News story of the day

[Tegis]

"Neighbour Bertil Ståhfrääs"

 

So his name in swedish is Bertil "Massive Boner".

 

I'm calling a bit of bullshit on this

[tomaspg]

that hornet story was copied from a swedish hoax story, not true fortunatley

[Stevo985]

I bet this was the worst fight in history

 

The Force Called to Star Wars Clash

 

Police were called to a science fiction convention after an argument between two rival groups of fans.

Trouble flared at the fourth Norwich Sci-Fi and Film Convention at the University of East Anglia, organised by Norwich Star Wars Club.

Police were called after members of the rival Norwich Sci-Fi club arrived to get autographs from two Doctor Who actors at the event on Sunday.

Norfolk Police confirmed officers attended and spoke to both parties.

A spokesman said they had been called to reports of a man being assaulted at the convention.

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

This wasn't a fight between Star Wars fans and Doctor Who fans with lightsabers and sonic screwdrivers drawn”

Jim PooleNorwich Sci-Fi Club

'Rivalry and disputes'

"After a lengthy investigation, talking to witnesses and reviewing good CCTV footage, it was confirmed that there was no assault," the spokesman said.

"The two rival groups were spoken to and advised to keep out of each other's way."

Jim Poole, treasurer of Norwich Sci-Fi Club, said there was a history of rivalry and disputes between the two clubs, which both hold their own conventions in the city.

He said he had attended Sunday's event with another club member to get the autographs of actors Graham Cole and Jeremy Bulloch for a Doctor Who diary to be auctioned for charity.

Mr Poole said he was wearing a club top and his fellow member was dressed as the fifth Doctor, as played by Peter Davison.

Jim Poole said there was a history of disputes between the clubs

He said once inside the hall, he received verbal abuse from a member of the rival club and called the police.

'Sad and pathetic'

"I was put in a police car. We were both interviewed by the police and told to stay away from each other," he said.

Mr Poole said two other members of his club, one dressed as the 10th Doctor and the other as Judge Dredd, had waited outside the venue.

"This wasn't a fight between Star Wars fans and Doctor Who fans with lightsabers and sonic screwdrivers drawn," he said.

"It's a bit sad and pathetic. We're all in the same boat. We're not in competition.

"We'd like to extend the hand of friendship."

Mr Poole said his club was considering having uniformed security guards at its own Norwich Sci-Fi Convention in September in case of further trouble.

Dominic Warner, secretary of Norwich Star Wars Club, said: "It's been blown up as if it was a fight. There was no fighting."

He acknowledged there had been disputes between club members in the past, but said: "There is no bad feeling between the two clubs. We have never interfered with them.

"It does sound comical. People that dress up in costume are labelled geeks and some people laugh at us, and this just makes it even more so."

He said the two clubs were having discussions about a meeting to resolve their differences.

[Ghost]

that hornet story was copied from a swedish hoax story, not true fortunatley

 

Ah man, how disappointing.

[leviramsey]

It's like East Side vs. West Side...

[rjw63]

Sad story, but how can you not snigger at that name?

 

http://www.tmz.com/2013/05/16/dick-trickle-dead-suicide-dies-gunshot-nascar/

[Stevo985]

Sad story, but how can you not snigger at that name?

 

http://www.tmz.com/2013/05/16/dick-trickle-dead-suicide-dies-gunshot-nascar/

From that article

 

[PussEKatt]

The council have a fat chance of pushing that bill through.

Oops, wrong page.This comment should be after BOFs article about the Liverpool council.

Edited May 17, 2013 by PussEKatt

[mykeyb]

Anyone see the appalling story over the weekend of the little 5 year old girl who drowned in a swimming while on holiday in Egypt.

 

I caught the parents on breakfast TV this morning and they said there were no life guards on duty and there were no markings around the pool concerning depth and yet they went to get some snacks & drinks and left the girl in the pool with her elder sister.........and its not their fault the girl drowned.

 

Sad.

[BOF]

You stay classy Redbridge.

Police swoop on the homeless taking sleeping bags and food parcels in co-ordinated raids in Redbridge

Police swooped on the homeless, grabbing sleeping bags and food parcels donated by the public, in co-ordinated raids around the borough.

Adam Jaskowiak was one of the men targeted and said he pleaded with police to be able to keep his things but was ignored.

He was sleeping with eight other people finding shelter for the night in the former Ilford Baths in High Road, Ilford.

All of their belongings were bundled into a police car leaving the men, one in his 60s, stunned.

A police chief told the Recorder the operation was carried out to “reduce the negative impact of rough sleepers”.

But Mr Jaskowiak, 34, said: “They were just taking the sleeping bags and chucking out everything. I asked to keep it and the food, but they said ‘no’.

“I just grabbed as many of my things as possible and put them into a bag and ran.”

He was given the sleeping bag by the Salvation Army, Clements Road, Ilford, over the winter months after becoming homeless when his friend died.

John Clifton, 26, corps officer at the Salvation Army, said: “I’m shocked and disgusted. Why would you take the only form of shelter someone has from them?

“We have tried to find out why they were taken and if we can get them back.”

After the raid happened on Thursday, the men went to the Refugee and Migrant Forum of East London, High Road, Ilford, for help.

Chief executive Rita Chadha said: “I am appalled because there’s no logic in this – it’s not as though if they take someone’s sleeping bag they will automatically walk into a house.

“It’s not a lifestyle choice and becoming homeless can happen to anyone.”

She also said the action will damage relations between the police and those sleeping on the streets.

Ilford Ch Insp John Fish said: “The public rely on police to reduce the negative impact of rough sleepers, this includes the need for us to assist in the removal of temporary structures, tents, and bedding from public spaces and other inappropriate locations.”

[bickster]

Where was the crime being committed there?

Since when was it the role of the Police to "reduce the negative impact of rough sleepers?"

Removing sleeping bags and food? WTF is the only response to that

[Ingram85]

Just proof that we as humans, as a collective species are horrible and are doomed. Makes me sick that report. If they froze to death during the night the families should sue the police.

[peterms]

I don't think I can bring myself to read the story.  How could it live up to the headline?

 

Drunk man ‘set fire to peanuts and tried to have sex with ambulance’

 

 

[chrisp65]

You stay classy Redbridge.

Police swoop on the homeless taking sleeping bags and food parcels in co-ordinated raids in Redbridge

Police swooped on the homeless, grabbing sleeping bags and food parcels donated by the public, in co-ordinated raids around the borough.

Adam Jaskowiak was one of the men targeted and said he pleaded with police to be able to keep his things but was ignored.

He was sleeping with eight other people finding shelter for the night in the former Ilford Baths in High Road, Ilford.

All of their belongings were bundled into a police car leaving the men, one in his 60s, stunned.

A police chief told the Recorder the operation was carried out to “reduce the negative impact of rough sleepers”.

But Mr Jaskowiak, 34, said: “They were just taking the sleeping bags and chucking out everything. I asked to keep it and the food, but they said ‘no’.

“I just grabbed as many of my things as possible and put them into a bag and ran.”

He was given the sleeping bag by the Salvation Army, Clements Road, Ilford, over the winter months after becoming homeless when his friend died.

John Clifton, 26, corps officer at the Salvation Army, said: “I’m shocked and disgusted. Why would you take the only form of shelter someone has from them?

“We have tried to find out why they were taken and if we can get them back.”

After the raid happened on Thursday, the men went to the Refugee and Migrant Forum of East London, High Road, Ilford, for help.

Chief executive Rita Chadha said: “I am appalled because there’s no logic in this – it’s not as though if they take someone’s sleeping bag they will automatically walk into a house.

“It’s not a lifestyle choice and becoming homeless can happen to anyone.”

She also said the action will damage relations between the police and those sleeping on the streets.

Ilford Ch Insp John Fish said: “The public rely on police to reduce the negative impact of rough sleepers, this includes the need for us to assist in the removal of temporary structures, tents, and bedding from public spaces and other inappropriate locations.”

 

 

well hopefully this will be a lesson to them and they'll buy a house instead

[Rodders]

I don't think I can bring myself to read the story.  How could it live up to the headline?

 

Drunk man ‘set fire to peanuts and tried to have sex with ambulance’

 

"Representing himself, Ward told the court: ‘I did start using drugs and drinking.

‘I have seen the error of my ways with that.’ "

 

 of course he has. 

[mjmooney]

Scientists Discover A Woman Who Can See 99 Million More Colours Than The Rest Of Us

 

 

 

 

Most people can see a pretty wide range of colours - about a million hues, according to scientists.

 

We perceive all those gradations in colour using cells in our eyes called "cones". Most people have three cones, making us "trichromats". People with colour blindness have only two cones that function normally, so they're called "dichromats".

 

Now, a scientist in Newcastle, England has apparently discovered a woman who can see 99 million more colours than the average person. Her ability to perceive all those colours is extremely rare.

 

She's a tetrachromat, with four cone cells in her eyes, and she's able to see many colours that haven't even been named, since trichromats can't perceive them.

 

Dr. Gabriele Jordan from Newcastle University has been searching for a tetrachromat for 20 years, and two years ago, she says she found her first one.

 

Although the woman (who hasn't been named publicly - she's a doctor living in northern England) is said to be the first tetrachromat discovered by scientists, experts believe there are others.

 

In the course of their search, Dr. Jordan's team has found many other people with four cones in their eyes, but none of them passed the test for "super colour vision."

 

"We now know tetrachromacy exists," Dr. Jordan told Discover Magazine. "But we don't know what allows someone to become functionally tetrachromatic, when most four-coned women aren't."

 

As for why the team is focusing their attention on women, it all goes back to the beginning of the theory of tetrachromatic sight.

 

In 1948, Dutch scientist HL de Vries was studying colour-blind men when he incidentally also tested the daughters of one of his subjects.

 

He discovered that while the father had two normally functional cones and one mutant cone that is less sensitive to reds and greens, his daughter could perceive a wider range of hues of red than the average person.

 

It turned out the mothers and daughters of some colour-blind men had four cones, instead of the usual three. In all, Dr. Jordan estimates about 12 per cent of women have an extra cone in their eyes.

 

But in the vast majority of those women, the extra cone is inactive. Still, some scientists think it could be activated with practice.

 

Jay Neitz, a vision researcher at the University of Washington, says part of the problem is that the world is geared toward the vision of people with three cones.

 

"Most of the things that we see as coloured are manufactured by people who are trying to make colours that work for trichromats," he said. "It could be that our whole world is tuned to the world of the trichromat."

 

But one interesting quirk: it's impossible for a tetrachromat to express how the world looks, in much the same way we can't explain a colour to someone who's been blind since birth.

 

For now, Dr. Jordan is excited about her discovery, and she plans to keep searching for more tetrachromatic people.

Link

Edited May 28, 2013 by mjmooney

[Eames]

You stay classy Redbridge.

Police swoop on the homeless taking sleeping bags and food parcels in co-ordinated raids in Redbridge

Police swooped on the homeless, grabbing sleeping bags and food parcels donated by the public, in co-ordinated raids around the borough.

Adam Jaskowiak was one of the men targeted and said he pleaded with police to be able to keep his things but was ignored.

He was sleeping with eight other people finding shelter for the night in the former Ilford Baths in High Road, Ilford.

All of their belongings were bundled into a police car leaving the men, one in his 60s, stunned.

A police chief told the Recorder the operation was carried out to “reduce the negative impact of rough sleepers”.

But Mr Jaskowiak, 34, said: “They were just taking the sleeping bags and chucking out everything. I asked to keep it and the food, but they said ‘no’.

“I just grabbed as many of my things as possible and put them into a bag and ran.”

He was given the sleeping bag by the Salvation Army, Clements Road, Ilford, over the winter months after becoming homeless when his friend died.

John Clifton, 26, corps officer at the Salvation Army, said: “I’m shocked and disgusted. Why would you take the only form of shelter someone has from them?

“We have tried to find out why they were taken and if we can get them back.”

After the raid happened on Thursday, the men went to the Refugee and Migrant Forum of East London, High Road, Ilford, for help.

Chief executive Rita Chadha said: “I am appalled because there’s no logic in this – it’s not as though if they take someone’s sleeping bag they will automatically walk into a house.

“It’s not a lifestyle choice and becoming homeless can happen to anyone.”

She also said the action will damage relations between the police and those sleeping on the streets.

Ilford Ch Insp John Fish said: “The public rely on police to reduce the negative impact of rough sleepers, this includes the need for us to assist in the removal of temporary structures, tents, and bedding from public spaces and other inappropriate locations.”

 

 http://www2.redbridge.gov.uk/cms/news_and_events/other_news_and_events/redbridge_metropolitan_police.aspx'>Redbridge Council and the Met respond

[BOF]

Sounds to me even by reading that article that it did happen. They've just taken exception to it being deemed a negative action and would rather it be painted as a positive one. It's not surprising that someone wouldn't want their actions deemed negative, especially one supposed to be acting in the best interests of everyone. And also sure if the police say something didn't happen then it mustn't have happened

[Eames]

To be honest  I can well imagine that it did...... just thought it was nice for a bit of balance.

[bickster]

The Hitler Kettle