truesee's Blog

  World's Smallest Cell Phone Set to Hit Stores In Israel

July 20, 2009 6:37 p.m. EST

Jerusalem, Israel (MEDIA LINE)

Title doesn't mean much to Breuning

By KARL PUCKETT • Tribune Staff Writer • July 20, 2009

Walter Breuning of Great Falls, who is 112, downplayed being the oldest man in the world Sunday after 113-year-old Henry Allingham of England died Saturday, but others paused to acknowledge the milestone.

So you're the king on the hill," 95-year-old John Kenny kidded Breuning as they passed each other in the lobby of the Rainbow Retirement Home, where Breuning lives.

As Breuning sat in the sun room, other residents stopped to offer congratulations.

"It's not half as important as feeling good," Breuning said.

Breuning said he's most grateful for his good health, not a world title, noting that he still is hungry for breakfast when he gets up each morning.

"If you're in good health, you've got everything there is," he said.

Following Allingham's death, both the Guinness World Records and Gerontology Research Group Web sites listed Breuning as the world's oldest man, pending verification.

Longevity doesn't run in Breuning's family.

Breuning said his father, a civil engineer, died at 50, and his mother, a housewife, at 46. Two brothers and two sisters died in their 70s, he said.

Breuning credits his longevity to keeping busy and moderation.

He worked until he was 66, retiring in 1963 after a long career with Great Northern Railway, where

he began work at 16 in Minnesota before transferring to Great Falls five years later.

But he continued to serve as the manager-secretary of the local Shriner's Club until he was 99.

For the past 30 years, Breuning has eaten two meals a day, including good-sized helpings of fruit. The country's growing problem with obesity is easy to explain, he says. "They eat too much."

He takes no pills and still walks up the ramps to get to his second-floor apartment each day after breakfast.

When he was younger, Breuning said he enjoyed an occasional beer or "high ball," but he didn't drink in excess. He gave up his beloved cigars, which he had smoked all of his life, when he was 99.

Breuning was born in Melrose, Minn., on Sept. 21, 1896, the year William McKinley won the presidency. Breuning cast his first presidential ballot for Woodrow Wilson, who served from 1913 to 1921, and he's voted in every presidential election since.

As a young boy, the family moved to Minneapolis and later to De Smet S.D.

A lot has changed over the past century, he says. "I bet you never saw a horse pull a fire engine."

Walter Breuning, who is 112, has lived at the Rainbow Retirement facility in downtown Great Falls for 29 years. "It's not half as important as feeling good," he said of the possibility of being the world's oldest man. (TRIBUNE PHOTO/KARL PUCKETT)

LINK TO VIDEO OF WALTER BREUNING:

http://gannett.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/gannett-greatfalls-094-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=immersiveplayer&maven_referralObject=960188957

Thieves prey on the grief-stricken at Rose Hills Memorial Park & Mortuary

WHITTIER - Thefts of purses, laptops and other valuables from mourners' cars at Rose Hills Memorial Park & Mortuary isn't rare.

But the number of such crimes, mostly from unlocked vehicles, have jumped. Now deputies and cemetery officials are warning people not to leave valuables in their cars.

There have been 26 thefts from cars at Rose Hills so far this year compared to the 11 last year, according to Sgt. Richard Hernandez. The sheriff's Pico Rivera Station handles crimes committed on the 1,400-acre cemetery at 3888 Workman Mill Road in Whittier.

"They take advantage of mourners," he said. "I think these burglars and thieves have found a rich target."

Because of the increased thefts, deputies have conducted surveillance and patrolled the cemetery. The cemetery said it started passing out fliers to drivers who stop at the information booth. The flier warns people to lock their cars and not to leave valuables in the vehicles.

The same flier is posted at the park's entrances, said Richard Hardy who is the park's visitor services manager. He is in charge of Rose Hill's park patrol.

"We try to get people to lock their car. This is the LA Basin. Whatever happens outside, happens inside a cemetery," Hardy said.

"People tell us, `Who would steal at a cemetery?' Thieves. They have no conscience. We really

despise these types of activities on our families. It's disgusting."

He suspected the culprits would pick a car and very quietly steal the valuables inside. He was told by deputies the thieves start using the victims' credit cards within a half hour.

Out of all the thefts, Hardy recalled only one case where a victim saw a man carrying her purse get into a gray sport utility vehicle. She ran after the man.

"She beat on the window, yelling, `Stop! Stop!'," Hardy said.

The thief got away. But that's the only description of a suspect vehicle they have, Hardy said.

"The difficulty is we don't know who we are looking for," Hardy said.

He said he heard similar thefts are happening at other cemeteries.

Sheriff's Sgt. Mark Guerrero said there's been a consistent problem with thefts at Rose Hills and there's been surveillance conducted before this year.

The current bumper crop of thievery are almost all whodunits, authorities said.

"It could be anybody," Guerrero said.

So far, deputies arrested three people. Two of them were in possession of stolen property and drugs, Guerrero said.

Two couldn't be tied to the thefts but had their parole violated.

"You have two parolees with prior theft convictions driving through Rose Hills," Guerrero said. He said the men told deputies they were there to visit the graves of "homeboys."

A third man was caught July 13.

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1612804691?bctid=30016707001

Hernandez said deputies patrolling the cemetery arrested a parolee at the cemetery who allegedly had heroin, meth, a syringe, ammunition, a box of illegal fireworks, two envelopes with escrow documents addressed to others, an envelope with checks in other people's names, a new model iPhone, four iPods and a slim jim in his car.

Deputies are investigating whether Joseph Mayorga, 27, is involved with the thefts.

No charges have been filed yet against Mayorga related to the arrest. But he is being held at Men's Central Jail for parole violation.

"He was caught as he was driving. He said he was there to see a homeboy who had been shot and killed. He couldn't tell us what plot," Guerrero said.

Boy, 14, collapses after overdosing on nicotine gum handed out in school

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:19 PM on 20th July 2009

A boy of 14 collapsed after overdosing on nicotine gum handed out by school counsellors to help smokers quit cigarettes.

Aiden Williams was rushed to hospital after he chewed his way through 30 pieces of the tobacco substitute Nicorette during lunch hour.

His mother today hit out at the school, which allows children as young as 12 to be given up to a week’s supply - 105 pieces – without parental consent.

Caroline Williams said: ‘I couldn’t believe that this gum can be given out like this without parents knowing. It is then being passed around the playground.

‘The doctors said that he could have died and he had to be kept in for 24 hours for observation.

‘I know what my son did was stupid, but if anything it proves that these kids can’t be given responsibility for taking medication that could do serious harm.’

Aiden, a pupil at Menzies High School Science College in West Bromwich, West Midlands, said he was given the gum by a classmate who had allegedly been caught smoking.

Workers from Sandwell Council’s Drug Education, Counselling and Confidential Advice (Decca) had been into school that morning and given out hundreds of boxes of the gum to pupils who smoke.

Aiden was rushed to Sandwell General Hospital with stomach pains after he collapsed in the playground at lunchtime.

He admitted having eaten two days worth of the gum - 30 pieces - in just one hour, was kept in overnight for observations and allowed home the following afternoon.

Paul Harris, deputy head at Menzies School, said: ‘We have older teens in school who have issues with smoking and work directly with Decca, which offers support.

‘This is low-strength nicotine gum and there is nothing stopping youngsters from the age of 12 buying it over the counter.

‘Decca does not have to inform pupils’ parents about this.’

Margaret Storrie, from Decca, said: ‘Aiden overdosing on gum like this is the first time such an incident has happened and we are disappointed to hear about it.’

Quitting aid: Schoolboy Aiden Williams

 collapsed after chewing 30 pieces

 of Nicorette gum

Amazing Hotel Lets You Sleep Among the Gods

Weird Asia News

Updated July 18, 2009

When a travel agent offers you “a peach of a hotel room,” she’s usually referring to the view or the size of the Jacuzzi. But a hotel in China’s Hebei province lends that expression a whole new meaning.

By conventional standards, the Tianzi Hotel, in Yanjiao, doesn’t look like a place where you’d spend a few nights on a business trip. But that’s just what it is: a colorful ten-story hotel in the shape of a familiar trinity of Chinese Taoist figures.

The giants are known as Fu, Lu, and Shou. Their names translate as “good fortune,” “prosperity,” and “longevity,” traditionally considered the three attributes of a good life. They in turn represent three important stars, which are said to embody these attributes.

The longevity concept gets a further boost from the peach in Shou’s left hand. Peaches, too, are a classic symbol of long life, but this one has a little something extra: It’s actually one of the hotel’s suites, and the two holes in front are windows!

The Tianzi Hotel has been around since 2001, and it reportedly landed some kind of Guinness Book record. The question is, for what category? Fanciest Hotel Room that Looks an Awful Lot like a Peach? Largest Depiction of Three Mythical Figures that Also Features Room Service? Or maybe Scariest Hotel to Return To after Drinking Too Much at a Dinner with Clients?

Wisconsin court praises drunken concert goer

By SCOTT BAUER

Associated Press Writer

5:24 PM CDT, July 15, 2009

Birthday card thief sentenced to 5 months in prison 

 

By Jonathan Wynne-Jones
Published: 7:45AM BST 19 Jul 2009

A teenager has fooled aviation bosses into thinking he was a tycoon in a hoax that recalls the Steven Spielberg movie, Catch Me If You Can

The 17-year-old, from Yorkshire, posed as a businesman in his twenties, claiming to have a fleet of jets and a team of colleagues.

Using the pseudonym Adam Tait, he flew to Jersey to hold a meeting with the director of its airport and dealt with industry bosses over his proposals for a cut-price Channel Islands-based airline servicing most of Europe.

Tait's performance was so convincing that he persuaded the executive to meet with him again the following week.

His exploits echo the schemes of the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film Catch Me If You Can. The film, in turn, was based on the real life escapades of Frank Abagnale Jr, who posed as an airline pilot from the age of 16 and 21.

To give his talks credibility, Tait bought up websites in the name of American Global Group and Island Airways, and said that an American parent company had a readily available fleet of 12 jets.

Tait then approached various established airlines to ask whether they wanted to give him a franchise agreement.

A number of different names were used, such as David Rich and Anita Dash, in telephone conversations and e-mail exchanges with senior airline executives to give the impression that he was part of a team.

The teenager managed to carry off the ruse for six months until journalists at a publication that had reported on his proposed business venture became suspicious.

According to the Sunday Times, he was questioned by Essex police while trying to gain access to a 93-seater jet at Southend airport, having convinced the plane's marketing agent that his "company" wanted to lease it.

The police will not be taking action against the teenager, who is reported to suffer from a form of autism and to be able to recall the exact detail of every airline's flight schedule.

Malcolm Coupar, the commercial manager of Aurigny, the airline owned by the Guernsey government, said he and his managing director had been interested in the proposals put forward by Tait.

"Some of the things he said were the sort of things that were indicative that there might have been some substance to his claims," said Mr Coupar.

"If they were real then there would have been opportunities for us to expand our business and that's not the sort of thing we are going to ignore."

Professional mover finds $16,500 in rare antiquities in the trash

BY Nicholas Hirshon
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Updated Sunday, July 19th 2009, 12:31 PM

Art expert Howard Nowes (r.) examines artifacts found by Nick DiMola.

Costanza for News

Rubbish Removal Company President

Nick Dimola with objects he found in

 2006 at the Manhattan apartment

of Artist Clinton Hill.

Related News

One man's trash turned into Nick DiMola's treasure.

Five years after the Queens rubbish remover took home a mysterious barrel from a SoHo apartment, he opened it to find dozens of ancient Mexican artifacts.

The mix of bowls, figurines and jugs were made between 300 B.C. and 500 A.D., some by Mayans.

They're worth an estimated $16,500 - and DiMola said he's not at all surprised.

"There's always something in the garbage worth money," he said.

DiMola, 39, came to own the booty when his Ridgewood company was hired to clear the cluttered space of abstract artist Clinton Hill, who died in 2003.

Hill left his possessions to his longtime partner, Allen Tran, who died just months later, said John Koegel, a lawyer for their estates.

The couple's property fell to friends, who formed a nonprofit foundation to take the valuables from the studio. 

The scuffed cardboard barrel was mistakenly considered trash and DiMola stuck it in a warehouse, where it collected dust for years.

He recently decided to peek inside just to see what treasure might await.

Even though no one intended to toss out the artifacts, Koegel said the foundation has no legal claim to recoup them from DiMola.

"If he is given a contract by the owner of property to remove and dispose of certain things, if the owner makes the mistake, that's the way it is," Koegel said.

Still, the attorney declined to congratulate DiMola on his find.

"I'm not happy for him," Koegel said. "I'm sorry that [barrel] slipped through the cracks."

The most valuable object that DiMola brought to upper East Side art dealer Howard Nowes for appraisal was a $1,000 stone ax god - perhaps intended as a sacrifice - from the Mezcala region of Mexico.

As for the pieces' future, DiMola said he first planned to pack them back into the barrel. He doesn't collect ancient art, so he said he was open to selling the pieces.

"I don't see the beauty in this, to be honest with you," he said. "I like things about history, but this pottery doesn't grab me."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/07/19/2009-07-19_trash_worth_16g_rubbish_guy_finds_a_little_treasure_trove.html#ixzz0LjU6qMGE

 

By Patrick Sawer
Published: 7:52AM BST 18 Jul 2009

Telegraph UK

British First World War veteran Henry Allingham has died at the age of 113 Photo: REUTERS

The Queen meets Mr Allingham at the Buckingham Palace Garden Party on 10 July, 2007 Photo: PA

Henry Allingham in the uniform of the Royal Naval Air Service, circa 1918

Mr Allingham died in his sleep at 3.10am on Saturday at his care home near Brighton, after a life that saw him marked out as a national treasure. He was one of the last three surviving British veterans of the First World War.

He was also the last surviving founder member of the RAF, the last man to have witnessed the Battle of Jutland and the last surviving member of the Royal Naval Air Service.

On June 20 Guinness World Records had announced that Mr Allingham, who celebrated his 113th birthday on June 6, became the world's oldest man after the previous incumbent, Tomoji Tanabe, died in his sleep at his home in Japan, also at the age of 113.

He jokingly attributed his longevity to "cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women".

Mr Allingham, who became a familiar face at Remembrance ceremonies, was born in Clapton, East London, in 1896.

After his father's death he was brought up by his mother, who persuaded him not to join up as soon as war broke out. When she died in 1915 he enlisted, serving first as a seaplane mechanic and then as a spotter, or bomber.

He later confessed that he did not realise what war meant when he signed up, but his experiences at the Third Battle of Ypres, widely known as Passchendaele, resulted in his naïve enthusiasm for battle and glory that gave way to a passion for peace.

He once told the BBC: "War's stupid. Nobody wins. You might as well talk first, you have to talk last anyway."

The scenes he witnessed of soldiers waiting to go over the top at Ypres have stayed with him ever since.

"They would just stand there in 2ft of water in mud-filled trenches, waiting to go forward," he said. "They knew what was coming. It was pathetic to see those men like that. I don't think they have ever got the admiration and respect they deserved."

Mr Allingham and his wife Dorothy were together for more than 50 years, living to see his first great-great-great-grandchild. After the war he went into the motor industry, eventually joining the design department at Ford before retiring in 1961.

When asked how he had lived so long, Mr Allingham, who held the Legion d'Honneur, said: "I don't know if there is a secret, but keeping within your capacity is vital.

"I've had two major breakdowns, one during the war and one after but both when I was trying to do the work of three men.

"The trick is to look after yourself and always know your limitations."

Mr Allingham's nephew, Ronald Cator, said it was "a very sad day for the family".

He added: "He had an incredible life - a hard one, and an enjoyable one in the last few years.

"He was an incredible man. It's a very sad day for everyone."

Mr Cator, 75, from Acle, Norfolk, said he last saw Mr Allingham last month at his 113th birthday celebrations in London.

He said: "He was very, very frail. I visited him in April as well and he had been going steadily downhill ever since then."

Asked what memories he had of Mr Allingham from earlier years, he said: "I always remember him singing.

"He would sing all the old songs. He and my father would love to get together and have a good sing-along."

Since April 2006, Mr Allingham, who lost his sight as a result of macular degeneration, had been cared for by St Dunstan's, the charity providing support for visually impaired ex-Service men and women, at its centre in Ovingdean, near Brighton.

Robert Leader, chief executive of St Dunstan's, said: "Everybody at St Dunstan's is saddened by Henry's loss and our sympathy goes out to his family.

"He was very active right up to his final days, having recently celebrated his 113th birthday on HMS President surrounded by family.

"As well as possessing a great spirit of fun, he represented the last of a generation who gave a very great deal for us. Henry made many friends among the residents and staff at St Dunstan's. He was a great character and will be missed."

Mr Allingham had five grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, 14 great-great grandchildren and one great-great-great grandchild.

A funeral will take place later this month at St Nicholas' Church in Brighton.

Mr Leader said: "He was very active right up to his final days, having recently celebrated his 113th birthday on HMS President surrounded by family.

"As well as possessing a great spirit of fun, he represented the last of a generation who gave a very great deal for us.

"Henry made many friends among the residents and staff at St Dunstan's. He was a great character and will be missed."

Mr Alllingham's death leaves just two surviving British veterans of the First World War - Harry Patch, 111, who is the last surviving soldier in the world to have fought in the trenches, and Claude Choules, 108, who served in the Royal Navy.

Speaking from Fletcher House care home in Wells, Somerset, Mr Patch paid tribute to Mr Allingham, saying he was "very sad at losing a friend".

Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid tribute to Mr Allingham on Saturday.

He said: "I had the privilege of meeting Henry many times. He was a tremendous character, one of the last representatives of a generation of tremendous characters.

"My thoughts are with his family as they mourn his passing but celebrate his life."

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said: "The Queen was saddened to hear of the death of Henry Allingham.

"He was one of the generation who sacrificed so much for us all.

"Her thoughts are with his family during this time."

Malcolm Rifkind, the former foreign secretary, said Mr Allingham's death marked "the end of an era".

Mr Allingham left a legacy of memories to the nation, according to Dennis Goodwin, from the First World War Veterans' Association.

He said: "He left quite a legacy to the nation of memories of what it was like to have been in the First World War."

In love? It's not enough to keep a marriage, study finds

 

   

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Living happily ever after needn't only be for fairy tales. Australian researchers have identified what it takes to keep a couple together, and it's a lot more than just being in love. 

 

A couple's age, previous relationships and even whether they smoke or not are factors that influence whether their marriage is going to last, according to a study by researchers from the Australian National University.

 

The study, entitled "What's Love Got to Do With It," tracked nearly 2,500 couples -- married or living together -- from 2001 to 2007 to identify factors associated with those who remained together compared with those who divorced or separated.

 

It found that a husband who is nine or more years older than his wife is twice as likely to get divorced, as are husbands who get married before they turn 25.

 

Children also influence the longevity of a marriage or relationship, with one-fifth of couples who have kids before marriage -- either from a previous relationship or in the same relationship -- having separated compared to just nine percent of couples without children born before marriage.

Women who want children much more than their partners are also more likely to get a divorce.

A couple's parents also have a role to play in their own relationship, with the study showing some 16 percent of men and women whose parents ever separated or divorced experienced marital separation themselves compared to 10 percent for those whose parents did not separate.

Also, partners who are on their second or third marriage are 90 percent more likely to separate than spouses who are both in their first marriage.

Not surprisingly, money also plays a role, with up to 16 percent of respondents who indicated they were poor or where the husband -- not the wife -- was unemployed saying they had separated, compared with only nine percent of couples with healthy finances.

And couples where one partner, and not the other, smokes are also more likely to have a relationship that ends in failure.

Factors found to not significantly affect separation risk included the number and age of children born to a married couple, the wife's employment status and the number of years the couple had been employed.

The study was jointly written by Dr Rebecca Kippen and Professor Bruce Chapman from The Australian National University, and Dr Peng Yu from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

Police pay off suspect, FBI investigating incident

Posted: July 17, 2009 10:42 PM EDT

Updated: July 17, 2009 10:47 PM EDT

 Link to Raw video of officer kicking man outside sheriff's office:

http://www.mysuncoast.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=3956889&h1=Raw%20video%20of%20officer%20kicking%20man%20outside%20sheriff%27s%20office&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=496866&LaunchPageAdTag=News&activePane=info&rnd=19855843

Dentist sued, accused of dropping tools down patient's throat -- twice

Amy L. Edwards Sentinel Staff Writer

12:44 PM EDT, July 17, 2009

A Winter Park dentist who allegedly twice dropped tools down the throat of an elderly patient -- a 90-year-old man who died after the second incident -- is being sued for negligence.

Relatives of Charles K. Gaal Jr. recently filed the suit in Orange County Circuit Court against Dr. Wesley Meyers of Aloma Park Dental.

They accuse Meyers of failing to take precautions to guard against dropping and losing his dental tools down Gaal's throat and failing to handle his tools properly during the second incident, which they say occurred May 1, 2007.

On Oct. 4, 2006, while he was performing work on Gaal, Meyers dropped an "implant screwdriver tool" down the patient's throat, the suit said.

Gaal swallowed the tool and two days later, he underwent a colonoscopy. The tool was removed from his intestines, the suit said.

On May 1, 2007, Gaal visited Meyers because he had a sore mouth. The suit says Meyers wanted to remove a "ball" attachment on an implant.

It was during that procedure that Meyers allegedly dropped a "mini-wrench" into Gaal's throat, which the patient swallowed. Also, Meyers lost a "ball attachment," which he presumed Gaal also swallowed, the lawsuit said.

Gaal underwent multiple medical procedures. The tool was spotted in his lung.

His chest cavity was cracked open, part of his left lung was removed and the tool was found. The ball was never recovered.

Gaal never fully recovered and was in "grave medical condition," the lawsuit said. He suffered a "cardiac event" on June 13, 2007, which required resuscitation. On June 19, 2007, he died.

In June 2008, the state fined Meyers $17,000. In a settlement, officials found Meyers negligent for dropping the tools in Gaal's unprotected throat in October 2006 and May 2007.

Meyers did not return a telephone message or e-mail. A message on the voice mail at his office said it was closed for vacation.

                       Dr. Wesley Meyers

ORIGINAL STORY

Family Upset After Relative Dies When Dentist Drops Tool Down Throat

Posted: 5:40 pm EDT June 20, 2008Updated: 7:58 am EDT June 21, 2008l

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://www.wftv.com/news/16668195/detail.html

Thief Leaves Behind Note

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://www.kxmc.com/video.asp?ArticleId=406729&VideoId=29563

Teen fined $25,000 for cost of NH mountain rescue

HOLLY RAMER

Associated Press Writer Holly Ramer

Associated Press Writer

Fri Jul 17, 5:27 pm ET

AP – FILE - In this file photo taken

April 28, 2009, Scott Mason grimaces

 as he gets ready to go to the hospital …