FOXNews.com - South Carolina Inmate Hits Michael Vick With ‘$63,000,000,000 Billion Dollar’ Lawsuit Alleging Al Qaeda Ties - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News
Embattled NFL quarterback Michael Vick, facing federal charges related to his alleged participation in dogfighting, has been hit with a “$63,000,000,000 billion dollar” lawsuit filed by a South Carolina inmate who alleges the Atlanta Falcons star stole his pit bulls and sold them on eBay to buy “missiles from Iran,” FOX News has learned.

Jonathan Lee Riches filed the handwritten complaint over “theft and abuse of my animals” on July 23 in the U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va.

Riches alleges that Vick stole two white mixed pit bull dogs from his home in Holiday, Fla., and used them for dogfighting operations in Richmond, Va. The complaint goes on to allege that Vick sold the dogs on eBay and “used the proceeds to purchase missiles from the Iran government.”

The complaint also alleges that Vick would need those missiles because he pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda in February of this year.

“Michael Vick has to stop physically hurting my feelings and dashing my hopes,” Riches writes in the complaint.

Riches wants $63 billion dollars “backed by gold and silver “ delivered to the front gates to the Williamsburg Federal Correctional facility in South Carolina. Riches is an inmate at the facility serving out a wire fraud conviction.

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Wow…I’m surprised they even let this wacko file the case.  This came from out of no where.

FOXNews.com - Report: Sweaty Chinese Man Electrocuted by Computer - Technology News | News On Technology
A 20-year-old student in Shanghai, China, was electrocuted Monday when he opened his computer’s external case while the machine was still on, the Shanghai Daily reported.

The man, identified only by the common family name of Wu, had apparently opened his PC’s case to prevent its central processing chip from overheating — because he didn’t want to turn his air conditioning on.

His sweaty legs came into contact with the computer’s internal wiring, likely causing a short circuit.

According to the newspaper, which drew from a report in the Chinese-language Eastday.com, police and medical respondents found blood in the dead man’s nostrils and bruises on his legs.

The computer’s internal voltage can reach as high as 380 volts in power-storage capacitors, which is enough to give a deadly shock.

Powering down and unplugging the machine for a few minutes before opening it would have spared the man’s life.

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I guess this and having to wear an anti-static strap is something I should consider next time I’m under the hood.

FOXNews.com - Woman Dies Doing Handstand on Balcony - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News
Sunday, July 15, 2007

ORLANDO, Fla. — An Alabama woman died after she fell 15 feet from an apartment balcony, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.Jessica Ashley Hawkins, 20, asked two friends to take her to the hospital after she struck the ground headfirst Thursday evening. Hawkins was attempting a handstand from the balcony when she fell.

Hawkins lost consciousness in the car on the way to the hospital, according to a sheriff’s incident report. She was taken to Winter Park Hospital, transferred to the Orlando Regional Medical Center and died at 11:35 p.m., according to the report.

“This really is a tragedy,” sheriff’s spokesman Jim Solomons said. “Both of the young lady’s friends were very, very distraught.”

Hawkins — a former University of Central Florida student — was visiting her boyfriend when she fell, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

“What this was was a gathering of friends. The investigation revealed nothing had gotten out of hand,” Solomons said. “By all appearances, this is just a very, very tragic accident.”

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You would had thought that she could tuck and roll?  Head first…ouch.

FOXNews.com - Dispatchers Use Fast-Food Delivery Ruse to Track Down Girl, 4, Who Called 911 Nearly 300 Times - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News
CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. — Authorities tracked down a 4-year-old girl who called 911 nearly 300 times last month by offering to deliver McDonald’s to her suburban Chicago apartment.

Unbeknownst to her mother, the girl used a deactivated cell phone to call dispatchers 287 times in June — sometimes as often as 20 times a shift.

Dispatchers heard the child’s voice but could only track the phone’s signal to the apartment complex.

So authorities used a ruse to pinpoint her.

“We asked (the caller) what she wanted. She said she wanted McDonald’s,” said Steve Cordes, executive director of QuadCom’s emergency center, which covers Carpentersville.

“We talked with her and we convinced her if she told us where she lives, we would bring her McDonald’s,” he said. “She finally gave us her address. So we sent the police over — with no McDonald’s.”

After police arrived, the girl’s mother took away the phone, Cordes said.

Under federal law, deactivated cell phones still must be able to access 911. Many deactivated phones will contact an emergency call center if the user holds down the nine key.

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Wow, I didn’t know cellphones automatically call 911 if you hold down the 9 key.

FOXNews.com - Angry Iranians Attack Gas Stations to Protest Fuel Rationing - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News
TEHRAN, Iran — Angry Iranians attacked several gas stations in protest after the government suddenly began long-threatened fuel rationing, while many others rushed to fill their tanks.

The Oil Ministry announced the start of rationing Tuesday night only three hours before it was due to begin at midnight. The sudden announcement sparked long lines at stations as Iranians tried to get one last fill-up before the limitations kicked in.

Several stations were attacked “by vandals,” state radio reported early Wednesday. It did not say how many stations were damaged or give details.

The Iranian government has planning for weeks to implement rationing in an attempt to reduce the billions of dollars a year it spends in fuel subsidies. On May 21, the government reduced the subsidies, letting gas prices rise 25 percent. It was supposed to begin rationing at the same time, but the move was repeatedly put off.

The issue is enormously sensitive in this oil-rich nation, where people are used to having rock-bottom gas prices. Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005 election based largely on his promises to improve the faltering economy. But his failure to do so has sparked widespread criticism.

Iran is the second biggest exporter in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. But because it has low refining capability, it has to import more than 50 percent of its gasoline needs. To keep prices low, the government subsidized gas sales, saddling it with enormous costs.

Under the rationing plan, owners of private cars can buy only 100 liters (26 gallons) of fuel per month at the subsidized price of 1,000 rials per liter (0.074 euros/liter, 38 U.S. cents/gallon). Taxis can get 800 liters (211 gallons) a month at the subsidized price.

Conservatives in Iran’s parliament, especially those aligned with the country’s national oil company, have long pushed for higher gasoline prices with the hope of curtailing demand and freeing up government spending to invest in more oil and gas production.

Still, Ahmadinejad has resisted allowing increases because of his campaign promises to share Iran’s oil wealth with the nation’s poor. Iran has a law that says gasoline prices must increase 10 percent every year, but the president has resisted efforts by parliament to reverse a 2005 decision to suspend the annual increases.

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Perhaps we don’t have to attack them…or at least just bomb their nuclear facilities.  They are so weak in this area that we can put pressure on their refining capabilities to make them do our bidding.  I love being a superpower.

FOXNews.com - Italian Dies on Stand Testifying About Death of American Girlfriend - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News
ROME — An Italian accused of killing his American girlfriend after he kidnapped their daughter suffered a heart attack and died on the stand Monday as he testified in court for the first time, his lawyer said.

Carlo Ventre, 59, was pronounced dead at the scene by ambulance crews called to the Rome courtroom, attorney Roberto Leonardo said.

Ventre had been testifying calmly for 10 or 15 minutes about the first fights he had with girlfriend Toni Dykstra when he suddenly said he did not feel well, Leonardo said. A few seconds later he was dead, he said.

“It’s a terrible story, with a tragic epilogue,” he said.

Ventre, who had suffered a heart attack in 2002, was charged with killing Dykstra in his Rome apartment in 1998.

Dykstra, who lived in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles, had traveled to Italy to retrieve the couple’s daughter, Santina. When she found the girl and Ventre, she obtained an Italian court order requiring Ventre to hand over the girl so she could return to the United States with her.

The day before they were to leave, Dykstra, 29, was found dead on the floor of Ventre’s apartment. Ventre told Italian authorities Dykstra struck her head on a fireplace when he shoved her in self-defense after she attacked him with an ax.

A day before his court date in Rome, Ventre had told Leonardo he feared he would not feel well when he testified, the lawyer said. Ventre arrived tired and sweating, after traveling an hour on public transport in nearly 95-degree heat Monday, Leonardo said.Ventre appeared to be doing well while testifying in the air-conditioned courtroom, Leonardo said. “He was very calm, secure, detailed and very credible,” but then suddenly stopped, said he didn’t feel well and leaned back in his chair, the lawyer said.

Attorney Luca Ciaglia, representing the Dykstra family in the civil portion of the case, said the court was stunned.

“It was something incredible, something unexpected,” he said, adding that the prosecutor had been calmly asking Ventre about his relationship with Dykstra when the heart attack occurred.

“I’m sorry for him,” he said. “He probably was feeling great torment inside.”

Dykstra’s family and friends had said Ventre repeatedly threatened to kill Dykstra. The couple had lived together in Downey, a south Los Angeles suburb, for about a year but never married.

Ventre was arrested when he returned to the United States in 1999 after Dykstra’s father was awarded custody of Santina. He was convicted of international parental kidnapping charges and sentenced to nearly a year in prison.

After completing his sentence, Ventre was held without bond in the United States while he fought his deportation. He was finally sent to Italy in 2005 after his appeals were exhausted to face charges in Dykstra’s death.

Shortly after he was deported, Ventre was also charged in the United States for allegedly soliciting the murders of Dykstra’s parents and another kidnapping of Santina.

Santina has been in the custody of Ventre’s brother, who lives in Las Vegas.

FOXNews.com - Report: Illegal Immigrants Given Red Bull, Ephedrine Before Dash Across Border - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News
llegal immigrants are being given Red Bull energy drinks and ephedrine to give them a boost as they scurry across the U.S. border, according to a radio report.

Smugglers are reportedly giving immigrants what is known as a “triple stacker” — an ephedrine pill and aspirin, with a can of Red Bull to wash it all down, U.S. Border Patrol agents told WOAI news radio station in Texas.

Click here to read the WOAI report.

The caffeine combo, which can lead to dehydration, especially in the scorching temperatures of the deserts, is one of the main reasons for immigrant deaths before they make it into the U.S.

“The combination of the triple stacker, the lack of good water, and the heat is a bad combination for them,” Border Patrol agent Jesus Rodriguez told WOAI. “You can go from rescues to dying out in the desert.”

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Does that mean Illegal will start flying across the border?

FOXNews.com - New Technology Lets User Control Electronics With Brain - Technology News | News On Technology
HATOYAMA, Japan — Forget the clicker: A new technology in Japan could let you control electronic devices without lifting a finger simply by reading brain activity.

The “brain-machine interface” developed by Hitachi Inc. (HIT) analyzes slight changes in the brain’s blood flow and translates brain motion into electric signals.

A cap connects by optical fibers to a mapping device, which links, in turn, to a toy train set via a control computer and motor during one recent demonstration at Hitachi’s Advanced Research Laboratory in Hatoyama, just outside Tokyo.

“Take a deep breath and relax,” said Kei Utsugi, a researcher, while demonstrating the device on Wednesday.

At his prompting, a reporter did simple calculations in her head, and the train sprang forward — apparently indicating activity in the brain’s frontal cortex, which handles problem solving.

Activating that region of the brain — by doing sums or singing a song — is what makes the train run, according to Utsugi. When one stops the calculations, the train stops, too.Underlying Hitachi’s brain-machine interface is a technology called optical topography , which sends a small amount of infrared light through the brain’s surface to map out changes in blood flow.

Read the rest of this entry »

FOXNews.com - Man Survives Bobcat Attack by Choking Animal to Death
WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — A 62-year-old Florida man depended on his instincts when a bobcat attacked him, and it paid off — he survived, the bobcat didn’t.

Dale Rippy, a resident of Wesley Chapel, Florida, was pulling trashcans back to his house May 30 when he saw what he thought was a large cat. After realizing the animal was actually a bobcat, he set the trashcans down and prepared for an attack.

Having grown up on a farm, Rippy said he knew the bobcat would attack when it didn’t run away after seeing him.

“When it growled, I knew it was going to jump and bite me,” he said.

The animal then jumped on him and began to scratch and bite. Rippy said he knew if he could get a good hold on the animal, he would be able to choke it, even if that meant letting the bobcat take a couple of bites.

“I started choking it when got a good hold,” he said. “I choked it ‘til he died. I got scratched up pretty good.”

Rippy never had to go to the hospital, but was examined at a doctor’s office due to puncture wounds on his stomach and scratches.

After the attack, his neighbor called the police, who then called animal control. After the animal was inspected, it was found to be infected with rabies.

Rippy said now, he and his neighbor that helped him after the attack have to have rabies shots.

“It attacked me because it was sick,” he said.

Rippy said he has lived in his home 25 miles north of Tampa for 13 years and, although he has seen a panther and other animals in the wooded area behind his house, that was the first time he had ever seen a bobcat.

He also said those around him were very surprised about the attack and how he saved himself by killing the animal.

“The bobcat was big enough that it could have really hurt somebody, especially since it had rabies,” he said.

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Holy crap…Bobcats are nasty.  I’m surprised the guy didn’t have more serious injuries.

FOXNews.com - Local Council Orders Racy Ad Removed From Beneath Airport’s Flight Path - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News
LONDON — A giant silhouette of a naked pole dancer painted on a field beneath Gatwick Airport’s flight path is disturbing the British countryside.

The 100,000 square foot advertisement is nearly invisible from the ground, but can be seen by airline passengers, Tandridge District Council spokeswoman Giuseppina Valenza said Thursday.

She said the ad was painted on the field without proper permission and that the council would take legal action if it was not removed.

Sports Media Gaming Ltd, the company behind the ad, said the council had no grounds for removing it. “I think they’re unsure about their own regulations to be honest,” director Stephen Pearson said. “We’re not going to remove it at all.”

This is not the first time that the company’s ads have appeared near the airport.

In 2005, an ad for Lynx deodorant featuring a man fondling two naked women was washed off a nearby field after Unilever PLC decided to pull it, Pearson said.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England expressed disgust with the ad.”It sets such a nasty precedent, using our landscapes just for advertisement,” said Paul Miner, a planning campaigner.

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I’m thinking of putting an ad that says “You’re going the wrong way!”