The first issue of the newsletter (October 28, 2009)
Hey guys, didn't I say that I would make a barkada newsletter, so here It is. You already know why it is named "The Green Hill Pilgrim". Anyway, I'll be using this for updates and other stuff. For now here are silly news reports I found on the net. If you noticed, I just copied and pasted away hehehe.
Transform and Roll out!
A 14-YEAR-OLD boy drank gasoline for five years to obtain "energy" - just as his idols "Bumble Bee" or "Optimus Prime" do in "Transformers," the Sichuan-based West China Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.
After the boy, in Yibin City, southwest Sichuan Province, had watched the animated TV series, he began to drink gasoline to become a "valiant fighter" like "Optimus Prime," his father told the newspaper.
"He began to drink gasoline five years ago, when we found he liked smelling lighter fuel," he said.
The boy's mother owned a grocery stall, selling small goods such as lighters.
In 2004, she often found lighters missing two or three days after she'd bought them. She later found that her son had been stealing them.
The parents talked to their son and asked him not to do it again. "But afterwards we found our motorcycle's gasoline was always disappearing, and one day when we found the boy had drunk a half bottle of gasoline stolen from the motorcycle, we were too shocked to say anything," the father said.
IQ dropped
They locked the motorcycle away after that but the boy began to steal gasoline from neighbors and was drinking more and more - two or three bottles at a time.
"Since my son started to drink gas, his IQ has dropped sharply and now he can't figure out simple addition and subtraction," the father said.
"Before that, he was a very smart boy, and he could even repair the television. But now he does not know the answer of 7 plus 17."
The worried parents finally took their son to hospital where they were told the boy had a mental disorder and a strong "gasoline dependence."
"The gasoline contains a lot of lead, which can do harm to people's brains. To make thing even worse, the boy is in the physical development stage, and the lead has caused serious damage to his body," Peng Houquan, a doctor from a hospital in Yibin, said.
"Transformers" is now a Hollywood blockbuster movie franchise and the second live-action film is currently breaking box office records in China.
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" has gained 400 million yuan (US$58.4 million) in the country, breaking the record set by "Titanic" 10 years ago.
Question: What is better than one idol cosplaying as Chun-Li?
Answer: More idols dressed up as Chun-Li!
AKB48 an all-female Japanese theater/idol group promoted the movie "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li". The movie was horrible, but I saw it in the theatre anyway. I guess this is what we call "Advertising the right way!" -Vinnie
Mexican Beach shut down after Mexicans steal sand
Surprised tourists found their little piece of Cancun beach paradise ringed by crime-scene tape and gun-toting sailors on Thursday.
Environmental enforcement officers backed by Mexican navy personnel closed off dozens of metres of powder-white coastline in front of a hotel accused of illegally accumulating sand on its beach.
“ This hotel was telling its tourists: ‘Come here, I have sand ... the other hotels don't, because I stole it.'”
Mexico spent $19-million (U.S.) to replace Cancun beaches washed away by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. But much of the sand pumped from the sea floor has since washed away, leading some property owners to build breakwaters in a bid to retain sand. The practice often merely shifts sand loss to beaches below the breakwaters.
“Today we made the decision to close this stretch of ill-gotten, illegally accumulated sand,” said Patricio Patron, Mexico's attorney-general for environmental protection. “This hotel was telling its tourists: ‘Come here, I have sand ... the other hotels don't, because I stole it.'”
Mr. Patron said five people were detained in a raid for allegedly using pumps to move sand from the sea floor onto the beach in front of the Gran Caribe Real Hotel. The hotel is also suspected of illegally building a breakwater that impeded the natural flow of sand onto other hotels' beaches, he said.
An employee of the hotel's marketing office said nobody was available to comment on the allegations. Authorities said the hotel owner ignored previous orders to remove the breakwater.
A knot of angry tourists gathered around the closed beach.
Some were irked by the sight of police tape and “Closed” signs.
Maria Bachino, a travel agent from Rocha, Uruguay, said by telephone that she had booked a beachfront room in Cancun, only to find herself cut off from the clear, bathub-temperature waters that lure millions to Cancun each year.
“They promised us a beach,” said Ms. Bachino. “This is very unpleasant, we feel bad. This is intimidating,” she said of the armed navy personnel who participated in the raid.
Mr. Patron said he regretted any inconvenience for tourists, but said the government is planning projects to restore beaches throughout Cancun in an orderly, environmentally responsible way.
“I apologize to the tourists for this problem, but it is a question of enforcing the law,” Mr. Patron said.
Environmental enforcement officers backed by Mexican navy personnel closed off dozens of metres of powder-white coastline in front of a hotel accused of illegally accumulating sand on its beach.
“ This hotel was telling its tourists: ‘Come here, I have sand ... the other hotels don't, because I stole it.'”
Mexico spent $19-million (U.S.) to replace Cancun beaches washed away by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. But much of the sand pumped from the sea floor has since washed away, leading some property owners to build breakwaters in a bid to retain sand. The practice often merely shifts sand loss to beaches below the breakwaters.
“Today we made the decision to close this stretch of ill-gotten, illegally accumulated sand,” said Patricio Patron, Mexico's attorney-general for environmental protection. “This hotel was telling its tourists: ‘Come here, I have sand ... the other hotels don't, because I stole it.'”
Mr. Patron said five people were detained in a raid for allegedly using pumps to move sand from the sea floor onto the beach in front of the Gran Caribe Real Hotel. The hotel is also suspected of illegally building a breakwater that impeded the natural flow of sand onto other hotels' beaches, he said.
An employee of the hotel's marketing office said nobody was available to comment on the allegations. Authorities said the hotel owner ignored previous orders to remove the breakwater.
A knot of angry tourists gathered around the closed beach.
Some were irked by the sight of police tape and “Closed” signs.
Maria Bachino, a travel agent from Rocha, Uruguay, said by telephone that she had booked a beachfront room in Cancun, only to find herself cut off from the clear, bathub-temperature waters that lure millions to Cancun each year.
“They promised us a beach,” said Ms. Bachino. “This is very unpleasant, we feel bad. This is intimidating,” she said of the armed navy personnel who participated in the raid.
Mr. Patron said he regretted any inconvenience for tourists, but said the government is planning projects to restore beaches throughout Cancun in an orderly, environmentally responsible way.
“I apologize to the tourists for this problem, but it is a question of enforcing the law,” Mr. Patron said.
Man attempting drive-by fires and misses with all four shots, proceeds to crash into Utility Pole
Erie police are searching for a 23-year-old man accused of a drive-by shooting early today.
Police said Sylvester D. Tate shot four times at a man in the 300 block of West 20th Street about 2 a.m.
The victim, who identified Tate as the shooter, was not injured.
Police said that after speeding away from the scene, Tate crashed his Chevrolet Trailblazer into a utility pole in the 400 block of West 26th Street.
Tate fled the scene after crashing the vehicle, police.
Police found a handgun inside the vehicle that had been reported stolen Jan. 30. Police did not say who reported the gun stolen.
Police have issued a warrant for Tate's arrest. Tate, whose last known address was in the 200 block of West 21st Street, is being charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, receiving stolen property and several traffic violations.
Police said Sylvester D. Tate shot four times at a man in the 300 block of West 20th Street about 2 a.m.
The victim, who identified Tate as the shooter, was not injured.
Police said that after speeding away from the scene, Tate crashed his Chevrolet Trailblazer into a utility pole in the 400 block of West 26th Street.
Tate fled the scene after crashing the vehicle, police.
Police found a handgun inside the vehicle that had been reported stolen Jan. 30. Police did not say who reported the gun stolen.
Police have issued a warrant for Tate's arrest. Tate, whose last known address was in the 200 block of West 21st Street, is being charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, receiving stolen property and several traffic violations.
IT director denies downloading and organizing 24,466 porn images onto his office computer
There’s no disputing that 24,466 images of nude or partially nude women were found on a Norcross city computer, or that someone took the time to organize them into directories.
But the man accused of downloading the photos — the city’s fired information technology director — says he didn’t do it and is asking for his job back. Brad Williams’ attorney told City Council Monday night that there is no “smoking gun” tying Williams to the porn.
Williams, 45, was hired in March 2008 to run Norcross’ newly created IT department. The city fired him Dec. 5 after a job-performance inquiry revealed the thousands of pornographic images downloaded onto a computer in Williams’ office, according to reports obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In Monday’s hearing before the Norcross City Council, attorney David Studdard painted Williams as a victim of a “confusing set of circumstances” and implored the council to give him his job back.
Studdard said any number of people with access to Williams’ office could have downloaded the images.
“We can’t exclude the reasonable possibility that someone else downloaded this material,” Studdard said. “There’s no connective fact … that we can say, ‘Yeah, that’s the smoking gun.’”
But attorney Doug Duerr, arguing on behalf of the city, asserted that Williams, and not someone trying to frame him, imported the images and organized them.
“Why go through the time to download 24,000 images and put them in directories?” Duerr said. “That takes time. That takes deliberation. That’s an addiction.”
The images were found after City Manager Rudolph Smith directed an IT assistant to observe Williams’ activities amid complaints about Williams’ job performance, according to city documents.
During the hearing, Smith described Williams as lazy, unconcerned with fixing computer problems or even paying the bills. “He stood outside my window 60 percent of the time and he was smoking,” Smith testified.
At Smith’s instruction, the city installed monitoring software on Williams’ computer to track his activities.
Studdard also raised the question of why no one told Williams that his performance was unsatisfactory.
A Norcross police internal affairs investigation showed no evidence of criminal activity by Williams.
After the hearing, the City Council went into executive session to discuss the matter. It will issue its decision with a council vote in May, Mayor Bucky Johnson said.
But the man accused of downloading the photos — the city’s fired information technology director — says he didn’t do it and is asking for his job back. Brad Williams’ attorney told City Council Monday night that there is no “smoking gun” tying Williams to the porn.
Williams, 45, was hired in March 2008 to run Norcross’ newly created IT department. The city fired him Dec. 5 after a job-performance inquiry revealed the thousands of pornographic images downloaded onto a computer in Williams’ office, according to reports obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In Monday’s hearing before the Norcross City Council, attorney David Studdard painted Williams as a victim of a “confusing set of circumstances” and implored the council to give him his job back.
Studdard said any number of people with access to Williams’ office could have downloaded the images.
“We can’t exclude the reasonable possibility that someone else downloaded this material,” Studdard said. “There’s no connective fact … that we can say, ‘Yeah, that’s the smoking gun.’”
But attorney Doug Duerr, arguing on behalf of the city, asserted that Williams, and not someone trying to frame him, imported the images and organized them.
“Why go through the time to download 24,000 images and put them in directories?” Duerr said. “That takes time. That takes deliberation. That’s an addiction.”
The images were found after City Manager Rudolph Smith directed an IT assistant to observe Williams’ activities amid complaints about Williams’ job performance, according to city documents.
During the hearing, Smith described Williams as lazy, unconcerned with fixing computer problems or even paying the bills. “He stood outside my window 60 percent of the time and he was smoking,” Smith testified.
At Smith’s instruction, the city installed monitoring software on Williams’ computer to track his activities.
Studdard also raised the question of why no one told Williams that his performance was unsatisfactory.
A Norcross police internal affairs investigation showed no evidence of criminal activity by Williams.
After the hearing, the City Council went into executive session to discuss the matter. It will issue its decision with a council vote in May, Mayor Bucky Johnson said.
Fifteen Patients Die as Earth Hour Kills Life Support in Hospital
San Francisco, CA – Fifteen patients on life support and in surgery died at San Francisco General Hospital when power was cut for "Earth hour" on Saturday.
The hospital was pleased with their participation in the worldwide celebration of the planet. "We asked all the patients and their families if they were all right with us cutting the power. To a person, they all said as stewards of this planet it was their duty to observe Earth Hour. They knew the risks and were willing to take it," said hospital administrator Lawrence Cho.
Cho said that it was a net gain for planet Earth, despite the deaths. "The dead patients will no longer use any energy, and actually will be turned into energy in our patient incinerator," said hospital administrator Lawrence Cho.
As power was cut in the critical care ward some patients screamed in pain, others died calmly in their sleep. Cho said that most of the medical equipment has battery-powered back up systems, but those were disabled, because hospital officials felt that violated the spirit of Earth Hour.
Heart surgeon Dr. Gregory Morris was doing an open-heart procedure when the lights went out. "I wasn't sure what I was cutting into. Turns out it wasn't his heart, but his bowels. Unfortunately, Mr. Simms didn't make it."
Marla Tompkins, surviving sister of cancer patient Warren Tompkins, said, "Warren struggled for breath as his ventilator was powered down. I thought he might make it, but with three minutes left before power was to be turned back on, he expired. It was tragic, but kept me on the edge of the seat the whole time."
Cho hopes other hospitals learn from the example of San Francisco General and participate in next year's Earth Hour.
The hospital was pleased with their participation in the worldwide celebration of the planet. "We asked all the patients and their families if they were all right with us cutting the power. To a person, they all said as stewards of this planet it was their duty to observe Earth Hour. They knew the risks and were willing to take it," said hospital administrator Lawrence Cho.
Cho said that it was a net gain for planet Earth, despite the deaths. "The dead patients will no longer use any energy, and actually will be turned into energy in our patient incinerator," said hospital administrator Lawrence Cho.
As power was cut in the critical care ward some patients screamed in pain, others died calmly in their sleep. Cho said that most of the medical equipment has battery-powered back up systems, but those were disabled, because hospital officials felt that violated the spirit of Earth Hour.
Heart surgeon Dr. Gregory Morris was doing an open-heart procedure when the lights went out. "I wasn't sure what I was cutting into. Turns out it wasn't his heart, but his bowels. Unfortunately, Mr. Simms didn't make it."
Marla Tompkins, surviving sister of cancer patient Warren Tompkins, said, "Warren struggled for breath as his ventilator was powered down. I thought he might make it, but with three minutes left before power was to be turned back on, he expired. It was tragic, but kept me on the edge of the seat the whole time."
Cho hopes other hospitals learn from the example of San Francisco General and participate in next year's Earth Hour.
Pirates attempt to board NATO Warship... hilarity ensues
Pirates who attacked a ship off the coast of Somalia got more than they bargained for when it turned out to be a naval vessel - from an international force against piracy, Nato said.
The pirates apparently mistook the FGS Spessart for a commercial merchant ship when they targeted it in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen.
The German supply ship pursued the pirate boat, joined by two other ships, a frigate, a helicopter and a plane.
A Nato spokesman said: "Poor judgment by the pirates turned out to be a real opportunity for seven nations representing three task forces to work together and strike a momentous blow for maritime safety and security."
A boarding team discovered several weapons and transferred seven suspected pirates on to another German frigate.
Nato said the suspects will remain on board until a decision is made as to where they will be prosecuted.
The pirates apparently mistook the FGS Spessart for a commercial merchant ship when they targeted it in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen.
The German supply ship pursued the pirate boat, joined by two other ships, a frigate, a helicopter and a plane.
A Nato spokesman said: "Poor judgment by the pirates turned out to be a real opportunity for seven nations representing three task forces to work together and strike a momentous blow for maritime safety and security."
A boarding team discovered several weapons and transferred seven suspected pirates on to another German frigate.
Nato said the suspects will remain on board until a decision is made as to where they will be prosecuted.
If Jack Sparrow was there it MIGHT have worked..
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