Man Swallow 20k Diamond

Man Swallow 20k Diamond, The thief was caught after quick-thinking employees recognized the man and the fake jewel he gave them back

When kids grow up playing cops and robbers they usually don’t have to sit around waiting for a bad guy to expel evidence.

But that’s what Windsor, Ont., police have been doing after a famous jewelry thief, Richard Mackenzie Matthews, possibly swallowed a $20,000 diamond.

The thief, who is known for robbing other stores elsewhere and called the diamond switcher, initially came in to case out the Precision Jewellers, the Windsor Star reports. He returned and asked for the same employee, Liz Dick, to help him find an engagement ring. She pulled out a 1.7 carat diamond and let him hold it.

“I was shaking, I was scared but I tried not to show it,” she said to the Windsor Star. “The last thing I wanted him to do was bolt from the store. I wanted to keep him in the store until the police got there because I knew there were warrants out for this guy.”

He rolled it around in his hand and scooped his hand around and then handed her back something that looked like the diamond.

Dick has been working in the business for 25 years so she wasn’t fooled. She knew immediately what he handed her was a fake. Dick told him it wasn’t the same piece and later wrote a note to a coworker: “Call police.”

Dick didn’t press the issue with Matthews and stalled the visitor by telling him to wait for her boss to come over and offer a better deal. She then whispered instructions to another co-worker and he went and locked the door. (Yahoo! News)

Fish Pedicure Disease

Fish Pedicure Disease, Fish that are used in trendy spa treatments to clean feet may not be so clean themselves, a new study suggests.

In “fish pedicures,” the fish, called Garra rufa, exfoliate clients’ feet by nibbling on them. During a session, clients immerse their feet, or sometimes their entire bodies, in water with the fish, allowing the fish to feed on dead skin for cosmetic reasons, or to control skin conditions, the researchers said.

The researchers found that supplies of these fish from Indonesia destined for spas in the United Kingdom harbored potentially harmful bacteria. The researchers intercepted and tested the fish upon their arrival at a U.K. airport.

The fish carried a diverse range of bacteria, some of which are capable of causing soft tissue infections in people, the researchers said. The bacteria were resistant to a variety of antibiotics, the researchers said.
One type of bacteria found, Vibrio vulnificus, can cause wound infections and septicemia, a condition with high mortality rates, especially among people with conditions such as liver disease, diabetes or impaired immune function, the researchers said.

Another type, called Streptococcus agalactiae, is a common cause of skin and soft tissue infections, especially in older adults and those with chronic diseases such as diabetes. Although the particular strain identified in the study does not generally cause human disease, it could evolve after repeated exposures to people, the researchers said. (Mother Nature Network)

Rev. Thomas Williams Child

Rev. Thomas Williams Child, The Legion of Christ religious order, still reeling from revelations that its late founder was a pedophile, admitted Wednesday that it knew that its most famous priest had fathered a child years ago yet didn’t remove him from teaching morality to seminarians or speaking publicly about ethics.

In a statement, the Legion said it was sorry it hadn’t acted “earlier and more firmly” to remove the Rev. Thomas Williams from his very public ministry as a spokesman, author and high-profile television personality. It said it took responsibility for the lapse, but didn’t admit when Williams’ superiors knew of the existence of his child.

Williams, an American moral theologian and former superior of the Legion’s Rome general office, admitted Tuesday he had had a relationship with a woman and had fathered a child “a number of years ago.” He didn’t identify the woman or say whether he is supporting the child, though the Legion said the child is being cared for.

Williams’ admission was issued after The Associated Press last week confronted the order with the allegation against Williams, which was lodged by a Spanish association of Legion victims. The association’s accusations, sent to the Legion and Vatican several weeks ago, also named other Legion priests accused of S-EX-ually abusing minors.

The Legion has been beset by scandal following revelations that its late founder, the Rev. Marciel Maciel, fathered three children with two women and S-EX-ually abused his seminarians. Maciel died in 2008, and in 2009 the Legion admitted to his crimes. The Maciel scandal has been particularly sensational given that the Mexican-born priest was held up by Pope John Paul II as a model for the faithful, with his priests admired for their orthodoxy and ability to bring in money and attract new seminarians.

The facade, however, began to crumble in 1997 with revelations of his abuse, though it wasn’t until 2006 that the Vatican sanctioned Maciel to a lifetime of prayer and penance for his crimes. Just last week, the Legion admitted that seven of its priests were under investigation by the Vatican for allegedly S-EX-ually abusing minors – suggesting that the same culture of secrecy and silence that Maciel used to cover his crimes enabled other priests to abuse children. (Huffington Post)

Solar Eclipse 2012

Solar Eclipse 2012, In 1992, Los Angeles was to have the best solar eclipse it would see in more than two centuries. It was going to be spectacular — a full, exquisite “ring of fire” eclipse before sunset.

And then, to the horror of 15,000 people who gathered at Griffith Observatory in the Hollywood Hills, no eclipse came. Clouds canceled the show.

“We can’t see anything,” Jonathon Lee lamented to The Times that fateful Saturday evening on Jan. 4.

So, friends, let us learn the lessons of 1992. Let us learn how to avoid the painful disappointment of a cloudy eclipse. In Los Angeles, the eclipse will begin Sunday at 5:24 p.m., hit its maximum at 6:38 p.m. and end at 7:42 p.m., just 10 minutes before sunset.

Step 1: On the California coast, beware of the fog and low clouds.

In 1992, many flocked to the beaches and were horribly disappointed when, in the words of one viewer, Ryan Thorp, “the dumb cloud got in the way.”

Back then, the clouds were heralding a winter storm. But the clouds that Southern Californians may have to fear this weekend are those typical for our “May Gray” climate, where low clouds rush in from the sea at night — coming in early as 5 p.m. or as late as 10 p.m., said National Weather Service meteorologist Curt Kaplan.

Kaplan said it’s too early to know what the forecast will be Sunday, but low clouds can sometimes hang on the coast all day or stay off the coast until well after dark.

A safer bet, cloud-wise, would be to watch the view further inland, in the valleys, mountains and desert. (Los Angeles Times)

9 Year Old Westboro

9 Year Old Westboro, A mother was filled with pride when her young son mounted a quiet counter-protest against picketers from the Westboro Baptist Church over the weekend, the Augusta Chronicle reports.

Nine-year-old Josef Miles and his mother, Patty Akrouche, were walking around the Washburn University campus in Topeka, Kan., on Saturday when they saw a group of Westboro Baptist Church protesters armed with signs.

The Church is infamous for using pickets with phrases like “God hates fags” and “Thank God for dead soldiers.”

After reading some of the signs on display, Akrouche said that Miles asked her if he could create one of his own.

Using a small sketch pad, he wrote out his message in pencil and held it out while he stood across from the picket line.

“GOD HATES NO ONE,” he wrote.

While describing the incident on her Facebook page, Akrouche said her son is “a wonderful young person [who she enjoys] learning from every day.”

“He’s growing up to be a fine young man,” Akrouche wrote. “I got my Mother’s Day gift a day early.” (Huffington Post)

Finger In Arbys Sandwich

Finger In Arbys Sandwich, A customer at an Arby’s in Michigan got a little more than roast beef in his sandwich last week when he bit into a piece of a finger, the Jackson Citizen Patriot reports.

Ryan Hart, 14, tells the newspaper he was almost done with the sandwich when he tasted something rubbery. He spat it out and saw the back of a finger extending beyond the first knuckle. His reaction: “I was “about to puke. … It was just nasty.”

Steve Hall, environmental health director for the Jackson County Health Department, tells the Citizen Patriot an Arby’s employee had sliced her finger while operating a meat slicer and left her station without immediately telling anyone what happened. Other workers were filling an order before they became aware of the situation, Hall says.

The restaurant did not close.

“Somebody loses a finger, and you keep sending food out the window? I can’t believe that,” says Ryan’s mom, Jamie Vail. She tells the paper the store was packed at the time and “they should have shut it down.”

John Gray, vice president for corporate communication for Arby’s Restaurant Group, says that upon learning of the “isolated and unfortunate accident,” the restaurant stopped food production and thoroughly cleaned and sanitized the restaurant. (USA TODAY)

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