[angelize56]

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German television network said on Thursday it had made a scientific study of 450 photographs of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and concluded there are at least three doubles posing as the Iraqi president.

The ZDF public television network, working with a German coroner, said it took the photographs and film clips of Saddam which it had in its archives and used facial recognition technology to determine that men said to be him were lookalikes.

"In the film sequences since 1998 only the doubles appear," said Dieter Buhmann, a Homburg coroner. "He himself has not been seen again."

ZDF said in a news report and statement on its Web site (www.heute.t-online.de) ahead of the broadcast of its findings later on Thursday that "a scientific investigation proved that the 65-year-old ruler allows at least three doubles to replace him at official appearances."

ZDF said it was difficult to tell which were the doubles and which was the real Saddam Hussein.

"They have apparently undergone surgery to appear to look like the statesman," ZDF said. "The doubles have mastered Saddam's gestures and perfectly mimic Saddam, with only tiny details separating them from the real Saddam Hussein."

ZDF also quoted a physician, Muslim Al-Asadi, whom it said has been studying lookalikes for years.

"Between Saddam Hussein and another person who appeared in Iraqi television I was able to detect five different facial differences between the original and the double presented by Iraqi television," he was quoted telling ZDF.

[eggplant43]

How'd you like to be a double for Sadam Hussein???

Don't think it's probably the most promising career path right now.

[angelize56]

Hi Bruce! No...but I'll take his money! I wonder if anyone in the US looks like him...think they'd profit from it? Take care. Marlene

[eggplant43]

Just when you thought the world was going to He11 in a handbasket..............



http://www.pimphats.com/

[eggplant43]

'Google blips': Search not always right

Popular engine returns some odd results



PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) --It has been said that hell has many levels, and apparently some people see software giant Microsoft Corp. at its core.

At least that's according to the search engine Google, which when given a query for the term "go to hell," kicks back the home page of the world's largest software maker -- a rather humorous result, considering Google's reputation for producing the most accurate search results.

Microsoft's corporate rivals should not be so quick to chuckle, however.

The official home pages for AOL Time Warner Inc.'s America Online division and for Walt Disney Co. also come in among the top five results under the "go to hell" query. (AOL Time Warner is the parent company of CNN.)

But how does Microsoft beat a site called Hell.com for top ranking in the "go to hell" category, on a search engine that made a reputation putting the most relevant results first?

Microsoft's detractors
The easiest answer is that Microsoft has a lot of enemies.

Although Google offered no explanation on the "go to hell" matter, Google's site is famous for its "link analysis" method of producing search results. When users enter a word or term, they get back not just those Web sites containing that term but other sites as well, that are linked to those that contain the word or phrase, in question.

Microsoft's home page, in other words, may not contain the phrase "go to hell" anywhere, but there are apparently a lot of other sites out there that mention Microsoft (or AOL, or Disney) and going to hell in the same context.

"I call them Google blips," said Danny Sullivan, editor of SearchEngineWatch, an industry newsletter. "These are the things that happen when Web sites start linking to other Web sites. It just means that there are probably a lot of people who don't like Microsoft, and that is not a surprise."

Sullivan has tracked the search engine industry for years and has multiple examples of the way links between different Web sites have produced misleading search results.

Other Web sites targetted
There were the porn sites whose names appeared when users entered "Liv Tyler nude" or "Phoebe Cates nude," even though the sites in question contained no such photos of those celebrities. Searches of other pornographic terms have sometimes referred users to the Walt Disney home page, supposedly because some porn sites jokingly refer users over to Disney when they respond that they are not over 18. There is even a relatively obscure journalist named David Gallagher who managed to get top ranking above a somewhat better-known teen heartthrob with the same name, by building links between his Web site and others.

When such erroneous search results appear, it is not always clear whether someone actually set out to manipulate them by building the false links, or, like with the "go to hell" term, there were already some funny links out there. Earlier this year some practical jokers managed to build some links so that the name of a particular Web log publisher appeared when users entered the term "talentless hack" in Google's search box.

Although it is harder to confirm, false links have also reportedly been used to call attention to political events, or to give commercial sites higher billing.

Google has in the past pointed out that search results are not so easily manipulated, given the nearly 2.5 billion Web pages it scans. And most people in the industry note that because these false links are accidental more often than they are planned, and playful more often than they are malicious, no one needs to be terribly concerned.

"I think there are some potential problems that could be developed, but most of the cases are very specific phrases that you probably wouldn't search anyway," said Greg Notess, who publishes the newsletter Search Engine Showdown. "Really, why would you enter the term 'go to hell' in the first place?"

Likewise, Sullivan of SearchEngineWatch said that while some businesses may try to manipulate search results for economic reasons, like getting their Web site or company to the top of the list, the bigger problem for Google seems to be one of perception.

Are editors the answer?
The fact that people may be able to manipulate search results, even if they do not do it that often, he said, raised the question of whether Google ought to have some human editors involved in the search process.

"I think the biggest weakness for Google may be that it is not fixing these results," said Sullivan. "They are very much in love with technology and they sort of embrace this idea that they wouldn't want to go through and touch the results that their technology produced."

"But it is not always right. It is an automated system and it comes up with some weird things."

[eggplant43]

Officials condemn home

Police find 3 young children amid feces piles, cat urine at grandmother's house.



By Paul Bird



October 04, 2002


GREENWOOD, Ind. -- Investigators found three young children with feces stuck to their legs, arms and hands at their grandmother's Greenwood house.

The house was condemned Wednesday by health officials after investigators found the carpet soaked with cat urine and feces piles throughout.

"It's the worst I've seen in my nine years on the job," said Johnson County health investigator Betsy Swearingen.

The children are ages 1, 3 and 4.

Greenwood Police Officer Brian Swisher wrote in his report that the children had head lice.

The youngest child was drinking from a bottle of spoiled milk, Swisher observed.

"And that bottle had bugs in it, too," Swearingen said. "And you could see the bugs crawling in the children's hair."

Johnson County animal control officials took 28 cats from Karen McCann's residence on Wednesday and returned Thursday to gather more.

"We'll send her a detailed list of what she needs to do," Swearingen said. "Our goal is to get things cleaned up."

McCann has five days to vacate the residence in the 600 block of Park Drive.

Swearingen said the children and the grandmother were outside when officers arrived, "and as she was carrying the baby into the house, she slipped and fell on the floor slickened with urine and feces."

Swisher said he was forced to wear a gas mask because the odor was overwhelming.

"As I walked across the carpet in the home, it squished with what appeared to be urine," he wrote.

"A few people didn't make it past the front door," Swearingen said.

Medics called to the scene told the children's parents, Brandon and Jamie McCann of Indianapolis, that the children should be taken to a hospital for examination.

Marion County health and child protection officials were notified about the children's condition.

Brandon McCann told officials the condition of his mother's home was normal and did not seem out of the ordinary.


"He said that's how it was when he was growing up," Swearingen said.

[angelize56]

Bruce: This is so sickening I'm almost at a loss for words!!! This is out and out child neglect and abuse!! Those poor little kids! The parents should not be allowed to have them back! I just get sick at the description of thier home! Bet the cats were better taken care of than the children. I just don't understand some people in this world! Why even have kids. I'd love to see the outcome of this case. Keep up with if you can. Thanks Bruce...you know how I feel about children! Take care. angel

[eggplant43]

I believe what it boils down to is priorities. Some people simply have different priorities than we do, as unbelievable as that may seem.

[eggplant43]

Alleged burglar hosts a yard sale
October 8, 2002

(from the Southern Vermont section)
By ERIC FRANCIS Herald Correspondent

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Cavendish man has been charged with burglarizing his neighbor’s home and then holding a three-day yard sale to sell about $30,000 worth of goods, even giving out sales receipts in the process.

Stewart Fuller, 41, of Knapp Road in Cavendish pleaded innocent Monday to two felony counts of unlawful trespass and grand larceny after Roger and Shirley Labelle returned from Michigan to find their home ransacked and various neighbors in possession of their property.

The case involves a number of people, but Vermont State Police allege it was Fuller who masterminded the efforts to loot the Labelle residence while they were away in August and September. Police also allege it was Fuller who sold everything from a collection of NASCAR model cars to the lawn tractors, china, tools and furniture he found in their house and garage.

Fuller admitted taking items from the Fuller residence and he gave police a sworn statement saying that he took them to the residence of Michael Marro, 42, of Gould Road in Weathersfield, where the yard sale was held.

Marro told police he helped Fuller remove items from the Labelles’ house, including a boat and trailer. He said Fuller told him he needed to raise money for the couple to prevent eviction.

The Labelles told police they thought Fuller was looking after their dog while they were away. They said Fuller didn’t have permission to enter the house or to dispose of any belongings.

Marro told detectives he remembered selling Indian artifacts, figurines, toys, tools, chain saws, faucets, a satellite dish and receiver, videos, stuffed animals, picture frames, candlesticks, costume jewelry, baseball cards and fishing poles, along with numerous other items he couldn’t recall. When police arrived to question Marro, he still had several tables covered with the Labelles’ items that had not been sold, including stereos, toolboxes, watches, jumper cables and a computer printer.

Police allege that Fuller appeared to have sold the Labelles’ items, which they eventually valued at approximately $30,000. Fuller’s friend, Donald Tallman, 41, purchased two of the Labelles’ lawn tractors, a barbecue grill and boat trailer for $30. Police said the value of those items was closer to $400.

Fuller and Marro told police their yard sale netted $547.90 in cash.

Judge Theresa DiMauro ordered Fuller held on $10,000 cash bail pending trial on the felony charges.

[eggplant43]

Don't worry, we'll be here for you


O.C. judge hits the ceiling over foreclosure for $51.60
Yorba Linda couple lost $300,000 in equity because check didn't quite hit the mark.
By LARRY WELBORN And HANG NGUYEN
The Orange County Register


THE ALONSOS went to court after Washington Mutual foreclosed because a payment was about $50 short.
Eugene Garcia / The Register

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A bank sold Clara and Francisco Alonso's $650,000 Yorba Linda house from under them because of a $51.56 error.

On Tuesday, a judge called the foreclosure "horrendous.'' He told the family to stay put in its five-bedroom home and suggested how the Alonsos' case against the bank should be resolved.

"You folks get together and undo this transaction,'' Orange County Superior Court Judge James P. Gray told Washington Mutual Bank's attorney.

The Alonsos and their daughters, ages 8 and 20, lived in the Camphor Avenue home, with its large back yard and swimming pool, for about 10 years. Then, earlier this year, personal and financial problems sent them into a tailspin.

Francisco Alonso, a carpenter, and Clara, a human-resources executive, were catching up on past-due house payments, they said, when they learned that their home had been sold in foreclosure - for $190,000 below its market value.

"This has shattered our lives," Clara Alonso said moments after the hearing Tuesday. "We can't sleep at night. Wronged doesn't begin to describe what has happened to us." Washington Mutual attorney Jeffrey S. Allison declined to comment. Olivia Riley, the bank's vice president for public relations, said later Tuesday that she could not comment on the case because of customer privacy rights. However, Riley added, "We are actively working at resolving this matter." Gray acknowledged Tuesday that the Alonsos made some mistakes when they tried to get caught up on their mortgage with Washington Mutual. But the Alonsos' role "pales in comparison to what happened next," Gray said.

The judge said that after the Alonsos made a payment with a personal check that was $51.56 short, the bank returned the check without explanation, foreclosed on the loan and sold their house to a speculator.

Gray granted a temporary order barring the eviction of the Alonsos and scheduled another hearing for Oct. 22.

Francisco Alonso, 39, has worked full time for the past 12 years as a carpenter with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. Clara Alonso is a vice president of human resources at Gourmet Award Foods in Commerce. The Alonsos bought the 2,900-square-foot, two-story home in 1993 for $377,000.

After falling behind in their mortgage payments earlier this year, the Alonsos agreed in July to a repayment plan with Washington Mutual that called for them to pay $13,000 in cash and then $3,994.89 on the 30th of each month for 11 months.

Clara and Francisco paid the $13,000 quickly. And then Clara went to a Washington Mutual branch in person Aug. 30 to make the first monthly payment. She said she relied on a teller's statement that they actually owed $3,943.33 per month. She wrote out a personal check for that amount.

But 11 days later, the bank returned the check, saying it does not accept partial payments and announcing that the loan was in foreclosure.

Home speculator Greg Metcalf bought the house at the foreclosure sale Sept. 20 for $468,000. Gregory B. Gershuni, a lawyer for the Alonsos, said the house is worth an estimated $650,000.

Stuart W. Knight, a Tustin attorney representing Metcalf, said his client was unaware of the dispute.

Browne Greene, another lawyer representing the Alonsos, said Tuesday, "This whole thing is a disgrace, an absolute disgrace. ... This house was the biggest investment of their lives. And for $51.56, they lose $300,000 in equity? That's wrong."

On Tuesday, an American flag swayed in front of the three-car garage at the Alonsos' blue and white house. A wooden miniature cow, with "Welcome'' painted on it, stands by the door. A half-Pekingese, half-Shih Tzu dog, Rocky, romped in the back yard.

The Alonsos still own their first home, which they bought about 20 years ago in Pico Rivera. That house, they say, is valued at $260,000 and will be paid off in 2004.

"Our vision is that if something were to happen to my husband and I, the proceeds from the two homes would take care of our daughters,'' Clara Alonso said Tuesday.

The couple said they didn't sell the Pico Rivera home because Francisco's sister and her two children live there.


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This occurred in Mulder's beloved (God's Country), I wonder if he knows about this?

[eggplant43]

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Hi dad, says call-girl at the door

Jerusalem - An Israeli man suffered a heart attack when he summoned a call-girl to his hotel room and opened the door to his daughter, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

The 48-year-old businessman was treated in hospital in the Red Sea port of Eilat before returning home to northern Israel, where he confessed the traumatic experience to his wife.

His wife burst into tears and vowed to put their daughter back on the righteous path, then promptly demanded a divorce from her errant husband.

There was no word on the fate of the young woman. - Sapa-AFP

[Lurker1]

eggplant43
And another URBAN LRGEND strikes

"Collected on the Internet, 1995]
A man travels to St. John's Newfoundland on business from another part of the province. He checks into the Holiday Inn and arranges with the desk clerk to have a hooker sent to his room. A few minutes later, a knock comes on his door, and he opens it to find his own daughter, who was a student at the local university. (Presumably, she found her allowance to be insufficient, probably due to the fact that her father was spending all his money on hookers.)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[BBC, 2002]

An Israeli couple are preparing to divorce after the man summoned a prostitute to his hotel room only to discover she was his daughter.

As the prostitute entered the room, the full horror for him of discovering his daughter's occupation hit him. The father began feeling chest pains which may have been a mild heart attack.

See here for variations
http://www.snopes.com/index.htm

[eggplant43]

It's unbelievable that a reputable Israeli paper would not do their research first. Thanks for the heads-up.

[eggplant43]

Study says duct tape removes warts

CHICAGO (AP) --Duct tape, the all-purpose household fix-it with hundreds of uses, can also remove warts.

Researchers say over-the-hardware-counter duct tape is a more effective, less painful alternative to liquid nitrogen, which is used to freeze warts.

The study was reported in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

In the study, patients wore duct tape over their warts for six days. Then they removed the tape, soaked the area in water and used an emery board or pumice stone to scrape the spot. The tape was reapplied the next morning. The treatment continued for a maximum of two months or until the wart went away.

The duct tape irritated the warts, and that apparently caused an immune system reaction that attacked the growths, said researcher Dr. Dean "Rick" Focht III of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

He said researchers did not test other kinds of tape, and so they cannot say whether there is anything special about the gray, heavy-duty, fabric-backed tape.

Pediatric dermatologist Dr. Anthony J. Mancini of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago said he uses a form of duct-tape therapy for warts. He combines duct tape with a topical, over-the-counter wart remover for nightly treatments.

"The whole point of this is a non-painful approach," said Mancini, who was not involved in the study.

The study was conducted at the Madigan Army Medical Center near Tacoma, Wash. It began with 61 patients between the ages of 3 and 22, but only 51 patients completed the study.

Of the 26 patients treated with duct tape, 85 percent got rid of their warts compared with 60 percent of the 25 patients who received the freezing treatment.

Researchers did not test the duct tape on older adults and also did not study whether warts recurred.

The apparent curative powers of duct tape are no surprise to Tim Nyberg, one-half of the Duct Tape Guys, who write books and perform comedy about the adhesive's allure. Nyberg said he and his duct tape partner, Jim Berg, do a shtick that includes duct tape wart removal.

"It's the universal panacea," Nyberg said.

[eggplant43]

Geraldo signs backsides yards from sniper site
October 15, 2002 1:02 am


By MICHAEL ZITZ
The Free Lance-Star

Geraldo Rivera has a knack for getting to the bottom of a story.

The larger-than-life Fox News reporter swooped into Fredericksburg and spent the weekend to file reports following Friday's sniper shooting at the Four-Mile Fork Exxon.

He arrived at the scene at midday Friday, strutting around in a black leather jacket and blue jeans.

By 6 p.m. on the day of the shooting, Rivera was autographing the seats of Fredericksburg Hooters waitresses' skimpy orange shorts--while the women were in them.

The Hooters restaurant is located only about 50 yards away from the crime scene.

"He was posing for pictures with the Hooters Girls and signing their [rear ends]," said Geoff Leach, a Caroline County resident who was at the restaurant late Friday afternoon.

"I thought it was pretty tasteless, considering the timing and the proximity to the scene of the killing," Leach said. "It was a circus atmosphere."

A spokesman for Fox News Channel in New York said the Hooters autograph session was only part of a wider Rivera autograph spree.

"He was all over the place," said FNC spokesman Robert Zimmerman. "He was giving autographs at the Waffle House next to the gas station, he was giving autographs to Spotsylvania sheriff's deputies, he was giving autographs to truck drivers."

Zimmerman made it clear that neither he nor Fox was defending Rivera's actions.

Rivera declined to talk directly to a reporter, but relayed a comment through Zimmerman.

"He said he was honoring the requests of his adoring fans," Zimmerman said.

Asked if that was inappropriate under the circumstances, Zimmerman said, "That's personal opinion. I wasn't there. I don't know."

Zimmerman also said Rivera wasn't really covering a murder story, but a story on the sniper.

Management at the Fredericksburg Hooters declined to comment on Rivera's actions there, but one of the waitresses involved confirmed the details.

Hooters has a corporate policy forbidding waitresses from being quoted in the media, but one said: "I got his autograph. I don't like him, but I got it for my mother."

The waitress said all work and no play would make Geraldo a big bore.

"That's his job," she said, glancing toward the crime scene. "He has to have fun in his personal life."

Staff writer Betty Hayden Snider contributed to this report.


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