A possible sighting of Canada’s version of the Loch Ness monster at a lake in British Columbia has stirred up the legend of the sea creature long-rumored to reside there.
A man visiting British Colombia’s Lake Okanagan claims he filmed video of what could only be the elusive monster, known to locals as Ogopogo. The 30-second video shows two long ripples in the water in a seemingly deserted area of the lake.
“It was not going with the waves,” Richard Huls, who captured the scene on camera during a visit to a local winery, told the Vancouver Sun. “It was not a wave, obviously, just a darker color. The size and the fact that they were not parallel with the waves made me think it had to be something else.”
Ogopogo is the Canadian version of Scotland’s famous Loch Ness monster. The first recorded sighting of the alleged creature in Loch Ness was nearly 1,500 years ago when a giant beast is said to have leaped out of a lake near Inverness, Scotland, to eat a local farmer. Since then, the legend has taken on a life of its own through first-person accounts of those who claim to have seen it and in public imagination.
As with Loch Ness, the Ogopogo phenomenon dates back hundreds of years and is believed to have its origins in native Canadian Indian folklore with a creature called N’ha-a-itk. The locals would not cross the area of the lake where they thought the monster resided without an offering to feed the monster if attacked.
Ogopogo is most commonly described as a 40- to 50-foot-long sea serpent. There have reportedly been thousands of sightings of the monster through the years, including a marathon swimmer in 2000 who claimed he saw two large creatures in Ogopogo’s likeness swimming with him at times. The lake has been searched and no concrete evidence of the monster has turned up. Still, the legend of the lake monster lives on.
So, is the latest video just a ripple in the water or something more? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
from:
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/canada-loch-ness-monster-caught-tape-012241654.html
Jumat, 11 November 2011
US soldier gets life sentence in Afghan killings
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. (AP) — A military jury sentenced an Afghan war veteran to life in prison after the Army staff sergeant was convicted of murder, conspiracy and other charges in the deaths of civilians, in one of the most gruesome cases to emerge from the conflict.
Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, of Billings, Mont., was accused of exhorting his bored underlings to slaughter three Afghan civilians for sport.
The jury for the court martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle sentenced Gibbs Thursday to life in prison, but he will be eligible for parole in less than nine years.
The 26-year-old soldier was the highest ranking of five soldiers charged in the deaths of the unarmed men during patrols in Kandahar province early last year.
At his seven-day court martial, he acknowledged cutting fingers off corpses and yanking out a victim's tooth to keep as war trophies, "like keeping the antlers off a deer you'd shoot." But he insisted he wasn't involved in the first or third killings, and in the second he merely returned fire.
Prosecutors said Gibbs and his co-defendants knew the victims posed no danger but dropped weapons by their dead bodies to make them appear to have been combatants.
Three of the co-defendants pleaded guilty, and two of them testified against him, portraying him as an imposing, bloodthirsty leader who in one instance played with a victim's corpse and moved the mouth like a puppet. Gibbs' lawyer insisted they conspired to blame him for what they had done and told the five jurors the case represented "the ultimate betrayal of an infantryman."
The jury deliberated for about four hours before convicting him on all charges. The sentencing hearing began immediately after the verdict was announced, with a prosecutor, Maj. Andre LeBlanc, asking for the maximum, life without parole. He told jurors that Gibbs was supposed to protect the Afghan people but instead caused many to lose trust in Americans, hurting the mission. LeBlanc noted that Gibbs repeatedly called the Afghans "savages."
"Ladies and gentlemen, there is the savage — Staff Sgt. Gibbs is the savage," he said.
Gibbs' lawyer, Phil Stackhouse, asked for leniency — life with parole, instead of without it — and noted that Gibbs could be eligible for parole if they allowed it.
"He'd like you to know he has had failures in his life and he's had a lot of time to think about them," Stackhouse said. "He wants you to know he's not the same person he was in Afghanistan. He doesn't want his wife to have to raise their son on her own."
The investigation into the 5th Stryker Brigade unit exposed widespread misconduct — a platoon that was "out of control," in the words of a prosecutor, Maj. Robert Stelle. The wrongdoing included hash-smoking, the collection of illicit weapons, the mutilation and photography of Afghan remains, and the gang-beating of a soldier who reported the drug use.
In all, 12 soldiers were charged; all but two have now been convicted.
The probe also raised questions about the brigade's permissive leadership culture and the Army's mechanisms for reporting misconduct.
After the first killing, one soldier, then-Spc. Adam Winfield, alerted his parents and told them more killings were planned, but his father's call to a sergeant at Lewis-McChord relaying the warning went unheeded. Winfield later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the last killing, saying he took part because he believed Gibbs would kill him if he didn't.
The case against Gibbs relied heavily on testimony from former Spc. Jeremy Morlock, of Wasilla, Alaska, who is serving 24 years after admitting his involvement in all three killings.
According to Morlock, Gibbs gave him an "off-the-books" grenade that Morlock and Pfc. Andrew Holmes, of Boise, Idaho, used in the first killing — a teenager in a field — in January 2010.
The next month, Morlock said, Gibbs killed the second victim with Spc. Michael Wagnon, of Las Vegas, and tossed an AK-47 at the man's feet to make him appear to have been an enemy fighter. Morlock and Winfield said that during the third killing, in May, Gibbs threw a grenade at the victim as he ordered them to shoot.
Morlock and others told investigators that soon after Gibbs joined the unit in 2010, he began talking about how easy it would be to kill civilians, and discussed scenarios where they might carry out such murders.
Asked why soldiers might have agreed to go along with it, Morlock testified that the brigade had trained for deployment to Iraq before having their orders shifted at the last minute to Afghanistan.
The infantrymen wanted action and firefights, he testified, but instead they found themselves carrying out a more humanitarian counter-insurgency strategy that involved meetings and handshaking.
Another soldier, Staff Sgt. Robert Stevens, who at the time was a close friend of Gibbs, told investigators that in March 2010, he and others followed orders from Gibbs to fire on two unarmed farmers in a field; no one was injured. Gibbs claimed one was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, but that was obviously false, Stevens said.
Stevens also testified that Gibbs bragged to him about the second killing, admitting he planted an AK-47 on the victim's body because he suspected the man of involvement with the Taliban, according to a report on the testimony in The News Tribune newspaper of Tacoma.
But during the trial, Gibbs insisted he came under fire.
"I was engaged by an enemy combatant," he said. "Luckily his weapon appeared to malfunction and I didn't die."
Gibbs testified that he wasn't proud about having removed fingers from the bodies of the victims, but said he tried to disassociate the corpses from the humans they had been as a means of coming to terms with the things soldiers are asked to do in battle.
The muscular 6-foot-4 staff sergeant also testified that he did it because other soldiers wanted the trophies, and he agreed in part because he didn't want his subordinates to think he was a wimp.
Gibbs initially faced 16 charges, but one was dropped during the trial.
from:
http://news.yahoo.com/us-soldier-gets-life-sentence-afghan-killings-024116265.html
Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, of Billings, Mont., was accused of exhorting his bored underlings to slaughter three Afghan civilians for sport.
The jury for the court martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle sentenced Gibbs Thursday to life in prison, but he will be eligible for parole in less than nine years.
The 26-year-old soldier was the highest ranking of five soldiers charged in the deaths of the unarmed men during patrols in Kandahar province early last year.
At his seven-day court martial, he acknowledged cutting fingers off corpses and yanking out a victim's tooth to keep as war trophies, "like keeping the antlers off a deer you'd shoot." But he insisted he wasn't involved in the first or third killings, and in the second he merely returned fire.
Prosecutors said Gibbs and his co-defendants knew the victims posed no danger but dropped weapons by their dead bodies to make them appear to have been combatants.
Three of the co-defendants pleaded guilty, and two of them testified against him, portraying him as an imposing, bloodthirsty leader who in one instance played with a victim's corpse and moved the mouth like a puppet. Gibbs' lawyer insisted they conspired to blame him for what they had done and told the five jurors the case represented "the ultimate betrayal of an infantryman."
The jury deliberated for about four hours before convicting him on all charges. The sentencing hearing began immediately after the verdict was announced, with a prosecutor, Maj. Andre LeBlanc, asking for the maximum, life without parole. He told jurors that Gibbs was supposed to protect the Afghan people but instead caused many to lose trust in Americans, hurting the mission. LeBlanc noted that Gibbs repeatedly called the Afghans "savages."
"Ladies and gentlemen, there is the savage — Staff Sgt. Gibbs is the savage," he said.
Gibbs' lawyer, Phil Stackhouse, asked for leniency — life with parole, instead of without it — and noted that Gibbs could be eligible for parole if they allowed it.
"He'd like you to know he has had failures in his life and he's had a lot of time to think about them," Stackhouse said. "He wants you to know he's not the same person he was in Afghanistan. He doesn't want his wife to have to raise their son on her own."
The investigation into the 5th Stryker Brigade unit exposed widespread misconduct — a platoon that was "out of control," in the words of a prosecutor, Maj. Robert Stelle. The wrongdoing included hash-smoking, the collection of illicit weapons, the mutilation and photography of Afghan remains, and the gang-beating of a soldier who reported the drug use.
In all, 12 soldiers were charged; all but two have now been convicted.
The probe also raised questions about the brigade's permissive leadership culture and the Army's mechanisms for reporting misconduct.
After the first killing, one soldier, then-Spc. Adam Winfield, alerted his parents and told them more killings were planned, but his father's call to a sergeant at Lewis-McChord relaying the warning went unheeded. Winfield later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the last killing, saying he took part because he believed Gibbs would kill him if he didn't.
The case against Gibbs relied heavily on testimony from former Spc. Jeremy Morlock, of Wasilla, Alaska, who is serving 24 years after admitting his involvement in all three killings.
According to Morlock, Gibbs gave him an "off-the-books" grenade that Morlock and Pfc. Andrew Holmes, of Boise, Idaho, used in the first killing — a teenager in a field — in January 2010.
The next month, Morlock said, Gibbs killed the second victim with Spc. Michael Wagnon, of Las Vegas, and tossed an AK-47 at the man's feet to make him appear to have been an enemy fighter. Morlock and Winfield said that during the third killing, in May, Gibbs threw a grenade at the victim as he ordered them to shoot.
Morlock and others told investigators that soon after Gibbs joined the unit in 2010, he began talking about how easy it would be to kill civilians, and discussed scenarios where they might carry out such murders.
Asked why soldiers might have agreed to go along with it, Morlock testified that the brigade had trained for deployment to Iraq before having their orders shifted at the last minute to Afghanistan.
The infantrymen wanted action and firefights, he testified, but instead they found themselves carrying out a more humanitarian counter-insurgency strategy that involved meetings and handshaking.
Another soldier, Staff Sgt. Robert Stevens, who at the time was a close friend of Gibbs, told investigators that in March 2010, he and others followed orders from Gibbs to fire on two unarmed farmers in a field; no one was injured. Gibbs claimed one was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, but that was obviously false, Stevens said.
Stevens also testified that Gibbs bragged to him about the second killing, admitting he planted an AK-47 on the victim's body because he suspected the man of involvement with the Taliban, according to a report on the testimony in The News Tribune newspaper of Tacoma.
But during the trial, Gibbs insisted he came under fire.
"I was engaged by an enemy combatant," he said. "Luckily his weapon appeared to malfunction and I didn't die."
Gibbs testified that he wasn't proud about having removed fingers from the bodies of the victims, but said he tried to disassociate the corpses from the humans they had been as a means of coming to terms with the things soldiers are asked to do in battle.
The muscular 6-foot-4 staff sergeant also testified that he did it because other soldiers wanted the trophies, and he agreed in part because he didn't want his subordinates to think he was a wimp.
Gibbs initially faced 16 charges, but one was dropped during the trial.
from:
http://news.yahoo.com/us-soldier-gets-life-sentence-afghan-killings-024116265.html
Michelle Obama: If Malia or Sasha Joined the Military, "I Would Be Proud"
In honor of Veterans' Day, Yahoo! Shine went to the White House for an exclusive interview with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to talk about Joining Forces, the White House initiative to support military families. Yahoo! and Yahoo! Shine readers submitted nearly 5,000 questions that they wanted us to ask, including how Mrs. Obama would react if her daughters Malia and Sasha said that they wanted to join the armed forces. Here's what she had to say about the idea:
Jill Biden already knows what it's like--she's a Blue Star mom herself. "Our son, Beau, is Delaware Army National Guard. He's been in for 10 years," she told Yahoo! Shine. "He joined in his 30s. And he was deployed to Iraq for a year."
"I felt proud when Beau told me that he was going to join," she said. "He's now a captain, and he's soon to be made a major. We'll go to that ceremony, the entire Biden clan will be there. So we're just very proud."
With the troops from Iraq expected to be home from the holidays, some Yahoo! readers wondered what the Obama Administration is doing to help support military wives and family members who are coping with the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that soldiers may be struggling with.
"Well, our husbands, through this administration, have expanded outreach and counseling through Veterans Affairs, first and foremost," Mrs. Obama pointed out. "But we need more awareness. We need more trained professionals available. And that's something that Joining Forces is working on--finding the collaborations of universities out there that are going to improve their curriculums to really gain an expertise in how do you treat and identify post-traumatic stress disorder."
"But we have to realize, as a nation, that this stress doesn't just apply to the men and women in uniform. That similar stress is happening at home. And I think a lot of Americans don't think about that," she added. "So we need local professionals and neighbors and community members and teachers aware. This is why you have to know who are the military families in your communities, be able to identify... those stressors."
Dr. Biden, who still teaches English full-time at a community college in Virginia, says that schools are on the front line in treating PTSD.
"We're taking curriculums into the teachers colleges so that teachers could be aware of the children in their classroom who may have a parent deployed, and what they're going through, and making them aware of it," she explained. "And also I think that the services are doing a much better job of working with the families."
Those who serve in the National Guard live in with their families in civilian neighborhoods, not on military bases, which means that they may not have the same level of support as other soldiers do once they return home, Dr. Biden pointed out. "I think it's the families that help to work within each other and help to recognize some of the problems."
We also asked the First Lady and Dr. Biden about their families' holiday traditions, what they'd do differently as parents, and how they maintain their own identities and careers. And stay tuned-they also talk about what civilians can do to help military veterans on Veterans' Day and every day, only on Yahoo! Shine.
from:
http://shine.yahoo.com/work-money/michelle-obama--if-malia-or-sasha-joined-the-military---i-would-be-proud-.html
Jill Biden already knows what it's like--she's a Blue Star mom herself. "Our son, Beau, is Delaware Army National Guard. He's been in for 10 years," she told Yahoo! Shine. "He joined in his 30s. And he was deployed to Iraq for a year."
"I felt proud when Beau told me that he was going to join," she said. "He's now a captain, and he's soon to be made a major. We'll go to that ceremony, the entire Biden clan will be there. So we're just very proud."
With the troops from Iraq expected to be home from the holidays, some Yahoo! readers wondered what the Obama Administration is doing to help support military wives and family members who are coping with the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that soldiers may be struggling with.
"Well, our husbands, through this administration, have expanded outreach and counseling through Veterans Affairs, first and foremost," Mrs. Obama pointed out. "But we need more awareness. We need more trained professionals available. And that's something that Joining Forces is working on--finding the collaborations of universities out there that are going to improve their curriculums to really gain an expertise in how do you treat and identify post-traumatic stress disorder."
"But we have to realize, as a nation, that this stress doesn't just apply to the men and women in uniform. That similar stress is happening at home. And I think a lot of Americans don't think about that," she added. "So we need local professionals and neighbors and community members and teachers aware. This is why you have to know who are the military families in your communities, be able to identify... those stressors."
Dr. Biden, who still teaches English full-time at a community college in Virginia, says that schools are on the front line in treating PTSD.
"We're taking curriculums into the teachers colleges so that teachers could be aware of the children in their classroom who may have a parent deployed, and what they're going through, and making them aware of it," she explained. "And also I think that the services are doing a much better job of working with the families."
Those who serve in the National Guard live in with their families in civilian neighborhoods, not on military bases, which means that they may not have the same level of support as other soldiers do once they return home, Dr. Biden pointed out. "I think it's the families that help to work within each other and help to recognize some of the problems."
We also asked the First Lady and Dr. Biden about their families' holiday traditions, what they'd do differently as parents, and how they maintain their own identities and careers. And stay tuned-they also talk about what civilians can do to help military veterans on Veterans' Day and every day, only on Yahoo! Shine.
from:
http://shine.yahoo.com/work-money/michelle-obama--if-malia-or-sasha-joined-the-military---i-would-be-proud-.html
Minggu, 23 Oktober 2011
Singer Loretta Lynn hospitalized with pneumonia
ASHLAND, Ky. – Country music singer Loretta Lynn was hospitalized over the weekend with the early stages of pneumonia, according to a representative of the performer.
The 76-year-old Lynn was scheduled to perform Saturday at the Performing Arts Center in Ashland, Ky. and Sunday in Durham, N.C., but the Kentucky center issued a news release saying she is in the hospital and would be unable to perform. The Kentucky theater says the show will be rescheduled.
Loretta Lynn Enterprises posted a statement on her website Saturday night that confirmed the cancellations due to illness.
“Doctors have diagnosed her as the beginning stages pneumonia, and will continue to need rest. Loretta is doing well and is disappointed but feels confident she will be ready for upcoming November dates.”
Calls by The Associated Press to representatives of Lynn were not immediately returned Saturday.
In August, Lynn canceled shows because of knee surgery. Before that, she returned to live performances with a show at the Grand Ole Opry after being forced to cancel shows in Ohio and Connecticut because she was hospitalized for heat exhaustion.
The daughter of a Kentucky coal miner, Lynn had a string of hits starting in the 1960s – “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” “The Pill,” and “One’s on the Way.” Many of her songs reflected her pride in her humble background and her experiences as a wife and mother. Her 1977 autobiography was made into a movie that brought an Oscar for Sissy Spacek’s portrayal of Lynn. More recently, Lynn marked 50 years in country music and won two Grammy awards in 2005 for her album “Van Lear Rose.”
The 76-year-old Lynn was scheduled to perform Saturday at the Performing Arts Center in Ashland, Ky. and Sunday in Durham, N.C., but the Kentucky center issued a news release saying she is in the hospital and would be unable to perform. The Kentucky theater says the show will be rescheduled.
Loretta Lynn Enterprises posted a statement on her website Saturday night that confirmed the cancellations due to illness.
“Doctors have diagnosed her as the beginning stages pneumonia, and will continue to need rest. Loretta is doing well and is disappointed but feels confident she will be ready for upcoming November dates.”
Calls by The Associated Press to representatives of Lynn were not immediately returned Saturday.
In August, Lynn canceled shows because of knee surgery. Before that, she returned to live performances with a show at the Grand Ole Opry after being forced to cancel shows in Ohio and Connecticut because she was hospitalized for heat exhaustion.
The daughter of a Kentucky coal miner, Lynn had a string of hits starting in the 1960s – “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” “The Pill,” and “One’s on the Way.” Many of her songs reflected her pride in her humble background and her experiences as a wife and mother. Her 1977 autobiography was made into a movie that brought an Oscar for Sissy Spacek’s portrayal of Lynn. More recently, Lynn marked 50 years in country music and won two Grammy awards in 2005 for her album “Van Lear Rose.”
Harold Camping Prediction: World Survives Doomsday (Again)
The world refused to end yet again on Friday, despite another prediction from Family Radio network owner Harold Camping that it would.
Earlier this year, Camping claimed Judgement Day was coming May 21. Then, when it did not, he said the actual day of reckoning would be October 21.
That day too passed without incident and now the Daily Mail is having a tough time getting Camping or anyone else from Family Radio to explain why the Earth is still turning. The paper's calls to the company were not returned.
The AP also ran into a roadblock while searching for answers.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we at Family Radio have been directed to not talk to the media or the press," Camping's daughter Susan Espinoza wrote to the AP on Friday.
Reuters caught up with camping recently, before the big non-event, and the preacher declined to comment.
"We're not having a conversation," he told Reuters. "There's nothing to report here."
In May, thousands of billboards across the country proclaimed the world would end on May 21. One man from New York City said he spent his life savings on advertisements notifying his fellow citizens that the apocalypse was near.
This time, there was no such fanfare, perhaps showing that people have grown weary of trusting a man who is now 0 for 3 when it comes to anticipating Armageddon.
from :
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/22/harold-camping-prediction_n_1026654.html
Earlier this year, Camping claimed Judgement Day was coming May 21. Then, when it did not, he said the actual day of reckoning would be October 21.
That day too passed without incident and now the Daily Mail is having a tough time getting Camping or anyone else from Family Radio to explain why the Earth is still turning. The paper's calls to the company were not returned.
The AP also ran into a roadblock while searching for answers.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we at Family Radio have been directed to not talk to the media or the press," Camping's daughter Susan Espinoza wrote to the AP on Friday.
Reuters caught up with camping recently, before the big non-event, and the preacher declined to comment.
"We're not having a conversation," he told Reuters. "There's nothing to report here."
In May, thousands of billboards across the country proclaimed the world would end on May 21. One man from New York City said he spent his life savings on advertisements notifying his fellow citizens that the apocalypse was near.
This time, there was no such fanfare, perhaps showing that people have grown weary of trusting a man who is now 0 for 3 when it comes to anticipating Armageddon.
from :
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/22/harold-camping-prediction_n_1026654.html
Sabtu, 08 Oktober 2011
Sara Leal Pictures: More Photos Of Ashton Kutcher's Alleged Mistress Surface (PHOTOS)
The rumor mill is in overdrive with stories of infidelity and marital troubles for Ashton Kutcher and wife, Demi Moore.
In late September allegations that Kutcher cheated on his wife of six years surfaced, and soon, a name was put to the alleged other woman. After many conflicting reports, it seems a 23-year-old named Sara Leal is the individual who claims she had an affair with the "Two And A Half Men" star, with sources close to her asserting that she was involved with the actor and activist.
A source went on the record to give some specific details about the alleged rendezvous between Leal and Kutcher, saying the affair reportedly involved a full night of partying in Kutcher's private Hard Rock Hotel suite in San Diego.
Check out some scandalous photos of Kutcher's alleged mistress below.
In late September allegations that Kutcher cheated on his wife of six years surfaced, and soon, a name was put to the alleged other woman. After many conflicting reports, it seems a 23-year-old named Sara Leal is the individual who claims she had an affair with the "Two And A Half Men" star, with sources close to her asserting that she was involved with the actor and activist.
A source went on the record to give some specific details about the alleged rendezvous between Leal and Kutcher, saying the affair reportedly involved a full night of partying in Kutcher's private Hard Rock Hotel suite in San Diego.
Check out some scandalous photos of Kutcher's alleged mistress below.
David Beckham Shows 'Love' For New Tattoo
David Beckham needs another tattoo like he needs another adoring female "soccer fan" -- but that didn't stop the football stud from getting some new ink. Beckham's wife, Victoria, tweeted a photo of her handsome husband's newest body art, the word "Love" written in large cursive across his hand.
But what's the cutest part? The couple's newest family addition, baby Harper Seven, but her two sense -- or rather her tiny hand -- in on daddy's new ink.
What do you think of Beckham's new tattoo? Cool, cute or cheesy?
But what's the cutest part? The couple's newest family addition, baby Harper Seven, but her two sense -- or rather her tiny hand -- in on daddy's new ink.
What do you think of Beckham's new tattoo? Cool, cute or cheesy?
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