MVA in Jamaica

SIX people were killed and another one seriously injured early yesterday morning when a Toyota Corolla taxi slammed into a truck along the Bog Walk Gorge in St Catherine.

The six were passengers in the taxi when the vehicle crashed head-on into a Leyland Truck which was travelling to Linstead. The taxi was heading to Spanish Town.

"We are not sure how the crash happened, but it was apparent that the driver of the car was speeding," a traffic cop at the accident scene told the Observer.

One of Grahams' sons, 6 year-old Trevaughn, said Thomas was known to drive very fast.
"Him drive at all 140 and 160," the boy said. (Km/H but still waay too fast.)

Deirdre Faegre, who is a Student of the Month at San Jose-Edison Academy in West Covina was dismissed from the school this week after school authorities warned her for the last time to stop doing gymnastic stunts during lunchtime.

Administrators at the school said they were concerned about safety of their students.

They said gymnastics on the playground creates an unsafe situation.

"I thought they were absolutely weird, because I see other kids playing baseball and soccer and I think that's more dangerous than gymnastics," Faegre said.

Deirdre's parents are giving the school's actions a failing grade. The family says they'll continue to stand by their daughter.

"I don't think they care about the children at all," father Leland Faegre said. "What sort of a parent or administrator would ever enforce a rule that would proscribe a child from using her arms and her legs? We have got to fix this mess because we have to let children be children."

Her parents said they will home school Deirdre until they find a more "reasonable" school.

Source: Local6.com

This is absolutely ridiculous, and indicative of a huge problem in this country: rampant paternalism. Authorities telling people what they can and can't do… Americans are getting too used to people telling them what to do that they no longer feel the need to take any personal responsibility in their actions. Example: you can pour hot coffee in your own lap and demand compensation for your own clumsiness. What's worse, you can convince 12 of your fellow countrymen that your cluminess is not your fault. It's never your fault.

Come on people, let's grow up. Let's let our kids be kids, and teach them some personal responsibility in the process.

A new study of 40 mothers from Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Montana found PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in the breastmilk of every woman tested.
PBDEs—toxic chemicals widely used as flame retardants in furniture foams, industrial textiles, and consumer electronics—have been shown to have a wide range of health effects on laboratory animals. Overall, the levels of PBDEs in the study were 20 to 40 times higher than levels found in European and Japanese women.

“The women in the study have some of the highest PBDE levels on record,” said Clark Williams-Derry, research director for Northwest Environment Watch (NEW), the Seattle research and communication center that conducted the study. “It’s more evidence that we need to phase these chemicals out.” The study confirms other research that PBDEs are building up rapidly in people and the environment, with levels in many countries doubling every two to five years.

The report emphasized that mothers should continue breastfeeding. Research shows that despite the presence of contaminants, breastfeeding is the healthiest choice for infants; benefits include reducing the risk of many illnesses in infants, as well as the incidence of anemia and some cancers in women. Breastmilk was chosen as a measure because it is the most convenient body fluid to obtain and study, and because it provides a good proxy for contamination levels experienced by the developing fetus.

Source: Northwestwatch.org

MARIETTA, Georgia (AP) — A drunken driver hit a telephone pole support wire that decapitated his passenger, police said.

He then drove 12 miles home and slept in his bloody clothes, police said, leaving the headless body in his truck.

A neighbor walking with his young daughter Sunday morning discovered Daniel Brohm's headless corpse in the truck in John Kemper Hutcherson's driveway and called authorities, said Cpl. Dana Pierce, county police spokesman.

Officers said they found Hutcherson asleep inside his home, visibly drunk and his clothes bloody, and later found Brohm's severed head at the crash site.

"It's hard for one to imagine that you would drive miles from a crash site to your home, turning in various directions, and yet not know what has happened to a passenger sitting next to you," Pierce said.

Hutcherson, 21, was charged with vehicular homicide, driving under the influence and failure to stop at an accident with death or injury. He was jailed on a $100,000 bond; it was unclear Monday whether he had an attorney.

CNN.com - Police: Drunken man drives home with decapitated friend

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) — Kids throwing rocks stirred up more trouble than they bargained for when they dislodged a swarm of bees from an enormous hive built in the wall of a Southern California apartment building, authorities said on Friday.

An estimated 120,000 bees held residents of the apartment building and nearby homes hostage in Santa Ana, California after the children pelted their 500 pound (227 kg) hive with rocks on Thursday, Santa Ana Fire Captain Steve Horner said.

From CNN.com

600-Pound Woman Dies After Being Surgically Removed From Couch

POSTED: 3:51 p.m. EDT August 11, 2004
UPDATED: 6:33 a.m. EDT August 12, 2004

Story by wftv.com

– WEIRD PHOTOS: News Of The Strange Slideshow

STUART, Fla. — A dramatic rescue ended tragically in Stuart, Florida, a rescue so difficult firefighters say they have never seen anything like it.

It happened late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning at the home of a 600-pound woman who was having trouble breathing. Rescuers went in not knowing how difficult it would be to get her out. 40-year-old Gail Grinds was literally stuck to her couch and had to be removed surgically at the hospital.

Authorities estimate she had been on the couch anywhere from two to five years.

Martin County Fire amd Rescue crews faced what seemed to be an impossible mission. Everyone going inside had to wear protective gear. The stench was so powerful they had to blast in fresh air.

They tried to cut out the front door, but at four-and-a-half feet wide, it wouldn't work. They had to cut plywood since a normal stretcher wouldn't do.

An ambulance was too small, so they brought in a trailer to get her out. While rescue crews came up with a back-door rescue plan, detectives secured what had become a crime scene, questioning family members about how it got so bad.

Using planks, they loaded the woman on to the trailer, still attached to the couch. Removing her would be too painful, since her body is grafted to the fabric. After years of staying put, her skin has literally become one with the sofa and it must be surgically removed.

Detectives are investigating whether they have a case of neglect, or if it is simply a very sad story.

Grinds was taken to the Martin Memorial hospital where doctors removed her from the couch, but she died in spite of all the attempts to save her life.

Glad to see this is what Bush is spending his $70 Billion dollars on - fighting the war against terror! grrrrr.