NEW YORK — New York City's famous Naked Cowboy wants a bikini-clad woman who calls herself The Naked Cowgirl to stop ripping off his trademark.
The Times Square cowboy, whose real name is Robert Burck, is known for strumming his guitar wearing only briefs and a cowboy hat. He has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sandy Kane, who wears a red, white and blue cowboy hat and matching bikini.
Burck says if Kane's going to make money by posing for photos, he wants her to sign a "Naked Cowboy Franchise Agreement." Most of his licensed franchisees are required to pay $5,000 a year or $500 a month and go through a screening process.
Kane, who is in her 50s, is a former stripper who's now a fixture of the city comedy scene. Her real name is Sandra Brodsky. She says she doesn't owe Burck anything.
Mapping Louse DNA Could Help Fight The Parasite
Scientists have decoded the DNA sequence of the human body louse. They're hoping that the new discovery will give them clues to how this pesky parasite evolved with its human host, as well as how to fend off the disease-spreading bug.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled that a police officer acted correctly when he seized 15 cats from a woman who was driving with the animals running free inside her car.
In a 3-2 decision Thursday, the justices ruled that the felines were a distraction and interfered with driver Patricia Edwards' ability to see where she was going.
Chief Justice David Gilbertson said Edwards nearly backed into patrol car at a convenience store parking lot in Pierre, S.D., because of the moggies in her back window.
The court said Edwards and her cats presented a significant risk to the public.
Edwards was appealing a lower court ruling that transferred ownership of the cats to a humane society for adoption.
@edgarblythe,
edgarblythe wrote:
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- ... seized 15 cats from a woman who was driving with the animals running free inside her car. ...
15 cats in a car ... loose?
Okay, what I want to know is how anyone would be able to get that many cats into a car, and then be able to keep them there to begin with!
I only report them. I can't vouch for the accuracy of a story.
A sailor has returned to shore after spending more than three years at sea without touching dry land.
Reid Stowe, 58, docked in Manhattan after his 1,152 day voyage, and was greeted by his girlfriend and 23-month toddler who he had never seen.
Mr Stowe left in the 70-foot (21m) two-masted sailing boat in April 2007.
Guinness World Records say they are looking into the claim that the trip sets a new record for the longest voyage.
Mr Stowe set off from New Jersey on a round-the-world trip which finished in Manhattan.
He originally set off with his girlfriend, Soanya Ahmad, 26, until she had to return to shore after suspecting she was pregnant.
The couple agreed that he would continue without her, despite it meaning that he would miss the birth of their son.
He said that seeing her go was the hardest part of his trip.
"Before we left, we had an agreement that if I had to get off for any reason, he would go on," Ms Ahmad said.
"I knew if he came back and didn't finish the voyage, he would just go back again. There was no way he wasn't going to finish it."
Yoga and painting
Mr Stowe said his trip was a "voyage of love" The vessel was built by Mr Stowe and his family 30 years ago, and named "Anne" after his mother.
While at sea, Mr Stowe says he spent his time repairing torn sails, painting, practising yoga and writing a book.
He was able to send e-mails and make satellite phone calls.
Mr Stowe refers to his trip as a "voyage of love".
"She's done what no vessel in the world has done," Mr Stowe said.
"She got worn out and beat down to death.
"I'll tell you that boat will take me for another year and there is still a years worth of food on that boat... It's a magical boat, it's full of love."
Charles Doane, editor of Sail magazine, said he believes that Mr Stowe set a new sailing record.
He said that the GPS satellite system that tracked the voyage provides evidence that the boat had not touched land during the trip.
WATERVILLE, Wash. — An argument over butter in a macaroni and cheese recipe churned into violence between a brother and sister near East Wenatchee.
A 21-year-old man called police June 6 to say his 17-year-old sister had tried to cut his neck with the serrated edge of a spatula.
The police report says the sister was making macaroni and cheese when her brother asked if she was using butter. That led to an argument over the difference between butter and margarine. And, then butter battle escalated.
The Wenatchee World reports the girl was charged in Douglas County Superior Court with fourth-degree assault.
When Ray Grasshoff saw his 3-year-old beagle, Jack, tossing a brightly striped snake violently in his mouth on June 9, then rubbing his snout, he remembered a rhyme from his childhood days working around cattle: "Red on yellow, kill a fellow." Sure enough, Jack was tossing a poisonous coral snake, identifiable by its red stripes next to yellow.
Grasshoff, 54, raced his pet from the family's backyard to an emergency veterinarian in nearby South Austin. Jack was panting heavily and vomited in the car.
But soon after they arrived, Grasshoff learned the emergency vet couldn't find any coral snake antivenin for animals in Austin.
That's because the company that used to make the antidote, Wyeth, now owned by Pfizer Inc., closed the manufacturing plant and stopped making the drug in 2003, Pfizer spokeswoman Gwen Fisher said.
That has led to a nationwide shortage of the rarely used antivenin, and no other company has stepped up to make the drug.
$1,556 per vial
The antivenin, which Fisher said costs $1,556 per vial (and generally requires several for treatment), is evidently not profitable because of its infrequent use, according to published reports.
After Oct. 31, existing supplies will finally expire. The Food and Drug Administration twice extended the deadline on vials that were to expire Oct. 31, 2008, saying testing showed they still were viable.
There will not be a third extension, FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said Friday.
"We still have supply on hand that we are carefully managing," Pfizer's Fisher said. "We, as a company, do realize the critical medical importance of the product, and we are exploring alternatives."
Chews on its prey
Luckily, bites by shy coral snakes account for fewer than 1 percent of U.S. snakebites, and antivenin is not always needed. Only one human coral snake death has been reported in the more than 40 years antivenin has been available in the U.S.
Without it, deaths are about 10 percent of those bitten, according to an online eMedicine article.
Unlike a rattlesnake, which has front fangs that strike with efficient force, a coral snake has much smaller fangs and teeth.
It chews on its prey to deliver its venom, and "most people don't tolerate that very well, and they rip the snake off" before they get much venom, said Dr. Pat Crocker, chief of emergency medicine at Dell Children's Medical Center.
Emergency treatment
He said he's seen about a dozen coral snake bites in 30 years, but has used coral snake antivenin only once.
People and pets who are bitten still need to get emergency treatment and might need to be hospitalized and placed on a ventilator in case the person's or pet's respiratory system is paralyzed, Crocker said.
Jack was not showing any neurological damage, said Dr. Stephanie Fletcher at the Emergency Animal Hospital of Northwest Austin, South location.
He survived after spending the night at the hospital and being sent home with medicine, Grasshoff said.
@edgarblythe,
I bet they don't run out of Viagra, though...
@Rockhead,
Heck, a school district I just read about is giving condoms to 5 year olds.
@edgarblythe,
bet they make balloon animals with them...
@edgarblythe,
edgarblythe wrote:
I only report them. I can't vouch for the accuracy of a story.
Heavens, I don't doubt that the story isn't accurate.
I'm just speculating outloud as to how someone would be able to corral 15 cats into a car, without some not wandering off. Cats are notoriously hard to herd.
@Reyn,
I once had to put two cats in a car. It was not easy.
Here's how it could be done:
Get in the car, close the doors and all the windows except the driver's window, leaving it 6" down. Then have another person outside the car put each cat in through the partially open window until all are in. Then close the window really fast.
Whatever method you chose (excepting anesthesia), you'd have to have at least one extra person to help. I cannot imagine a single way to do this alone.
Yeah, I guess two people could manage.
The Raytown farmer who posted a sign on a semi-truck trailer accusing Democrats of being the “Party of Parasites” received more than $1 million in federal crop subsidies since 1995.
But David Jungerman says the payouts don’t contradict the sign he put up in a corn field in Bates County along U.S. 71 Highway.
“That’s just my money coming back to me,” Jungerman, 72, said Monday. “I pay a lot in taxes. I’m not a parasite.”
After a story about Jungerman’s trailer ran in Sunday’s Star, however, some readers called him a hypocrite for criticizing others for getting government help while taking government subsidies paid for by taxpayers.
Jungerman said he put up the sign to protest people who pay no taxes, but, “Always have their hand out for whatever the government will give them” in social programs.
Crop subsidies are different, he said. When crop prices dip below a certain point, the federal government makes up the difference with a subsidy payment.
According to a farm subsidy data base, Jungerman received $1,095,101 in the past 15 years, including $224,763 in 2000. Last year, he received $34,303.
Something I learned yesterday:
Buy a lantern battery. Cost, four or five dollars.
Peel off label. Extract two screws. Lift cap enough to cut the two wires. Dump out a whole slew of AA batteries. I forgot how many you get, but it is far cheaper this way.
