Bizarre News

[ThunderTitan]

Common sense prevails? Well shiver me timbers.

Judge nixes teacher's conviction on porn pop-ups

UPDATE -- A Connecticut judge granted on Wednesday a new trial for substitute teacher Julie Amero, according to media reports, saying that information discovered after her conviction has direct bearing on whether she is responsible for risking harm to her students when pornographic pop-ups appeared on a classroom computer.

In January, a jury found Amero guilty of four felony charges of risking injury to a minor or impairing the morals of a child, following a 2004 incident where her classroom PC became infected with pop-up ads that displayed thumbnails of pornographic imagery. The prosecution maintained that the pop-up ads were caused by Amero's activity on the PC and the testimony of a forensic expert that would have refuted the charges was curtailed by courtroom rules.

Superior Court Judge Hillary B. Strackbein ruled that a Norwich police detective who the prosecution presented as a computer expert had provided "erroneous" forensics testimony regarding the classroom computer at the heart of the incident, according to an article in the Hartford Courant.

"The jury may have relied, at least in part, on that false information," Strackbein said, according to the Courant.

The ruling hits the reset button on a case that has garnered an enormous amount of attention from security professionals, legal experts and the online world since the substitute teacher was sentenced on January 5. A pro bono effort by a group of independent security researchers to do a complete forensic analysis of Amero's classroom PC was delivered to her defense attorneys in April, but the group -- led by Sunbelt Software's president Alexander Eckelberry -- would not discuss the conclusions of the report until any possible new trial is resolved.

In the latest case, one of the school's teacher logged into the classroom computer, because Amero did not have credentials. The substitute teacher was told not to log out or turn off the computer. What happened after that has become the main point of contention.

A detective on the case using off-the-shelf recovery software argued that Amero clicked on pornographic Web links and caused the computer to display pornographic pop-up advertisements. However, the defense's forensic expert, Herbert Horner, stated that a more complete analysis showed that a harmless hairstyling Web site had actually redirected the PC's browser to pornographic sites, setting off the deluge of offensive ads.

The forensic analysis produced by Eckelberry and other independent security researchers found a large number of inconsistencies between what was said during Amero's trial and what really happened, according to the analysis of the computer's hard drive. Following the independent analysis, a state cybercrime lab produced their own study, concurring with the defense's forensic report.

Amero's defense attorneys had filed a motion on Monday, asking that the judge throw out the jury's conviction against Amero, because information discovered after the case called into question the testimony of the prosecution's expert witness.

"The State and the defense now possess additional forensic evidence concerning the history of the computer's use both before and after the alleged incident, the manner and methodology of the analysis of the computer's use, and the interpretation of the analysis," Amero's defense attorney stated in their motion for a new trial. "Had that information been available to the State at the time of trial, the State would have been precluded from urging and would not have urged the jury to reach certain inaccurate conclusions regarding (among other things) the alleged purposeful access to offensive Web sites."

[Veldrynus]

Stupid, prudish americans...

[ThunderTitan]

Puritans, criminals and bums... i think i prefer the puritans.

[Caradoc]

Actor's Risque Past Halts 'Adam' Film

By JULIE CARR SMYTH, Associated Press Writer

(06-07) 17:50 PDT Columbus, Ohio (AP) --

The man who plays Adam in a video aired at a Bible-based creationist museum has led a different life outside the Garden of Eden, flaunting his sexual exploits online and modeling for a clothing line that promotes free love.

After learning about his activities Thursday, the Creation Museum in Kentucky pulled the 40-second video in which he appears.

"We are currently investigating the veracity of these serious claims of his participation in projects that don't align with the biblical standards and moral code upon which the ministry was founded," Answers for Genesis spokesman Mark Looy said in a written statement.

The actor, Eric Linden, owns a graphic Web site called Bedroom Acrobat, where he has been pictured, smiling alongside a drag queen, in a T-shirt brandishing the site's sexually suggestive logo. The Web site, which has a network of members, allows users to post explicit stories and photos.

He also sells clothing for SFX International, whose initials appear on clothing to spell "SEX" from afar. It promotes "free love,""pleasure" and "thrillz."

Linden, a graphic designer, model and actor who grew up in Columbus, said he is no longer affiliated with the Bedroom Acrobat site, and had handed the domain name off to somebody. Ownership records available through the NetworkSolutions database show Linden registered the site 18 months ago.

He also said he no longer posts to the site.

Linden said he is very proud to play Adam. "But just because I'm Adam on the screen, that doesn't mean I'm Adam off the screen," he said. "What I do shouldn't have anything to do with who they think Adam is."

The clip he appears in is one of 55 featured on tours of the museum, near Cincinnati in Petersburg, Ky. The museum tells the Bible's version of Earth's history — the planet was created in a single week just a few thousand years ago.

The museum pulled the clip after learning about his online activities from The Associated Press.

Linden, who now lives in Los Angeles, said his modeling work for the clothing line is just one of the many jobs that make up his career. He said he has great respect for the founders of the Creation Museum and their vision.

"For the Creation Museum, I did what I did as an actor. It doesn't necessarily mean I believe in evolution or a believe in creation," Linden said. "I'm hired to get a point across. On the flip side, if I was hired to play a murderer, that doesn't mean I'd go out and kill somebody. It's make-believe."

[Corribus]

That's rich.

[ThunderTitan]

Isn't Adam the guy that had a huge bunch of children that intermarried?

[MistWeaver]

Isn't Adam the guy that had a huge bunch of children that intermarried?

I dont think so. Thats similar to that part about Noah's Ark. Two animals couldn't reproduce whole population of their species. So logicaly .. they (pair of animals) were just "backup" from which would be easier for God to re-create whole population, than do the same from scratch.

[ThunderTitan]

Well Cleopatra was the result of generations of siblings having kids (keeping the divine blood pure and all that), so it might not be that damaging.

[Caradoc]

Isn't Adam the guy that had a huge bunch of children that intermarried?

I dont think so. Thats similar to that part about Noah's Ark. Two animals couldn't reproduce whole population of their species. So logicaly .. they (pair of animals) were just "backup" from which would be easier for God to re-create whole population, than do the same from scratch.

My favorite bit is how the kangaroos get to Australia after the Flood. According to the creationists they floated there on matted vegetation.

[asandir]

I like how the Christians practice tolerance

maybe this was heading their way as well

Cocaine stash hidden in 'Last Supper' package
British customs officers have uncovered a stash of cocaine hidden in a parcel containing a carving of Leonardo da Vinci's 'Last Supper', a Bible, a Crucifix and a statue of the Virgin Mary.

The package, sent from Brazil to an address in London, was discovered at a parcel sorting office in Coventry, central England. The 300 grams of high-purity cocaine was estimated to be worth 15,000 pounds ($35,282).

"I've seen cocaine hidden in everything from shirt buttons to candles, to a baby blanket, but never inside a consignment of religious artefacts," said a spokeswoman for the British customs authorities.

No arrests have been made.

[ThunderTitan]

He's a Vulcan spy... just like in those TNG eps where they'd have magic plastic surgery to look like the planets inhabitants:

Vancouver patient oozes green blood

Doctors at Vancouver's St. Paul's Hospital came across something highly illogical when they tried to put an arterial line into a patient about to undergo surgery: his blood was dark green.

The green blood — reminiscent of the Vulcan blood found in Mr. Spock of Star Trek fame — came as a bit of a shock to Dr. Alana Flexman and her colleagues, who report on the unusual case in this week's issue of the journal The Lancet.

The 42-year-old man was already a bit of a medical departure. He had fallen asleep while kneeling, and developed compartment syndrome in both legs.

The potentially dangerous condition involves a buildup of pressure in deep muscle tissue — in this case in the legs — and unless the pressure was relieved, permanent nerve damage could have been sustained.

As surgical staff prepared the man for the middle-of-the-night emergency operation, Flexman and a colleague attempted to insert a line into a wrist artery.

Arterial lines are used to monitor blood pressure during an operation; any blood that flows when the line is inserted into the artery should be vivid red, the sign it has been oxygenated.

But in this case, which occurred in October 2005, it was not.

"During insertion, we normally see arterial blood come out. That's how we know we're in the right place. And normally that blood is bright red, as you would expect in an artery," Flexman said in an interview Thursday.

"But in his case, the blood kept coming back as dark green instead of bright red.

"It was sort of a green-black. … Like an avocado skin maybe."

The reaction in the room? "We were very concerned, obviously," said Flexman, who is training in anesthesia at the hospital.

[Corribus]

I heard about that one on the news this morning. Strange.

[Omega_Destroyer]

Clearly this is a case of a human-alien hybrid.

[ThunderTitan]

Kismet?

[Corribus]

Here's the rest of the article, in case anyone is interested:

Samples were rushed off to the lab, which quickly ruled out a dangerous condition called methemoglobin, in which the hemoglobin in the blood can't bind to oxygen.

While the lab worked, so did the operating team. The man came through the surgery well.

The next day the lab reported it had detected sulfhemoglobin, a condition thought to be triggered by some medications.

"It's so rare that we don't have a perfect understanding how it happens, but some drug donates a sulfur group that binds to the hemoglobin molecule and prevents it from binding to oxygen," Flexman explains. "And that gives it the green colour."

She and her colleagues believe the condition may have been brought on by the man's migraine medication, sumatriptan, which he was taking in higher-than-advised doses, though they can't prove it.

(http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=3258190&page=1)

[MistWeaver]

That was a zombie from Carmagedon 1 (lame edition)

[Panda Tar]

I read that stuff too this morning. Too much creatine...if I keep up taking creatine for my bodybuilding cycles, will I end up green? Like Hulk?

Well, anyway, it's not that disgusting as the other article about a guy (old one) that eats living frogs and rats as diet, to keep up his health. He says it's good to stop stomach aches.

[Elvin]

I think they are pretty nutricious too but I'll pass

[ThunderTitan]

Here's the rest of the article, in case anyone is interested:

If they were i'm sure they could have clicked the link in my post...

[asandir]

Video game gives doctor 'tennis shoulder'
A US doctor has blamed a shoulder injury on his new Wii computer console, after spending hours playing simulated tennis.

When US doctor Julio Bonis awoke one morning with a sore shoulder, he could not figure out what he had done.

It felt like a sports injury, but he had been a bit of a couch potato lately - then he remembered his new Wii.

Dr Bonis, 29, had spent hours playing a new video game, simulated tennis, where players simulate real movements.

It was not quite tennis elbow, he decided.

"The variant in this patient can be labelled more specifically as 'Wiiitis'," Dr Bonis said, a family practice physician in the US, wrote in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine.