Tim Russert Dead

Tim Russert - Video

As everyone knows by now, Tim Russert died at work earlier this afternoon. His death was sudden and unexpected. He apparently collapsed, probably from sudden heart failure, and was unable to be revived. He was 58-years-old.

Aside from the obvious sadness at any death, it is always something that takes me aback that someone can be here one minute and gone the next. I know that obviously, but we don't think of it very often. When something like this happens, its a reminder that nothing is guaranteed. I take it as a reminder to be thankful for the blessings we have today as opposed to looking for something tomorrow.

Texas Governor's Mansion Fire

Texas Governor's Mansion Fire - Video

The Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, was not home when the Governor's mansion burned over the weekend. Fortunately, no one was at home as the 152-year-old mansion was destroyed by fire. Today he spoke for the first time about the fire. He vows that the mansion will be rebuilt to its landmark status once again.

The cause of the fire is being investigated and thought to have been arson.

Olympic Torch Relay in Beijing

Olympic Torch Relay in Beijing - Video

All of the controversy about the Olympic Torch relay has fallen by the wayside as the torch is working its way through Beijing. It reached the city of Kunming in Yunan Province on Monday and moved on to Beijing on Wednesday. As of today, it is winding its way through Beijing where it will be for the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in August.

German Couple Try to Sell Their Baby on eBay

I don't even know what to say about this! I think that if they were seriously trying to sell their baby they would have surely offered to sell him for $5 instead of a buck-fifty ... but what do I know. We all get frustrated when our babies are little ... you know, lack of sleep and dirty diapers get old pretty quickly. But usually if we joke about selling the baby we are really just joking. At least we would think better of it by the time we got to the computer and actually went through the process of posting an offer to sell the child.

I would say they just can't be that bright, but they are bright enough to use the computer. I'm glad the State took the baby away.

Dead Woman Comes Back to Life

Dead Woman Comes Back to Life - Video

Val Thomas had several heart attacks and had no life signs for 17 1/2 hours, rigor mortis had set in and the family was discussing organ donation. The organ donation issue is why she's alive now. She was kept on a respirator even though she had not had any brain wave activity for hours. She was put on other machines as well to keep her organs healthy while the organ donation process continued.

It wasn't until the nurses started removing her from the oxygen that she came back to life. She has no heart blockage and appears she's going to be just fine.

Woah! Bet that freaked some people out!

Martin Strel Swims the Amazon River

Martin Strel is an experienced expedition swimmer who made history swimming the Amazon River. He was released from the hospital today following complications from health problems brought on by his swim. Read more about him and see a video and photo below.

Martin Strel

Martin Strel, the 52-year-old Slovenian man who swam the 3,274-mile length of the Amazon River, is released from the hospital Monday and recovering from health problems brought on by the 66-day swim. Martin Strel is hospitalized with high blood pressure and dizziness on Sunday immediately after completing the swim.

On April 7, 2007 marathon swimmer Martin Strel made a history with setting a world record by swimming 5268 Kms (3274 Miles) down the Amazon river. Book and Film are going to be produced.

Before leaving for the United States, Martin Strel told a press conference that he was feeling well and was ready to swim the length of the Mississippi river. As he remained confident, Strel also said that he believes that nature is on his side.

Amazon swimmer Martin Strel was mistakenly reported below as saying that he was swimming the length of the Amazon river from Peru’s Atlantic coast. Peru has no Atlantic coast but the river empties into the Atlantic after flowing through Brazil.

On Sunday, April 8, 2007, a 52-year-old self-described fat man in a Speedo by the name of Martin Strel swam 3,274 miles of the Amazon River. The Fish Man, as he was called by locals, almost died in the process several times.

After 3,272 miles (5268 km) and 66 days of exhaustion, sunburn, delirium and piranhas, Martin Strel successfully completed a swim down the Amazon River. Strel?s Amazon swim will be the fourth time Strel has broken the Guinness record.

Martin Strel - Video

Brussels Tells Scotland to Pipe Down!

Bagpipes are a sound that many of us associate with our ancestry. Its part of the Scottish heritage, but Brussels is telling Scotland to quieten down the pipes!


Bagpipes: Scotland the Brave (Video)

Oh, for the love of Socialism!!!! The European Union has decided to put a ban on noise. As with most Socialist organizations, they know what's best for everybody and make it their business to dictate behavior and common sense. I think they'd control people's thoughts if they could.

I read at Boston Maggie they have put a ban on noise and have sent word that the bagpipes of Scotland are going to have to tone it down.

THEIR high-pitched skirl has put fear into the hearts of Scotland’s enemies and sent sensitive tourists reaching for the cotton wool.

Now, however, the bagpipes are to be quietened by an edict from Brussels.

From this month, pipers must adhere to strict volume limits or risk breaking European Union health and safety laws. Bands have been ordered to tone down or wear earplugs to limit noise exposure to 85 decibels.

Typically, a pipe band played at full volume peaks at 122 decibels outdoors, noisier than the sound of either a nightclub or a chainsaw, which rises to 116 decibels. [source]

When the English conquered Scotland they tried to eradicate any elements of Scottish culture. They outlawed kilts, bagpipes and Gaelic. The English hunted the Scots down throughout the highlands to enforce the laws in a real effort to completely wipe out their national identity so they'd quit giving the English so many dadgume problems!

The Scots managed to hang onto they're culture even under those dire circumstances. They even overcame the discrimination to the point that they became the most elite military force for England .... wearing kilts!

As the bagpipe players say, you can't play bagpipes quietly. I hope they win their argument and keep the bagpipes playing. Do we really want to live in such a vanilla world that we can't tolerate the loudness of color, sound and culture? I don't.

Play on .....

Leonids Meteor Shower

Leonids Meteor Shower (Photo)

There's supposed to be a Leonids Meteor Shower tonight that should be visible to our side of the earth. Some reports call them Leonids and others call them Lyrids. I don't know which are supposed to be seen tonight or if they are the same things and someone just doesn't know how to spell it.

Leonids Meteor Shower comes around once a year. They should be visible in the early morning dark hours if the a full moon doesn't wash out the view. The meteor is the remnants of an ancient comet that is visible as the earth flies through its debris.

Below is a video of a previous Leonid meteor shower.

Leonids Meteor Shower (Video)

Mereana Mordengard Glasgow

Mereana Mordengard Glasgow (also known as Mereana Mordegard Glesgorv) is a pretty creepy internet legend. Its also hard to find any information on it. So, for your weekend reading pleasure, I present the creepy story (probably urban legend) of Mereana Mordegard Glesgorv. [pretend you are hearing Dark Shadows theme song here].

Apparently, at some point in time someone uploaded a video onto YouTube that was/is bewitched. The video shows a man's face through a red filter for two full minutes. In the last seconds of the video there is a close-up of the face and the man is smiling. The video was titled, Mereana Mordengard Glasgow and is also called Mereana Mordegard Glesgorv.

YouTube removed the video from the internet after 153 people who had viewed the video gouged their eyes out and mailed into the YouTube offices in San Bruno. These people were said to have committed suicide in various ways. Its not known if they mailed their eyeballs into YouTube before or after they committed suicide (just kidding). Its also reported that they had carved a cryptic inscription into their forearms that no one has been able to decipher. [insert Dark Shadows music here]

Periodically, YouTube puts the first 20 seconds of the video online in order to stop people from looking for the real video and uploading it. Only one YouTube staff member watched the video itself and that staff member screamed hysterically after watching the video for only 45 seconds. He has not been able to recall what he saw and has required medication since. The other YouTube staff who were in the roo at the time turned the video off when he started screaming and were too frightened to look at the screen themselves.

No one has ever been able to identify the man in the video and the IP that uploaded the video doesn't exist.

That is the legend of Mereana Mordengard Glasgow.

Sweet dreams ......

Midwest Earthquate

There was an earthquake in Illinois this morning! About 5:30 a.m. this morning people in Illinois and throughout the Midwest were awakened by a 5.2 earthquake, the largest ever for that area.

The earthquake was in Southeastern Illinois but rattled skyscrapers in Chicago, was felt in Michigan, Ontario, Indiana as well as other areas in the Midwest. People were shaken out of bed and had the reactions you could expect for people living in an area not used to earthquakes.

I can only imagine how that would be. That's a decent size earthquake, especially for that area. I suppose people in California wouldn't be impressed, but I am.

The Midwest earthquake happened on the Wabash fault. That's a northern extension of the New Madrid fault. It happened about six miles outside of Mt. Carmel, Illinois.

People in the area are still experiencing aftershocks from the Midwest earthquake.

Find out about the New Madrid Fault.

John Kanzius Invents Cancer Cure Machine

John Kanzius is from Erie, Pennsylvania. He owned Jet Broadcasting until he retired about a year ago. He also is an inventor. He believed that he could use radio frequency to cure cancer without the horrible side effects associated with other cancer treatments. His cancer fighting machine is called Kanzius RF therapy and was featured on 60 Minutes.

Six years ago Kanzius was diagnosed with terminal leukemia. He has been subjected with 36 rounds of chemotherapy in the years since his diagnosis. He is very humble about his invention. He emphasizes that he doesn't want to give people false hope and that he's not a 'cancer expert'. Even so, his invention is being recognized by the most respected experts in the field of cancer research as the 'most exciting cancer therapy' to have come on the scene in over twenty years.

When Kanzius first started working on his machine his wife thought he had lost his mind. She reminded him that doctors haven't found a cure for cancer so it was unlikely he could. He has said that sometimes it takes someone on the outside with a different perspective to see something those on the inside aren't seeing. He said it wasn't his own cancer that motivated him, but the eyes of the children on the cancer wards he saw when he went to get his own treatment.

In spite of all the odds, it seems that his machine is working, at least with some forms of cancer. Trials of the RF treatment have shown that the machine kills 100 percent of malignant cells in humans and animals without harming surrounding healthy tissue.

This week, Kanzius was awarded the 2008 Louis J. Tullio Community Service Award by the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership. He accepted the award via a pre-recorded video (video below) from his home in Florida. Kanzius has formed a company, Therm Med LLC, to promote the commercial development of his cancer-killing machine.

John Kanzius Speech (Video)

Edna Parker is Oldest Living Person

Japan's oldest person died today at 113 years of age. She was Kaku Yamanaka who was born on Dec. 11, 1894. She only became her country’s oldest person in February after Tsuneyo Toyonaga passed away. Health Ministry officials have not named Japan’s new oldest person.

The world's oldest person lives right here in the good ol' U.S.A. Edna Parker of Shelbyville, Indiana is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest person in the world at 114 years of age. She was born on April 20, 1893 and will turn 115 on her birthday.

Just a little bit of useless information to keep you informed and help you be the life of the party!!! I'm always here to help.

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Baby Galapagos Giant Tortoise Born at Zürich Zoo

I actually don't know if you say it was 'born' or it was 'hatched'. Either way, there's a new baby Galapagos Giant Tortoise at the Zürich Zoo.

The picture above gives you some idea of the size difference between the mama tortoise and the baby tortoise who was either born or hatched a few weeks ago. The 70-year-old Nigrita who weighs about 550 pounds has lived in the Zürich Zoo since 1946. She gave birth to her little one who weights 2.8oz but will eventually get as large as she is.

Seventy may seem rather old to be reproducing, but the Galapagos tortoise doesn't reach sexual maturity until it is 25, and can live to be more than 150 years old.

Mating can occur at any time during the year, and the female tortoise can produce between two and 16 tennis ball-sized eggs, which she buries in a 1ft deep nest.

They then incubate for around 130 days. Unusually, temperature can effect the gender of the hatchlings — a low nest temperature means they are likely to be male, while a hot, stuffy nest is more likely to produce females.

However, it is impossible to determine the sex of a Galapagos tortoise until it is 15 years old.

A fully-grown tortoise such as Nigrita can weigh up to 550lb and measure more than 3ft high. In contrast, her young weighs only 2.8oz and measures just 2.4in.

Growth will occur slowly over the next 40 years, at which point the tortoises reach full size. Their large shells add to their impressive appearance and act as a shield against predators.

This magnificent armour is actually a bone, and a crucial part of the tortoise skeleton. However, it does slow them down, as they have an average speed of only 0.18mph.

No one knows why the Galapagos reptiles are so large, but it's possible that a lack of predators on the South American islands meant they evolved free from danger — until they were discovered by mankind in the 18th century.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, many of the tortoises were killed for food by whalers and pirates. When they were discovered, there were around 250,000 on the islands.

Today there are 15,000, and although they are protected by law, poaching continues — 120 have been killed since 1990.

Now you can't say you don't learn something by coming to Blue Star Chronicles!

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The Storms in Atlanta

I've lived most of my life in Atlanta. I've been in tornadoes before and there have certainly been tornado warnings and watches yearly as long as I can remember. I've never known one to hit downtown Atlanta. It all happened so quickly. There were there and then they were gone. The Atlanta Journal Constitution has a lot of pictures of the destruction in the downtown area.

I just keep wondering why President Bush made this happen here!! Why didn't he save us and how did he make the tornadoes rip through the CNN Center and the World Congress Center?