Finger My Blog

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

A Bet's A Bet

A 47-year-old man's friends set his prosthetic leg on fire after he lost a drinking bet, causing him to suffer severe burns to his buttocks and lower back.

Dona Ana County sheriff's deputies found the man naked on the side of U.S. Route 70 with his prosthetic leg in flames. Deputies learned that the man and his friends were drinking Monday and bet that whoever drank the least would be set on fire.

The man told investigators that at six beers, he drank the least, and agreed to let his friends set him on fire.

He said his friends ignited his prosthetic leg, and the flames spread to his body.

The sheriff's office said the man took his clothes off because of the pain and his friends decided to take him to the hospital. But they got nervous and instead dropped him off on the side of the highway.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Mel(t) Down

An explosive audio recording which allegedly features Oscar winner Mel Gibson admitting to hitting his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva and twice threatening to kill her was released Monday on the celebrity news site RadarOnline.com.

In the recording of a telephone conversation, the site says the enraged actor tells Grigorieva “you deserved it” after she says that he hit her and broke her teeth.

He also said “You need a f**king bat in the side of the head,” RadarOnline.com reports.

Gibson then allegedly makes what could be considered a death threat, screaming "I’ll put you in a f **kin rose garden you c**t! You understand that? Because I’m capable of it. You understand that?”

The L.A. County Sherriff’s Department has also opened an investigation into Gibson's alleged violent behavior toward Grigorieva, that will soon be heading to the district attorney's office.

“Investigators are treating this case very carefully," a source close to the investigation told FOX411.com. "They’ll be determined to nail him. It’s highly likely he’ll do time (in jail) for this if found guilty.”

Radaronline.com released another recording on Friday in which Mel Gibson is heard using a racial epithet and calling his ex-girlfriend a "whore."

That two-minute recording includes segments in which a voice sounding distinctively like the Academy Award-winner is heard telling his then-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, that she is dressing too provocatively and that it would be her fault if she were raped. He uses the N-word at one point, and the recording is laced with his profanity.

Grigorieva recorded the actor-director because she was afraid he might harm her, the website reported. The actor is heard on the recording harshly criticizing Grigorieva for the way she dresses. He accuses her of lying to him about having breast implants.
Go to RadarOnline.com for the shocking full recording.

"They just look stupid," Gibson tells her at one point in the recording. "Keep them if you want to. They look like a Vegas bitch, a Vegas whore."

"You look like a (expletive) bitch in heat, and if you get raped by a pack of (N-word), it will be your fault," Gibson is heard telling Grigorieva. "You provoked it. You are provocatively dressed."

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/07/exclusive-new-audio-mel-gibson-admits-hitting-oksana-threatens-kill-her-listen-it

(Star) War

The company that produces a laser device being touted in popular media as a "lightsaber" has dismissed as "strange" an order from the makers of Star Wars to cease production.

Wicked Lasers began selling the Arctic Pro Spyder III laser online earlier this year.

The laser device -- which retails for $200 -- has attracted attention due to the strength of the beam (it's 1,000 times the legal Australian limit) and its uncanny likeness to the famous Star Wars weapon.

The Spyder III is 1,000 times stronger than sunlight on the skin and can blind in a millisecond if shone into the eyes. Several videos on YouTube show people using the Spyder III and other lasers of a similar strength to burn objects, light cigarettes, pop a row of balloons and even turn off a streetlight.

However, its popularity has attracted the attention of Lucasfilm Ltd, which has now ordered Wicked Lasers to “cease and desist any use of the LIGHTSABER copyrights and trade dress by modifying the design of the Pro Arctic Laser.”

The film company also demands that Wicked Lasers insert a prominent disclaimer on everything stating that they are not associated with Lucasfilms or anything to do with Star Wars.

The legal action is apparently a reaction to the heavy media coverage the Arctic Pro has received, with most articles referring to it as a lightsaber, or “lightsaber-like.”

Mr Liu conceded that there were similarities between the two devices, namely that “they are both cylindrical, handheld, and dangerous to use without following safety protocol” but they have one important difference.

“The blue diode (of the Spyder III) is the result of decades of scientific research by laser pioneer Shuji Nakamura," he said. "The other is from the ingenious creativity of George Lucas.“

The matter is yet to be settled.

Knocked Up?

A 16-year-old girl from Australia almost died from a brain infection after a hospital refused to believe she was critically ill and told her she must be pregnant.

After being sent home with what doctors thought was a urinary infection, Kate Newton was rushed back to the hospital several days later where she suffered a heart attack. Shortly after being resuscitated, neurosurgeons had to drill a hole into the teen's skull to release pressure on her brain.

"When you have headaches, the first thing you think of is your head," Kate said. "But they tried to tell me I was pregnant, then sent me home with a urine infection. If they had admitted me they would have found what I had, but they didn't want to scan me."

The ordeal started on June 3 when Kate's mother took her to the hospital with agonizing headaches. The teen was told she must be pregnant, despite her denials.

A test revealed a urinary infection. She was given intravenous fluids and sent home with antibiotics. Two days later, Kate returned to hospital and was diagnosed with vertigo. Requests for brain scans were again refused.

On June 9 she was unable to get out of bed, balance or tolerate light. Her mother, Anne Newton, called the Royal Children's Hospital and was told to call an ambulance immediately.

A brain scan revealed Kate was at serious risk.

"It was horrible," Newton said. "Her sister Ashley rode with her in the ambulance, and saw her die. Then the neurosurgeon said, 'I have minutes to get her to surgery to save her life.’ Even after the first lot of surgery, they weren't confident that she would survive."

Kate still suffers from short-term memory loss and dizzy spells, and does not have full feeling back in her body.

'Roll'ing Along

Record-level production of Rolls-Royces is currently underway at the Goodwood plant, despite the still-recovering state of the overall global economy. Demand is so high that all of Rolls' models are sold out through "at least September."

So what does record production at Goodwood amount to? Fifteen cars a day, at present, with over 300 built in June. Rolls-Royce on the whole is doing well, too: the company is already on track to double 2009's sales in 2010.

The new Ghost is no doubt partially responsible for the uptick in demand, though the Phantom is selling strong as well. In fact, the Phantom is already sold out through October. A large portion of the new growth is coming--unsurprisingly--from China and the Asia-Pacific region.