Chopsticks Seriously Injure Chinese Boy

Everyday we hear about accidents caused by some of the strangest things; kids and pets accidentally swallow small items or fall from odd structures, and people cut themselves on new and different sharp edges. Still, whoever would have thought that chopticks could prove to be a fatal weapon?

This past week, in China’s Anhui Province, a family sat down to dinner in the usual manner, but got the shock of their lives when a very distressing accident unfolded before them.

Their two-year-old boy, Haohao, got down from his chair and was walking around the home carrying the chopsticks in his hand. Suddenly, he cried out and fell; his parents rushed to his side.

When they picked him up from the floor, they were horrified at the sight of one of the chopsticks buried up the left nostril of their child’s tiny nose, from which blood was pouring profusely.

Haohao was rushed to the closest hospital where doctors informed the parents that the injury might well be fatal. Haohao required special treatment and the parents paid for the expensive transport via ambulance to Shanghai’s Hinhua Hospital. Enroute, the little boy lost consciousness and developed a high fever.

Fortunately, the injury did not damage the child’s brain, which is a miracle in itself. After a 90-minute operation, Haohao is in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery.

Will this little boy ever eat with chopsticks again?

Probably yes, for custom and old habits die-hard.

But will he ever WALK across the room holding THEM again?

More than likely, his parents probably won’t permit that until he is old enough to drive!

What do YOU think about this?

Korean Woman Earns License After 960 Tries

Back in September 2009, we covered the story of Cha Sa-soon, a 69-year-old South Korean woman who, over a period of four years, spent over 4,000,000 won ($3,500) on driving tests—all of which she failed miserably. It appears that all her hard work paid off, as Miss Sa-soon has finally earned her license!

It took Cha Sa-soon over 960 tries, but she is now an official member of South Korea’s driving club. According to the Huffington Post, Miss Sa-soon passed the written portion of the exam on November 4, 2009 with a minimum passing score of 60 out of 100. After that came the driving test.

Surprisingly, it took Miss Sa-soon only 10 tries before she mastered the drive, which is quite a masterful feat, at least in comparison to her written performance. The irony is that more often than not, the driving test—especially the parallel parking—proves to be the most difficult for potential drivers seeking their license. Apparently, this rule of thumb worked backwards for Miss Sa-soon.

So what are her plans now? Yonhap reports say that Miss Sa-soon intends to buy a used car in the hope of visiting her children and improving her vegetable-selling business.

We wish Miss Sa-soon much luck, but beg her to remember to always drive defensively because driving is a privilege, not a luxury!

6 Pets You Can Eat In Asia

People in the West are accustomed to thinking of two kinds of animals – the ones you love and the ones you eat. However, this distinction does not cross over to the East, where most of the animals Westerners love are served for dinner. Check out our rundown of the six freakiest dinners that give the phrase pet food a new meaning.

1. Dog – Bosintang Soup (South Korea)

This highly prized dish is still served in traditional South Korean restaurants, despite a ban on dog meat in the country. Pieces of dog are boiled and mixed with green onions, leeks, ginger, garlic and Taro stalk. A particular mint herb known as perilla is also added to disguise the intense smell that dog meat produces when cooked.

While not exalted for its flavor, this dog meat dish is famous for its medicinal value in cooling the body and improving virility.

2. Horse – Basashi (Japan)

You may well have had sashimi at a Japanese restaurant before, but perhaps not like this. Raw horse meat is served with the sashimi and a drizzle of soy sauce on the side. If you go to a local bar around Japan, you could get this as finger food with your beer. And if that doesn’t scare you, the sweet and smooth meat is also used to make basashi ice cream.

3. Turtle – Guilinggao (China)

Also known as Turtle Shell Jelly, this dessert is a popular treat all over China. It consists of a powdered Golden Coin turtle shell mixed with medicinal substances which is then boiled for hours until all of the liquid evaporates, leaving the jello-like substance. Mass produced and even canned, this dessert is probably available at a Chinatown near you.

4. Tarantula – Fried Tarantulas (Cambodia)

Believe it or not, this dish is very popular with locals in Cambodia and has even gained something of a cult following among tourists to the country. A palm sized species of tarantula called an a-ping is caught locally and then pan fried by the hundreds. They are said to have great natural flavor, with only a pinch of garlic or salt added. These scary little treats cost around eight cents each.

5. Mouse – Baby Mice Wine (Korea)

This amazing concoction consists of rice wine mixed with fermented baby mice. According to local folk medicine, this stuff can help cure all kinds of ailments from asthma to liver disease.

To make it, days old mice babies who don’t even have hair or open eyes are dropped into a bottle of rice wine and left to sit for about a year. The finished product has been described as tasting like “roadkill mixed with gasoline”.

6. Snake – Snake Soup (China)

Eaten all over mainland China, this particular delicacy is most popular in Hong Kong. Here you can get snake meat so fresh, the snakes are still alive when you choose them. If you are a snake lover, you may want to avoid Hong Kong between November and April, when thousands of snakes are shipped in especially for eating. Many Cantonese believe the soup gives the body an inner coating to ward off colds and flu.

French tourist survives fall into Grand Canyon

An 18-year-old suffered serious injuries after a 75-foot fall into the Grand Canyon.

(CNN) -- A French tourist is recovering after falling 75 feet into the Grand Canyon, hospital officials said Saturday.

Witnesses reported that the 18-year-old was taking photographs when he slipped and fell over the edge, the National Park Service said in a statement.

He was in good condition at Flagstaff Medical Center early Saturday morning, spokeswoman Carrie Heinonen said.

He was being treated for neck, wrist and ankle injuries, the park service said.

Authorities said the man fell Thursday afternoon about a quarter mile east of Mather Point on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

Park rangers rappelled into the canyon to assess the teen's injuries before a park helicopter airlifted him out.

Man arrested after wife writes to Obama asking for help

New York (CNN) -- Not everyone expects a response when they write a letter to the president of the United States. But Caroline Jamieson got much more than she expected when her husband ended up in jail and afraid he would be deported.

Jamieson, vice president of marketing at a new-media advertising company, wrote President Barack Obama in January because her husband, Hervé Fonkou Takoulo, was facing deportation to his native Cameroon. Takoulo failed in a bid before political asylum almost a decade ago, and a judge issued a deportation order after they were married.

After he and Jamieson married on 2005, Takoulo applied for a green card based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen. But immigration law requires that the deportation order be lifted before the couple can appear before immigration officials to argue their case that the marriage is legitimate and not a ploy to legalize Takoulo's presence in the United States.

"We want to be given the chance to interview and prove that we are a married couple, so Hervé can get a green card, and that has proven extremely difficult to do," Jamieson told CNN.

They never received a direct response to the letter. But they did get two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers waiting outside their East Village, Manhattan apartment on June 3 when Takoulo was leaving the apartment to go to the gym.

Jamieson told CNN that the officers cornered her husband and asked him if he had written a letter to the president. "He said 'No, but my wife did.' And they explained that with that letter -- when it was brought to their attention -- that the Obama administration wanted them to resolve this quickly,'" Jamieson said.

Her husband was held at ICE headquarters for six hours, alone in a room, until he was chained at the wrists, around his stomach and his ankles and taken to the Hudson County Correctional Center in New Jersey, she said.

For the next two weeks, a frantic Jamieson wrote letters to politicians and anyone else who might be able to help. She got responses, she said, but none seemed to lead anywhere. Takoulo was allowed to call his wife once a day at designated times but he knew little about his situation. He spent his days with repeat sex offenders and men accused of felonies, fearing imminent deportation.

"I did everything I could and went into survival mode and pushed for all these connections to the press," she said. "We are fortunate to have that leverage. What about the people in the country who don't have access to those means?"

Then, on Thursday, he was brought to an immigration processing jail in Manhattan and released. There was no explanation offered for his release, but Takoulo is now wearing an electronic ankle monitor while his case is being reviewed.

ICE spokesman Brian P. Hale said the circumstances of Takoulo's arrest were undergoing an internal review and he was released as "an alternative to detention pending a review of his case."

Investigators are looking to determine whether "appropriate separation" between Jamieson's letter to the president and Takoulo's deportation case were violated. If so, he said, the case will go to the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility and the Homeland Security Department's inspector general for "immediate and appropriate action."

Takoulo graduated from the State University of New York at Stony Brook with an engineering degree in 2008 and received several job interview offers after graduation. But the deportation order hung over his head and prevented any followup.

"All he wants to do is contribute to this economy," Jamieson told CNN. "We want to be a productive couple. He's been dying to work."

The couple has been following Barack Obama's rise in the political world since 2004.

"I felt a special kinship to him because I'm of mixed race, and my husband obviously has a similar background," Jamieson told CNN.

Regardless of whether or not her letter was mishandled, the incident has deeply affected the couple's faith in the Obama administration.

"I feel really confused, I don't understand how something like this is possible. I can't imagine that at the top of the Obama administration that they realize that something like this is happening," Jamieson told CNN.

Russian capital enveloped by smog amid wildfires

(CNN) -- Moscow remained under a blanket of dense fog Friday as wildfires covering large swathes of western Russia continued to burn.

Heat and drought have made Russia especially susceptible to wildfires with the country in the grip of a heatwave which has seen Moscow experience the hottest temperatures -- 39 Celsius (102 Fahrenheit) -- since records began in 1879.

However the conditions failed to disrupt South African President Jacob Zuma's visit to the Russian capital, which concluded Friday with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Kremlin Wall.

obama

Happy birthday Mr President’…Obama turns 49 today

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama (pic) turns 49 today, visibly grayer than when he took office 18 months ago but enjoying the job despite the "enormous" physical and mental strain, the White House said.

Obama, born Aug 4, 1961, rose to become the most powerful person in the world in just 47 and a half years, but in recent days, he has made several public nods to the inevitability of aging. He remarked on his own slowing metabolism, the stress of the job and his salt-and-pepper hair.

"He knew what he was getting himself into in deciding several years ago to undertake this" ultimately victorious campaign for the presidency, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

"There's no doubt that it takes an enormous physical and mental strain on making the decisions that you make, on sending young men and women off to war, or tackling the greatest economic calamity our country has faced since the Great Depression," Gibbs said.

But Obama was "still in pretty good shape and is enjoying the job even with its many challenges", the spokesman said.

As for the president's head of steadily graying hair, "it will just require him to get more frequent haircuts."

Jamar Pinkney Sr

Enraged Michigan dad Jamar Pinkney Sr. shot son, 15, over alleged sex abuse of toddler:

An enraged Highland Park,Michigan father is accused of killing his son - as he begged for his life - after learning the teen may have sexually abused a toddler.

Jamar Pinkney, 37, irate over hearing his 15-year-old son Jamar Pinkney Jr. had sexual contact with a 3-year-old girl made the teen strip at gunpoint, marched him to a vacant lot and shot him to death despite pleas from the boy and his mother, a relative said.

Michigan authorities filed a first-degree murder charge Wednesday against Pinkney Sr. in his son's shooting death Monday.

Defense attorney Corbett O'Meara said prosecutors should consider evidence of the father's state of mind over the sex abuse report.

"If something were to happen that would cause a reasonable person to lose control of himself, that is something the prosecution would have to take into account," O'Meara said outside Highland Park District Court.

Tensions were high in the courtroom Wednesday as the handcuffed suspect was led into the room for the arraignment, which lasted less than a minute. "No, No, No," one female relative cried before a police officer escorted her out.

Judge Brigette Officer entered a not guilty plea for Pinkney, who's also charged with assault, and ordered him jailed without bond until a preliminary examination Dec. 1.

"This is something that's hard to deal with for all the parties concerned, including the police," police Chief Ted Cardwell said afterward.

"Highland Park is a small city. These are people who have been members of the community for years." Caldwell said the sexual misconduct allegation that led to the confrontation wasn't part of the police investigation.

The shooting happened Monday night in a vacant lot in the once-prosperous city of 16,000, where decay, abandonment, fires and demolition have eaten away at many of the sprawling homes.

Highland Park recently exited years of state financial oversight. Visitors built an impromptu memorial at the shooting site. Two votive candles sat amid 10 stuffed animals, including two white teddy bears with red hearts embroidered with, "I love you."

The boy's mother, ,Lazette Cherry told the Detroit Free Press that her son told her he had improper sexual contact with the girl.

"I called and told his father. This isn't something you sweep under the rug," she said. Cherry said the elder Pinkney arrived at the home with a gun, ordered his son to strip and marched him outside despite her protests.

"He got on his knees and begged, `No, Daddy, No,' and he pulled the trigger," Cherry said.

Cherry did not immediately respond to a message Wednesday from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Manchester city shooting

9 killed in shooting at Conn

MANCHESTER, Conn. – One of two survivors shot in a beer warehouse rampage in Connecticut tells The Associated Press the gunman was "cold as ice" as he started firing his weapon shortly after being forced to resign for stealing beer.

Steve Hollander's family owns the beer distributorship where Omar Thornton killed eight people Tuesday before killing himself. Hollander was shot two times but survived. One other person is still hospitalized.

Hollander tells the AP that Thornton was caught on videotape stealing beer several times. He says Thornton did not contest it or get angry, and chose to quit rather than being fired.

Then, he pulled out a gun and started shooting.

Hollander says Thornton was cool and calm the whole time, and says he survived by the grace of God.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

MANCHESTER, Conn. (AP) — A warehouse driver who a union official said was caught on video stealing beer from the distributorship where he worked went on a shooting rampage there Tuesday, killing eight people and wounding two before committing suicide.

Omar Thornton, 34, pulled a handgun after a meeting in which he had been offered the chance to quit or be fired, Manchester Police Chief Marc Montminy said. Among those killed was Thornton's union representative at the meeting.

The gunman, who was black, had complained of racial harassment and said he found a picture of a noose and a racial epithet written on a bathroom wall, the mother of his girlfriend said. Her daughter told her that Thornton's supervisors told him they would talk to his co-workers.

Brett Hollander, whose family owns the distributorship, said, "I can assure you there has never been any racial discrimination at our company." And a union official said Thornton had not filed a complaint of racism with the union or any government agency.

Thornton had been caught on videotape stealing beer, Teamsters official Christopher Roos said.

"It's got nothing to do with race," Roos said. "This is a disgruntled employee who shot a bunch of people."

Thornton's girlfriend had been with him the night before the rampage and had no indication he was planning it, said her mother, Joanne Hannah.

On Tuesday morning, about 50 to 70 people were in the warehouse about 10 miles east of Hartford during a shift change when the gunman opened fire around 7 a.m., Hollander said. Adding to the chaos at the warehouse was a fire, which was put out. Montminy said he didn't know how the fire started, but didn't think it was set.

The shooting was over in a matter of minutes, Montminy said. The victims were found all over the complex, and authorities don't know if Thornton fired randomly or targeted specific co-workers, Montminy said.

After shooting his co-workers, Thornton called his mother, Hannah said.

"He wanted to say goodbye and that he loved everybody," Hannah said.

Thornton was alive when police got to the scene but killed himself before officers got to him, Montminy said. A police sharpshooter had approval to fire on Thornton when he killed himself, an official with knowledge of the scene told the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it.

Hannah said her daughter, Kristi, had dated Thornton for the past eight years. Kristi Hannah did not return calls for comment.

"Everybody's got a breaking point," Joanne Hannah said.

Hannah described Thornton as an easygoing guy who liked to play sports and video games. She said he had a pistol permit and had planned to teach her daughter how to use a gun.

Hollander's cousin, Steve, who's a vice president at the company, was shot in the arm and the face. Hollander said he thought his cousin would be OK. Steve Hollander would not comment when reached on his cell phone.

Police declined to release the names of those killed.

Among the dead was Bryan Cirigliano, 51, of Newington, president of Teamsters 1035, according to the union. He had been Thornton's representative at Tuesday's disciplinary hearing, the union said.

Bill Ackerman, a 51-year-old warehouseman, also was killed, said his girlfriend, Stephanie Laurin.

"I was like, 'Where's Billy, where's Billy?' and they said they hadn't seen him. And then one of his co-workers told me ... that he saw the shooter go to where Billy's room is that he works in," she said. "I was just praying to God that he was OK."

Ackerman, who enjoyed playing golf and rooting for the Boston Red Sox, had worked for the company for about 20 years, she said.

The Hartford Courant identified another victim as Victor James, 59, of Windsor. Two victims were being treated at Hartford Hospital.

The rampage was the nation's deadliest since 13 people were fatally shot at Fort Hood, Texas, in November. A military psychiatrist is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in that case.

In Connecticut, a state lottery worker gunned down four supervisors in 1998 before committing suicide, and six people were killed in 1974 in botched robbery at a bakery in New Britain. Two men were convicted of that crime.

On Tuesday, a few dozen relatives and friends of the victims gathered a few miles away at Manchester High School. Outside, people talked, hugged and cried. Others talked on cell phones.

Police officers from numerous agencies and police and fire vehicles surrounded the warehouse, on a tree-lined road in an industrial park just west of a shopping mall.

Thornton listed Hoffman's Gun Center & Indoor Range in Newington as among his interests on his Facebook page. A company official declined to comment.

Thornton filed for bankruptcy protection a decade ago. His Chapter 7 petition in 2000 listed $4,850 in assets, including a 1994 Chrysler Concorde, and more than $15,000 in liabilities — primarily debt on credit card and student loan payments. His debts were discharged in March 2001 and the case was closed the following month.

The Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities said Hartford Distributors has never had any complaints filed against it.

The Hollander family is widely respected in Manchester, said state Rep. Ryan Barry, a lifelong resident. He said the family-owned Hartford Distributors sponsors local sports teams and the family is civic-minded.

"Everybody knows the Hollanders as good, generous, upstanding people," Barry said. "They're embedded in the community. Everyone knows Hartford Distributors. They treat their employees very well and they're part of the fabric of the town."

In a statement, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell offered condolences to the victims' families and co-workers.

"We are all left asking the same questions: How could someone do this? Why did they do this?" she said.

___

Associated Press writers Everton Bailey Jr. in Manchester; Michelle R. Smith, Susan Haigh and Dave Collins in Hartford, Conn.; John Christoffersen in Enfield, Conn.; Lynne Tuohy in Concord, N.H.; and Eric Tucker in Providence, R.I., contributed to this report

Mitzi Kapture

Mitzi Kapture
Born	Mitzi Gaynor Donahue May 2, 1962 (1962-05-02) (age 48) Yorba Linda, California, U.S.
Other name(s)	Mitzi Kapture Donahue
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1987-present
Spouse(s)	Bradley Kapture (1982-?) (divorced) 2 children

Mitzi Gaynor Donahue (born May 2, 1962 in Yorba Linda, Orange County, California) is an American actress, also credited and more popularly known as Mitzi Kapture. (Mitzi Gaynor was a popular stage and film actress in the 1950s).

Kapture began her career in films, most of which were not huge commercial successes. She went on to make a few television guest appearances (MacGyver, 1st & Ten, and as a contestant on The $100,000 Pyramid) before she gained international exposure with her first major television role as Sergeant Rita Lee Lance in the television series Silk Stalkings. Silk Stalkings premiered on CBS but later moved to USA Network. "Silk" aired for 8 seasons and became one of USA network's highest rated original series. Kapture's role as Rita, the other half of the two "Sams" for almost 5 years, cemented her popularity. Paired with Rob Estes (Melrose Place, I Do, They Don't) who played Sergeant Chris Lorenzo, Kapture gained global recognition along with her costar since the show was broadcast in several countries. They were nicknamed the "dynamic duo" by fans. Kapture garnered much praise for her strong portrayal of the character who was a role model for many young women. Sergeant Lance eventually became Lieutenant Lance by the time Kapture left the series in 1995 to have her first child Madison. Her departure from the series together with that of co-star Rob Estes left many fans protesting. During her time with the series, Kapture briefly sat in the director's chair, for two episodes. She was interviewed for the Silk Stalkings Season 1 DVD which was distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment and released in September 2004.

After a short hiatus from the screen following her exit from Silk Stalkings, Kapture returned in 1997 to the small screen and USA Network. She played lead roles in two USA Pictures Originals telemovies, Perfect Crime (based on a true story, also called Hide and Seek: The Joanne Jensen Story), which also starred Jasmine Guy and His Bodyguard. She later starred in a few other independent film projects and theatre productions and had several television guest appearances. Kapture also had a recurring role on Baywatch as Alexis Ryker, helping to boost the show's ratings from 2.8 to 4.2.

More recently she played Anita Hodges on The Young and the Restless from 2002 through 2004, where she was credited as Mitzi Kapture Donahue, and starred in the made-for-TV movie Night of Terror which premiered March 26, 2006 on Lifetime Network. Her latest is a supporting role in God's Ears, released in 2007.

Kapture is the official celebrity spokesperson for the Xeroderma Pigmentosum Society.

Lindsay Lohan released from jail(CNN) -- Actress Lindsay Lohan was released from the Lynwood Correctional Facility early Monday morning.

(CNN) -- Actress Lindsay Lohan was released from the Lynwood Correctional Facility early Monday morning after less than two weeks behind bars, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

Lohan was released at 1:35 a.m. (4:35 a.m. ET), Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Benjamin Grubb said. He said she was taken to a treatment facility.

After Lohan was taken to jail July 20, a sheriff's spokesman said her stay would likely last between 13 and 15 days.

Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel sentenced Lohan to 90 days in jail for missing alcohol counseling sessions in violation of her probation.

But the sheriff, who runs the jail, has the power to release prisoners early because of jail overcrowding.

Lohan was also sentenced to spend 90 days in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program after her jail term is completed. Revel ordered Lohan to enter a program within 24 hours of leaving jail.

"I would like the transition to be sooner rather than later," Revel said last month.

She said Lohan's next court date would come a week after her release from jail, although if she is in a rehab program her lawyer can appear without her.

Lohan was arrested twice in 2007 on charges of driving under the influence, and in the second incident she was charged with cocaine possession.

The first arrest came after Lohan lost control of her Mercedes-Benz convertible and struck a curb in Beverly Hills.

Just two weeks after checking out of a Malibu drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility, she was arrested again in July 2007 after a woman called Santa Monica police, saying Lohan was trying to run her down with a car.

Lohan's acting career, which started at age 10 on a soap opera, took off on the big screen a year later, when she played identical twins in Disney's remake of "The Parent Trap."

Daniel Radcliffe celebrates his 21st birthday in Russia

We hope Harry Potter has a spell to cure a nasty hangover: actor Daniel Radcliffe celebrated his 21st birthday just like any other adolescent of legal drinking age - but with more money and adoring fans, of course.

Radcliffe was reportedly spotted downing a few drinks at Russian nightclub 48 Chairs while on vacation with two male friends in St. Petersburg last Saturday night. The wand-waving star was apparently enjoying himself and having a great time while sipping vodka on the rocks.

"He enjoyed himself so much. He was laughing like a hyena all night," a source told U.K. Sun.

The onlooker seemed to be shocked to see the young star. "We were stunned when we realized it was Harry Potter. He was just fab."

The Wizard even concocted some of his own potions behind the bar, pouring drinks for himself and his friends.