NEWS OF THE WORLD - Current Events (May Be Disturbing, No Politics Please)

[Dr.Teufel Geist]

A New Hampshire man says he swiped his debit card at a gas station to buy a pack of cigarettes and was charged over 23 quadrillion dollars. Josh Muszynski checked his account online a few hours later and saw the 17-digit number _ a stunning $23,148,855,308,184,500 (twenty-three quadrillion, one hundred forty-eight trillion, eight hundred fifty-five billion, three hundred eight million, one hundred eighty-four thousand, five hundred dollars).

Muszynski says he spent two hours on the phone with Bank of America trying to sort out the string of numbers and the $15 overdraft fee.

The bank corrected the error the next day.

Bank of America tells WMUR-TV only the card issuer, Visa, could answer questions. Visa, in turn, referred questions to the bank.

[Dr.Teufel Geist]

Thousands of jumbo flying squid _ aggressive 5-foot-long sea monsters with razor-sharp beaks and toothy tentacles _ have invaded the shallow waters off San Diego, spooking scuba divers and washing up dead on tourist-packed beaches.

The carnivorous calamari, which can grow up to 100 pounds, came up from the depths last week and swarms of them roughed up unsuspecting divers. Some divers report tentacles enveloping their masks and yanking at their cameras and gear.

Stories of too-close encounters with the alien-like cephalopods have chased many veteran divers out of the water and created a whirlwind of excitement among the rest, who are torn between their personal safety and the once-in-a-lifetime chance to swim with the deep-sea giants.

The so-called Humboldt squid are native to the deep waters off Mexico, where they have been known to attack humans and are nicknamed "red devils" for their rust-red coloring and mean streak. Those who dive with them there chum the water with bait and sometimes get in a metal cage or wear chain mail to avoid being lashed by tentacles.

"I wouldn't go into the water with them for the same reason I wouldn't walk into a pride of lions on the Serengeti," said Mike Bear, a local diver. "For all I know, I'm missing the experience of a lifetime."

The squid are too deep to bother swimmers and surfers, but many longtime divers say they are staying out of the surf until the sea creatures clear out. Yet other divers, including Shandra Magill, couldn't resist the chance to see the squid up close.

On a recent night, Magill watched in awe as a dozen squid with doleful, expressive eyes circled her group, tapping and patting the divers and gently bumping them before dashing away.

One especially large squid suspended itself motionless in the water about three feet away and peered at her closely, its eyes rolling, before it vanished into the black. A shimmering incandescence rippled along its body, almost as if it were communicating through its skin.

But the next night, things were different: A large squid surprised Magill by hitting her from behind and grabbing at her with its arms, pulling her sideways in the water. The powerful creature ripped her buoyancy hose away from her chest and knocked away her light.

When Magill recovered, she didn't know which direction was up and at first couldn't find the hose to help her rise to the surface. The squid was gone.

"I just kicked like crazy. The first thing you think of is, 'Oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm going to survive this. If that squid wanted to hurt me, it would have," she said.

Other divers have reported squid pulling at their masks and gear and roughing them up.

Roger Uzun, a veteran scuba diver and amateur underwater videographer, swam with a swarm of the creatures for about 20 minutes and said they appeared more curious than aggressive. The animals taste with their tentacles, he said, and seemed to be touching him and his wet suit to determine if he was edible.

"As soon as we went underwater and turned on the video lights, there they were. They would ram into you, they kept hitting the back of my head," he said.

"One got ahold of the video light head and yanked on it for two or three seconds and he was actually trying to take the video light with him," said Uzun, who later posted a 3-minute video with his underwater footage on YouTube. "It almost knocked the video camera out of my hands."

Scientists aren't sure why the squid, which generally live in deep, tropical waters off Mexico and Central America, are swarming off the Southern California coast _ but they are concerned.

In recent years, small numbers have been spotted from California to Sitka, Alaska _ an alarming trend that scientists believe could be caused by anything from global warming to a shortage of food or a decline in the squid's natural predators.

In 2005, a similar invasion off San Diego delighted fisherman and, in 2002, thousands of jumbo flying squid washed up on the beaches here. That year, workers removed 12 tons of dead and dying squid.

This summer, the wayward squid have also been hauled up by fisherman in waters off Orange County, just north of San Diego.

Research suggests the squid may have established a year-round population off California at depths of 300 to 650 feet, said Nigella Hillgarth, executive director of the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Swarms off the coast _ and the subsequent die-offs _ may occur when their prey moves to shallow waters and the squid follow, and then get trapped and confused in the surf, said Hillgarth, who saw a dying squid on the beach last weekend.

"It was an amazing privilege to touch a creature like that and see how amazingly beautiful it was," she said. "They have these wonderful eyes. ... They look all-seeing, all-knowing."

That's the kind of description that pulls veteran divers such as Raleigh Moody back to the pitch-black water, despite the danger.

"My usual dive buddy, he didn't want to come out," said Moody, as he prepared for a night dive with another friend. "There are some divers (who) just don't want to deal with it and there are some like me that, until they hear of something bad happening, I'm going to be an idiot and go back in the water."

[Scatter]

Masked suspects, some dressed as ninjas, stole a safe and other items during a deadly break-in at the sprawling Florida Panhandle home of a couple known for adopting children with special needs, authorities said Tuesday.

Melanie and Byrd Billings were shot to death Thursday in their nine-bedroom home. Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan hugged their sobbing adult daughter, Ashley Markham, at a press conference Tuesday to announce that three more people had been arrested, bringing the total to seven.

"It is my honor today to tell you, Ashley, and your family, we have found them and they are in custody," Morgan said.

Investigators had said previously that there were many motives for the crime, but prosecutor Bill Eddins said Tuesday that robbery was the main one. He would not say what was in the safe or what else might have been taken from the house.

Nine of the couple's 17 children were home at the time and three saw the intruders but were not hurt.

Morgan said investigators were still looking for at least one more person in the case and at least one of the suspects in custody may have done work at the Billings home. He has previously said the suspects had no direct connection to the victims.

Several of the suspects were day laborers who knew each other through either a pressure washing business or a car detailing group, Morgan said.

The arrests started Sunday with 56-year-old Leonard Gonzalez Sr., who was originally charged with evidence tampering but will be charged with murder, authorities said. He is accused of driving a red van seen on surveillance video pulling away from the Billings home and then trying to paint over it.

His son, 35-year-old Leonard P. Gonzalez Jr., was also arrested Sunday along with day laborer Wayne Coldiron, 41. Both were due in court Tuesday to face murder charges.

Another day laborer, Gary Lamont Sumner, 31, was arrested on a murder charge in a nearby county Monday after he was pulled over in a traffic stop. Morgan said investigators have placed Sumner at the scene, though he would not provide details.

Three more people were arrested Tuesday _ a juvenile whom police did not identify; Frederick Lee Thorton Jr., 19; and Donnie Ray Stallworth, 28, who was arrested in Alabama but lives in Florida.

The break-in was captured by an extensive video surveillance system the Billings used to keep tabs on their children.

Surveillance video showed three armed, masked men arriving in the red van, entering through the front of the house and then returning to the vehicle. Others dressed in what the sheriff called "ninja garb" went in through an unlocked utility door in the back. They were in and out in under 10 minutes.

"I think you'll find this particularly chilling and here's why: We have a team that enters at the rear of the home and another that enters at the front of the home," Morgan said. "It leads me to believe this was a very well-planned and methodical operation."

Morgan said, however, that there was no indication anyone had unlocked the door for the intruders, adding that people in the community felt comfortable leaving their doors unlocked.

The couple owned several local businesses, including a finance company and a used-car dealership. They lived in Beulah, a rural area west of Pensacola, near the Alabama state line, in a house set deep in the woods. They had 17 children in all _ 13 of them adopted.

Tips from the public led police to the van on Saturday.

Sorry, these scumbags should fry. Period.

[Dr.Teufel Geist]

Police are looking for a man with a self-professed sexual fetish for slashing rubber balls. Police have been seeking the 31-year-old since surveillance tape allegedly showed him breaking into a fitness clinic in May and slashing exercise balls.

Authorities are familiar with the man. A criminal complaint released Thursday said he was convicted in 2005 of breaking into a sports facility at the University of Minnesota in Duluth and slashing about 70 balls. Each ball cost between $30 and $60.

The complaint says when he pleaded guilty in that case, he admitted slashing more than 40 other balls at two clinics.

Court documents said the man told police he slashed the rubber balls to satisfy a sexual urge. Experts said he has an unusual attraction to inflatable exercise devices.

[Wicked Lester]

Warning! This is not for the squeamish. Ignorance is bliss and people should think about this when they are enjoying their breakfast.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090902/ap_on_go_ot/us_egg_hatchery_investigation

[hammerfan]

Thats pretty f####d up.  But in the corporate meat and poultry biz its no surprise. I worked for Armour Foods one summer while in college. You NEVER want to eat canned stew or meat. EVER!

[The Creeper]

That is messed up!  Why can't they let them live to be adults then they would have a bunch of chickens for the needy and people who are starving?

[Monster Bob]

If you knew the half of what goes during food processing/manufacturing, you wouldn't eat anything.

I know a guy that is a supervisor for Nestle, and I will tell you would not eat Crunch Bars or Butterfingers if you knew the truth. I know, you would think candy bars would be safe...!

[raycastile]

I am very happy to be a vegetarian. 

[Wicked Lester]

I tried going without meat for 3 mos back in the 80s. Problem was that I lift weights/W.O and just could not enough protein and calories. I started losing weight and getting weaker.This was after I went to a meeting for the group AWARE. We saw films on the factory farm industries and what really goes on in a slaughter house. There are a lot of twisted people that work in these places.

There are many things I won't eat or seldom eat A.Because of ethics and B. I KNOW how they are made.
I did not eat any pork (unless it happened to be in pizza sausage) for maybe 20 years. Finally my wife got sick of chicken. So we had pork chops a couple times a week. Also for a few years one of our vendors would send me a very$ honey ham at x-mas. Free food for a week.

Right now I am back to no pork. Pigs are smarter than many dogs. You wouldn't eat a dog.
No veal (that is just WRONG) Beef once a week. Pretty much live on boneless skinless chicken breasts/veggies/protein shakes/pasta/grains/nuts and beer. I'll have a couple Ball Park beef franks maybe a couple times a year even tho I know they are grossly made crap.

Most people are by nature omnivores so meat is going to be consumed. The cruelty in the meat industry is horrific(don't get me started on the medical research area  ). When we lived in Wisconsin we bought our meat from a regular farmer. It was basically ole bessie had no idea what was coming and BANG done.

I'm probably considered moderate as far as animal rights. I used to belong to PETA about 20 years ago but after a while felt they were too extreme and kinda nutty.

There are two books I highly recommend. Slaughter of the Innocent by Hans Reusch and Diet for a New America by John Robbins. Real eye openers.

[Wicked Lester]

If you knew the half of what goes during food processing/manufacturing, you wouldn't eat anything.

I know a guy that is a supervisor for Nestle, and I will tell you would not eat Crunch Bars or Butterfingers if you knew the truth. I know, you would think candy bars would be safe...!

There is actually an allowance(possibly by the FDA?) of how many bug legs/rat hairs etc in a certain amount of food. Most of it won't hurt you but it is disturbing.
I've found things like this myself. The two grossest things I experienced were one  winter morning I was half asleep and poured myself one of those cereals with the flakes/grains /raisins etc. New box. We keep the lights low first thing in the morning. So's I'm munching on this stuff and by the 3rd mouthfull I notice it tastes weird and spicy. So I flip the lights on and notice these little black things in my bowl. I looked in the box and the cereal was MOVING . It was infested with these little beetles. I almost puked.
I should have taken the box back to the store but I just tossed it in the trash and suck down juice trying to rinse my mouth out.

The other time I gave my cats a can of turkey and cheese which they always scarf down.
An hour later I notice they are avoiding the food like the plague. So I take a look and it's moving around. I take a fork and stir it. Maggots galore! I never bought them turkey and cheese again. In fact now their diet is 95% special vet recommened dry food. Alot more $ but they are worth it.

[Monster Bob]

Frank[ensteinly]ly, I love beef 'n chix 'n pork, so I eat it. And seriously, I would be just as worried about the standards of the restaurants or grocery stores that I was buying food from as I would what type of food I was eating, as they are often the weakest link in the chain-the USDA/health department isn't looking over their shoulders but once every few months. Poorly processed/stored/prepared veggies can be just as bad as any meat product! I mean really, is there a pretty way to butcher a cow?

Now let's eat.

[Gasport]

Will never forget the time my wife was cooking up some frozen spinach and when getting ready to serve it, discovered a mouse paw mixed in with the greens...poor Mickey must have gotten a little too close to a conveyor belt at the processing center. I love spinach but i gotta admit, not one time goes by where i don't think of this when i see it on my plate!

[Dr.Teufel Geist]

I feel bad for Popeye now

[Monster Bob]

Here's some more wonderful, true food horror stories (all non-meat! Kind of.)


My Grandfather always liked to relay the story of the time he bit off the top of a Fudgesicle, exposing a half cockroach (the other half in his mouth).



From my high school days at Parks Bros Supermart-

We used to see mice in (full) returnable soda bottles several times a year.

One woman brought back an 'industrial sized' can of Van Camp's Pork 'n Beans, that you could smell ten feet away. She pulled back the opened can top, and there was an adult rat inside, laying dead in the beans. Damndest thing I ever saw, food-wise. Never forgot it.