Miss Universe Australia flees from killer croc.

From News.com.au:

Miss Universe Australia Rachael Finch met some crocodiles during her Northern Territory visit yesterday and had to run for her life when a 5m croc named Eric lunged at her.

The stunner told the Northern Territory News it was an incredible - yet scary - experience.

She said it was one of the more unusual events she had been involved in since being announced winner of the pageant in April.

"As soon as I saw him move I got nervous," she said as she laughed about her brush with the huge saltie.

The bubbly beauty visited Crocodylus Park in Darwin to meet some of the biggest crocs in captivity.

House defeats sweeping reform of food safety.

Clearly, the US government is in the pocket of Big E.Coli. From Yahoo! News:

The U.S. House defeated a proposed sweeping reform of the federal food safety system on Wednesday amid complaints it would bury small farmers in paperwork with no assurance of an increase in inspections.

The bill was debated under special rules that limited debate to 40 minutes with no amendments allowed and a two-thirds majority needed for passage. It fell eight votes short, 280-150.

The bill would give the Food and Drug Administration the power to order food recalls, step up the frequency of plant inspections, require facilities to have a food safety plan in place and give FDA more access to company records.

Democrats predominantly voted for the bill and most Republicans voted against it. But there was a sizable cross-over -- four dozen Republicans voted for the bill. Two dozen Democrats opposed it.

Coozer-Bits.

These are items collected over the past few days. Sorry for the lateness!

Creepy: Brain-reading methods developed.

Yipes: 2,000 people bitten by dogs per day in Sri Lanka.

Awesome: Swiss psychiatrist fights fear with LSD.

Hot Cha Cha: Red wine increases women's sexual desire.

Yipes: Sacha Baron Cohen threatened by Palestinian terrorists over Bruno.

Sad: Global warming to force 75 million Pacific Islanders from their homes.

Aww: Lump of cheese lost in space.

Hot Cha Cha: Evolution producing more beautiful women.

Tech: Apple, record labels working on way to get people to buy full albums again.

RUW: Robotic firefighting team debuts.

Aww: Remorseful robber returns money, hugs victim.

Man arrested for having sex with horse... again.

Man, Matthew Broderick must be PISSED. From NY Daily News:

A South Carolina man was busted for having sex with a horse, while on probation for having sex with the same horse.

Rodell Vereen, 50, was arrested Monday night in the throes of bestiality by the filly's shotgun-toting owner, who also has video surveillance of the perverse act.

"When they arrested him before I thought that was the end of it," said Barbara Kenley, who caught Vereen in the middle of his romp in the hay with her 21-year-old horse, Sugar.

Vereen was charged with buggery and tresspassing, and was held on $10,000 bail.

"Hopefully he won't get out," said Kenley, owner of the Lazy B Stables in Conway, S.C. "My goal is to get him away from me and my property."

Happy Birthday, Geddy Lee!!

Although he exists beyond time and space, fools are confusing him as merely human and reporting that he is "turning 56." In any case, I shall use today to wish him happiness and hope that he gets some good loot.

Texan woman beheads newborn, eats brain.

Texas freaks me out.

A Texas woman decapitated her newborn baby and ate pieces of his body before turning a knife on herself, police said today.

Otty Sanchez was covered in blood and screaming "I killed my baby, I want to die'' when police arrived at the modest San Antonio home.

"She mentioned that someone or something told her to do it and she was hearing voices, so that leads us to believe she was experiencing some kind of mental crisis,'' said police spokesman Joe Rios.

[...] She appeared to have ingested parts of her child - including the brain - after attacking him with a knife, Mr Rios said.

San Antonio police chief William McManus described the crime scene as so grisly police officers barely spoke to each other while looking through the house. Parts of the child were missing, including pieces Ms Sanchez allegedly ate.

"At this particular scene you could have heard a pin drop," Mr McManus said. "No one was speaking. It was about as sombre as it could have been."

More here.

Blue M&Ms mend spinal injuries.

From the Telegraph:

The food dye that gives blue M&Ms their colour can help mend spinal injuries, researchers have claimed after tests on rats.

The compound Brilliant Blue G blocks a chemical that kills healthy spinal cord cells around the damaged area - an event that often causes more irreversible damage than the original injury.

BBG not only reduced the size of the lesion but also improved the recovery of motor skills, the rodent tests showed.

Those treated with BBG were later able to walk, although with a limp. Rats that did not receive the BBG solution never regained the ability to walk.

On the downside, the treatment causes the skin to temporarily turn bright blue and BBG needs to be injected soon after the trauma. The test injections were given within 15 minutes.

Swiss chocolatiers develope fat-free chocolate bar.

Something tells me "Vulcano" is just chocolate-flavored wax. From Ananova:

A bar of chocolate has been created that can be eaten while you diet.

Its makers claim it has 90% fewer calories than a normal bar and doesn't melt as easy as every day chocolate.

Swiss chocolatier Barry Callebaut has named his secret ingredient "Vulcano" because it can withstand heat up to 55C.

A spokesman told the Daily Mirror: "Our engineers stumbled upon the technique by accident.

"It's nice and chocolatey with a strong aroma. It does melt in the mouth but it is the enzymes in saliva rather than the heat that cause it to dissolve."

The company hope to sell Vulcano to Cadbury's and Nestle and It could be used in their bars within two years.

Super-Size Me to become comic book.

From The Food Section:

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Morgan Spurlock, director of the 2004 documentary "Super-Size Me," is partnering with Dark Horse Comics to create a graphic novel adapting true "tales from the fast-food underbelly" that never made it into the film.

The book, entitled Supersized: Strange Tales From a Fast Food Culture, will feature "MC Supersized" (right) -- an obese Ronald McDonald-esque clown created by artist Ron English to promote the film -- as a "guide through the stories, in the same way the Crypt Keeper hosted the ghoulish stories in EC Comics' 'Tales From the Crypt.'"

"As great as they were on paper, I think they'll be better told in a graphic-novel form," Spurlock said of the stories that will comprise the comic. "They're funny, they're gross, and hopefully they'll be informative too."

Sorry!

Hi guys, I'm sorry for the sparse updates the past few days. Hit a busy spell, but luckily things are looking boring again! And clearly there's been no other news besides the Michael Jackson Corpsewatch.

Stay tuned for a ton of updates. In the meantime, here's a picture of my cat wearing a tie.

Robot bride takes over catwalk.

Robot brides?! We're doooomed! From ABC News:

A humanoid robot designed by Japanese scientists made its debut as a catwalk model in Osaka Wednesday.

Her official name is "HRP-4C" but her creators are calling her "Miim." The very realistic looking female wore a wedding gown designed by Japanese bridal fashion designer Yumi Katsura. As she progressed down the catwalk Miim told the audience how happy she was to be wearing a wedding dress for the first time.

Miim was developed by Japan's Institute for Science and Technology. They admit she doesn't have the same moves as "real" fashion models, but they say she'll get better with a little more technology.

Miim's creator compared his feelings to those he might have on his daughter's wedding day, saying he was "really nervous."

Anpanman sets record for most characters.

I love Anpanman and have a few of the toys! From Japan Times:

The TV program "Anpanman" has been recognized by Guinness World Records as having the most characters in an animated series, Nippon TV said.

As of March, the weekly program had featured 1,768 different characters, according to an official Guinness registration in June, NTV spokeswoman Shigeko Chino said Thursday.

The television version of "Anpanman" began airing on Oct. 3, 1988. Long popular with children, the titular hero's head is a bun filled with sweet bean paste, hence the name, which means Red-Bean-Bread Man in English.

Most of the other characters are related to food, including Shokupanman (Loaf-of-Bread Man), Jamu-Ojisan (Jam-Middle-Aged Man) and Omusubiman (Rice-Ball Man.)

The "anime" teaches children to wash their hands and brush their teeth by showing Anpanman always defeating his archrival, Baikinman (Germ Man).

"We received this honor because we have kept airing the program for 21 years. Those who were children then have become adults and are watching it with their own children," NTV producer Toshio Nakatani said in a statement.

In addition to the TV series, there have been 20 "Anpanman" movies.

"The 'Anpanman' series has had more than 2,000 characters and the figure is increasing, but the Guinness registration is very strict and they recognized only 1,768," said Takashi Yanase, the series' creator.

Anti-gay, pro-abstinence state senator has affair with young intern.

Wait... Paul Stanley?? From Raw Story:

A Republican state senator from Tennessee–who is married and the father of two– has admitted to police that he had sex with a 22 year old intern after her boyfriend allegedly demanded money from the legislator to not make public a video of the legislator and intern having sex.

State Sen. Paul Stanley only recently sponsored legislation designed to prohibit gay couples in his home state from ever adopting children. He has also opposed family planning services, explaining that his “faith and church” require him to “promote abstinence.” And Stanley has run as a “pro-family” candidate in his campaigns for the Tennessee State Senate.

On Thursday, Stanley resigned his chairmanship of the Tennessee State Senate’s Commerce committee.

Stanley himself admitted to police that he had had a “sexual relationship” with the intern and had taken nude pictures of her in “provocative poses,” according to a sworn affidavit police made public yesterday. The couple also filmed a video of themselves having sex together.

Scientists build mice out of skin cells.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Two teams of Chinese researchers working separately have reprogrammed mature skin cells of mice to an embryonic-like state and used the resulting cells to create live mouse offspring.

The reprogramming may bring scientists one step closer to creating medically useful stem-cell lines for treating human disease without having to resort to controversial laboratory techniques. However, the advance poses fresh ethical challenges because the results could make it easier to create human clones and babies with specific genetic traits.

The latest findings are a bit of a surprise, given that Chinese scientists' contribution to lab-based stem-cell research has been modest over the years. However, Chinese scientists have been publishing more basic-research findings than in the past. The country is more known for its growing trade in unproven stem-cell therapies that have attracted patients from around the world. Reports suggest that China's health authorities have moved to regulate such activities.

Makers of corpse-eating robot try to calm public.

Hilarious press release from the company that makes the EATR robot, which frightened us so last week. Thanks to Kaiser for this update!

POMPANO BEACH, Fla.– In response to rumors circulating the internet on sites such as FoxNews.com, FastCompany.com and CNET News about a “flesh eating” robot project, Cyclone Power Technologies Inc. (Pink Sheets:CYPW) and Robotic Technology Inc. (RTI) would like to set the record straight: This robot is strictly vegetarian.

On July 7, Cyclone announced that it had completed the first stage of development for a beta biomass engine system used to power RTI’s Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR™), a Phase II SBIR project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Defense Sciences Office. RTI’s EATR is an autonomous robotic platform able to perform long-range, long-endurance missions without the need for manual or conventional re-fueling.

RTI’s patent pending robotic system will be able to find, ingest and extract energy from biomass in the environment. Despite the far-reaching reports that this includes “human bodies,” the public can be assured that the engine Cyclone has developed to power the EATR runs on fuel no scarier than twigs, grass clippings and wood chips – small, plant-based items for which RTI’s robotic technology is designed to forage. Desecration of the dead is a war crime under Article 15 of the Geneva Conventions, and is certainly not something sanctioned by DARPA, Cyclone or RTI.

“We completely understand the public’s concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission,” stated Harry Schoell, Cyclone’s CEO. “We are focused on demonstrating that our engines can create usable, green power from plentiful, renewable plant matter. The commercial applications alone for this earth-friendly energy solution are enormous.” (emphasis in the original)

French chipmunks carrying fatal diseases are invading England.

Finally, chipmunks succeed where Napoleon did not.

Thousands of chipmunks carrying potentially fatal diseases have been spreading west across Europe and have reached Paris.

Many carry ticks infected with the Borrelia bacterium that causes Lyme disease, a nerve illness that can disable and even kills victims if not treated early enough.

French experts warn that the animals, which can also carry rabies, could soon reach Calais and sneak aboard vehicles and vessels heading to Britain.

Officials have also warned tourists not to smuggle them into the UK as pets.

Some unscrupulous French pet shops are offering chipmunks for less than £10 each, despite repeated warnings of the danger.

More here.

UK losing 52 pubs a week.

From BBC:

UK pubs closed at a rate of 52 per week in the first half of the year - a third more than the same period in 2008 - the British Beer & Pub Association said.

Local pubs were the most vulnerable as communities were hit by the fallout of the economic downturn, it added.

The research suggested businesses that provided food were far more resilient to the recession.

And branded pubs and cafe-style bars were opening at a rate of two a week, according to the report.

"Pubs are already diversifying, but unfortunately if you are a community pub, you can't transform yourself into a trendy town-centre bar," said an association spokesman.

"The biggest impact is the recession. There are fewer people out and fewer people spending money in pubs and bars, regardless of where they are," he said.

Cannibal looking for love.

Ladies - he's single! From News.com.au:

An Indonesian cannibal is seeking love, promising his people-eating days are over.

Sumanto, currently residing in rural Central Java, was jailed after he dug up an old woman's body for a "cheap and tasty meal".

"She was delicious," he told AFP from his room at a Muslim mental rehabilitation centre in rural Central Java.

"I love meat... all types of meat as long as it's cooked. But I don't eat people anymore."

But after a lengthy stint in prison, the former farmer now longs for the taste of love.

"What is love? How can I describe it when I've never experienced it, never tasted it?"

Sumanto said his cannibal days are over and that spinach was all he ate nowadays in a bid to be accepted back into normal village life.

"I'm sad. People said so many bad things about me. I will strive to get the villagers to open their hearts and accept me again," he said.

King of Kong director to helm King Dork.

Cool news as I'm a huge fan of both King of Kong and anything Dr. Frank does! From SlashFilm:

Seth Gordon, director of The King of Kong, is in talks to direct a big screen adaptation of Frank Portman’s young King Dork. The high school dramedy is about a teenage misfit who seeks refuge in music, and tries to uncover the truth about his father’s death.

The novel was published in 2006 and was quickly optioned to be a feature film by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Originally set-up at Paramount Vantage, the project has now moved to Sony Pictures. This project seems a lot better a fit for Gordon than the Reese Witherspoon/Vince Vaughn comedy Four Christmases, which was released last year and earned $163 million worldwide.

Gordon has a bunch of projects setup: A Bottle Rocket like Hiest comedy Suicide Squad, Mr. Romance - a romantic comedy about a “a cynical guy who is forced to enter the Mr. Romance competition to win back the love of his life”, and a feature adaptation of King of Kong which I doubt will ever happen. It is unclear which project will go into production first, both Suicide Squad and King Dork sound like great options.

GOP putting NRA lunacy into defense bill.

This is nuts. From ABC News:

A vote is expected today on a proposal that would allow certain gunowners to bring their weapons across state lines.

The amendment would let people with concealed weapons permits carry their guns into other states as long as they follow that state's laws about where concealed weapons are permissible.

Just two states would not be part of the plan: Illinois and Wisconsin do not issue any conceal and carry permits so the amendment wouldn't affect them.

"Law-abiding South Dakotans should be able to exercise the right to bear arms in states with similar regulations on concealed firearms," the amendment's author, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said in a statement released Monday. "My legislation enables citizens to protect themselves while respecting individual state firearms laws."

And an editorial from Newsday:

An amendment that would allow the legislatures of other states to dictate who can carry concealed weapons here in New York is a deadly bit of mischief that the U.S. Senate should reject. If it becomes law, states would be required to honor concealed carry permits issued by any other state.

That would be one-size-fits-all at its worst, making the most lax state gun laws in the nation the de facto national standard. New York has tough carry laws and rigorously screens applicants. But in Alaska, for instance, even people guilty of misdemeanor sex offenses against children aren't disqualified, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. And under the amendment sponsored by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a permit from Alaska would be enough to legally carry loaded, concealed weapons in New York.

Illegal gun dealers must be salivating. With a permit from an indulgent state and a stash of handguns bought someplace where few questions are asked, an ambitious criminal could come to New York, walk the streets with dozens of loaded guns and run afoul of the law only if caught in the act of selling one.

The Thune amendment has been attached to the defense authorization bill, so anyone who votes against it can be accused of not supporting the troops. Senators shouldn't be intimidated. But if this lunacy survives in the Senate, it should be shot down in the House.