Brain Found!

Richmond, Virginia authorities are trying to determine how to proceed after finding a brain in a bag. No, really.

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) — A brain was found in a bag near a Virginia apartment complex Tuesday morning, but it was not clear if it was human or animal, police said.

It was discovered next to a suburban apartment complex under construction and near a mall, Richmond police spokeswoman Karla Peters said.

The state medical examiner was examining the brain, she said. It was not clear how long it had been there.

We here at Blue Crab Boulevard strongly encourage politicians to stop littering. This has been a public service announcement.

UPDATE: The Conservative Belle may have located the owner.

This Story Has Legs Leg!

The odyssey of the smoked leg continues! Believe it or don't. You'll recall the heartwarming story of the leg in the smoker. A man bought a smoker from an auction at a self-storage place. Inside, he found a human leg. The man was "grossed out" and turned said appendage over to the police who located it's previous - original - owner. The man's leg had been amputated following a plane crash and he'd decided to keep it so he could be cremated "whole." The first man then determined that he could make money charging people to see the smoker - and wanted the leg back since it would make the display more profitable. In the end, the police decided that the first man did not have a legal leg to stand on (hey, they said it, not me) and gave it back to the original owner. But is is not over yet, folks.  Now it's a media event.

Shannon Whisnant has said all along he was willing to go to court for the right to keep John Wood's severed leg.

Sure enough, a judge will soon decide who gets custody of the Simpsonville man's amputated limb, which was found stored in a barbecue smoker mistakenly sold during a mini-storage public auction.

Judge Mathis, that is.

The nationally syndicated Judge Mathis court show, which has aired since 1999, features former Michigan Superior Court judge Greg Mathis.

Plaintiffs and defendants sign an agreement beforehand that stipulates that Mathis' decision is final and legally binding. The judge often pokes fun at both parties and allows sensationalistic courtroom outbursts as he listens to both sides.

Wood and Whisnant — the Maiden, N.C., man who claims he owns the leg because he bought it and now wants to charge admission to see it — are headed to Chicago for a Friday taping of the show, both men said.

Neither would elaborate on their appearance on the show. Whisnant declined further comment. On Monday, Wood said he'd like for any money that comes from the publicity to be given to local charity.

He said news organizations worldwide have expressed interest in the story. A German television station offered to fly the two men to Frankfurt this week, he said.

It's only the latest odd turn in a two-week-long ordeal that has made worldwide headlines and brought an overwhelming wave of publicity for two men unknowingly thrust together after a public auction at a private mini-storage.

Wood's leg was amputated above the knee after a plane crash in 2004 that killed his father.

Instead of disposing of the leg, Wood decided to keep it so that it could be cremated with him when he dies. He stored it in a freezer for a while, then hung it on a fencepost, before stowing it in a barbecue smoker that was among his belongings housed in a Maiden Plaza Mini Storage unit.

Hung it on a fencepost? The more details that come out about this whole incident, the worse it is. But these two guys certainly are good at getting their entire 15 minutes of fame and then some!

The Family That Bombs Together…..

Well, this is an odd one. A Montana woman has been jailed for helping her son manufacture pipe bombs - for reasons unknown at this time.

GREAT FALLS, Mont. - A 43-year-old woman has been charged with a felony after prosecutors said she helped her son make pipe bombs in her home.

Rae Lynn Funston was charged Tuesday in District Court with felony possession of explosives. She is jailed on $25,000 bail. Police said she told them she purchased the PVC pipe and helped her son make the explosives.

The bombs were found during a routine probation inspection of the home - so the boy has a history of some kind. But authorities have no idea what he had planned or even how powerful the bombs are at this point.

Tick, Tick, Tick, Tock, RING

David Schraub argues that the "Armenian Genocide" recognition bill that was just voted out by the House Foreign Relations Committee is a case where the United States should just let Turkey pitch a fit. But he starts out thusly:

The House Foreign Relations Committee just passed a resolution labeling as "genocide" the WWI Turkish killing of Armenians. The vote was 27-21 (if anyone has the vote breakdown, I'd be obliged). Such resolutions have passed House committees before, but never made it to the full body for a vote. That looks to change this time, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has a large Armenian-American constituency and is thus strongly committed to getting it passed.

Publius offers the standard, mature view (taken by every living Secretary of State, incidentally), that this is not the right time. Turkey is one of our closet Muslim allies. Moreover, unlike quotation mark "allies" like Saudi Arabia, it is a bona fide liberal, democratic Islamic state. It also is one of the few Muslim states to recognize and have diplomatic relations with Israel — a relationship it has been issued veiled threats against in the event that this resolution passes. And it happens to border Iraq, where it could if it so desired cause all manner of trouble under the pretext of dealing with its "Kurdish problem." This event happened a long time ago, Publius argues, so why stir up the fuss?

Therein lies the real problem. The nation of Turkey came into existence in 1923. The events being deplored happened in 1915. The United States House of Representatives is about to drop a hammer on the best ally we have in the Muslim world - for something that happened before that nation came into existence. There are real consequences to these actions - ones that may well cost lives if the Turks use this as a justification to invade Iraq. Will those cheering the resolution then accept responsibility for the deaths that are caused as a result?

Because they will be responsible.

Another thing: it is terrifically easy to point your finger and shout "shame" on another nation for actions that happened 92 years ago - before that nation existed. Why isn't the House doing something constructive about the contemporary killing of Burmese monks for daring to stand up against a military junta that still has their boot on the Burmese people's neck? Schraub calls America the good guy here. Will you still feel that way when real blood spills as a result of a symbolic act for something long over? Will you still feel smugly righteous when real bodies have to be buried today to satisfy the anger of some people for a long-ago act? To be consistent will you come apologize to my wife and her family? (My wife is Seneca and Mohawk). Where do you stop it? Do I get an apology from the House condemning France for kicking my great-great, etc. grandparents out of France for religious differences?

Good guy, Dave? Or just the smugly self-righteous guy that the left complains America is?

UPDATE: The Associated Press reports:

Gates said 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through Turkey, as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military in Iraq.

"Access to airfields and to the roads and so on in Turkey would very much be put at risk if this resolution passes and Turkey reacts as strongly as we believe they will," Gates said. He also said that 95 percent of new vehicles designed to better protect against mine attacks are being flown through Turkey to get to Iraq.

Unlike the majority of the Congressmen - from either party - standing on the "moral high ground" on this issue, I have more than a theoretical interest in this issue. My oldest son has served two tours in Iraq and any Congressman who votes to cut off the supply of up-armored equipment to American troops for a "symbolic gesture" is unworthy of office. That is a hard line and that is where I choose to stand.

Tick, Tick, Tick

The Times of London:

Turkey was preparing to send troops and tanks into northern Iraq today as the Government came under intense pressure to avenge the deaths of Turkish soldiers in attacks by Kurdish rebels.

Risking a major diplomatic row with Washington and the European Union, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, said that he had ordered preparations for a possible military strike and asked parliament for approval.

Turkish combat aircraft and helicopter gunships attacked suspected positions of Kurdish rebels near Iraq and police detained 20 Kurds with suspected rebel links at a border crossing. A number of Turkish police officers were wounded when a police vehicle was the target of a bomb attack the southeast of the country.

Today’s frenzied activity came just days after the killing of 13 government troops in an ambush that outraged the country and marked the latest in a spate of intensified attacks by the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

At a meeting on the attacks earlier this week, chaired by Mr Erdogan, senior Turkish civilian and military authorities decided to consider “every kind of legal, political and economic measure, including an incursion across the border.”

Parliament would still have to authorise any military action and the final decision rests with the Government. The weekend ambush and the killing of another two soldiers in a separate attack have ignited the fuse of a nationalistic anger in Turkey.

So, if the government becomes angry enough, they might approve the incursion. What could set such a chain of events in motion? Two words: Nancy Pelosi.

A proposed House resolution that would label as "genocide" the deaths of Armenians more than 90 years ago during the Ottoman Empire has won the support of a majority of House members, unleashing a lobbying blitz by the Bush administration and other opponents who say it would greatly harm relations with Turkey, a key ally in the Iraq war.

All eight living former secretaries of state have signed a joint letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) warning that the nonbinding resolution "would endanger our national security interests." Three former defense secretaries, in their own letter, said Turkey probably would cut off U.S. access to a critical air base. The government of Turkey is spending more than $300,000 a month on communications specialists and high-powered lobbyists, including former congressman Bob Livingston, to defeat the initiative.

This morning, President Bush and two key Cabinet members bolstered those efforts, calling on Congress to drop the legislation. "I urge members to oppose the Armenian genocide resolution now being considered by the House Foreign Affairs Committee," Bush told reporters in a prepared statement he made on the South Lawn of the White House. "We all deeply regret the tragic suffering of the Armenian people that began in 1915. This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass killings, and its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror."

I pointed the danger out a few days ago. So, a question then. If the supporters of this bill cause real death and destruction in the area as a result of trying to condemn a current NATO ally for something done by a government no longer in existence will they still feel proud of what they've done?

Why?

Today’s Booze Nooze

How about a bath and a beer? Better yet, how about a bath in the beer? A Japanese spa has installed a gigantic beer mug-shaped bathtub and are inviting clients to soak in a nice beer bath.

In this mountainous hot spring resort just a day trip from Tokyo, a spa park is offering a bathtub, shaped like a beer mug, filled with heated amber water and white foam with the aroma of hops and barley.

The Hakone Kowakien Yunessun is also pouring and spraying real beer into the bath and onto the customers three times a day until December 31.

The beer bath installation, which began late last month, pays homage to the "beer fights" of professional baseball season winners, much like the champaigne fights of their US Major League counterparts.

"We wanted ordinary people to enjoy the fun," the spa said in a statement.

The facility says the beer bath moisturises and cleanses the skin.

Supposedly Cleopatra took beer baths, so it isn't like this is a new idea. Besides, the Germans have already beaten the Japanese at this game: Beer Swimming Pools! On to another continent entirely then as we go 'round the world of booze. Australia: Nurse! Bring me another martini.

BRISBANE, Australia - Doctors plugged an Italian tourist into a drip-feed of vodka to save him at a hospital in Australia that ran out of the medicinal alcohol it would normally have used for treatment.

24-year-old Italian, who was not further identified, was brought to Mackay Base Hospital in northeastern Queesland state and was diagnosed as having ingested a large quantity of ethylene glycol, a common ingredient of antifreeze that can cause renal failure.

Pure alcohol is often given in treating such cases because it can inhibit the toxic effects of ethylene glycol.

Mackay Base Hospital Dr. Pascal Gelperowicz said the man was given pharmaceutical-grade alcohol when he arrived, but that the hospital's supplies soon ran out.

"We quickly used all the available vials of 100 per cent alcohol and decided the next best way to get alcohol into the man's system was by feeding him spirits through a naso gastric tube," Dr. Gelperowicz said in a statement.

"The patient was drip-fed about three standard drinks an hour for three days in the intensive care unit," he said. "The hospital's administrators were also very understanding when we explained our reasons for buying a case of vodka."

The hospital administrators did, however, object to the vermouth and the olives. (Three drinks an hour 'round the clock for three days? Holy smoke, that had to be the mother of all hangovers. Then again, he woke up.) Finally, let's head over to Britain where the beer smuggling is good:

The 150 pallets of beer of various well-known brands was found by officers who raided an industrial unit on Lorne Street in Bolton on Wednesday.

Two men were arrested at the scene and a further two were arrested trying to flee the site.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) officers said the estimated duty and VAT evaded is in excess of £140,000.

There'll be a party at the Manchester police barracks!

When Words Lose All Meaning

Words. 

The United Nations stumble along, unable to agree on a statement to issue about the situation in Burma. But they do appear to be heading in the direction - if China and Russia allow it - of 'condemning" the "crackdown" on dissidents. The cracking sounds you heard was of skulls being crushed, bones breaking and people being "questioned" to death. Meanwhile, in the US leaked revelations that officials may have authorized a slap to the side of the head as an interrogation procedure elicit strident , self-righteous howling about "torture."

UPDATE: And about that self-righteous howl, just call him irresponsible:

Former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday he is convinced the United States engages in torture that clearly breaches international law and told CNN President Bush creates his own definition of human rights to escape violating them.

"I don't think it. I know it, certainly." the former president told CNN's Wolf Blitzer when asked if he thinks the United States commits torture.

Eighth circle, Jimmy. Malebolge for you.

Words.

The Clinton administration defined the "rich" as being those with an income of around $200,000 - $250,000. Recently, Barack Obama said that those figures would be his measure for defining the rich. Today, the New York Times reports that Nancy Pelosi said, with a straight face and with no challenge from the media, that people with assets valued at $400,000 - $500,000 are "the working poor."

Words.

Labor Action Here And There

The here part: Auto workers have walked out of Chrysler plants today in the second United Auto Workers strike this year.

DETROIT - Thousands of Chrysler LLC autoworkers walked off the job Wednesday after the automaker and the United Auto Workers union failed to reach a tentative contract agreement before a union-imposed deadline.

It is the first UAW strike against Chrysler since 1997, when one plant was shut down for a month, and the first strike against Chrysler during contract talks since 1985.

The UAW apparently is not striking at five plants that Chrysler already had shut down this week because of sagging sales of some models, according to a person familiar with the walkout who asked not to be identified because the situation is in flux.

For the worker's sake, I hope it is settled soon. The earlier strike against GM lasted a lot less time than everyone thought it would - only a couple of days.

Meanwhile, in labor action there, zookeepers in Colombo, Sri Lanka used "strike" in a completely different sense of the word: that of striking one another. A full scale brawl erupted over death benefits for zookeepers.

Several staff were injured in fighting that broke out over pay and conditions at the National Zoo in the Colombo suburb of Dehiwala. One senior manager was beaten so badly he needed to be taken to hospital.

"We have brought the situation at the zoo under control," a police officer said.

"It was open to the public after being shut for about two hours this morning. Police went in to restore order."

The animals were reportedly highly amused at the silly human tricks.

Robo-Massage

Japanese engineers have developed what they hope will be a practical robot capable of giving facial massages.

The WAO-1 robot, which stands for Waseda Asahi Oral Rehabilitation Robot 1, is being developed initially for patients with jaw-related medical problems who require facial massages as part of their treatment, according to project leader Atsuo Takanishi.

The robot's arms are fitted with ceramic spheres the size of golf balls, and the spheres roll over the skin. The arms' movements are controlled by a complex set of algorithms designed to emulate massages, while six sensors at the base of the arms measure and adjust the pressure applied by the spheres, Takanishi said.

The technology has to be more refined than those in electric massage chairs because the facial bone structure is much more fragile than back or spine bones, he said.

Another research team member, Ken Nishimura, said the robot could be adjusted to give beauty and relaxation massages.

For some reason, the only thing that came to mind when I read this is Poltergeist. Or reasonable facsimile thereof.

Competition

John Stossel points out how real competition is really driving down prices while increasing quality - in medicine.

Health-care costs overall have been rising faster than inflation, but not all medical costs are skyrocketing. In a few pockets of medicine, costs are down while quality is up.

Dr. Brian Bonanni has an unusual medical practice. His office is open Saturdays. He e-mails his patients and gives them his cell-phone number.

"I need to be available 24 hours a day," he says. "I want to be there when a patient has questions, and I want to be reachable."

I'll bet your doctor doesn't say that. Bonanni knows he has to please his patients, not some insurance company or the government, because he's paid by his patients. He's a laser eye surgeon. Insurance rarely covers what he does: reshaping eyes so people can see without glasses.

His patients shop around before coming to him. They ask a question that people relying on insurance don't ask: "How much will that cost?"

"I can't get away with not telling the patient how much exactly it's going to cost," Bonanni says. "No one would put up with it. And the difference of a hundred dollars sometimes makes their decision for them."

He has to compete for his patients' business. One result of that is lower prices. And while the procedure got cheaper, it also got better. Today's lasers are faster and more precise.

There are other areas as well. One doctor Stossel mentions does not accept any insurance at all - and office visits are cheap. Government control of health care is not the answer.

Burma: Dissident Dies Under “Questioning”

The Associated Press is reporting that a Burmese exile group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, has announced that a well-known dissident has died while being questioned by the military junta that controls Burma. The report cannot be independently verified, but the group has been accurate in the past. The report indicates that the body was promptly cremated by the authorities.

YANGON, Myanmar - A member of Myanmar's besieged opposition party has died under interrogation by security forces, an exile group said Wednesday.

The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners also said that security officers had been threatening dissidents' relatives and neighbors in order to find information on the whereabouts of those involved in recent mass protests against 45 years of military rule.

"The security forces have become more severe in raiding houses of, and searching for, anyone whom they suspect to have been involved in the protests," it said.

The Myanmar exile group, made up of former political prisoners, said authorities had recently informed the family of Win Shwe, 42, that he had died under interrogation in the central Myanmar region of Sagaing. He and five colleagues were arrested on Sept. 26.

The body of Win Shwe, a member of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, was cremated at the detention center, the group said. The report could not be independently verified, although in the past the group has provided detailed, accurate information on political prisoners in the country.

The NLD won a landslide election victory in 1989 and is recognized by the government, even though the parliament was never allowed to convene by the military junta.

Western governments continue to look up at the sky and hum cheerful tunes. Agam has links to reports of secret government crematorium working overtime to dispose of an unknown number of bodies.

First up is the most recent, a very disturbing account of the methods used by SPADCO killers to dispose of the bodies of their victims. Wai to Jotman (a new discovery for me, and also writing from Bangkok). Jotman has been covering the Burma situation very well, so check it out.

The Times UK:

THE Burmese army has burnt an undetermined number of bodies at a crematorium sealed off by armed guards northeast of Rangoon over the past seven days, ensuring that the exact death toll in the recent pro-democracy protests will never be known.

The secret cremations have been reported by local people who have seen olive green trucks covered with tarpaulins rumbling through the area at night and watched smoke rising continuously from the furnace chimneys…

Horrifying rumours are sweeping the city that some of those cremated were severely injured people thrust into the ovens alive, but these have been treated with extreme caution by independent observers and have not been verified.

However, it is widely accepted that the cremations began on the night of Friday, September 28, more than 24 hours after soldiers opened fire on unarmed Buddhist monks and civilians demonstrating on the streets of Rangoon.

When Mr. Gambari was being hustled out of Rangoon immediately upon his arrival, strung along for several more days while he waited for his audience with Burma's butcher-in-chief, and taken to witness a junta-produced show of "popular support" up in Shan State, I wrote here that the delay was to enable the killers to have enough time to hide the bodies. After all, they wouldn't want Mr. Gambari to accidentally notice all that crematorium smoke, or covered trucks heading out to the jungle. But as Jotman notes from experience, the junta is very good at record keeping so it may still be possible to know the true extent of their crimes at some time in the future.

That might have interrupted the trade seminar, after all.