I thought the naked swordsmen problem was under control but I guess I was just being pollyanna about it. (kw)
NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa -- The naked swordsman is pleading guilty. Curtis Rarick of North Liberty, Iowa, was accused of chasing his neighbors with a sword.
His neighbors told police a nude Rarick was standing in his front yard and they complained.
According to the neighbors, Rarick got upset then ran into his house, came back out and threatened them with a sword. He's now pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon.
Rarick will be sentenced next month and faces up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Aug 3, 2005
S Korea unveils first dog clone
Scientists in South Korea have produced the first dog clones, they report in Nature magazine this week.
One of the puppies died soon after birth but the other, an Afghan hound named Snuppy, is still doing well after 16 weeks, the researchers say.
Snuppy joins a host of other cloned animals including Dolly the sheep, CC the cat and Ralph the rat.
Scientists hope dog clones will help them understand and treat a range of serious human diseases.
The overall objective of this programme is to learn about the root causes of diseases
Dr Gerald Schatten, University of Pittsburgh
"The dog has characteristics similar to human beings," lead researcher Woo Suk Hwang of Soul National University, South Korea, told the BBC. "Some of their diseases are almost the same as human diseases.
"So [dog clones] could be very valuable in finding technologies useful for curing human diseases. This is our main research call."
Tricky process
Snuppy, whose name stands for Seoul National University puppy, was made from a cell taken from the ear of a three-year-old male Afghan hound.
Scientists took the genetic material from the ear cell and placed it into an empty egg cell. This egg was then stimulated to start dividing and develop into an embryo.
Once growing, it was transferred to Snuppy's surrogate mother, a yellow labrador. The Afghan pup was born by caesarean section after a full 60 days of pregnancy.
Although many other animals have been successfully cloned, dogs are notoriously difficult: the South Korean team only obtained three pregnancies from more than 1,000 embryo transfers into 123 recipients.
Of these, one miscarried and one died soon after birth; only Snuppy remains.
The hairy puppy, like other cloned animals, is generating a flurry of interest around the world.
Some people are concerned about the ethical implications of this research.
"Canine cloning runs contrary to the Kennel Club's objective 'To promote in every way the general improvement of dogs'," Phil Buckley, spokesman for the Kennel Club told the BBC News website. "Cloning cannot be used to make improvements because the technique simply produces genetic replicas of existing dogs.
"Also, will these cloned dogs end up being used in the laboratory? That opens a whole new can of worms."
Moral concerns
Dr Freda Scott-Park, President Elect of the British Veterinary Association, is concerned about the likely reaction of dog lovers.
"This report demonstrates just how fast the world of genetic manipulation is moving and no one should underestimate the far-reaching consequences of this work," she said.
"Sadly however, the media interest is likely to attract pet owners keen to re-create their much loved pets.
"No one can deny that techniques that advance our understanding of diseases and their therapy are to be encouraged. But cloning of animals raises many ethical and moral issues that have still to be properly debated within the profession."
However, another member of the cloning team, Dr Gerald Schatten from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, US, said they are not in the business of cloning pets.
"The overall objective of this programme is to learn about the root causes of diseases," he told the BBC. "We believe it is possible, if you can responsibly develop the ability to derive stem cells from cloned dog embryos, that our very best friends may turn out to be the first beneficiaries of stem cell medicine.
"And as we treat naturally occurring diseases in dogs, we'll learn about whether it is effective in our pets and we'll also learn whether it's safe and effective for our loved ones."
One of the puppies died soon after birth but the other, an Afghan hound named Snuppy, is still doing well after 16 weeks, the researchers say.
Snuppy joins a host of other cloned animals including Dolly the sheep, CC the cat and Ralph the rat.
Scientists hope dog clones will help them understand and treat a range of serious human diseases.
The overall objective of this programme is to learn about the root causes of diseases
Dr Gerald Schatten, University of Pittsburgh
"The dog has characteristics similar to human beings," lead researcher Woo Suk Hwang of Soul National University, South Korea, told the BBC. "Some of their diseases are almost the same as human diseases.
"So [dog clones] could be very valuable in finding technologies useful for curing human diseases. This is our main research call."
Tricky process
Snuppy, whose name stands for Seoul National University puppy, was made from a cell taken from the ear of a three-year-old male Afghan hound.
Scientists took the genetic material from the ear cell and placed it into an empty egg cell. This egg was then stimulated to start dividing and develop into an embryo.
Once growing, it was transferred to Snuppy's surrogate mother, a yellow labrador. The Afghan pup was born by caesarean section after a full 60 days of pregnancy.
Although many other animals have been successfully cloned, dogs are notoriously difficult: the South Korean team only obtained three pregnancies from more than 1,000 embryo transfers into 123 recipients.
Of these, one miscarried and one died soon after birth; only Snuppy remains.
The hairy puppy, like other cloned animals, is generating a flurry of interest around the world.
Some people are concerned about the ethical implications of this research.
"Canine cloning runs contrary to the Kennel Club's objective 'To promote in every way the general improvement of dogs'," Phil Buckley, spokesman for the Kennel Club told the BBC News website. "Cloning cannot be used to make improvements because the technique simply produces genetic replicas of existing dogs.
"Also, will these cloned dogs end up being used in the laboratory? That opens a whole new can of worms."
Moral concerns
Dr Freda Scott-Park, President Elect of the British Veterinary Association, is concerned about the likely reaction of dog lovers.
"This report demonstrates just how fast the world of genetic manipulation is moving and no one should underestimate the far-reaching consequences of this work," she said.
"Sadly however, the media interest is likely to attract pet owners keen to re-create their much loved pets.
"No one can deny that techniques that advance our understanding of diseases and their therapy are to be encouraged. But cloning of animals raises many ethical and moral issues that have still to be properly debated within the profession."
However, another member of the cloning team, Dr Gerald Schatten from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, US, said they are not in the business of cloning pets.
"The overall objective of this programme is to learn about the root causes of diseases," he told the BBC. "We believe it is possible, if you can responsibly develop the ability to derive stem cells from cloned dog embryos, that our very best friends may turn out to be the first beneficiaries of stem cell medicine.
"And as we treat naturally occurring diseases in dogs, we'll learn about whether it is effective in our pets and we'll also learn whether it's safe and effective for our loved ones."
Jul 15, 2005
Man dies after Sex with Horse
King County sheriff's detectives are investigating the owners of an Enumclaw-area farm after a Seattle man died from injuries sustained while having sex with a horse boarded on the property.
Investigators first learned of the farm after the man died at Enumclaw Community Hospital July 2. The county Medical Examiner's Office ruled that the death was accidental and the result of having sex with a horse.
A surveillance camera picked up the license plate of the car that dropped the man off at the hospital, which led detectives to the farm and other people involved, said sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart.
Deputies don't believe a crime occurred because bestiality is not illegal in Washington state and the horse was uninjured, said Urquhart.
But because investigators found chickens, goats and sheep on the property, they are looking into whether animal cruelty — which is a crime — was committed by having sex with these smaller, weaker animals, he said.
The farm was talked about in Internet chat rooms as a destination for people looking to have sex with livestock, he said.
"A significant number of people, we believe, have likely visited this farm," said Urquhart.
The Humane Society of the United States intends to use the case during the next state legislative session as an example of why sex with animals should be outlawed in Washington, said Bob Reder, a Humane Society regional director in Seattle.
"This and a few other cases that we have will allow us a platform to talk about sex abuse of animals," Reder said.
Thirty-three states ban sex with animals, he said.
Susan Michaels, co-founder of local animal-rights organization Pasado's Safe Haven, said she has been fighting to have bestiality made illegal. "It's animal cruelty behind closed doors," Michaels said.
Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan
Investigators first learned of the farm after the man died at Enumclaw Community Hospital July 2. The county Medical Examiner's Office ruled that the death was accidental and the result of having sex with a horse.
A surveillance camera picked up the license plate of the car that dropped the man off at the hospital, which led detectives to the farm and other people involved, said sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart.
Deputies don't believe a crime occurred because bestiality is not illegal in Washington state and the horse was uninjured, said Urquhart.
But because investigators found chickens, goats and sheep on the property, they are looking into whether animal cruelty — which is a crime — was committed by having sex with these smaller, weaker animals, he said.
The farm was talked about in Internet chat rooms as a destination for people looking to have sex with livestock, he said.
"A significant number of people, we believe, have likely visited this farm," said Urquhart.
The Humane Society of the United States intends to use the case during the next state legislative session as an example of why sex with animals should be outlawed in Washington, said Bob Reder, a Humane Society regional director in Seattle.
"This and a few other cases that we have will allow us a platform to talk about sex abuse of animals," Reder said.
Thirty-three states ban sex with animals, he said.
Susan Michaels, co-founder of local animal-rights organization Pasado's Safe Haven, said she has been fighting to have bestiality made illegal. "It's animal cruelty behind closed doors," Michaels said.
Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan
Jul 8, 2005
450 Sheep Jump to Their Deaths in Turkey
ISTANBUL, Turkey -- First one sheep jumped to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff, Turkish media reported.
In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile, the Aksam newspaper said. Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher and the fall more cushioned, Aksam reported.
"There's nothing we can do. They're all wasted," Nevzat Bayhan, a member of one of 26 families whose sheep were grazing together in the herd, was quoted as saying by Aksam.
The estimated loss to families in the town of Gevas, located in Van province in eastern Turkey, tops $100,000, a significant amount of money in a country where average GDP per head is around $2,700.
"Every family had an average of 20 sheep," Aksam quoted another villager, Abdullah Hazar as saying. "But now only a few families have sheep left. It's going to be hard for us."
In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile, the Aksam newspaper said. Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher and the fall more cushioned, Aksam reported.
"There's nothing we can do. They're all wasted," Nevzat Bayhan, a member of one of 26 families whose sheep were grazing together in the herd, was quoted as saying by Aksam.
The estimated loss to families in the town of Gevas, located in Van province in eastern Turkey, tops $100,000, a significant amount of money in a country where average GDP per head is around $2,700.
"Every family had an average of 20 sheep," Aksam quoted another villager, Abdullah Hazar as saying. "But now only a few families have sheep left. It's going to be hard for us."
Jun 28, 2005
Man: Flesh-eating aliens were chasing me when I caused fatal car crash
"A California man facing life in prison for crashing his car into a UPS truck will not dispute that his actions resulted in the death of the driver when his trial opens Monday in Nevada County Superior Court.
Instead, Scott Krause's defense will argue that the defendant believed he was trying to escape man-eating subterranean beings when he ran into Drew Reynolds' truck on Jan. 6, 2004.
Krause has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to five felony counts, including first-degree murder, carjacking, and burglary, stemming from a string of alleged criminal activities leading up to the fatal highway crash.
In three court-ordered evaluations, the defendant stated he was fleeing subterranean beings he called 'hemadrones' when he carjacked a commercial vehicle near a Nevada City, Calif., gas station and then crashed into Reynolds' service vehicle.
'Everything had to do with his escape from the hemadrones,' said Nevada County District Attorney Michael Ferguson. 'According to the defendant, he wasFkF afraid they were going to put him in cargo and ship him to China to be eaten.'
Calls to public defender Gary Gordon went unanswered.
The evidentiary burden will fall on the defense to prove that Krause, a known methamphetamine addict with a history of drug-related arrests, was suffering from a pre-existing mental condition that either prevented him from understanding the consequences of his actions or knowing the difference between right or wrong.
A psychologist testified in a preliminary hearing that when he examined Krause in 2002, the divorced father of two displayed signs of delusions and paranoid schizophrenia.
He also testified that for at least two years before the incident, Krause was using methamphetamine at least twice a day.
'This "
Instead, Scott Krause's defense will argue that the defendant believed he was trying to escape man-eating subterranean beings when he ran into Drew Reynolds' truck on Jan. 6, 2004.
Krause has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to five felony counts, including first-degree murder, carjacking, and burglary, stemming from a string of alleged criminal activities leading up to the fatal highway crash.
In three court-ordered evaluations, the defendant stated he was fleeing subterranean beings he called 'hemadrones' when he carjacked a commercial vehicle near a Nevada City, Calif., gas station and then crashed into Reynolds' service vehicle.
'Everything had to do with his escape from the hemadrones,' said Nevada County District Attorney Michael Ferguson. 'According to the defendant, he wasFkF afraid they were going to put him in cargo and ship him to China to be eaten.'
Calls to public defender Gary Gordon went unanswered.
The evidentiary burden will fall on the defense to prove that Krause, a known methamphetamine addict with a history of drug-related arrests, was suffering from a pre-existing mental condition that either prevented him from understanding the consequences of his actions or knowing the difference between right or wrong.
A psychologist testified in a preliminary hearing that when he examined Krause in 2002, the divorced father of two displayed signs of delusions and paranoid schizophrenia.
He also testified that for at least two years before the incident, Krause was using methamphetamine at least twice a day.
'This "
Ohio Nursing Home Resident Dies After Sunbathing
"Temperature Was In Mid-90s"
POSTED: 12:22 pm EDT June 27, 2005
WATERVILLE, Ohio -- A woman sunbathing for several hours in 95 degree heat at her nursing home was found unconscious and died at a hospital with a temperature of 109 degrees, a coroner's investigator said.
Staff members at the Heartland of Browning nursing home periodically checked on Patricia Matney, 49, before she was found unconscious in the late afternoon, said Steve Kahle of the Lucas County coroner's office.
Matney, who had multiple sclerosis, regularly spent time outdoors at the facility, said Julie Beckert, communications director for owner HCR Manor Care. She was found in a courtyard popular with residents and visitors that is monitored by staff, the company said in a statement.
The coroner's office started an autopsy Monday.
HCR is assisting officials in their investigations, Beckert said.
'Quality care is of paramount concern at Heartland,' the company's statement said.
Matney lived in the 120-bed nursing home near Toledo since 2001. "
POSTED: 12:22 pm EDT June 27, 2005
WATERVILLE, Ohio -- A woman sunbathing for several hours in 95 degree heat at her nursing home was found unconscious and died at a hospital with a temperature of 109 degrees, a coroner's investigator said.
Staff members at the Heartland of Browning nursing home periodically checked on Patricia Matney, 49, before she was found unconscious in the late afternoon, said Steve Kahle of the Lucas County coroner's office.
Matney, who had multiple sclerosis, regularly spent time outdoors at the facility, said Julie Beckert, communications director for owner HCR Manor Care. She was found in a courtyard popular with residents and visitors that is monitored by staff, the company said in a statement.
The coroner's office started an autopsy Monday.
HCR is assisting officials in their investigations, Beckert said.
'Quality care is of paramount concern at Heartland,' the company's statement said.
Matney lived in the 120-bed nursing home near Toledo since 2001. "
Jun 16, 2005
'Child sacrifices in London'
By Richard Edwards Crime Reporter, Evening Standard
16 June 2005
Boys from Africa are being murdered as human sacrif ices in London churches.
They are brought into the capital to be offered up in rituals by fundamentalist Christian sects, according to a shocking report by Scotland Yard.
Followers believe that powerful spells require the deaths of "unblemished" male children.
Police believe such boys are trafficked from cities such as Kinshasa where they can be bought for a little as £10.
The report, leaked ahead of its publication next month, also cites examples of
African children being tortured and killed after being identified as "witches" by church pastors.
The 10-month study was commissioned after the death of Victoria Climbié, who was starved and beaten to death after they said she was possessed by the devil.
The aim of the Met study was to create an "open dialogue" with the African and Asian community in Newham and Hackney. In discussions with African community leaders, officers were told of examples of children being murdered because their parents or carers believe them to be possessed by evil spirits. Earlier-this month Sita Kisanga, 35, was convicted at the Old Bailey of torturing an eight-year-old girl from Angola she accused of being a witch.
Kisanga was a member of the Combat Spirituel church in Dalston. Many such churches, supported mainly by people from West Africa, sanction aggressive forms of exorcism on those thought to be possessed.
There are believed to be 300 such churches in the UK, mostly in London.
The report was put together by an expert social worker and lawyer for the Met after talking to hundreds of people in African communities in a series of workshops. It uncovered allegations of witchcraft spells, child trafficking and HIV-positive people who believe that by having sex with a child they will be "cleansed".
An extract reads: "People who are desperate will seek out experts to cast spells for them.
"Members of the workshop stated that for a spell to be powerful it required a sacrifice involving a male child unblemished by circumcision. They allege that boy children are being trafficked into the UK for this purpose."
It adds: "A number of pastors maintain that God speaks through them and lets them know when someone is possessed.
"It is therefore their duty to deliver the child or adult from the evil spirit.
"After much debate they acknowledge that children labelled as possessed are in danger of being beaten by their families.
"However, they would not accept they played a role in inciting such violence."
Last month Scotland Yard revealed it had traced just two out of 300 black boys aged four to seven reported missing from London schools in a three-month period.
The true figure for missing boys and girls is feared to be several thousand a year.
The scale of the problem emerged through the murder inquiry following the discovery of a child's torso in the Thames in September 2001. The identity of the victim, named Adam by police, is not known but his background was traced to Nigeria. It is believed he died in a ritual sacrifice.
John Azar, who helped the police on that inquiry, told Radio4's Today programme that the known cases could be "the tip of the iceberg".
Police working on the Adam case have found children are being sold to traffickers on the streets of major African cities for less than £10 and then smuggled into the UK. The children arrive in London armed with false documents and accompanied by adults who believe they will bolster their asylum claims.
Dr Richard Hoskins, a lecturer of Theology and Religious Studies at King's College, said: "We know this through work we have been doing on the Adam inquiry. These children are ripe for people to abuse. They are easy prey."
A Met spokesman said: "We undertook a project aimed at improving our knowledge of issues impacting child abuse within the African and Asian communities of London. The aim of the project was to open a dialogue within these communities and encourage a debate which would help reduce the risks of harm to children."
The report says there is a wide gulf between these communities and social services and protection agencies with many people in ethnic communities scared to speak out.
The report concludes police face a "wall of silence" when dealing with such cases.
Experts differ on the merits of the Scotland Yard report.
Dr William Les Henry, a lecturer in sociology at Goldsmiths College, said aspects of the reports were pigeonholing crimes together and were patronising and racist.
He said: "When we think about these cases we can see the same kind of patterns of behaviour in European cultures but they are interpreted in completely different ways.
"This is one of the crises with social sciences anyway, when they are supposedly interpreting the folk ways or cultural habits of alien cultures." He said that the models such reports are based on are that "Africans are less civilised, less rational".
But Dr Hoskins said: "This is very detailed, qualitative report that actually comes out of the communities.
"This is not white people saying this. This has actually comes from the communities authored by people in the community and that really stymies the racist line." He added: "We are dealing with real cases here. When you actually talk to them, these are hard and fast facts.
"So I don't think we are getting wrong, but it is right to treat it sensitively."
He believes vulnerable people are being manipulated by spiritual leaders.
"This is absolutely what is going on. They are often very vulnerable, poor people.
"It is people in positions of power and money that are manipulating poor people."
Jun 15, 2005
Oprah Winfrey could be a Zulu
DNA experts have questioned Oprah Winfrey's belief that she is a member of South Africa's Zulu nation.
The African-American chat-show host announced during a recent visit to South Africa that she had had a DNA test that had shown her to be a Zulu.
She also told South Africans she felt "at home" in the country.
"I went in search of my roots and had my DNA tested, and I am a Zulu," Ms Winfrey said at a seminar in Johannesburg last week.
Professor Himla Soodyall of South Africa's National Health Laboratory Service said it was likely that Oprah Winfrey would have taken a mitochondrial DNA test.
Genetic line
"This involves tracing only one particular line in a person's ancestry, which passes from mother to all her children but then only transmitted to the next generation by her daughters," she said.
There is not much to distinguish between various linguistic groups... because they have diversified more recently than genetic differences
Professor Himla Soodyall
In other words, the test can trace a genetic line of a person only to their mother, their maternal grandmother, and so on, matching only one ancestor in each generation.
Identifying a person on the basis of their DNA can only be done by comparing their DNA results with the those of other people who were already tested and their data recorded in a database.
"The conclusion that she had Zulu ancestry would indicate that Oprah's mitochondrial DNA lineage must have had an identical match to someone in the global database who was identified as a Zulu individual," Prof Soodyall said.
Language groups
Prof Soodyall pointed out, however, that genetic lineages did not correspond precisely to cultural or linguistic groups such as the Zulu nation.
"There is not much to distinguish between various linguistic groups, particularly the different language groups spoken in southern Africa, because they have diversified more recently - perhaps within the past 1,000-1,500 years - than genetic differences which have been evolving in our species for about 150,000 years ago," she said.
The historical movement of people around the African continent makes the situation still more complicated.
This could, however, explain how Ms Winfrey's DNA matched with a sample from a Zulu person, even though most African-Americans have ancestors who have been traced to west Africa as a consequence of the slave trade.
According to most historical accounts, the Zulu nation was consolidated only after the departure of slaves from west Africa to the Americas.
South Africa nevertheless has a special place in Ms Winfrey's heart.
"I'm crazy about the South African accent," she said. "I wish I had been born here."
The African-American chat-show host announced during a recent visit to South Africa that she had had a DNA test that had shown her to be a Zulu.
She also told South Africans she felt "at home" in the country.
"I went in search of my roots and had my DNA tested, and I am a Zulu," Ms Winfrey said at a seminar in Johannesburg last week.
Professor Himla Soodyall of South Africa's National Health Laboratory Service said it was likely that Oprah Winfrey would have taken a mitochondrial DNA test.
Genetic line
"This involves tracing only one particular line in a person's ancestry, which passes from mother to all her children but then only transmitted to the next generation by her daughters," she said.
There is not much to distinguish between various linguistic groups... because they have diversified more recently than genetic differences
Professor Himla Soodyall
In other words, the test can trace a genetic line of a person only to their mother, their maternal grandmother, and so on, matching only one ancestor in each generation.
Identifying a person on the basis of their DNA can only be done by comparing their DNA results with the those of other people who were already tested and their data recorded in a database.
"The conclusion that she had Zulu ancestry would indicate that Oprah's mitochondrial DNA lineage must have had an identical match to someone in the global database who was identified as a Zulu individual," Prof Soodyall said.
Language groups
Prof Soodyall pointed out, however, that genetic lineages did not correspond precisely to cultural or linguistic groups such as the Zulu nation.
"There is not much to distinguish between various linguistic groups, particularly the different language groups spoken in southern Africa, because they have diversified more recently - perhaps within the past 1,000-1,500 years - than genetic differences which have been evolving in our species for about 150,000 years ago," she said.
The historical movement of people around the African continent makes the situation still more complicated.
This could, however, explain how Ms Winfrey's DNA matched with a sample from a Zulu person, even though most African-Americans have ancestors who have been traced to west Africa as a consequence of the slave trade.
According to most historical accounts, the Zulu nation was consolidated only after the departure of slaves from west Africa to the Americas.
South Africa nevertheless has a special place in Ms Winfrey's heart.
"I'm crazy about the South African accent," she said. "I wish I had been born here."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)