Kindergartener brings crack pipe, meth for show-and-tell (BLOG)

ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - A kindergartener in rural Sweet Springs, Missouri, brought a bag of crystal meth and a crack pipe to school for show-and-tell, but an alert teacher kept the boy from sharing his treasure with others at the school, an official said on Tuesday.

"He was very excited when he got to school," Superintendent Donna Wright said of the September 6 incident. "But I don't think he knew what he had."

A teacher recognized the drugs and pipe and police were called to the elementary school. "It didn't ever get into the classroom," Wright added.

"That was a first for show-and-tell in this town," Police Chief Richard Downing said. He added that the boy's mother, Michelle Cheatham, 32, was arrested later on drug charges and released on bail.

"It was shocking," Wright said. "We're not experienced with dealing with this."

The town, located 66 miles east of Kansas City on the Blackwater River, has 1,500 residents and about 425 students in its school system.

1-in-3,200 chance you'll be hit by fiery satellite chunks on Friday (BLOG)

Small fiery pieces of what was once a climate-monitoring satellite will hurtle towards the Earth's surface this Friday.

Unless you live in Greenland, Siberia or Antarctica, watch out for dazzling lights in the sky as red-hot lumps of NASA-grade aluminium descend upon our planet.

The space agency predicts that the debris from the 20-year-old Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) has a 1-in-3,200 chance of hitting a person, a scenario they consider "extremely remote". It is mostly likely the expensive shards will plummet into the sea, NASA said.

Sadly, if you do manage to catch a chunk of satellite, the US government expressly forbids you from selling it on eBay. The smouldering lump will remain the property of the United States and must be turned over to local police.

Most of the 6.5-tonne craft will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, but NASA debris experts say that at least 26 large pieces of the satellite will survive the scorching temperatures of atmospheric re-entry.

And they could land anywhere between the latitudes of Northern Canada and southern South America – an area comprising most of the world.

The climate taster has been orbiting the Earth, sampling the ozone layer and chemical compounds in the upper atmosphere. When the $750m UARS satellite was launched in 1991, NASA intended it to last for three years. But it kept going until 2005 when NASA ordered the satellite to burn its remaining fuel and prepare for a suicide dive to Earth.

The last of its fuel is now gone, and the UARS has been gradually pulled closer to Earth. Some recent solar activity has also advanced its descent. This activity can cause the Earth's atmosphere to heat and expand, increasing drag on spacecraft.


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Sperm bank: Redheads need not apply (BLOG)

Stock of red-haired donors 'is about to explode,' says agency director:

If you’ve got red hair, don't bother donating sperm at Cryos International, one of the world’s largest sperm banks.

"We have nothing against red-haired donors," Cryos agency director Ole Schou told msnbc.com Monday. "Our stock is about to explode. We have just too many on stock in relation to the demand for the time being."

Demand for redheads is still high in Ireland, according the clinic, but apparently it’s not enough to persuade officials at Cryos sperm bank to continue accepting them. It has 140,000 doses of sperm from red heads, and that’s enough.

"What we need is brown-eyed Scandinavians/Caucasians and Mediterranean donors and other ethnicities and races," he says. "The problem is that we are located in Scandinavia and 'harvest' donors here but we supply to more than 65 countries all over the whole world. They don’t always want Scandinavian donors out there."

Schou later clarified to msnbc.com that the clinic is not shutting its doors to all red-headed sperm donors -- the specimen cups are still available for those with brown eyes. The issue for Cryos, Schou explains, is too many Scandinavian donors have blond, middle blond, dark blond and red hair, a legacy of their Viking ancestors who also heavily multiplied in Scotland and Ireland.

The sperm bank is also looking for more Black, Asian, Hispanic, Mediterranean and mixed-race donors, Schou says.

"Our function in society is to have all races and all ethnicities. Our problem is that we have too many Scandinavians only," he says.

If you're a blue-eyed redhead looking to donate sperm, you're still welcome at other sperm clinics, although you may be in higher demand if you’re really smart, tall, athletic or musical.

Maryann Brown, chief executive officer of International Cryogenics in Birmingham, Mich., one of the first sperm banks in the U.S., hasn't experienced an anti-red bias. The clinic has "a good call for redheads."

Prospective parents often do have very specific requests when it comes to sperm donors, Brown says.

When parents are seeking sperm, she says, they often prefer donors who are athletically or musically inclined, and they prefer donors who are educated. Sometimes they even want a specific blood type.

"Some people are very interested in their looks and even the shape of their face, and how tall the family members are," she says. "They want all kinds of ethnic backgrounds and eye color including green, hazel, brown and blue."

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Speaking from his office in Denmark, Schou explains the agency also won’t take any Scandinavian donors for the time being — unless they have brown eyes.

Disabled man forced to stand barefoot in ant hill (BLOG)

PLANT CITY, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a Florida caretaker forced a mentally disabled man to stand barefoot on fire ant hills as punishment for stealing money.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies have charged 21-year-old Quentin Shunell Amos with abuse of a disabled adult.

Authorities say Amos thought the victim stole money from the staff and forced him to place his hands and feet on several ant beds at the Plant City MENTOR group home Sunday. Police say he was bitten multiple times.

Amos was released on $2,000 bond. A telephone listing for him could not be found. A message left for the group home was not immediately returned Thursday.

The state social services department said the home has been investigated five times this year, but no indications of abuse or neglect were found.

Coked up: Man arrested with 72 cocaine bags in belly (BLOG, PICS)

Brazilian police have released X-ray images of an Irishman they allege swallowed dozens of cocaine capsules in an attempt to smuggle the drug out of Sao Paolo.

The 20-year-old was arrested Monday at Sao Paolo's Congonhas airport as he tried to board a flight to Lisbon, the Irish Independent reported Friday. He was en route to Brussels, the paper said.

The medical images show 72 bags packed with the drug in his gastrointestinal tract.

Police were alerted after authorities noticed his nervous behavior, according to media reports. They said the drugs would have been worth around 150,000 euros ($206,780).

The man, who has only been identified as P.B.B., was reportedly taken to a hospital where the capsules, weighing a total of about two pounds, were removed from his body. It was unclear how this was achieved.

He has been charged with international drug trafficking and could be jailed for up to 15 years, the Independent said.


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2012 Guinness World Record Holders Named (BLOG)

How did it all start?

On May 4, 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver, then the managing director of the Guinness Brewery, went on a shooting party in North Slob in County Wexford, Ireland. He became involved in an argument over which was the fastest game bird in Europe, then later realized it was impossible to confirm in reference books. He then thought that a book supplying answers to such questions could be popular.

From biggest to smallest, wackiest to weirdest, check out some of the world record breakers honored in the latest Guinness book.

Longest ears on a dog

A Black and Tan Coonhound named Harbor has the longest ears of any living dog, with measurements of 12.25 inches for the left ear and 13.5 inches for the right.

Largest violin

The Vogtland masters of violin- and bow-making in Germany created a violin that is 14 feet long and 4 feet 6 inches at its widest. This fantastic fiddle – plus its 17 feet bow – is seven times larger than the real thing. It takes three people to play a tune on it – one to press the strings and two to move the bow.

Longest fingernails on a pair of female hands
The longest fingernails on a pair of female hands belong to Chris "The Dutchess" Walton and measure in at 10 feet 2 inches for her left hand and 9 feet 7 inches for her right hand for a total of 19 feet 9 inches as measured in Las Vegas, Nev., on Feb. 21, 2011.

Most dogs skipping on the same rope

Who knew dogs could skip rope -- much less 13 of them at the same time. The record was achieved by Uchida Geinousha's "Super Wan Wan Circus" in Japan.

Largest collection of penguins

Birgit Berends had amassed a collection of 11,062 different penguin-related items as of March 14, 2011. From Germany, she started her collection at the age of 18 when she was inspired by the animated series Pingu. Her very first penguin dates back to her days in elementary school.

Most piercings on a male

The most pierced man, Rolf Buchholz, has 453 studs and rings all over his body. Buchholz, from Dortmund, Germany, has – among others – 94 piercings in and around his lips, 25 in his eyebrows, eight in his nose and 278 in his genital area.

Youngest person to fly solo around the world

Barrington Irving, a 23-year-old aerospace student at Florida Memorial University, braved snow, storms and monsoon rains to circumnavigate the globe in his single-engine plane Inspiration, becoming the youngest person, and first black pilot, to achieve the feat. When Barrington found that nobody would lend him an aircraft for his journey, he had one built instead. The Columbia 400 he flew was made entirely from donated parts and assembled for free by the Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Company.

Largest chocolate bar

Workers and guests at the World's Finest Chocolate company in Chicago admire a 12,290 pound chocolate bar they created to set a new Guinness World Record on Sept. 13, 2011. The bar, which stands nearly 3 feet high and measures 21 feet long, beats the previous record chocolate bar by more than a ton.

Longest domestic cat (and longest domestic cat tail)

At 48.5 inches long, Stewie is the world's longest domestic cat. The 5-year-old Maine Coon is owned by Robin Hendrickson and Erik Brandsness and was measured on Aug. 28, 2010. He also has the longest domestic cat tail at 16.34 inches.

Largest afro

The largest afro measures 7.3 inches high, 7.7 inches wide and 4 feet 4 inches in circumference. It was achieved by Aevin Dougas, who lives in New Orleans.

Longest tongue on a female

Chanel Tapper, pictured from California, has a tongue that measured 3.8 inches from tip to top lip, earning her the title of longest tongue on a female. The outright longest tongue record, though, is held by Stephen Taylor from the U.K. His lengthy licker measured 3.86 inches from tip to lip

Largest collection of cows

Denise Tubangui, from the U.S., has a collection of 2,429 cow-related items as of March 2011. Denise started collecting in 1990 when she saw a cow figurine in her mother's kitchen. Her favorite item is the life-sized calf that her neighbors gave her as a present.

Shortest cat

The shortest cat is Fizz Girl, a 2-year-old female munchkin cat, who measured 6 inches from the floor to the shoulder. She's owned by Tiffani Kjeldergaard, who lives in San Diego, Calif.

Longest moustache

The longest moustache measures 14 feet and belongs to Ram Singh Chauhan from India.

Largest crocodile in captivity

Cassius, an Australian saltwater crocodile named after Cassius Clay, has been declared the largest crocodile in captivity by the Guinness Book of Records. Cassius measures an impressive 17 feet 11.75 inches and weighs more than 2,000 pounds.

World's shortest living man

Junrey Balawing smiles as he is presented with a Guinness World Records certificate for being the world's shortest living man following the last of a series of measurement conducted in Southern Philippines, Sunday June 12, 2011, his 18th birthday and coincidentally the Philippines' Independence Day. Balawing was officially measured at at 59.93 centimeters, or 23.5 inches.

See more HERE

French Woman Sues Husband for Lack of Sex (BLOG)

Husbands and wives, take note: The phrase, "Not tonight, honey," could end up costing quite a bit more than a bruised ego and grumbled acceptance.

A French wife sued her husband and won about $14,000 because he didn't have sex with her enough, according to Time.

The wife sued her husband about two years ago for the waning bedroom activity over 21 years of marriage, and now the Nice, France, judge has ruled that a lack of copulation is indeed a violation of the marital contract.

"A sexual relationship between husband and wife is the expression of affection they have for each other, and in this case it was absent," the judge ruled, according to the Telegraph. "By getting married, couples agree to sharing their life and this clearly implies they will have sex with each other."

Of course, some men also take extreme measures in dissolving relationships.

In 2009, a North Dakota man requested half the value of his wife's breast job when the two split.

Erik Isaacson appealed his judge's decision to exclude the value of the procedure from the divorce case. The judge worried that if breast implants were considered as marital assets, the precedent would extend to other, more necessary medical procedures like root canals or even hip replacements, according to the Bismarck Tribune.

No argument from Isaacson there: He also wanted his wife's Lasik vision surgery counted as an asset.



One Egyptian woman, however, might have the most valid of the three divorce requests.

According to Urban Titan, the woman had to bring her husband to court because he refused to bathe for their entire first month of marriage.

The man claimed an allergy to water prevented him from maintaining proper hygiene -- and a doctor backed up his excuse.

Though the doctor's validation of the water allergy made ending the marriage more difficult, the woman did eventually get to split from her husband. One can only imagine that she would not be complaining about lack of bedroom activity.

'Wi-fi refugees' shelter in West Virginia mountains (BLOG)

Dozens of Americans who claim to have been made ill by wi-fi and mobile phones have flocked to the town of Green Bank, West Virginia:

There are five billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide and advances in wireless technology make it increasingly difficult to escape the influence of mobile devices. But while most Americans seem to embrace continuous connectivity, some believe it's making them physically ill.

Diane Schou is unable to hold back the tears as she describes how she once lived in a shielded cage to protect her from the electromagnetic radiation caused by waves from wireless communication.

"It's a horrible thing to have to be a prisoner," she says. "You become a technological leper because you can't be around people.

"It's not that you would be contagious to them - it's what they're carrying that is harmful to you."

Ms Schou is one of an estimated 5% of Americans who believe they suffer from Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS), which they say is caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields typically created by mobile phones, wi-fi and other electronic equipment.Hiding in a cage

Symptoms range from acute headaches, skin burning, muscle twitching and chronic pain.

"My face turns red, I get a headache, my vision changes, and it hurts to think. Last time [I was exposed] I started getting chest pains - and to me that's becoming life-threatening," Ms Schou says.

To alleviate the pain, her husband built an insulated living space known as a Faraday Cage.

He covered a wooden frame with two layers of wire mesh and a door that could be sealed shut to prevent radio waves from entering.

Diane spent much of her time inside it, sleeping on a twin mattress on a plywood base.

"At least I could see my husband on the outside, I could talk to him," she says.

Diane believes her illness was triggered by emissions from a mobile phone mast.

Her symptoms were so severe that she abandoned her family farm in the state of Iowa and moved to Green Bank, West Virginia - a tiny village of 143 residents in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains.Outlawed wireless technology

Green Bank is part of the US Radio Quiet Zone, where wireless is banned across 13,000 sq miles (33,000 sq km) to prevent transmissions interfering with a number of radio telescopes in the area.

The largest is owned by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and enables scientists to listen to low-level signals from different places in the universe.

Others are operated by the US military and are a critical part of the government's spy network.

As a result of the radio blackout, the Quiet Zone has become a haven for people like Diane, desperate to get away from wireless technology.

"Living here allows me to be more of a normal person. I can be outdoors. I don't have to stay hidden in a Faraday Cage," she says.

"I can see the sunrise, I can see the stars at night, and I can be in the rain.

"Here in Green Bank allows me to be with people. People here do not carry cell phones so I can socialise.

"I can go to church, I can attend some celebrations, I can be with people. I couldn't do that when I had to remain in the Faraday Cage."

But EHS is not medically recognised in the US.Debated 'condition'

The wireless association, CTIA, says that scientific evidence overwhelmingly shows that wireless devices, with the limits established by government regulators, do not pose a public health risk or cause any adverse health effects.

And the World Health Organization, while acknowledging that the symptoms are genuine and can be severe, says: "EHS has no clear diagnostic criteria and there is no scientific basis to link EHS symptoms to EMF (electromagnetic field) exposure. Further, EHS is not a medical diagnosis, nor is it clear that it represents a single medical problem."

However, new research by scientists at Louisiana State University and published by the International Journal of Neuroscience, claims to show that EHS can be caused by low frequency electromagnetic fields found in the environment.

"The study provides direct evidence that linking human symptoms with environmental factors, in this case EMF," says Dr Andrew Marino, a neurology professor who led the study.

"It's a watershed in that regard. There have been no previous studies that scientifically assess whether electromagnetic fields in the environment could produce human symptoms.

"And the symptoms matter because they are the first steps that show how EMFs produce human disease."

Scientists conducted a number of tests on a 35-year-old physician who had diagnosed herself with EHS.

She was seated on a wooden chair while voltage was applied to metal plates for pulses of 90 seconds to create a series of magnetic fields. The woman was asked to describe her symptoms after each exposure and after random sham exposures when, unknown to her, there was no voltage.

She reported headaches, pain and muscle twitching during the genuine exposures and no symptoms for the majority of the sham exposures.

The scientists concluded that such consistency could not be attributed to chance.

But other experts still disagree that a link exists.Technological 'ignorance'

Bob Park is a physics professor at the University of Maryland.

He says that the radiation emitted by wi-fi is simply too weak to cause the type of changes in the body's chemistry that could make people sick.

"The bigger problem that we face is that in our society, driven by technological change, people have very little education," he says.

"There are lots of things people need to learn and they're not learning it. The thing that's going to kill them is ignorance."

Seventy-year-old Nichols Fox says she understands such scepticism - it took several years before she became convinced that her debilitating pain and fatigue were caused by electromagnetic radiation emitted by her computer.

"Towards the end of my normal life when I still could watch television I could actually cut my pain off and on with the remote control device," she says. "It was such an enormously clear association there was just no denying it."

Her symptoms are so severe that she has isolated herself almost entirely, living in a remote house surrounded by fields and woods just outside the Quiet Zone. She says even the low-level electromagnetic fields generated there affect her health.

She uses hardly any electricity - her refrigerator operates on gas, light comes from kerosene lamps and a wood-burning stove provides most of her heat.

A thermostat is set to switch on electric heaters if the temperature drops to a level where she is in danger of hypothermia.

"It's so important that people understand that this is a very serious disability, it's a life-changing disability. It leads to an earlier death - I have absolutely no doubt about that and I think it's just unfortunate that this is not recognised," she says.

But even in this secluded part of America, the incursion of wireless technology is relentless. Planning permission has been granted for a cell tower a few miles from her home, and Nichols says she'll have to move.

"I'm getting older and I really don't know where I'm going to go or what I'm going to do," she says. "It's really quite frightening."

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Principal makes cheerleaders don sweats under risque skirts (BLOG)

When San Jose (Calif.) Piedmont principal Traci Williams decided to actually enforce a longstanding ban on miniskirts at the school, her school-wide dress-code sweeps found a very surprised target: The school's cheerleading squad. Now members of the Pirates' spirit team are facing a season wearing sweatpants under their uniforms during school to avoid violating the dress code, a measure that they're none too pleased about.

As first reported by the San Jose Mercury News, the move to make cheerleaders wear sweats under their uniforms was enforced so they could fall in line with a dress code that requires all skirts or shorts to stretch lower than mid-thigh. As you can see in the photo at right, the Piedmont cheerleaders' custom-tailored uniforms come relatively close to achieving that benchmark, but Williams declared that they didn't quite hit it, leading to the necessary adjustments.

Administrators feel that they have a valid reason for stepping up enforcement of the miniskirt ban. While standards in teen clothing in school can vary widely from state to state, Williams described the attire worn by many of the students at Piedmont as ranging from slightly inappropriate to nearly lewd.

"Pockets are hanging out," Williams told the Mercury News of skirts that had been identified in recent clothing sweeps. "Cheeks are hanging out. We don't want them bending over."

While the cheerleaders feel the school administration should ease up on its enforcement of the rule, the Mercury News reported that plenty of other students had been sent into a special building until their parents arrived with a change of clothes, all because their skirts were deemed to be too skimpy.

The difference, of course, is that the Pirates cheerleaders are wearing a custom-tailored, $300 school uniform during classes, all as part of a drive to improve school spirit on game days.

"This is really unfair to us," Piedmont senior cheerleader Antonia Bavilacqua told the Mercury News. The skirts are still OK for games, just not during school. "We're just sad and hurt. It's our school colors and spirit. And they're making us feel like outcasts."

Now Bavilacqua is leading a charge to try and get Williams to ease up on her enforcement of the rule, citing both a prior case in Florida, common sense (another cheerleader cited the weather concerns, saying "It's 95 degrees outside"), and fashion sense as reasons to allow the cheerleaders to wear their uniforms in school one day a week.

After all, as one of the squad's other senior cheerleaders said, wearing sweatpants under a miniskirt is, "dorky."




Yet it doesn't appear that Williams has any plans of budging on her ruling, at least for the moment. If anything, her commitment to enforcing the miniskirt ban for cheerleaders and the rest of the school was only reinforced after attending the Pirates' football game against Evergreen Valley (Calif.) High last week and surveying their cheerleaders' uniforms.

"Their skirts were mid-thigh," Williams said. "If our cheerleader's skirts were that long, this wouldn't be an issue."

Too wacky? Moving water from flood to drought (BLOG)

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the soggy East tries to dry out from flooding and Texas prays for rain that doesn't come, you might ask: Isn't there some way to ship all that water from here to there?

It's an idea that has tempted some, but reality gets in the way.

A Texas oilman once envisioned long pipelines carrying water to drought-stricken Texas cities, just one of several untested fantasies of moving water vast distances. Parched Las Vegas still wants to indirectly siphon off excess water from the overflowing Mississippi River. French engineers have simulated hauling an iceberg to barren Africa. There are even mega-trash bags to move heavy loads of water.

There's certainly plenty of rainwater available. Tropical Storm Lee dumped enough on the already saturated Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Gulf Coast to bring 9.6 inches of rain across the entire state of Texas, according to calculations by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and The Associated Press.

"One man's flood control is another man's water supply," said Patricia Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. "Doesn't it make you want to think about a larger distribution that helps both? That's the crazy part of this. It's a win-win. There's no loser."

But moving vast quantities of water is not simple or cheap, and thus not realistic, experts say. Mostly, it's too costly and political.

However, these dreamed-up concepts show that a quiet water crisis is getting more desperate.

"We will go to any lengths to avoid confronting the reality of water shortages," said University of Arizona law professor Robert Glennon, author of the book "Unquenchable."

"What all those zany ideas suggest are the traditional beliefs that we can control nature and there must be some oasis out there where we can go to, to import water."

But those are mirages, he said — tempting, but not realistic.

Mike Halpert, deputy director of the NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, knows the temptation. He's about to fly from Washington, which has had 7 inches since Monday, to Houston, which got about that amount of rain for the entire spring and summer. All that D.C. rain would be enough water for every person in Houston for 10 days.

He jested that he would love to carry water in his suitcases. He said colleagues have been "joking that we'll send Texas our water. Will they send us their oil? But I don't think that's going to fly."

The trouble with water is "there's enough quantity but it is not always in the right places," said G. Tracy Mehan, who was chief water regulator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration during the George W. Bush Administration.

So how about moving it?

"The short answer ... is that it costs too much. It's not a technical problem," said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Studies Institute and a MacArthur genius grant recipient for his work on water.

Las Vegas' grand proposal is to take water from the mighty Mississippi in a series of smaller pipeline-like exchanges among states just west of the Mississippi to refill the overused Colorado River. There are no official cost estimates, but it likely would be in the hundreds of billions dollars. Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens abandoned his plans for a massive water pipeline stretching across Texas to just moving water around the Texas Panhandle.

Water weighs a lot — about 8.3 pounds per gallon — so moving massive amounts, often up mountains, costs a lot, Glennon said. Gleick notes that conservation and efficiency are cheaper.

Building a pipeline to pump water from flooded areas is foolish because each year it is somewhere different that gets drenched, so you can't build something permanent based on a couple of years' unusual rainy weather, NOAA's Halpert said.

For purely moving water, Gleick likes a smaller-scale concept: the trash bag. A California firm has designed Spragg Bags "with the world's strongest zippers" that haul millions of gallons of drinking water from one place to another over the ocean, said inventor Terry Spragg. It's been used in Greece.

When asked the cost to haul excess water by bag from the flooded Northeast to Texas, Spragg declined to say. "It just wouldn't be practical. It's just too distant... Forget about taking it from New Jersey or Pennsylvania, there are sources that are closer."

If you want to go high-tech for water, desalination — taking salt out of ocean water — and reusing wastewater for drinking water are cheaper and more realistic, said Gleick, author of the book "Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water."

In Big Spring, Texas, they are looking at reusing wastewater by treating it and then adding it to the fresh water supply. Orange County, Calif., has a state-of-the-art water recycling program. And on the International Space Station astronauts use a system that turns their urine into drinkable water. Tampa has a new $158 million water desalination plant that can produce as much as 25 million gallons of water a day from the sea.

While those who need more water say the challenge is just a matter of balancing out too much and too little, other experts say there is a bigger problem: 1 billion people on Earth don't have clean drinking water.

"Absolutely there's a water crisis, but it means different things in different places," Gleick said. "In Africa, it's people dying because they don't have safe drinking water. In Texas, it means people at risk and property being damaged because there's a natural drought. In some places, it might mean not enough water to make semiconductors and grow food.

"Nature always distributes water unevenly — that's just the way it goes," Gleick said.

In the 20th century in the United States, the answer to water shortages was to drill another well, tap another aquifer, build more dams, divert more rivers and build pipelines, Gleick said. But now "we're running into limits."

Politics is almost as big a barrier as price. Legal battles over water run rampant in U.S. history, especially out West. But now they have gone nationwide, along with shortages. North Carolina has sued South Carolina, Florida has sued Georgia and Alabama, and the Great Lakes states have banded together to fend off water diversions, Glennon said. The Great Lakes region has been in and out of court over water rights for about a century.

"People are concerned about water rights. Even in eastern water-rich states, you don't want to be giving it away," said Robert Holmes, who deals with the problem of too much water. He is the national flood hazard coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey.

University of Colorado natural hazards professor Kathleen Tierney put it more bluntly: "As we say in Colorado, whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting over."

Spain killer bull named 'Mouse' wins fame, infamy (BLOG)

SUECA, Spain — With more than 3,000 fans cheering, a hulking, black-and-white fighting bull named "Mouse" chased one daredevil runner after another, trying to flip them airborne and skewer them as he did a month ago in a fatal goring that enshrined his reputation as Spain's most feared and famous beast.

Mouse was greeted in the southeastern farm town of Sueca like a rock star: Everyone stood up at 2 a.m. Sunday in the bull ring's grandstands as he charged across the sand after loudspeakers introduced him with the eerie strains of the soundtrack to "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly," the 1960s spaghetti western starring a young Clint Eastwood.

The 550-kilogram (1,213-pound) bull didn't claim any more victims this time, but tried his hardest to gore runners. And he captured intense media coverage in what could be his last appearance before retirement amid the controversy he has generated about Spain's summertime tradition of bull versus human runs, a pastime that plays out in rings, narrow streets and plazas across the nation.

After running with Mouse, a breathless Julian Herroja said the bull is so dangerous that "if you make a mistake, he won't. You'll be a victim for sure."

More than 30 journalists were on hand to cover the event in Sueca, population 28,000, near the beach destination of Valencia. Though Mouse will make one more appearance before the end of his season this year, he will run around the ring without runners.

Mouse's owner now fends off as many as 60 cell phone calls daily from reporters. Facebook pages dedicated to him include comments from some people praising him for taking revenge against humans in a country where slews of bulls are slain every year in bullfights by matadors.

But Gregorio de Jesus is angry that Mouse has been nicknamed "Killer Bull," saying he gets blame for doing what comes naturally: Defending himself against perceived threats.

"We go to entertain people so they'll have fun, but unfortunately they are fighting bulls, and there is always a percentage of risk," said de Jesus, 42, a former bull fighter who raises 70 specially bred bulls and 300 cows.

The hype about Mouse has grown so much in Spain that de Jesus is forced to deny reports that the 11-year-old Mouse has killed as many as five runners during his career. But in addition to the 29-year-old victim Aug. 14 in the town of Xativa, he killed a 56-year-old man in 2006 and has seriously injured five more people over the years.

Mouse got his name because no one ever expected him to turn into such a raging bull, de Jesus said. As a calf, he was tormented by several youths who broke into his pen and exhausted him almost to death. Then he was nearly fatally gored by another bull at de Jesus' ranch.

Critics and bull run aficionados alike agree that security is lax at many small town bull runs, meaning almost anyone can participate — even if they're drunk, have taken drugs or aren't physically fit enough to sprint away from enraged bulls. Sueca's mayor beefed up security Sunday, and the extra contingent of police took away some suspected drunks during Mouse's run.

After the bull's last deadly goring, Valencia's regional government announced plans to study how police can be given more authority to detain runners who shouldn't be in the ring, while stressing that the overall number of bull run injuries in the region where they run dropped to 486 in 2010 from 676 in 2008.

Hector Benet, an insurance agent for the bull run industry, said the number of deaths each year in the region averages four, with dozens of serious injuries annually. While bulls in the runs aren't killed or bloodied like their counterparts in bullfights, animal rights groups say the events are a form of animal torture, with bulls terrified by the hundreds of people who taunt the animals by yelling at them, poking them with long sticks and tossing sand from the plaza at them.

"Mouse is the proof that the bull runs are barbaric and medieval," said Leonardo Anselmi of PROU, the animal rights group whose signature-collecting campaign led to a bullfighting ban in Catalonia, which neighbors Valencia. "It's excessive and cruel violence. The culprits are the politicians who allow the bull runs."

But after Catalonia banned bullfighting, politicians there put in protections for other bull-related traditions, including "correbous" — when metal rods with flaming balls of wax or fireworks are attached to bulls' horns before they are let loose to run around bull rings or plazas and chase people.

It's all part of Spain's centuries-old fascination with bulls, with animals used in public as a test of bravery and part of the national identity. Spaniards also run with bulls in northern Pamplona every year, spear them to death from horseback in a town called Tordesillas and cordon off town squares to let children dodge feisty calves bred to become top-fighter bulls.

Sueca's mayor, Salvador Campillo, was torn on whether to let Mouse perform in his small city after this year's fatal goring by the bull. In the end, he decided to go ahead because he's a bull run fan.

"Raton is a bull that gives a great show, he never stops," Campillo said with a smile.

The town's annual end of summer party also features an international paella cooking competition in place since 1961. The contest attracted chefs this year from top restaurants from Spain and France, plus one from Chicago.

Campillo said de Jesus told him that the Sueca event would be Mouse's last real run before retirement, but de Jesus insisted he won't decide until next year whether Mouse will be put to pasture to breed "some little Mouses" with a chance of inheriting the bull's agility, aggression, intelligence and speed.

Mouse's eventual retirement will probably prove lucrative for his owner, Campillo said, because cow owners who want mating privileges with the bull may have to pay as much as euro3,000 ($4,145) for each use of his services.

12 weird things you can rent (BLOG)

Most of us have rented a car, a DVD or an apartment. But what about other things you need or want -- like a dog to play with or a grandma to bake with? Yes, you can rent those, too. We use Bing to help with the rental details and uses for each:

Paparazzi

Who are the paparazzi following these days? It could be you. (Here's where you can hire paparazzi.) For the ultimate celebrity experience, just cough up $500 or so. You'll get a half-hour of paparazzi, plus your own gossip magazine cover with you as a star. You're already humming Lady Gaga, aren't you? (Listen to some of her songs and see pictures of her wild clothes.)

A village
A hotel director in Austria had this idea in the 1990s: If corporations were willing to rent entire hotels for conventions, why not rent them a whole village? The idea was so popular that 62-square-mile Liechtenstein collaborated with a rent-a-village company to rent out the entire country. That practice has since ended, much to Snoop Dogg's dismay. But there are 10 villages available for rent across Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

A goatFor at least two years, the National Park Service has hired goats to clear brush at a large military site near this island. The insatiable eaters cost less than the manpower and equipment that would otherwise be needed, and they leave behind something useful (find out what that is). If you've got an overgrown backyard, bring on the goats.

A celebrityDo you ever daydream about being best buds with Mariah Carey (listen to her music) or getting personal advice from Dr. Phil? (Watch him offer some.) You can rub elbows with a star, at least for a few hours, by paying an exorbitant fee to rent a celebrity (such as actress Sharon Stone, above). (Here are some sites that offer the service.) Who wouldn't drop $1 million for a private performance by Usher? (Find out how you could hire Usher.)

A kiltWhether you want to wear it to a wedding, the prom or to your boss's house for dinner, you can find the perfect tartan (what's that?) through a number of kilt-rental companies (find one). You may just fall in love with the breezy freedom and buy one of your own.

A casketFor those who want to save money on a funeral, many funeral homes now offer a rent-a-casket option. The casket (how are caskets made?) contains a simple inner container that is removed after the funeral service. The deceased is buried in the container, and the casket is then reused for multiple services.

A petOwning a pet has been shown to help ward off depression, lower blood pressure and boost immunity (see other ways pets improve your health). But not everyone is cut out to be a full-time pet owner, which is why some companies will rent out canines and felines for a few hours or a day at a time (here's where you can do that). Take a walk and play some fetch, but you won't have the hassle of finding a pet sitter when you go away for the weekend.

A grandmaA Los Angeles company that's working on franchises across the U.S. hires out senior women for tasks such as child care, housecleaning, cooking and pet sitting (find out more). One benefit of having a grandma watch your kids: She probably won't spend the whole time chatting with friends on the phone or surfing her social networks. And maybe you can get her to knit you a sweater (or show you how to knit one yourself).

A BreathalyzerYou can buy breath-alcohol testing key chains (shop for them online), and some bars have installed testers that allow customers to make sure they're OK to drive. Now, you can rent one of the devices (find out where) for a private event, such as a party at your house.

A status symbolFancy jewelry, fast cars and fine art represent wealth and status. If you want to feel like a million bucks for an evening, you can rent a diamond necklace, a Bentley or even a painting or sculpture.

A friendIf you just moved to a new city and don't know anyone yet, just rent a friend (here's how). Your hired friend can show you around, accompany you to a social event, introduce you to people or teach you a new hobby. Yes, even friendship has its price.

A pilgrimFor $2,500, a Portuguese computer expert will go on a pilgrimage for you. Carlos Gil revived a 700-year-old tradition by hiring himself out for the one-week, 100-mile walk from his home in Cascais to the shrine to the Virgin Mary at Fatima (here's what you'd see there). He also walks back, which takes another week.




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Illinois Woman Injects Beef Fat into Face (BLOG)

Beef: It's what's for dinner - or a fatal do-it-yourself spa treatment.

Or so went the logic of one 63-year-old Illinois woman, who injected hot beef fat into her face, was brought to the hospital, and died shortly thereafter, according to the Chicago Sun Times.

The woman, Janet Hardt, injected hot beef fat around her mouth and chin, a practice those close to her say she has done on multiple occasions. Why? The initial reports don't give any indication as to what prompted this dangerous routine, though one might presume that it was some sort of wrinkle-reduction or anti-aging routine.

The injections caused infections in her face, but those did not contribute to her death. The autopsy reports say that Hardt died of peritonitis, "a severe abdominal inflammation caused by a bacterial infection suffered because of weakened walls in her colon."

Unfortunately, Hardt isn't the only one who has done baffling things in the name of beauty.

A Woman's Day article outlines at least 10 bizarre beauty treatments that run the gamut from fish pedicures to chocolate body wraps.

Perhaps the creepiest such treatment involves a snake treatment at Ada Barak's spa in Northern Israel.

To reap the benefits of this treatment, patients allow a pile of snakes to slither on their backs and tickle them, while masseuses knead knots and tangles out of muscles in a more traditional fashion.

A more palatable treatment listed in the article would pair quite well with Hardt's beef fat: A red wine pool.

At the Yunessen Spa in Japan, visitors may bathe in tub of the antioxidant-rich drink, which is said to firm skin and reduce the effects of aging and sun damage. No word on whether the tannins stain light skin the same way they do teeth.

Woman bit by rat in rare attack while waiting for train at MTA station (BLOG)

A hungry rat chomped on a straphanger's foot as she waited for a train in a downtown subway station, transit sources said.

The woman was sitting on a bench on a J train platform inside the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station about 9:30 a.m. Monday when the rodent skittered up to her and bit down on her flesh, the sources said.

Bleeding from the wound, the woman ran to a nearby service booth and asked for help - completely freaking out.

"She was pretty frantic and upset," a transit worker said. "You could actually see the bite."

The woman, who is in her 20s, was taken to New York Downtown Hospital, where she was treated and released, authorities said.

The subway rat attack was unusual, the sources said, particularly because the J train platform at the station has a low rodent population. The platforms in the station for the 4, 5, 6 trains, however, are a complete "rat fest," one source said.

"I've heard of rats running over people's feet," the transit worker said, referring to the 4, 5, 6 platforms. "But I've never heard of anyone actually bit."

Transport Workers Union Local 100 officials and workers said more rats are surfacing because garbage collection is not as frequent as it should be and trash storage rooms aren't adequately sealed.

MTA officials had no comment.





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Suspect Arrested In 11-Year-Old's Pregnancy (BLOG)

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — Macomb County Sheriff's deputies have arrested a suspect in the impregnating of an 11-year-old girl.

Sheriff Anthony Wickersham reported that Trevaun Cortez Brooks was arrested Monday in Warren at the home of his current girlfriend.

Investigators said Brooke had a relationship with the mother of an 11-year-old girl and had lived in the woman's Mount Clemens home.

Brooks worked as a janitor at Prevail Academy, a charter school the daughter attended in Mount Clemens.

Brooks is accused of getting the girl pregnant. School officials said he was not employed there at the time the incident occurred.

The girl is now 12-years-old and delivered a baby last month.

Sheriff Wickersham said his department made contact with Brooks in mid-August.

"Our investigators had a conversation with him about a week and a-half ago and he was scheduled to come in a week ago today and when he failed to show up, that's when we started to put things in motion and get our case together," Wickersham said.

Deputies stepped up their efforts to locate Brooks.

"Our sheriff's enforcement team they worked hard over this whole Labor Day weekend to track him down and find him," Wickersham said.

When deputies did locate Brooks he offered little resistance.

Brooks is due to be arraigned Tuesday on charges of criminal sexual conduct.

The girl he is accused of assaulting and her infant are in protective custody.

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Tampa Bay Woman Arrested for Stripping at Club That Didn't Employ Her (BLOG)

Oh sure, it looks easy. And there isn't any sort of rigorous training or certification required, but it's always best to leave stripping to the professionals. Just ask Natalie M. Behnke of Clearwater. She tried to strip down and collect money at the Baby Dolls club in Tampa Bay but wasn't employed there. Instead she was arrested and fined $450.

Behnke -- who according to the St. Pete Times is a "habitual juvenile offender"-turned-"25-year-old transient" -- got up onstage at Baby Dolls, took off her clothes, shook her stuff, and asked customers for money Tuesday night. This pleased neither the staff nor the professional strippers.

The club asked her to leave, but Behnke refused. She then got into arguments with the dancers.

Staffers were forced to call police, who removed her from the club at 11:50 p.m. and charged her with "disorderly intoxication."

Behnke showed up in court yesterday, pleaded no contest, and was slapped with a $450 fine. If you're losing money by taking off your clothes, you're doing something wrong.

Behnke isn't new to the criminal justice system. After numerous arrests as a minor, she has been collared five times this year for charges ranging from driving with a suspended license to larceny. Previous arrests identify her as "homeless."




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'Vampire' arrested after police say she bit wheelchair-bound man (BLOG)

Woman, 22, found outside a vacant Hooters restaurant, covered in man's blood:

A self-proclaimed vampire attacked an elderly wheelchair-bound man outside a Florida Hooters Restaurant just before midnight on Thursday, leaving him bloodied and in need of stitches, police said.

Milton Ellis, 69, had fallen asleep on the porch of the deserted Hooters in St. Petersburg when he woke up to find Josephine Rebecca Smith, 22, on top of him, he told police.

Smith told Ellis she was a vampire and then proceeded to bite him, tearing off chunks of his face and a part of his lip, St. Petersburg police spokesman Mike Puetz said, according to The St. Petersburg Times.

"After he fell asleep on the ground, he claims that she attacked him, started yelling that she was a vampire, that she was going to eat him and started biting him by his face and body," Puetz said.

Blood dripping from bite marks on his neck and face, Ellis managed to scramble back into his motorized wheelchair and reach a nearby Shell gas station, where he called police.

Police: 'Vampire' said she remembers nothing
Police found Smith on the blood-stained Hooters porch, half-naked. She was covered in Ellis' blood and said she didn't remember anything about the attack, according to Tampa Bay's Fox 13 News. She wasn't injured and hadn't been assaulted, police said.

Ellis was hospitalized and given stitches and was expected to recover.

Smith was arrested and jailed on charges of aggravated battery on an elderly person, with bail set for $50,000.

The two had met earlier in the night. Ellis, who had no place to sleep Thursday night, said Smith, of Pensacola, had been dropped off at the Shell station by relatives earlier that evening. Because it was raining out, he suggested Smith take refuge with him under the Hooters overhang, according to The St. Petersburg Times.

Ellis offered to keep Smith company until someone came to pick her up, but he eventually fell asleep, reported The Times.

Smith was fully dressed when Ellis last saw her, he told authorities, even though they had found her half-naked.

Ellis has been arrested before too. He has been cited for multiple offensives in Penellas County, including panhandling, trespassing, and disorderly intoxication, The Times reported.




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Caught in the Act: Security Camera Snaps N.M. Police Officer Having Sex (BLOG,VIDEO)

(ABC)A uniformed state police officer in Santa Fe, N.M., was caught apparentlyhaving sex on the hood of a car in broad daylight by a government-placed security camera intended to catch vandals.

A graphic photo of the act was released by the Santa Fe County Sheriffs Office this week following a public information request from the media. The officer was fully clothed, with his utility belt still around his waist.

The officer has been put on administrative leave without pay pending the outcome of the investigation, according to the New Mexico State Police.

The camera was placed on the remote La Bajada Ranch by law enforcement to catch vandals, according to ABC’s Albuquerque affiliate KOAT.



“It’s strictly a personnel matter,” Sgt. Tim Johnson, the public information officer for the New Mexico State Police Department of Public Safety, told ABCNews.com. “We received the information from the sheriff’s department in Santa Fe County. An internal personnel investigation was initiated immediately and was completed.” Johnson said a decision on disciplinary action is still pending.

Johnson said that “no criminal wrongdoing occurred” and that the situation “comes to integrity issues.”

When asked if the officer was on duty at the time the photo was taken, Johnson said he could not answer that yet, but said the “person was in uniform.”

Ben & Jerry's reveals new flavor: Schweddy Balls (BLOG)

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Ben & Jerry's has Schweddy Balls. Would you like a taste?

Chill out, it's only the name of their new flavor.

Schweddy Balls ice cream is an homage to a 13-year-old "Saturday Night Live" skit featuring Alec Baldwin as bakery owner Pete Schweddy, whose unique holiday offerings included a delicacy called Schweddy balls.

The company's not worried about offending people with the name, said spokesman Sean Greenwood.

"We're the caring company," Greenwood said Thursday. "We never want to do anything that is upsetting for people. We think it's congruent with our values, in terms of having fun. One of our principles is 'If it's not fun, why do it?'"

Other flavors with edgy names — like Karamel Sutra and Half Baked — were irreverent double-entendres, too, he said.

True. But Schweddy Balls?

The new flavor, which was unveiled Wednesday and is being offered in a "limited batch," consists of vanilla ice cream, a hint of rum, fudge-covered rum balls and milk chocolate malt balls. It's being sold in Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops and supermarkets.

The "SNL" skit, which first aired Dec. 12, 1998, starred Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer as hosts of "Delicious Dish," a National Public Radio program interviewing Baldwin's Pete Schweddy character.

"For a long time, I thought that 'Here Lies Pete Schweddy' would end up on my tombstone," Baldwin said in a statement released by South Burlington-based Ben & Jerry's. "Now, thanks to Ben & Jerry's, the goodness of the Schweddy family recipe won't go with me to the great beyond."

The ice cream flavor aims to cash in on the nod-and-a-wink premise of the skit, and on the cache of the show.

Ben & Jerry's, a division of consumer products giant Unilever, has been down this road before. Earlier this year, the ice cream maker came out with "Late Night Snack" with late night comic Jimmy Fallon on the label.

Will consumers bite this time?

Branding expert Allen Adamson said it doesn't matter whether consumers saw or remember the original skit. Hitching the product to Baldwin and "Saturday Night Live" is a smart move, he said.

"Ice cream is closer to a fashion brand than a package good," said Adamson, a managing director of Landor Associates, in New York. The flavor's name will generate conversation and "getting word of mouth, getting buzz, getting interest, excitement is really important."

"SNL" is still a hot show, and Baldwin has become his own brand, he said.

"You don't get noticed today without taking some risks. If you do something that offends no one, you won't get noticed," he said. "If you're going to make a bet, getting connected to 'SNL' and Alec Baldwin, there's a lot of upside there."

Gasteyer, for one, has tried the new flavor and likes it.

"I guess you could say I'm nuts for Schweddy Balls," she told The AP. "I don't eat a lot of ice cream anymore, because now I'm a woman in her 40s, so I was just delighted to have the excuse."

NPR never took offense to the original skit and doesn't to the ice cream flavor.

"We definitely laughed along with everyone else," spokeswoman Anna Christopher said. "Everyone here thinks it's really funny."

Florida Couple Jailed for living together? (BLOG)

In Florida, cohabitation of unmarried people is considered a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail. The state law dates back to the 1800s, but is getting renewed attention. Here's why.

Looking for a place to live with your boyfriend in Florida? There's a cozy one-room studio behind bars waiting for you. A state law that dates back to the 1800's condemns opposite-sex unmarried couples living under the same roof.

The Sun-Sentinel reports: "Cohabitation of unmarried people is currently a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by $500 or up to 60 days in jail. The same penalty applies to cheating husbands and wives — though only to opposite-sex couples."

Though it's been largely ignored by courts, it's getting renewed attention as a local representative, Ritch Workman, attempts to have it repealed.

The law, which also condemns adultery, has been forgotten but not gone— with the exception of a 2006 case when a Jacksonville woman got her husband handcuffed for cheating.

"It's not generally reported and out of 20 years in law enforcement, I've never seen a person arrested. But, it is on the books," Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Spokesman Ken Jefferson told local news at the time of the case.

Now with renewed attention, many unmarried couples could also be defending themselves in court or finding refuge out of state. According to a 2000 Florida Census poll, households with "unmarried partners" increased by 77 percent over 10 years. With more unmarried senior co-habitators than ever nationwide, the retirement state may also be looking less appealing for snowbirds.

The anti-cohabitation law, which was ruled unconstitutional in North Carolina in 2006, is just one of Florida's overbearing parental legal judgments. Another is the penalization of bike riders that don't hold onto their handlebars. Rep. Workman is also trying to eradicate that law, which fines rebels $60 every time they try the "look ma, no hands" trick.

At least one over-protective Florida law can't be blamed on dusty old traditions: The "Pull Up Your Pants" law. This year marks the first year kids caught wearing baggy pants (or stomach-baring tops) to school could be suspended. Wonder if that will hold up for another 100 years? Anything seems possible—or impossible—in the Sunshine State.



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