Tuesday, January 29, 2013

"I know what you've been doing!"



Woman's World, 7 January 2013, p. 55

Boy, Was My Face Red!

My six-year-old granddaughter was told by her mom, "if you eat the seeds of an apple, a tree will grow in your stomach." The other day, she and I were riding the bus when a pregnant lady took the seat next to us. My granddaughter kept staring at her and finally piped up, "I know what you've been doing!" I mumbled an apology to the woman as she gave us an awkward smile and let out a nervous chuckle, but, boy, was my face red!

F.W. New Britain, CT

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Fecal Pollution in Kabul



http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/world/asia/kabuls-pollution-is-real-despite-unpleasant-exaggeration.html

New York Times
22 January 2013

Kabul Journal

By ROD NORDLAND

KABUL, Afghanistan - It has long been a given that the air pollution in this city gets horrific: on average even worse than Beijing's infamous haze, by one measure.

For nearly as long, there has been the widespread belief by foreign troops and officials here that - let's be blunt here - feces are a part of the problem.

Canadian soldiers were even warned about it in predeployment briefings, which cited reports that one test had found that as many as 30 percent of air samples contained fecal particles. The Canadians were worried enough that the government ordered a formal investigation, officials say.

"I've heard that story for 40 years," said Andrew Scanlon, the head of the United Nations Environment Program here, who dismissed it as an urban legend. "I think the need by diplomats for danger-pay raises is what has kept reports of fecal matter danger very high." [...]

Monday, January 21, 2013

Is Imitation Calamari Made From Pig Rectum?



http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2013/01/calamari_made_of_pig_rectum_the_this_american_life_rumor_isn_t_true_but.html

Slate
18 January 2013


By Daniel Engber

A friend told me the other day that she'd heard a horrifying report on public radio: You know those deep-fried, chewy rings of calamari? Sure. Well, they're sometimes served in imitation form, made from slices of a pig's rectum. Wait ... what?! And so it happened second-hand, as these things almost always do: An urban legend hatched and spread its wings. [...]

Friday, January 18, 2013

Spitfires Buried in Burma



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21074699

BBC News [UK]
18 January 2013


Archaeologists hunting for World War II Spitfires in Burma believe there are no planes buried at the sites where they have been digging, the BBC understands.

The archaeologists have concluded that evidence does not support the original claim that as many as 124 Spitfires were buried at the end of the war, the BBC's Fergal Keane reports.

Wargaming.net, the firm financing the dig, has also said there are no planes.

But project leader David Cundall says they are looking in the wrong place.

He told the BBC that he feels very frustrated but is determined to keep up his campaign, and remains convinced Spitfires are buried in Burma. [...]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20515659
BBC News | 22 November 2012

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-20910980
BBC News | 4 January 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20957162
BBC News | 9 January 2013
Burma Spitfire hunters discover crate

 



http://www.npr.org/2013/01/21/169621797/in-myanmar-a-hunt-for-fabled-cache-of-buried-wwii-spitfires
National Public Radio
21 January 2013
by Anthony Kuhn

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/9813074/Spitfire-hunter-pledges-the-search-will-go-on.html
The Daily Telegraph [UK]
20 January 2013
By Adam Lusher

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/10177803.Buried_Spitfires_is_a_tall_story__says_RAF_veteran/
The Northern Echo [UK]
22 January 2013
By Gavin Engelbrecht

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/9806536/Burmas-buried-Spitfires-the-inside-story-of-one-mans-obsession.html
The Daily Telegraph [UK]
23 January 2013
By Adam Lusher

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Poisoning Rumours Surface at Omuthiya



http://www.newera.com.na/articles/49784/Poisoning-rumours-surface-at-Omuthiya

New Era [Namibia]
8 January 2013


By Paulus Paulus

Windhoek -- Holidaymakers and residents of the northern town of Omuthiya experienced a festive season of panic due to unsubstantiated reports of food and drink poisoning having reached fever pitch at the town and surrounding villages.

"You never leave your glass behind in this town. Not even if you are with a friend, you cannot trust anyone here," a villager informed this reporter. However, the reports which some believe to be mere rumours refuse to die, despite reassurances by law enforcement officials and local authority leaders that there is no grain of truth in them. [...]

Friday, January 4, 2013

Women's Car Tires Damaged



http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20130103/WDH0101/301030419/Police-No-truth-tire-vandalism-rumor?nclick_check=1

Wausau Daily Herald [WI]
3 January 2013


Written by Shereen Skola
Daily Herald Media

Local police are debunking a rumor circulating in an email chain this week that someone was sabotaging women’s cars and then preying upon them when they were forced to pull off the road.

Marathon County Sheriff’s Lt. Ted Knoeck said the department fielded dozens of calls during the past several days from callers asking about a rumor that someone was damaging the tires of women’s cars, requiring them to be towed. [...]