eBay, hoping potential bidders will agree that the blurry oil stain on the sheet metal does, indeed, resemble Jesus.
"I mean, it hasn't done anything miraculous as of yet, but seeing it is kind of groovy," said Haley, 23. "Just seeing it brightens people's day."
Haley said he was unloading a supply truck two weeks ago at the Manchester hardware store when he turned a corner and was awe-struck by the holy likeness gazing back at him from the $15.49 piece of sheet metal.
Since then, Haley and 18-year-old co-worker Jonathan Jackson have shown the piece to a few other workers and customers, and even took it on a short pilgrimage to a nearby hair salon. They say several people agreed with their assessment, although a few suggested it looks more like legendary rock singer Jim Morrison of The Doors.
"Some people said, 'Are you sure it's Jesus?' and I think, 'Who else would come to give us a sign, Groucho Marx?' " Jackson said. "I think it's a good thing. Maybe it's trying to give some people hope."
The online eBay auction for the potentially pious sheet of metal started Wednesday, but no potential buyers had placed the minimum $19.95 bid as of Saturday afternoon.
The auction is scheduled to end March 1 unless someone pays the "buy it now" price: $10,000.
Haley said that whatever money is raised will be split between him, Jackson, another worker, and two customers. But he's still a little ambivalent about the sale.
"I feel kind of bad just pawning off Christ," Haley said.
___
Information from: Journal Inquirer
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Black Cat Credited With Saving Owner
McKENZIE, N.D. (AP) - Bernice McDowall says she never thought black cats were unlucky. Now her own black cat, Joey, is her hero. McDowall, 87, said she was taking a nap when Joey woke her up early Friday afternoon and probably saved her life.
"He was having a fit, running around the bedroom," she said.
Then she saw smoke in the bedroom, got up and saw smoke coming from the basement.
She and Joey got out safely.
Joey had found a home with the McDowalls after he was dumped off at a nearby mailbox awhile back. On Friday, he "really came in and sent the alarm," Bernice said.
Later, the black cat was rolling and romping in the yard near smoldering mattresses that firefighters had dragged up from the basement while his owner stayed in the warmth of a vehicle.
Sterling Fire Chief Dwayne Frederick said firefighters contained the blaze to the basement, but there was smoke damage throughout the ranch-style home. He said the cause likely was electrical.
The McDowalls were not able to be in the house Friday night, but Cheryl McDowall, Bernice's daughter, told firefighters they had a place to stay.
Bernice McDowall had dinner at her niece's home. Joey was there too, walking on the piano keys. And he was scheduled to get his favorite dinner, a gravy-style canned cat food.
He would get lots of cuddling, too, Bernice McDowall said.
"He's a real good friend," she said.
___
Information from: Bismarck Tribune
McKENZIE, N.D. (AP) - Bernice McDowall says she never thought black cats were unlucky. Now her own black cat, Joey, is her hero. McDowall, 87, said she was taking a nap when Joey woke her up early Friday afternoon and probably saved her life.
"He was having a fit, running around the bedroom," she said.
Then she saw smoke in the bedroom, got up and saw smoke coming from the basement.
She and Joey got out safely.
Joey had found a home with the McDowalls after he was dumped off at a nearby mailbox awhile back. On Friday, he "really came in and sent the alarm," Bernice said.
Later, the black cat was rolling and romping in the yard near smoldering mattresses that firefighters had dragged up from the basement while his owner stayed in the warmth of a vehicle.
Sterling Fire Chief Dwayne Frederick said firefighters contained the blaze to the basement, but there was smoke damage throughout the ranch-style home. He said the cause likely was electrical.
The McDowalls were not able to be in the house Friday night, but Cheryl McDowall, Bernice's daughter, told firefighters they had a place to stay.
Bernice McDowall had dinner at her niece's home. Joey was there too, walking on the piano keys. And he was scheduled to get his favorite dinner, a gravy-style canned cat food.
He would get lots of cuddling, too, Bernice McDowall said.
"He's a real good friend," she said.
___
Information from: Bismarck Tribune
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Museum of Medical Oddities Likely Moving
By BRIAN WESTLEY, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - On one shelf rests a giant hair ball that filled the stomach of a 12-year-old girl who compulsively chewed her hair. Floating in a nearby glass container is a young man's leg that ballooned in size because of elephantiasis.
This isn't a carnival freak show. The specimens are among thousands of medical oddities — many ghoulish — collected by the National Museum of Health and Medicine, which is dedicated to tracing the history and practice of medicine over the centuries.
But the museum, located on the 113-acre campus of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, likely will have to find a new home. Last summer, the Base Closure and Realignment Commission voted to close the hospital and move many of its medical services to suburban Bethesda, Md., by 2011.
The commission does not indicate what will happen to the museum, other than to say it will not be "disestablished." Museum officials are also uncertain, though it's expected to move with the hospital to Bethesda.
It would be the museum's 10th move since its founding in 1862 as the Army Medical Museum. The surgeon general originally wanted medical officers to collect specimens from dead and wounded soldiers on Civil War battlefields so that their diseases and injuries could be studied.
One of the museum's most popular objects from that era belongs to Union Gen. Daniel E. Sickles. His right leg was mangled by a Confederate cannonball in Gettysburg, Pa., in 1863, and had to be sawed off just above the knee.
The general decided to send the amputated leg to the museum in a miniature coffin. It came with a card that read: "With the compliments of Major General D.E.S."
Sickles recovered from the wound, and became fond of visiting his leg on the anniversary of the amputation. Today, the shattered bones are mounted by metal prongs to a polished wooden base.
A few steps away, the bullet that killed President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre also is displayed, as are bone fragments and hair from the president's skull and the bloodstained shirt of a doctor who assisted in the autopsy.
Up to 60,000 people visit the museum each year, and many others participate in outreach programs and log on to its Web site, spokesman Steven Solomon said. Before moving to Walter Reed in 1971 — about five miles from downtown — the museum was on the National Mall where it drew 765,000 people in its final year.
The casual tourists are now gone, but scholars, military service members, doctors, Civil War buffs and school groups are among those who still seek out the museum. "This is definitely a destination attraction," Solomon said.
Officials wouldn't comment on how another move might affect the museum's visibility. It receives funding from the Defense Department and through private grants and donations.
Altogether, the museum has nearly 2,000 specimens from the Civil War era. And museum curators still occasionally hear from families who believe their relatives' remains are part of the collection.
"In the nine years I've been here, families have never been wrong," said Lenore Barbian, the museum's assistant curator for anatomical collections. "They're thrilled that they have a family member that's part of a museum."
The collection doesn't end in the mid-19th century. The exhibit "Battlefield Surgery 101: From the Civil War to Vietnam" details the evolution of military surgery with artifacts and photographs from the nation's major wars.
And there are exhibits that show — sometimes in gruesome detail — how the body functions in sickness and health. Besides gawking at the giant hair ball and swollen leg, visitors can see deformed fetuses, including a pair of conjoined twins floating in a small jar. There's also a skeleton, sitting in a rocking chair, of a man who had such severe arthritis that all his bones fused together.
"I was like, ehttp://www! said Kisses Martinez, a pathology student who visited the museum. "It opens up your eyes to a lot of things."
Only 1 percent of the museum's approximately 25 million artifacts are on display at any one time, Solomon said. In the past, many specimens were laid out for all to see — often with little explanation. Now, however, the museum strives to provide context with story-driven exhibits.
Among the many treasures stashed behind the scenes is the skeleton of Able, the first monkey to fly in space. In a blue cabinet across the room, the spinal cord of Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, rests alongside a jar that contains President Dwight Eisenhower's gallstones.
The collection also includes a piece of President Garfield's vertebrae, which was pierced by an assassin's bullet in 1881 (though historians say doctors ultimately caused Garfield's death three months later, when they used unsterilized tools to probe his wound).
In the very next locker are two drawers filled with bones that belong to the crazed lawyer that shot him, Charles Julius Guiteau. There's even a jar that contains Guiteau's brain.
___
On the Net: National Museum of Health and Medicine
By BRIAN WESTLEY, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - On one shelf rests a giant hair ball that filled the stomach of a 12-year-old girl who compulsively chewed her hair. Floating in a nearby glass container is a young man's leg that ballooned in size because of elephantiasis.
This isn't a carnival freak show. The specimens are among thousands of medical oddities — many ghoulish — collected by the National Museum of Health and Medicine, which is dedicated to tracing the history and practice of medicine over the centuries.
But the museum, located on the 113-acre campus of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, likely will have to find a new home. Last summer, the Base Closure and Realignment Commission voted to close the hospital and move many of its medical services to suburban Bethesda, Md., by 2011.
The commission does not indicate what will happen to the museum, other than to say it will not be "disestablished." Museum officials are also uncertain, though it's expected to move with the hospital to Bethesda.
It would be the museum's 10th move since its founding in 1862 as the Army Medical Museum. The surgeon general originally wanted medical officers to collect specimens from dead and wounded soldiers on Civil War battlefields so that their diseases and injuries could be studied.
One of the museum's most popular objects from that era belongs to Union Gen. Daniel E. Sickles. His right leg was mangled by a Confederate cannonball in Gettysburg, Pa., in 1863, and had to be sawed off just above the knee.
The general decided to send the amputated leg to the museum in a miniature coffin. It came with a card that read: "With the compliments of Major General D.E.S."
Sickles recovered from the wound, and became fond of visiting his leg on the anniversary of the amputation. Today, the shattered bones are mounted by metal prongs to a polished wooden base.
A few steps away, the bullet that killed President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre also is displayed, as are bone fragments and hair from the president's skull and the bloodstained shirt of a doctor who assisted in the autopsy.
Up to 60,000 people visit the museum each year, and many others participate in outreach programs and log on to its Web site, spokesman Steven Solomon said. Before moving to Walter Reed in 1971 — about five miles from downtown — the museum was on the National Mall where it drew 765,000 people in its final year.
The casual tourists are now gone, but scholars, military service members, doctors, Civil War buffs and school groups are among those who still seek out the museum. "This is definitely a destination attraction," Solomon said.
Officials wouldn't comment on how another move might affect the museum's visibility. It receives funding from the Defense Department and through private grants and donations.
Altogether, the museum has nearly 2,000 specimens from the Civil War era. And museum curators still occasionally hear from families who believe their relatives' remains are part of the collection.
"In the nine years I've been here, families have never been wrong," said Lenore Barbian, the museum's assistant curator for anatomical collections. "They're thrilled that they have a family member that's part of a museum."
The collection doesn't end in the mid-19th century. The exhibit "Battlefield Surgery 101: From the Civil War to Vietnam" details the evolution of military surgery with artifacts and photographs from the nation's major wars.
And there are exhibits that show — sometimes in gruesome detail — how the body functions in sickness and health. Besides gawking at the giant hair ball and swollen leg, visitors can see deformed fetuses, including a pair of conjoined twins floating in a small jar. There's also a skeleton, sitting in a rocking chair, of a man who had such severe arthritis that all his bones fused together.
"I was like, ehttp://www! said Kisses Martinez, a pathology student who visited the museum. "It opens up your eyes to a lot of things."
Only 1 percent of the museum's approximately 25 million artifacts are on display at any one time, Solomon said. In the past, many specimens were laid out for all to see — often with little explanation. Now, however, the museum strives to provide context with story-driven exhibits.
Among the many treasures stashed behind the scenes is the skeleton of Able, the first monkey to fly in space. In a blue cabinet across the room, the spinal cord of Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, rests alongside a jar that contains President Dwight Eisenhower's gallstones.
The collection also includes a piece of President Garfield's vertebrae, which was pierced by an assassin's bullet in 1881 (though historians say doctors ultimately caused Garfield's death three months later, when they used unsterilized tools to probe his wound).
In the very next locker are two drawers filled with bones that belong to the crazed lawyer that shot him, Charles Julius Guiteau. There's even a jar that contains Guiteau's brain.
___
On the Net: National Museum of Health and Medicine
0 likes
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests