~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gotta get outa the house: http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail102.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Something unnatural is going on in Yellowwood State Forest. The mystery began a few years ago when a turkey hunter, scouting in a remote area of the 23,000-acre forest, discovered a large boulder in the top of an 80-foot-tall chestnut oak tree. What he saw wedged among its branches was a boulder about 4 feet wide and a foot thick. The boulder was eventually dubbed Gobbler’s Rock after the turkey hunter. It sits high on a south-facing slope overlooking a ravine near Tulip Tree Road in western Brown County and is thought to weigh at least 400 pounds. After the initial sighting of Gobbler’s Rock, hikers have found at least two more giant sandstone boulders sitting in the top limbs of two sycamores. One boulder is nearly 45 feet off the ground and both rocks appear to weigh about 200 pounds. The trees are 100 yards apart growing near the banks of Plum Creek in a seldom-visited part of Yellowwood State Forest, just southwest of Helmsburg. Known to locals as URBs, or Unexplained Resting Boulders, officials can’t explain how the boulders got wedged into the branches in the first place. The huge rocks couldn’t grow upward with the trees because the saplings could not have withstood their weight. The boulders must have been placed high in the trees after their trunks were sturdy enough to support them. Sandstone boulders are a part of the natural Yellowwood setting. They are scattered around the forest floor so the rocks could have originated near the trees. But officials can’t find any proof that this was caused by a natural event or that someone played a joke. A joke that would require heavy-duty moving equipment to get the boulders into the branches. As theories abound from fraternity pranks, tornadoes, to high winds or floods, the strange phenomenon is now the focus of several UFO Web sites. In fact, the rock-in-a-tree is highlighted at abduct.com, a UFO-related Web site. The Web site posts a few comments from a UFO investigator about Gobbler’s Rock and asks “Did a UFO put a boulder in this tree?” “If the rock was blown into the tree, why isn’t there some sign of damage to the bark? It had to be gently rested in the branches, I would think, but by what?” the investigator asks. Another UFO Web site ponders such questions like “Could an examination of the trees reveal whether they had had damage at a young age? Can anyone think of a mechanism whereby the boulders were lifted as the trees grew?” Mark Shields, a Yellowwood employee, says “just about every theory has been shot down”. “If I had to guess, maybe a tornado,” Mr. Shields said. He stated it’s unlikely that blasting at some nearby site would have blown the rock into its perch. The most logical answer, he said, is that a tornado picked the rock up and dropped it in the branches. Although he admits that theory’s not very likely because of the way the boulder sits in the tree. “The rocks sits right in the crown of the tree,” Mr. Shields said. If you’d like to try finding the huge boulders, you’ll need a compass. The trees are a considerable distance from the nearest roadway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Edited by MisSativa at 5:30 pm on May 2, 2004)
APRIL 27--Meet Elizabeth Lyvers and John Robert Gray. The dimwitted Kentucky couple was arrested Sunday for felony child abuse after taking pictures of Lyvers's two-year-old son smoking pot. The pair was nabbed when an employee at the convenience store where Lyvers, 24, and Gray, 20, dropped off their film called cops after seeing the offending images. According to Bardstown police, one photo shows Gray holding a pipe to the child's mouth while an unidentified man--who is being sought--lights the pipe (after his arrest, Gray acknowledged that the device contained marijuana). Lyvers's son--and a one-year-old fathered by Gray--were removed from the couple's home by state child welfare officials. . Along with the abuse charges, Lyvers and Gray have one other criminal headache: their central Kentucky home was robbed yesterday while they were bunking at the local lockup. (Edited by MisSativa at 5:31 pm on May 2, 2004)
eBay loser goes literally ballistic Fri Apr 30, 5:16 PM ET By Tinoula Awopetu, Court TV POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (Court TV) — Gerald Newburger really doesn't like losing. A year after getting outbid at an online auction for a collection of used band uniforms, the New Orleans native traveled to New York to confront his rival bidder with a gun. Newburger, 44, was pretty sore over losing a 480-piece collection of second-hand matching band and dance uniforms, which he had hoped to resell for a profit. Despite his loss to Robert Malinovsky of New York, who placed the winning bid of $360, Newburger resumed bidding offline. According to Poughkeepsie prosecutor Richard Fiorile, Newburger exchanged e-mails and phone calls with Malinovsky for several months trying to convince him to sell. After long-distance negotiating proved unsuccessful Newburger decided to try a face-to-gun approach. Newburger allegedly broke into Malinovsky's home and threatened his wife with a gun. Malinovsky himself was not home at the time. No one was injured during the confrontation and Malinovsky's wife called police after Newburger left sans uniforms. Officers apprehended Newburger in a taxi 30 minutes after the incident on his way back to the train station. A handgun was found in his briefcase. Newburger, who admits to being in the Malinvosky home, denies he ever waved a gun at anyone. He claims the gun fell out of his briefcase when he reached inside it for a piece of paper. Newburger is charged with burglary, criminal possession of a weapon, and coercion. His trial is scheduled for May 10 and he faces a mandatory term of 5-25 years in prison if found guilty. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOTICE THE GARBAGE CAN SIMILARITY HERE>>>> BATON ROUGE, La. -- In the middle of the night, he banged on trash cans and on neighbors' doors. He lay in a rat-infested yard and barked at the moon or screamed obscenities at his mother. Neighbors knew Sean Vincent Gillis was different. Troubled. Odd. But it was still a surprise when he was accused of being one of two serial killers prowling Louisiana's capital since 1998. "He's strange. He's always been strange," said Carolyn Clay, who lives next door. "The girls in the neighborhood were afraid of him. No one really associated with him." she caught Gillis peeping into their windows several years ago, she said. "Oh my God, my family!" said Clay, 64. "I knew he was drunk or on drugs. He jumped the fence and said he was looking for his cats. We could have all been victims." The day after he was arrested on charges of killing three women with records of prostitution, drug abuse or both, Gillis admitted killing two others who didn't fit that profile, police said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Derrick Todd Lee, accused in the other serial killings case, is scheduled for his first trial May 10. Police said DNA linked Lee to the murders of seven south Louisiana women between April 1998 and March 2003, plus an attack on an eighth woman. Lee has been indicted in three killings and is charged in the other attack. Over the years, College Hill residents got used to odd goings-on.As a teenager, Gillis once banged garbage cans like drums, shouting that he didn't have a girlfriend. As an adult, the slight, bespectacled man would lie in his yard and bark or scream. "He gave me the willies," said Cynthia Cash, 50, a landscape architect who lives just around the corner. Few classmates reached after his arrest remembered him. Those who did recalled a nerdy, obsessive Star Trek fan in out-of-style clothes. ~~~~~~~~~~ I bet it was the Star Trek....he couldnt handle the next generation and lost it ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Golfer stuck with $2.6m damages for crippling shot Mark Oberhardt May 1, 2004 A TOWNSVILLE social golfer, ordered to pay $2.6 million in damages after his tee shot hit another player in the head, yesterday lost his appeal in a case that will have enormous ramifications for all golfers. Mark Roy Shanahan was playing in an ambrose competition at the Magnetic Island Country Club on August 28, 1994, when his drive from the eighth tee struck Glenn Thomas Ollier, 54, who was playing in a group ahead of Shanahan's. Ollier, a former hotel yardman, suffered severe head injuries, which required constant and expensive medical care. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOW YOU KNOW THAT HAD TA HURT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Edited by MisSativa at 5:33 pm on May 2, 2004)
There's never going to be a shortage of funny ass stories, as long as people are around. I still find it hard to believe we are evolving...
Stoners too stoned to get off their asses and show up for "cannabis festival" A "cannabis festival" failed to draw in the crowds in Birmingham, with only one person bothering to turn up. More than 100 people were expected to smoke cannabis at Cannon Hill Park in Edgbaston on Saturday lunchtime. The city council were opposed to the planned gathering because the park is used by families with young children. But a BBC reporter who went to the park at about 1300 BST found just one person had attended. He had travelled from Chester to find he was alone. A mobile phone belonging to one of the organisers, who said they hoped to promote the "recreational and spiritual use" of cannabis, remained unanswered on Saturday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A SQUATTER who has not paid rent on a £700,000 home for 12 years has become the legal owner — for FREE. Jobless George Weiss, 63, has been awarded the freehold of the three-storey pad. And last night he said: “I feel like I’ve won the Lottery — this house has an amazing amount of history.” The one-bedroom townhouse is in a secluded mews in posh Hampstead, North-West London — where homes regularly fetch £1million. George, who lives on £77 a week, now plans to sell up and pocket a fortune. He claimed ownership from the landlord under squatter’s rights. George said: “A couple of years ago, I learned I could own the house for free and contacted the Land Registry. “They managed to track down the landlord last year, who tried to fight my claim. But he didn’t have a leg stand on as I’ve been here so long.” The bachelor first began renting the home in 1969 for just £65 a month. He left the address to travel but returned in January 1990. By this time the property had fallen into disrepair, so George started chasing the landlord to shell out for repairs. He said: “It probably needs £80,000 to be spent on it. There’s a constant drip in the front room. But I’ve never wanted to move out as it’s such a great neighbourhood. “I kept nagging the landlord to carry out the repairs to the roof but he stopped returning my calls. “So I decided to stop paying my rent in protest — and amazingly the landlord never chased me up. I’ve been running the house ever since.” George’s solicitor Simon Goldberg yesterday confirmed he has reached an agreement with the landlord’s lawyers for the transfer of ownership. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tanning Lotion with THC Pot component found in tanning salon lotions could set the drug dogs on you CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AP) - The military is warning against using lotions sold by some tanning salons because they contain tiny amounts of THC - marijuana's main active chemical. Although there's a statistically small chance of testing positive for THC from a lotion, it's "simply not worth the risk," according to the April 23 Mach Meter, Cannon Air Force Base's newspaper. Cannon officials say lotions could be applied over a cut or scrape, allowing a chance of absorption under certain circumstances, the article said. The article said a hemp-based lotion also could attract the attention of the base's drug-sniffing dogs, which in turn could attract attention from supervisors and base prosecutors. "While the lotion was not used with intent to break any laws and is not illegal, the fact that a military working dog alerts on your car or your person creates a perception that nobody wants," the article warns
