Liberal_in_LA
Liberal_in_LA's Journaleat this and win 10% ownership of restaurant and free food for life
The eating champ with a stomach of steel that manages to hold it all without restroom breaks, vomiting or dying will earn 10% ownership of the restaurant, free food for life and a free t-shirt, owner Vic Robey said in a phone interview.
http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Finishing-this-30-pound-chingon-burrito-can-6568397.php
The challenge is so monstrous Major League Eating, the governing body of all professional food-eating competitions, won’t even approve it.
Robey said on Tuesday that only three people have attempted the challenge with the leader finishing just under four pounds. That title belongs to Gersh Kuntzman, a New York Daily News reporter.
“By minute 22, I knew my dreams of owning a restaurant were over. At 40 minutes, I hoped that my dreams of merely surviving hadn’t similarly expired,” the writer turned eating warrior wrote. “And as the clock struck one hour, I knew I had failed my country, my would-be future business partners, and, worse, all the guys back at the office who had bet the ‘over’ in the five pound over-under. My final tally: 3 7/8 pounds.”
http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Finishing-this-30-pound-chingon-burrito-can-6568397.php
The bird that's more valuable than ivory
It wouldn't be wise to go head to head with a helmeted hornbill. They weigh 3kg and have their own built-in battering ram - a solid lump of keratin (a fibrous protein) extends along the top of the bill and on to the skull. This "casque" can account for as much as 11% of a bird's weight.
In all other species of hornbill - there are more than 60 in Africa and Asia - the casque is hollow, but the helmeted hornbill's is solid. The males use it in head-to-head combat and both sexes use it as a weighted tool to dig out insects from rotting trees.
The casque, for which hunters are willing to risk arrest and imprisonment, is sometimes referred to as "ivory". It's a beautiful material to carve, smooth and silky to the touch, with a golden-yellow hue, coloured by secretions from the preen gland - most birds use their heads to rub protective oils from this gland over their feathers, legs and feet.
For hundreds of years it was highly desired by Chinese craftsmen who made artefacts for the rich and powerful, and by Japanese netsuke carvers who made intricate figures for the cords on men's kimonos. Many of these objects made their way to Victorian cabinets in the UK when netsuke collecting became fashionable in the 19th Century.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34504217
Man hit by 16-pound pine cone in S.F. park files $5 million suit
pics of pinecones from the same type tree before people say the lawsuit is frivolous
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Man-hit-by-16-pound-pine-cone-in-S-F-park-files-6567225.php
A tourist visiting the Bay Area for Fleet Week last year was doing nothing more than reading and napping under a tree in a federal waterfront park in San Francisco when a 16-pound pine cone fell on him and crushed his skull, his lawyer said Monday.
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“This guy has an irreversible brain injury and he’s only in his mid-50s,” said Scott Johnson, a San Francisco attorney representing Mace in the lawsuit. “He’s had two surgeries already and he is going to need a third.”
Mace went to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park at the Fort Mason Center on Oct. 12, 2014, to find a spot to watch the Blue Angels air show. He found himself what he thought was a peaceful place to read and rest in the northeast corner of the park under a stand of coniferous Araucaria bidwillii trees, more commonly known as bunya pines or false monkey puzzle trees, according to the lawsuit filed Sept. 4 in San Francisco federal court.
Mace was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital, where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain from internal bleeding. Five days later, another surgery was required to further relieve pressure building inside his skull, the lawsuit reads.
He suffered “traumatic brain injury, with severe and likely irreversible cognitive deficits,” according to court papers.
The suit alleges that there were no warning signs posted and no fences or netting to prevent people from hanging out under the trees, violating numerous park policies requiring the removal of exotic species that create safety hazards and mandating the installation of warning signs “necessary for visitor safety.”
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sign put up after incident
UN to investigate plight of US Native Americans for first time
UN to investigate plight of US Native Americans for first time
The UN human rights inquiry will focus on the living conditions of the 2.7 million Native Americans living in the US
The UN is to conduct an investigation into the plight of US Native Americans, the first such mission in its history.
The human rights inquiry led by James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on indigenous peoples, is scheduled to begin on Monday.
Many of the country's estimated 2.7 million Native Americans live in federally recognised tribal areas which are plagued with unemployment, alcoholism, high suicide rates, incest and other social problems.
The UN mission is potentially contentious, with some US conservatives likely to object to international interference in domestic matters. Since being appointed as rapporteur in 2008, Anaya has focused on natives of Central and South America.
A UN statement said: "This will be the first mission to the US by an independent expert designated by the UN human rights council to report on the rights of the indigenous peoples."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/22/un-investigate-us-native-americans
175 lb stolen dog found wandering down road
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Virginia animal control officer found a stolen $10,000 South African Mastiff on Friday morning in Richmond.
The 2-year-old dog, Adoons, had been missing since Monday from his Hanover County home. Authorities said an animal control officer found the show dog wandering the southside of Richmond, about 20 miles away from his pen.
Adoons — who is light brown in color and weighs about 175 pounds — was found uninjured and in good health, said Sgt. Matt Ratchford, a spokesman for the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office. Ratchford said investigators do not know how the pup ended up in the city.
Adoons, who was discovered about 8 a.m. Friday, was reunited shortly after with his owner, Terry Allen.
“The dog is super friendly, lovable and sweet — he was wagging his little tail, he was so happy,” said Christie Chipps Peters, the city’s animal control director, of the reunion. “All of the stories that we have, it’s so great that we have one that ends so well.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/missing-dog-a-10000-missing-dog-really/2015/10/09/7b90008a-6e91-11e5-aa5b-f78a98956699_story.html
This Sweet Photo of a Cat With Dairy Cows Captures a Heartbreaking Truth About Humans
Dairy cows have the added indignity of being artificially inseminated, experiencing pregnancy and anticipating motherhood over and over again, only to have their calves taken away after birth. There is nothing farm-like about it. It is a gruesome expression of the human dominance that is destroying this planet.
Most cats, by comparison, enjoy a different type of existence, overall. They are a one of a kind species, in that they are the only domestic animal that humans have not found a way to enslave. We keep them in our homes for companionship, mainly, and if we’re lucky, they’ll keep the mice away. Cats were worshiped as gods back in ancient Egypt, and it seems as though they still hold on to a bit of that nobility. Today most cats, even house pets, manage to enjoy some level of independence in their lives. How ironic then, that the independent cat in this photo is choosing to spend its day giving love to cows!
Studies have shown cows to be highly intelligent creatures with excellent problem-solving abilities, complex social structures and a deeply emotional connection to the world around them. Cows have excellent memories and reach out for the love of their human handlers. They too were considered sacred among the ancients. While the Hindu people once found them divine because of their docile dispositions and willingness to share milk, they are now being exploited for those very same qualities.
This photo of the sweet cat offering the cows some love shows us that that these two very different species are not that different when it comes to the need to be loved. The sad reality, however, is that the cat will possibly live out her life experiencing the love and respect of human beings and the dairy cows will be used as nothing more than a commodity.
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/the-sad-reality-behind-this-sweet-photo-of-a-cat-with-dairy-cows/
Rescuers climb high to save stranded cat
Flagstaff's Melita Shoup and her fiance Jim Crane's cat Cuddles had been missing for a week when they went out to dinner on Friday, Oct. 2. Shoup's phone rang at the end of the meal. In her own words, this is what followed:
A man called to say that he had located our cat about a quarter of a mile from his home in Kachina. Ron Bauman had been walking his dogs and had heard a strange sound. As he got closer it was obviously a cat in distress. He located the cat about 30 feet up a Ponderosa pine tree. He returned with his camera and took a high resolution picture with a zoom lens. He was able to capture the cat's tag in the picture. He returned home and loaded the picture to his computer and enlarged the image until he could read the tag. He immediately called my number. We paid the check and drove back to Kachina.
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http://azdailysun.com/news/local/rescuers-climb-high-to-save-stranded-cat/article_3de0b059-3184-5549-adee-6a7dc6394652.html
More states lift bans on welfare and food stamps for drug offenders
More states lift bans on welfare and food stamps for drug offenders
Alabama and Texas are the latest states to lift restrictions on food stamps for drug offenders, part of a growing number of states opting out of a ban enacted by Congress in 1996.
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The decision to lift the food stamp ban by Alabama and Texas follows similar decisions by California and Missouri last year. Alabama went further, allowing former drug offenders to also receive welfare benefits if they submit to drug testing.
A dozen states now allow former drug offenders to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and nearly two dozen states allow the ex-offenders to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service cited by the Wall Street Journal.
Additional states have partial restrictions on participation that include bans for a set period of years; bans that apply only to people convicted of selling, rather than possessing drugs; and requirements for drug tests.
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/more_states_lift_bans_on_welfare_and_food_stamps_for_drug_offenders/
“Motherf-----, get on the ground!” NYPD capt Brian McCaughey to 13 year old playing tag
NYPD captain lost 30 days of paid vacation Thursday for pointing his gun at two skinny kids harmlessly playing tag on a Brooklyn street — and profanely ordering the pair to drop face down.
“Motherf-----, get on the ground!” a hyped-up Capt. Brian McCaughey shouted with his weapon needlessly drawn, according to relatives of the two boys and sources.
He then handcuffed 13-year-old Kesean Smalls as frightened 12-year-old Jahniel Hinds cowered behind his mother on the evening of Sept. 13, 2013, according to family members.
Minutes earlier, the boys were playing tag outside their homes on Quincy St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Hinds bolted in terror as his friend Smalls was cuffed and grilled by another cop, family members said.
“We were playing. As we were running towards each other that's when they started aiming their guns and everything,” Smalls said.
They were only released when Jahniel’s mom Corinia intervened — and McCaughey realized he was four blocks away from the right address on Clifton St., sources said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-captain-facing-charges-pulling-gun-kids-article-1.2390117
An NYPD captain pleaded guilty before the Civilian Complaint Review Board on Thursday to pointing his gun at two innocent boys as they were playing tag on their Brooklyn block in 2013.
Capt. Brian McCaughey admitted to charges of improper force, abuse of authority, and discourtesy, and will be docked 30 vacation days.
McCaughey was a lieutenant with Bedford-Stuyvesant’s 79th Precinct on Sept. 13, 2013, when he pulled his service weapon on 12-year-old Jahniel Hinds and 13-year-old Kasean Smalls on the Quincy Street block where they lived.
The lieutenant and a number of his officers were responding to a call of a fellow cop in need of back-up on a nearby street around 7:40 p.m. when they spotted Smalls and Hinds running down the block as part of a friendly game of tag.
http://nypost.com/2015/10/08/cop-pleads-guilty-to-pointing-gun-at-kids-playing-tag/
Top L.A. County sheriff's official claims he thought buying 2012 Audi A4 for 3k was legit
Top L.A. County sheriff's official bought stolen Audi
-ranking Los Angeles County sheriff's official bought a stolen luxury sedan last year from the owner of a towing company that contracts with his agency, a Times investigation has found.
Assistant Sheriff Michael Rothans purchased the 2012 Audi A4 after it had been seized by sheriff's deputies from a suspected gang member at a drunk-driving checkpoint. The vehicle was originally stolen from an Orange County car dealership.
The Sheriff's Department launched an internal investigation last week after questions from The Times.
Rothans, the department's third-ranking official, said he had no idea he was driving a stolen car until more than a year after buying it from Lisa Vernola, a friend who owns Vernola's Towing in Norwalk.
Sheriff's officials are prohibited from purchasing property that has been seized by the department. The prohibition applies both to direct purchases and purchases made through a third party. Employees also are prohibited from personally profiting from their positions.
Rothans said he considered the sale a private transaction between friends and thought it was permitted.
Vernola had registered the car in her name about three weeks before she sold it to Rothans for $3,000, according to Department of Motor Vehicles records. She said she took ownership of the vehicle because no one claimed it from her impound lot or purchased it during a public sale. At the time, the car contained fake identification numbers. Under the law, unclaimed vehicles become the property of the towing yard.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-sheriff-stolen-audi-purchase-20151008-story.html
Blue Book value is $17,000.
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