Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Your Tongue Can See
Mike Ciarciello has been blind since birth but says that in his dreams he can actually see.
"I have had dreams where I have been flying, you know, like in the air. I am not even bumping into any obstacles whatsoever. I am actually free, in my dreams," he said.
His dreams are closer to reality than you might imagine. He is about to participate in an experiment in which he will "see" by using his tongue.
At the University of Montreal, researcher Daniel Chabat prepared Ciarciello to walk for the first time through an obstacle course without his cane. Chabat began by mounting a small camera on Ciarciello's forehead. The camera sends electrical impulses about what it sees to a small grid placed on his tongue.
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Driver Leads Police On Chase, Stops For Red Lights
A Nashua, N.H., man was arrested early Friday morning after police said he led them on a chase through three towns but stopped at every red light.
Joshua Grant, 24, was charged with drunken driving and other violations. Police said the chase began after an officer patrolling Route 102 in Hudson at about 12:30 a.m. passed a car speeding in the opposite direction.
"He noticed a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed," Capt. Jason Lavoie said. "He then turned around, and as he was watching the vehicle, he observed it start to weave within its lane, crossing the double yellow line as well as some of the white lines."
The Hudson officer turned on his lights and ordered the car to pull over, but police said Grant refused to stop. Officers used a spike strip to flatten one of the tires, but they said the car continued going.
"It didn't stop the vehicle, and it continued into Nashua," Lavoie said. "However, the driver would stop as it came up to red lights as it came into Nashua. And they were able to subsequently box in the vehicle so it would no longer go when it came to another stop at one of the red lights."
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Moby to Bush: 'Stay Out of New York'
With all the sentimental stuff going on with 9/11, we were slightly amused with the angry yet surprisingly sensible ramblings of electronic music guru and luxury car jingle writer Moby:
dear president bush,
stay out of new york.
you don't like us and we don't like you.
90% of us voted for john kerry in the last election. we don't trust you, and we believe, based on your record, that you've been a terrible president.
you're supposed to come to new york city today.
you're not welcome here.
you only come to new york city when you need to bolster your poll numbers.
you came here after 9-11 even though you ignored warnings of terrorist attacks and cut funding to anti-terrorist programs.
you came here for the rnc convention even though your policies have made america less safe.
you are not welcome in nyc.
go back to texas where you can cut wood for the tv cameras.
or go back to washington d.c where you can watch dick cheney run the country.
you are a liar.
you are inept.
you are probably the worst president that the united states has ever had to endure.
you are not welcome in nyc.
we are not your cheap whore, to use whenever your poll numbers are in the toilet.
we are not your crappy prop, to use when you're worried that you might have to deal with the consequences of your failed policies.
you suck, and we don't want you here.
everything you've done has gone wrong. you are in the pocket of the oil and defense industries, and the poor idiots on the religious right actually sometimes believe that you care about them and their agenda.
you only believe in issues that will keep your corporate backers happy.
you are an awful, inept, corrupt, and tragically incompetent president.
and i'm sorry that you've chosen to come to new york city on 9-11.
we didn't vote for you and we're not in any way happy that you're here.
go home, gw, and let us just get on with living our lives in the city that was attacked
due to your pre 9-11 ineptitude and incomptetence.
-moby
Mother strangles 14-year-old daughter following 'bullying' at school
A mother who confessed to killing her 14-year-old daughter, saying she wanted to put the teen out of her misery, has been arrested on suspicion of murder, law enforcers said.
Police said they received an emergency call from a 40-year-old woman in Itami at about 11:55 a.m. on Sunday, saying, "I've killed my daughter."
When officers from Itami Police Station rushed to the woman's home, they found the daughter lying dead on the floor of a bedroom in the home, with a belt wrapped around her neck. Police immediately arrested the woman on suspicion of murder.
"My daughter had been worried about educational problems, and I wanted to put her out of her misery," law enforcers quoted the woman as saying.
Sources close to the case said the mother, whose name has been withheld, had been in and out of hospital over the past five years to be treated for serious depression, and her daughter had been bullied at school over her mother's illness.
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Sudan man forced to 'marry' goat
A Sudanese man has been forced to take a goat as his "wife", after he was caught having sex with the animal.
The goat's owner, Mr Alifi, said he surprised the man with his goat and took him to a council of elders.
They ordered the man, Mr Tombe, to pay a dowry of 15,000 Sudanese dinars ($50) to Mr Alifi.
"We have given him the goat, and as far as we know they are still together," Mr Alifi said.
Mr Alifi, Hai Malakal in Upper Nile State, told the Juba Post newspaper that he heard a loud noise around midnight on 13 February and immediately rushed outside to find Mr Tombe with his goat.
"When I asked him: 'What are you doing there?', he fell off the back of the goat, so I captured and tied him up".
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