Bus Stops - August 31

Elderly man's hearing aid shattered by punch over bus seat (Sacramento Bee) 

(A punch shattered an 83-year-old man's hearing aid in his ear last week after he asked a fellow bus rider to move from the senior citizen seating area, according to sheriff's authorities. Paramedics who responded were not able to remove all the bloodied pieces from the elderly man's ear which they believed were lodged deep in his ear drum and possibly needed to be removed surgically, according to Sacramento County Sheriff's Department report released today.)

Hijacking suspect netted aboard bus (China Daily) 

(The police subdued a fleeing murder suspect on Tuesday after they believed he had taken two people hostage on a long-distance bus during a standoff that lasted two hours. The man was captured at the scene of the hostage taking after being shot by the police, according to an official statement. No one else was injured.)

Matthew Fox 'Scared the Crap Out of Me,' Bus Driver Says (People) 

(The bus driver who accused Matthew Fox of assaulting her in Cleveland says the incident left her beaten and shaken. "It was all tears," Heather Bormann, 29, told Cleveland.com on Monday of the alleged assault that she says left her bruised on her arms, leg, thighs and chest. "He really scared the crap out of me.")

23 suffer minor injuries in Pace bus accident in Austin (Chicago Tribune) 

(Nearly two dozen people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries after their Pace bus was involved in an accident on the West Side, officials said. Eight people were taken in fair-to-serious condition to hospitals while the other 15 people were in good-to-fair condition, according to a Chicago Fire Department spokesman.)

Five killed in another bus accident (Times Live) 

(Barely a week after 15 people were killed in an horrific bus accident in Knysna, another crash involving a bus claimed five lives and left about 50 other people injured on the N1 outside Pretoria yesterday afternoon. The bus, certified to carry 60 passengers and said to have been carrying about 82, careered off the road, narrowly missing the Murrayhill Bridge's concrete pillars, and rolled down a steep embankment before overturning near the Carousel Toll Plaza in Hammanskraal just after 1.30pm.)

Atheist Bus Ads Roll Into Spokane (KHQ) 

("Are you good without God? Millions are." These words, superimposed over an image of blue sky and white clouds, appear on king-sized ads placed on the outsides of 11 Spokane Transit Authority buses. The ads will continue through September 25, which includes the run of the Spokane County Interstate Fair. They were placed by the Spokane Coalition of Reason with $4,516.00 in funding from the United Coalition of Reason.)

Girl gets lost in school bus shuffle (Las Vegas Review Journal) 

(Mike Collins' 11-year-old daughter was supposed to be bused directly from Hyde Park Middle School to the YMCA after school Monday, but she didn't show up on time. Collins and staff at the Heinrich YMCA, near the Meadows mall, started calling the Clark County School District's transportation department at 3:15 p.m. They couldn't get through.)

Daryl Hannah arrested at White House protest (CNN) 

(Arrested Tuesday during a sit-in in front of the White House protesting a pipeline expansion project that would significantly increase the amount of oil the United States imports from Canada's controversial Alberta oil sands. The "Splash" actress was among more than 100 people arrested at the demonstration, according to the group that organized the protest.)

(BUS DRIVER NOTE: Margot Kidder was arrested at the same place for the same thing last week.)

Justin Bieber Minor Car Crash Honda Collides with Ferrari (TMZ) 

(Justin Bieber and his super-expensive Ferrari are both doing OK after the singer was involved in a minor fender bender in L.A. today ... this according to the LAPD. According to police, a driver in a Honda collided with a Ferrari driven by Bieber.)

The Young Outlawz admit to smoking Tupac Shakur ashes mixed with marijuana in 1996 (Daily News) 

(When Tupac Shakur was cremated following his 1996 death, his ashes weren't kept in an urn on someone's mantle. The rapper's former group, The Young Outlawz, claim that they smoked Shakur's ashes because that was his wishes, based on the lyrics of one of his songs.)

Stanley Cup dented after toppling from table during ceremonies in Newfoundland (Yahoo Canada) 

(The storied Stanley Cup is sporting a new dent today after toppling from a table in Newfoundland. The silver trophy was being readied for a helicopter flight from St. John's to Bonavista, the hometown of former Boston Bruin Michael Ryder, when it fell over.)

Woman pays $180 for wooden iPad (it's fake) (CNET) 

(One's presence in a McDonald's parking lot tends to signify one's enthusiasm to spend a dollar on something that might get one through the afternoon. Ashley McDowell, from Spartanburg, S.C., however, appears to have managed to spend $180 on something that might heat her living room for part of an evening.)

Thieves make historic mistake after stealing museum’s fake rhino horns (Bucks Herald) 

(A BREAK-IN at Tring Natural History Museum backfired for thieves in the early hours of Saturday after the £240,000 rhino horns they stole turned out to be replicas. The horns which were on display had been switched for fake ones by museum staff, following similar thefts across Europe.)

Man Sues NY Strip Club for $28K Bar Tab (Fox DC) 

(They apparently don't call it the Hustler Club for nothing. A man is suing the New York club after saying he ended up with a mysterious $28,000 bar tab during a single visit earlier this year, the New York Post reported Tuesday. W.A. Ilg says he went to the nightspot May 24 -- and doesn't remember much of what happened after that.)

(SUBMITTED BY: @tigger1972)

German city of Bonn taxes prostitutes with meter (BBC) 

(The German city of Bonn has installed a meter to tax prostitutes for soliciting on its streets at a rate of six euros (£5.30; $8.70) per night. Those who fail to pay face fines or even a ban, and 264 euros were found in the meter when it was first emptied, according to AFP news agency. Tax has been levied on prostitutes elsewhere but Bonn is the first city to use a meter, a spokeswoman said.)

(SUBMITTED BY: @fitzman73)

If he hadn't been naked, cops might not have found raccoon (MSNBC) 

(NASCAR fans got an eyeful over the weekend in Bristol, Tenn., when they spotted a man streaking across a busy parking lot near the track. Police said they arrested Joshua Greene, 27, from Parkersburg, W.Va., for streaking through the lot off Route 394 Saturday afternoon.)

Oops! Electronic tag put on offender's false leg (News Lite) 

(Security bosses have been left red-faced after it was revealed they'd put a electronic tag on an offender's false leg. This meant 29-year-old Christopher Lowcock was able to break a court-imposed curfew simply by leaving his leg at home.)

Teen, 15, robs 73-year-old man of 7 cents, gets 2-6 years in prison, felony record (CBS News) 

(A 15-year-old Syracuse boy will now spend the next two to six years in juvenile detention and the rest of his life as a felon. It was all for a robbery that earned him only pocket change. Anthony Stewart was found guilty of first-degree robbery earlier this month for beating and kicking a 73-year-old man and robbing him of seven cents. Prosecutors say the victim was on his way to a store last December when the two teenagers ran up from behind, knocked him into a snow bank, then kicked and punched him. The two teens had handguns, which Stewart later admitted were BB guns, prosecutors said.)

World's Heaviest Mom Donna Simpson Going On Diet (Huffington Post) 

(Donna Simpson, the heaviest woman ever to bear children, may be throwing away her fame by losing the weight that got her there. Yes, she's going on a diet.)

Massage Parlor Mistrial Declared After Masseuse Recognizes Defense Lawyer as Client (ABA Journal) 

(A Chicago federal judge declared a mistrial last week in a sex-trafficking prosecution after a masseuse who worked for the defendant and testified for the prosecution recognized the defense lawyer as a client. After stepping down from the stand, masseuse Liudmyla Ksenych told prosecutors she recognized defense lawyer Douglas Rathe, report the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune.)

Sky Harbor worker gets trapped under baggage carousel (AZ Central) 

(A Phoenix maintenance worker became trapped in a conveyor belt under a baggage carousel at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Tuesday morning. The man is believed to be a maintenance employee who was working beneath the baggage carousel area in Terminal 2 where passengers pick up their luggage. The man sustained multiple injuries but is in stable condition and was taken to a hospital.)

The bear who dared: Awesome polar animal descends 300ft cliff in a bid to scavenge eggs from some VERY surprised birds (Daily Mail) 

(For birds nesting on a precarious cliff, the last visitor they might expect to see would be a hulking polar bear clambering down to join them. Yet this bulky beast somehow managed to descend a craggy precipice in Russia’s remote Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya. The young male risked life and limb scavenging for eggs along the 300ft-high rock face thronged with hundreds of squawking Brunnich's Guillemots.)

Man in domestic dispute decapitates self (MSNBC) 

(A Chicago man who quickly accelerated a sport utility vehicle with a cable around his neck decapitated himself after a domestic dispute in Yorktown, authorities said Tuesday. York-Poquoson Sheriff Danny Diggs said a deputy responding to a call of a domestic disturbance Tuesday was taking a statement from the man's ex-wife when another deputy driving by noticed an SUV pulling a utility trailer that was on fire. Authorities say the man started the fire.)

Asteroid Named After Teen Who Saw It (Fox New York) 

(A British teenager spoke of her delight Tuesday after having an asteroid she discovered during a summer internship named after her. Hannah Blyth, 18, was working alongside astronomers at the University of Glamorgan in south Wales when she spotted the chunk of rock the size of a large building hurtling through space 300 million miles (480 million km) from Earth.)

Couple threatened with fine over noisy four-year-old son (The Telegraph) 

(Simon and Pippa Lansdell have been sent a letter by Hull City Council warning if further complaints are made about their 4-year-old son Alfie, they could be served with a noise abatement notice. They could then be fined up to 5,000 pounds and have to pay a further 500 pounds a day if the noise still doesn't stop.)

Father charged after throwing crying son overboard on tour boat (CNN) 

(A Southern California man allegedly hit his crying 7-year-old son and then threw him off on a tour boat in busy Newport Harbor, Orange County, authorities said Tuesday. Sloane Briles, 35, of Irvine, California, has been charged with felony child endangerment and resisting arrest, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said. He was released Monday in lieu of a $100,000 bond.)

Shure Gives On-Air Voice to Kevin Smith for Bi-Coastal Smodcast Internet Radio Podcasts (InfoComm IQ) 

(Shure Incorporated today announced that the production engineering team behind SModcast Internet Radio (SIR) selected Shure’s industry-proven SM27 Multi-Purpose and 55SH Series II Unidyne® Vocal microphones for use in its weekly “Jay & Silent Bob Get Old” and “Plus One Per Diem” broadcasts. Offering reliable and unparalleled speech and vocal performance, the Shure microphones play a critical role in bringing live shows to stage as well as live broadcasts and studio-recorded radio podcasts, or “SModcasts,” to air. Hosted by Kevin Smith and respective co-hosts Jason Mewes and Jen Schwalbach, the shows entertain an average of 300,000 nationwide listeners per week.)

For Sale: Batmobile. Low Miles, Runs Great (Wired.com) 

(The Batmobile is for sale. Not the Batmobile, but a faithful reproduction built by racer and builder Casey Putsch. He’s listed it on eBay and through his website. Putsch’s Batmobile, inspired by the vehicle from the 1989 Tim Burton film Batman, runs on a military surplus helicopter engine that produces 365 horsepower. The engine takes on jet fuel, kerosene, or diesel. An iPad 2 — with the Wayne Enterprises logo as wallpaper, of course — sits next to the dashboard. The odometer shows just 1,989 miles.)

'Dark Knight Rises': The Return Of The Batcave?‎ (MTV) 

(A crucial part of the Batman mythos is the Batcave. Hidden underground with a secret entrance located in Wayne Manor, the Dark Knight’s hideout was rendered inaccessible in the first Christopher Nolan Bat-film, “Batman Begins,” but could possibly be making a return in “The Dark Knight Rises.” Yesterday, Latino Review played Batman, doing some pretty solid detective work based on clues found around the internet. The most interesting among these were the fact that everyone’s favorite Welsh news source, Wales Online reported that a waterfall in Brecon Beacons was standing in as the entrance to the Batcave.)

Holy wardrobe change, Batman! (Market Place) 

(DC Comics gives Caped Crusader, Superman, and other superheroes a makeover. New looks and new storylines are meant to attract a new generation of comic book fans.)

Is Audrey Hepburn the key to stopping the obesity epidemic? (Daily Mail) 

(Audrey Hepburn, iconic star of Breakfast At Tiffany’s, was renowned for her waif-like figure. But her sylph-like beauty masked a lifetime of poor health which culminated in her death at only 63. Now, a leading scientist suggests that her genes were fundamentally altered through suffering starvation as a teenager in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.)

Even 15 mins. of exercise a day can add years to life, study finds, bolstering other research (Yahoo Canada) 

(Don't despair if you can't fit in the recommended 30 minutes of daily exercise. Growing evidence suggests that even half that much can help. It's still no excuse to slack off. Regular exercise strengthens muscles, reduces the risk of some diseases and promotes mental well-being. The more exercise, the better.)

Panda Poop May Be a Treasure Trove of Microbes for Making Biofuels (Science Daily) 

(Panda feces contains bacteria with potent effects in breaking down plant material in the way needed to tap biomass as a major new source of "biofuels" produced not from corn and other food sources, but from grass, wood chips and crop wastes, scientists reported in Denver at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society )

Attack of the Monsanto Superinsects (Mother Jones) 

(Over the past decade and a half, as Monsanto built up its globe-spanning, multi-billion-dollar genetically modified seed empire, it made two major pitches to farmers. The first involved weeds. Leave the weed management to us, Monsanto insisted. We've engineered plants that can survive our very own herbicide. Just pay up for our patented, premium-priced seeds, spray your fields with our Roundup herbicide whenever the fancy strikes, and—voilà!—no more weeds.)

Video game competition, not violence, could be culprit in aggression, study says (USA Today) 

(The competitive nature of some video games -- not the violence in them -- that leads to aggression, a new study suggests. This offers a twist on the typical research finding that violent games may increase aggressive behavior in some players. A pair of experiments conducted at Brock University in Canada found that head-to-head fighting games such as Mortal Kombat and racing games could make players more aggressive than gruesome titles such as the zombie-killing game Left 4 Dead.)

"Electronic Nose" Smells Heart Failure (Azo Sensors) 

(A research team in Germany has developed an "electronic nose" for "smelling" heart failure. The nose is part of a novel non-invasive method for early detection of heart failure.)

Young women are 'power users' of social media sites (CNN) 

(People keep on flocking to sites like Facebook and Twitter, and young women are leading the way. The percentage of Internet users who are on social-networking sites continues to climb, according to a survey released Friday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.)

Check Out These New Windows 8 Features and Screenshots (Tech LandE) 

(As we wait for Windows 8 to amble its way into the market, we'll be fed teaser posts and screenshots for what seems like an eternity. That's all part of the fun, though. On that note, Microsoft's Building Windows 8 blog recently took the wraps off of the upcoming operating system's revamped "Windows Explorer" features—you know, the boxes with all the folders.)

Addiction? Video games crowded out man's real life (SMH) 

(At the height of what he calls his addiction, Ryan Van Cleave would stand in the grocery store checkout line with his milk and bread and baby food for his little girls and for a split second think he was living inside a video game. It sounds crazy, but it's true: something would catch his attention out of the corner of his eye — maybe another shopper would make a sudden move for a chocolate bar — and he was mentally and emotionally transported to another world. World of Warcraft, to be exact.)

Baby-Killing Python Slated to Help Train Army Rangers (Time) 

(Do you find this unsettling? A python that killed a 2-year-old Florida girl in 2009 will now be used in training at Eglin Air Force Base. The 8-foot, 6-inch python, named Gypsy, has lived at the Camp Rudder snake house since shortly after the incident. The albino Burmese python now will be used in swamp training at ranger camp.)

Does Drug Testing the Poor Do Anything to Reduce Addiction? (Time) 

(In one of the most emailed articles this week on TIME.com, legal columnist Adam Cohen questions the constitutionality and financial benefit of a new Florida law that requires welfare applicants to take a drug test for eligibility. The legal issues aside, I would also ask, Is this a policy that promotes health or reduces addiction?)

China's Latest Crackdown Targets the Internet—and Katy Perry (Time) 

(Another day, another crackdown in China. This time the country's raucous virtual community, with 485 million Internet users, is feeling the heat. State censors have always policed what appears on the domestic social media sites that have flourished even as Western sites like Facebook and Twitter have been blocked. But various new rules are throwing up further complications. Earlier this month, a top Chinese Communist Party official admonished domestic microblog service Weibo to promote the “Internet's healthy development,” which China-watcher Russell Leigh Moses sees as “code words for staying away from topics which attack the rule of the Communist Party or hold officials up for public ridicule.”)

Travelers Charged $1,000 a Night by Hotel in Irene’s Wake (Time) 

(While Hurricane Irene didn’t do as much damage to major cities like New York as forecasters had feared, some unlucky travelers found that the storm packed a hefty wallop to their wallets, thanks to some hotels that saw the storm as an opportunity to rake in some extra cash. The New York Daily News is reporting that the Hotel Le Bleu in Brooklyn jacked up their usual $250 rate to nearly $1,000. Stranded travelers may have felt like they had no other choice, but a Hotel Le Bleu employee who wouldn’t give her name was unsympathetic when contacted by the paper, telling them, “If you can pay, then it’s on you.”)

World's Most Liveable Cities: U.S. Fails to Make Top 10 (Time) 

(You had better fear the mass exodus from Vancouver, B.C., now that the city has fallen from its perch atop a worldwide most livable city list. But where should everyone up and move to? Australia, for sure (and certainly not anywhere in the United States). Melbourne takes over the top spot in the annual Economist Intelligence Unit's 2011 Global Livability Survey, dropping the crown jewel of Canada all the way to third. And there is nary an American city on the top 10 list.)

A Teacher Is Back in Class After Anti-Gay Diatribe, but Did He Really Win? (Time) 

(Jerry Buell is back in the classroom, as he should be. Or, perhaps, shouldn't be. Buell, 54, a devout Baptist, family man and veteran teacher of American history at public Mount Dora High School in central Florida, might as well be the faculty heavy in an episode of Glee: this summer, he set off a national First Amendment fracas by announcing on Facebook that gay marriage is a "cesspool" that makes him vomit and mocks God. Buell's employer, the Lake County School District, removed him from the classroom last week for the first three days of the new school year, pending an investigation of the Facebook comments, then reinstated him on Aug. 25 presumably because it realized his speech in this case was protected. But though he prevailed, his rant may backfire socially by helping to plant homophobia more firmly alongside racism and sexism on the nation's roster of hate speech.)

Study could identify bear that killed hiker (Billings Gazette) 

(Clues to the identity of the grizzly bear that killed a Yellowstone National Park hiker last week may be revealed in a study to be conducted this fall. The Inter-agency Grizzly Bear Study Team will begin trapping bears in the Hayden Valley as part of its research starting Wednesday and continuing to Oct. 20. Major access points to any areas utilized for trapping and research will be posted with signs closing the area to the public.)

Malaysia brushes off bird flu warning (Herald Sun) 

(MALAYSIA has brushed off a warning by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) about a resurgence of the deadly bird flu virus and a new mutant strain. Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai was quoted in the New Straits Times today as saying that the country remained vigilant about the H5N1 virus but no new cases had been reported. "The public should not worry. We will let them know about the latest developments on the virus," he was quoted as saying.)

Bus Stops - August 30

'Lost' star Matthew Fox allegedly punched woman in breast, report says (Herald Sun) 

(LOST star Matthew Fox was detained by police for allegedly punching a woman in the breast and "stomach area" after she tried to block him from crashing a private bachelor party on a bus in Maryland, TMZ reported Monday. Heather Bormann, the bus driver chauffeuring the mobile festivities, said Fox appeared intoxicated when he sought entry to the chartered coach Saturday night without an invite.)

Driver injured as Belfast bus overturns (Guardian) 

(A bus driver was seriously injured when his vehicle fell on its side outside Belfast's Central station, Northern Ireland's state transport company said. Thirty passengers were hurt the incident on Sunday afternoon, but none suffered life-threatening injuries. The public transport operator Translinksaid fire crews had to cut the driver out of the bus as it lay on its side on Albert Bridge Road.)

(SUBMITTED BY: Seraph1337)

Owner of stolen limo bus upset over malicious act ‎(AM 1150) 

(An emotional time for the owner of Sun Valley Limousine in Kelowna after someone stole his tour bus and drove it into Okanagan Lake. Mike Heibert really isn't sure what to do after the malicious act, but one thing is certain, during peak season for his company, he's going to lose a lot of business.)

Child mistakenly rides school bus ‎(ABC News) 

(The first week of school got off to a frightening start for a Fayetteville mother whose 6-year-old, first-grade son mistakenly rode the school bus home. "I'm not mad, I'm more scared because that's my baby," mother Monique Mackey said. "That's all I got, that's what I live for." Mackey said her son has wanted to ride the school bus, "but me being the protective mom, no, I'll drop you off. So, this time I will let him go and my biggest fear has come true.")

Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law could be tested in bus stop stabbing case ‎(Marco News) 

(Florida’s self-defense law could be tested in the case of a former Palmetto Ridge High School student accused of fatally stabbing a classmate. Donald Day, the lawyer for 15-year-old Jorge Saavedra, is expected to file a motion Tuesday claiming Saavedra is protected against prosecution on a manslaughter charge by the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law. Saavedra is charged as a juvenile in the stabbing death of Dylan Nuno, 16, at a Golden Gate bus stop in January.)

Gwinnett considers cameras to catch bus stop violators ‎(CBS Atlanta) 

(Georgia's largest school district is considering installing cameras on school buses to catch drivers who go around the buses as children are loading or unloading. "It's a serious problem," said school spokesman Jorge Quintana. "The safety of our students is a top priority." Gwinnett Police told CBS Atlanta they handed out 29 citations in a two-week period since school started.)

9 injured in school bus crash (Miami Herald) 

(Authorities say nine people were injured when a Tampa Bay area school bus and several other vehicles collided. Largo Fire Rescue says the bus and four other vehicles were involved in a chain-reaction crash Monday morning. No children were on the bus at the time of the collision.)

School Bus Driver Finds BB Gun in Student's Backpack (WSAZ) 

(A student was removed from a school bus after a BB gun was found inside his backpack.
It happened a little after 3 p.m. Monday. Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless says a Fairland School District bus driver immediately took possession of the gun and called the principal.)

Austrian cops:30 illegal immigrants in Greek bus (Taiwan News) 

(Austrian police say they have found 30 illegal immigrants in a Greek tourist bus, most of them hidden in the vehicle's false floor. They say 20 people were stacked in that space and two more in another hiding place built into the bus. Seven others were among passengers riding in seats while one was in the driver's sleeping cabin.)

Pa. man charged again for putting ribs in pants (Sacramento Bee) 

(A central Pennsylvania man has been charged for a second time with trying to steal a rack of ribs by shoving them down his pants. Carlisle police tell The Sentinel newspaper that 65-year-old Donald Noone tried to hide about $20 worth of ribs in his pants on Sunday. Police say he attempted to pull the same stunt on May 22 at a supermarket and pleaded guilty to retail theft and public drunkenness.)

Lynden man causes explosion after igniting gasoline-soaked beehive (Bellingham Herald) 

(A Lynden man dumped gasoline on a beehive that was in a tree and then ignited it Sunday night, Aug. 28, causing an explosion in the suburban neighborhood that could be seen from a few hundred feet away. The man lit the hive on fire about 8:30 p.m. in retaliation for a bee sting one of his friends got earlier that day at the house on Twin Sister Loop, said Lynden Fire Chief Gary Baar.)

Girls get caught for late-night goat walk (Mankato Free Press) 

(A couple of young rustlers attempted to use their imagination to escape the long arm of the law Saturday, but after about an hour of story telling they eventually learned they’d made a baaaaad decision. A Mankato resident called 911 at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday to report two very young girls, who turned out to be under the age of 10, were walking along Carney Avenue north of Riverfront Drive. They were in their pajamas and had a goat with them, the caller said.)

Rare fortune teller discovered in ghost town prompts big offers from Copperfield, collectors ‎(Yahoo) 

(The Gypsy sat for decades in a restaurant amid the Old West kitsch that fills this former gold rush town, her unblinking gaze greeting the tourists who shuffled in from the creaking wooden sidewalk outside. Some mistook her for Zoltar, the fortune-telling machine featured in the Tom Hanks movie "Big." Others took one look at those piercing eyes and got the heebie-jeebies so bad they couldn't get away fast enough.)

Golfer Mistaken For Clown Charged With DWI In NY (Huffington Post) 

(The fashion police couldn't arrest him, but a man mistaken for a clown still got in trouble with the law. A Massachusetts man whose colorful golf attire was briefly mistaken for a clown outfit has been charged in New York with driving a golf cart while drunk.)

Children sue mom for ‘bad mothering’ – and lose (Globe and Mail) 

(Steven Miner II, now 23, and his sister Kathryn, now 20, have spent two years hounding their mom, seeking more than $50,000 for “intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.” One of the lawyers representing them was their father, who is also Ms. Garrity’s ex-husband. The list of purported wrongdoings was extensive: The daughter spoke of a mother who haggled over the price of party dresses and had the audacity to call a midnight curfew during her homecoming celebration. The son complained of a dearth of care packages when he was in college.)

Teen tells of fight with killer polar bear ‎(Yahoo) 

(A 16-year-old boy mauled in a fatal polar bear attack in the Norwegian Arctic told of his ordeal for the first time Sunday, saying he thought he was going to die as the beast chewed his head. Patrick Flinders was left disfigured in the August 5 attack on the island of Spitsbergen, when a 250-kilogramme (550-pound) male polar bear entered the camp site of 13 young Britons who were on a five-week expedition.)

Running of bulls considered in Phoenix suburb‎ (Sacramento Bee) 

(A Pamplona, Spain-style running of the bulls is being considered in a Phoenix suburb, but it would have to take place without the town's support.)

86-year-old Arizona man survives after eye socket impaled with pruning shears (Washington Post) 

(Hospital officials say an 86-year-old Arizona man is lucky to be alive after he accidentally impaled himself with pruning shears. University Medical Center said Monday that Leroy Luetscher of Green Valley was working in his yard on July 30 when he dropped a pair of pruning shears, which landed point-side down in the ground.)

Freedom For Yvonne, Germany's Runaway Cow: Search Is Called Off (NPR) 

(The search for Yvonne, the six-year-old cow that dashed to freedom just before she was to be transported to a slaughterhouse in southern Germany, has been called off. The cow has become a star, drawing international attention to Zangberg, the Bavarian commune where she made her escape.)

Town mints own money to fight austerity (Reuters) 

(A small town in central Italy is trying to go independent and mint its own money in protest at government austerity cuts. Filettino, set in rugged hill country around 100 km (65 miles) east of Rome, is rebelling against a proposal to merge the governments of towns with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants to save money.)

President told aliens are on earth (Daily Telegraph) 

(EX US President Eisenhower was briefed about the presence of extraterrestrial intelligent beings on Earth and was invited to meet alien visitors. Henry W. McElroy, Jr, retiring State Representative to New Hampshire, declared this week that former US President Eisenhower was briefed about the presence of extraterrestrial intelligent beings on Earth.)

Woman Arrested at LAX With Birds Taped to Her Body (Red Eye Chicago) 

(A passenger at LAX was arrested after airport security screeners found some very unusual carry-on items. The woman, bound for China, was taken into custody U.S. Fish and Wildlife after screeners discovered several bright yellow birds taped to her arm and leg. Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, said the birds appeared to be in good shape after being separated from the passenger.)

Sebastian Bach's Home Destroyed by Hurricane Irene (People) 

(Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach is reeling from the loss of his New Jersey home due to flooding and damage caused by hurricane Irene. "I am numb, in shock, & devastated to report that my home of 21 years … has been destroyed, condemned, & deemed uninhabitable," the rocker posted on Facebook Sunday along with a picture of the damage.)

Motorcyclist's neck cut by wire (CBC) 

(A motorcyclist was rushed to a Toronto hospital after slicing his neck on a piece of wire strung across a road on Sunday. Humayun Kobir, 26, was riding in the Warden Avenue and St. Clair Avenue area at about 4 p.m. when he rode into the wire. A bystander called for help and Kobir was rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital with serious injuries. He was released from hospital on Monday.)

Kevin Smith Names His Two-Part Films: ‘Hit Somebody: Home’ & ‘Away’; Wants Part 2 To Be R-Rated (Indie Wire) 

(So, here’s a minor update from the world of Kevin Smith. Remember a couple of weeks ago when he announced plans that his forthcoming hockey movie (and presumably final film) “Hit Somebody” was now going be a two part epic? Well, Smith has now named those two parts so brace yourselves: “Hit Somebody: Home” and “Hit Somebody: Away.” Shocking titles for a movie about sports, we know. Not only that, he plans somewhat bizarrely for the first half to be PG-13 and the second half to be R, guaranteeing that any teenager who digs the first movie will be cock-blocked from seeing the second one for some reason.)

Holy History! Adam West and Burt Ward Celebrate 45 Years of "Batman"‎ (NBC) 

(This info may just hit you with a POW!: the classic “Batman” TV series of the ‘60s is celebrating its 45thanniversary.)

Morgan Freeman Arrives on The Dark Knight Rises L.A. Set (Movie Web) 

(Director Christopher Nolan has moved his cast and crew to Los Angeles to continue shooting on The Dark Knight Rises. Spotted on set for the first time was Morgan Freeman, who reprises his role as Lucius Fox. We have photos of the actor on-set. The scenes being shot are rumored to involve Tom Hardy as Bane and Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate, as Lucius gets in the way of a Tumbler theft. Check out the first Los Angeles set photos below.)

Batman Movie Producer Sued by Assistant in Sexual Harassment Case‎ (Job Mouse) 

(A California state jury awarded the famous movie producer Jon Peters, former assistant $3.3 million on Friday, ruling that she was subject to sever and pervasive sexual harassment while employed by the Hollywood producer. Peters produced celebrated movies including The Color Purple, Batman and Rain Man.)

THE BAT SIGNAL: Jenkins Suits Up with "The Dark Knight"‎ (Comic Book Resources) 

(When DC Comics first announced a new Batman series, "Batman: The Dark Knight," written and drawn by Marvel Comics superstar David Finch, many wondered what they should expect from the "New Avengers" artist. While the 2010 series started off strong, "The Dark Knight" soon ran afoul of scheduling problems, skipping months to come out successively later and later. When DC announced its company-wide relaunch this year, many had doubts that "The Dark Knight" would be returning, let alone be able to finish its initial story.)

The Subway-Riding Dogs of Moscow‎ (Oddity Central) 

(Everyone knows dogs are some of the most intelligent animals on Earth, but the stray canines in Moscow have really impressed scientists with their metro-riding routines. Every day, the dogs living on the outskirts of Russia’s capital jump on the tube all the way to the city center, the best place to scavenge for foods.)

Lee Cronin: 'Aliens could be made from iron'‎ (The Guardian) 

(Lee Cronin is the Gardiner professor of chemistry at the University of Glasgow. He also runs the Cronin Group, which is involved in work to "construct complex functional molecular architectures that are not based on biologically derived building blocks". Earlier this year, he gave a talk at TEDGlobal in Edinburgh.)

Exploding star to be visible from Earth within a fortnight (Xenophilius) 

(The most visible exploding star in a generation will be visible in skies above Britain within a fortnight, Oxford University astronomers have announced. The supernova, triggered by the collapse of a star 21 million light years away from Earth, began on Tuesday and could soon be bright enough to see through a pair of binoculars. The cosmic event, observed by Oxford scientists and American colleagues, is one of the closest stellar explosions to Earth since 1987, and is the nearest example of its type to be seen from Earth in 40 years.)

"Time Cells" In the Brain Keep Track of Events, Firing As Time Goes By (Popular Science) 

(Whether we’re engrossed in an activity or the alarm clock simply fails to chime, we’ve all been in situations when we say we’ve lost track of time. But our brains have not really lost track at all. A specific group of cells in the brain’s memory center is encoding for the passage of time, researchers report. These “time cells” are key to our perception of sequences of events.)

Study: Bilingual environment aids babies' language capacity (Fox News) 

(Young children raised in bilingual homes have a greater ability to prolong their capacity to learn languages compared to other children, according to a study released Monday. Earlier studies have shown that children have a special capacity for learning a second language, but this ability begins to disappear about when they have their first birthday. This latest research concluded, however, that children raised in bilingual households prolong the time during which they are especially sensitive to learning a second language.)

Astronauts May Have to Abandon Space Station (Time) 

(Astronauts may need to take the unprecedented step of temporarily abandoning the International Space Station if last week's Russian launch accident prevents new crews from flying there this fall.)

Apple Puts New CEO Tim Cook's Tenure on Timetable (Time) 

(How long will Apple's Tim Cook sit on Apple's CEO throne? Probably through the midpoint of 2021, according to the board of directors, who made the move last Friday to lock Cook in with one million shares of restricted company stock. Half of those shares are scheduled to vest between August 24, 2016 and August 24, 2021—so long as Cook continues to be employed by the Cupertino-based company.)

College Is First in the U.S. to Ask Applicants About Sexual Orientation (Time) 

(This year, when prospective students apply to Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Ill., they will be asked for a little more personal information than usual. The small liberal arts school, located west of Chicago, has become the first in the nation to add a question about sexual orientation to its college application. The question, which asks, "Would you consider yourself to be a member of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community?", appears in a list of optional questions on the 2012-13 application for enrollment. In response, students may choose to answer yes or no, or mark "prefer not to answer.")

Why Kids Should Stay Out of the Boxing Ring (Time) 

(An estimated 18,000 children and teens are involved in amateur boxing, but a new policy statement from the American Association of Pediatrics says that the risk of both chronic and acute brain injury is simply too high and that children should be encouraged to pursue other sports, like swimming, soccer and basketball.)

Mind Reading: How Pleasure Works (Time) 

(How does the brain create the experience of joy and desire? That's the subject of David Linden's new book, The Compass of Pleasure. A professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Linden studies memory. But here, he explores the basis of craving, addiction and satisfaction.)

Twin Boy Dies After Parents Deny Him Water for Wetting His Bed (The Stir) 

(If you're having a perfectly nice post-Irene Monday afternoon, then I suggest you don't read any further. Because this disturbing story is gonna stick with you for days. It's recently been revealed that a 10-year-old Texas boy, Jonathan James, died in July because his father and step-mother deprived him of water for five whole days in the midst of a 100+ degree heat wave.)

Post-Irene alligator found in Gloucester Township (News Works) 

(Hurricane Irene had come and gone by 1:45 p.m. Sunday, but she unearthed a few things while she was here. One of them was a 2-foot-long alligator in Gloucester Township.)

Bus Stops - August 29

German boy trapped in bus after driver forgets him (Toronto Sun) 

(An eight-year-old boy was inadvertently locked inside a school bus for more than 12 hours on a steamy hot day in the eastern German town of Cottbus after the driver forgot about him, German daily Bild reported on Friday. The boy got on the bus at his home in the morning but did not show up for school. After dropping the children off, the bus driver returned to the bus company’s transport lot but did not notice that the one young passenger was still on board.)

Bus-truck collision in China kills 17, injures 17 (Sacramento Bee) 

(A Chinese news agency says a collision between a bus loaded with migrant workers and a truck has killed 17 people. Xinhua News Agency says 17 other people were injured in the crash early Sunday near Zhangjiakou, a city northwest of Beijing.)

New Ads on Portland Buses Will Encourage Critical Thinking About Israel (Salem News) 

(Activists in Portland, Oregon say they are optimistic that a powerful new message on public transportation vehicles supporting equal Human Rights in the Israeli occupation of Palestine, will help citizens of Portland become informed and aware of the need for change in American policy with Israel. It is not a distant problem, in fact it is closer to home than it seems, according to Friends of Sabeel – North America.)

Dana Delaney asked for autograph after bus crash (Winnipeg Free Press) 

(Dana Delaney was asked for her autograph by a bus driver seconds after she crashed into her. The former 'Desperate Housewives' star's car was struck by the public transport vehicle while driving in California just days before starting her new role on 'Body of Proof', but the over-enthusiastic driver seemed to forget she had just been hit by him when he got out to attend to her.)

Bus driver changed lives while navigating poor neighborhoods (Las Vegas Review Journal) 

(The city bus rolled to a stop downtown and exhaled its morning passengers. The diesel-belching beast paused before resuming its morning run to allow a teenage girl to cross the street.For two years, the bus and the young woman arrived at the corner most mornings at approximately the same time. And each morning the driver smiled and waved -- and held up traffic to ensure the pedestrian's safety as she made her way to her job at the federal building.)

Overfilled Hollywood tour buses feel the weight of the law (LA Times) 

(Los Angeles police say that some of the vehicles taking paying customers to celebrity-packed neighborhoods are too heavy for residential streets.)

Police Blotter: Bus Fans Made Caller Suspicious‎ (Hillcrest Patch) 

(A suspicious person was near the tennis courts on Wilson Mills Road at 11:18 a.m. Aug. 21 in a car that looked like a police car but wasn't. Police said the driver and another man said they were walking and taking pictures of buses because they are bus enthusiasts. Police advised them to leave.)

VMA WINNERS:
Video of the Year: Katy Perry – "Firework"
Best New Artist: Tyler, The Creator, "Yonkers"
Best Male Video: Justin Bieber, "U Smile"
Best Female Video: Lady Gaga, "Born This Way"
Best Hip-Hop Video: Nicki Minaj, "Super Bass"
Best Pop Video: Britney Spears, "Till The World Ends"
Best Rock Video: Foo Fighters, "Walk"
Best Collaboration: Katy Perry feat. Kanye West, "E.T."
Best Video With a Message: Lady Gaga, "Born This Way"
Best Choreography: Beyonce, "Run The World (Girls)"
Best Editing: Adele, "Rolling in the Deep"
Best Special Effects: Katy Perry feat. Kanye West, "E.T."
Best Cinematography: Adele, "Rolling in the Deep"
Best Art Direction: Adele, "Rolling in the Deep"
Best Direction: Adele, "Rolling in the Deep"

‘The Help’ Tops Box Office for Second Weekend (Bloomberg) 

(The civil rights-era drama “The Help” remained No. 1 for a second weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters, taking in $14.3 million for Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios SKG.)

George Lucas' daughter tries to star in martial-arts wars (CNET) 

(Who needs a lightsaber when you can kick, punch, and twist the living daylights out of your enemy? This seems to be the charming ethos of Mixed Martial Arts. It is one that is being espoused by "Star Wars" creator George Lucas' daughter, Amanda. I am grateful to the hard-working informants at Yahoo Sports, who have mined the depths of their metier to bring me news of Amanda "Powerhouse" Lucas' latest attempt to skywalk in the world of MMA.)

Care home staff placed bets on patient's death (The Local) 

(Three workers at a nursing home in Växjö in south central Sweden have been sacked after they were discovered to have placed bets on when one of the patients would die.)

Twelve-Year-Old's Green Tea Stand Shut Down in Massachusetts (Forbes) 

(Well it’s not exactly lemonade but it’ll do. Christopher Carr’s twelve-year-old stepson had set up a smoothie and green-tea stand near their house when they moved back to the States after the earthquake in Japan. After they’d set up shop, Christopher took his daughter back inside to get some lunch, leaving his son to manage things at the stand.)

Vampire-themed cruise planned for Southeast Alaska (ABC News) 

(A week-long vampire convention on a cruise ship that will feature a vampire ball and costume contest is planned for scenic Southeast Alaska next summer. Holland America’s cruise ship Zuiderdam will be the setting for the event scheduled for late June.)

UFO Sightings Increase 67 Percent In 3 Years (Huffington Post) 

Unemployment, gas prices, and fear over global warming aren't the only things skyrocketing -- so are mysterious objects rocketing through the sky. The Mutual UFO Network -- the largest privately funded UFO research organization in the world -- tells The Huffington Post that more people than ever are reporting unidentified flying objects, mostly in the United States and Canada.)

The mystery of Mopey Dick: Why is whale lethargic? (AP) 

(Is a killer whale in northwest Washington's San Juan Islands behaving lethargically because she was hit by a boat — or is she just pregnant? National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman Brian Gorman said his agency was investigating a report that the whale had been hit by a private boat Friday.)

Pair Arrested For ‘Lack Of Common Sense’(CBS Philly) 

(Row, row, row your boat, just not down Main Street in Manayunk. That’s the message police are sending after arresting two men who used a raft as an alternate means of transportation down a flooded street Sunday morning. CBS 3 reporter Dray Clark caught up with Pete and Pat, best friends and roommates from Manayunk, who paddled their way down the water covered street. )

Costco can't move "I slipped on a slurpee" lawsuit (AP) 

(A 74-year-old woman who said she was injured after falling in a Costco store in Florida beat back the retailer's effort to move the case to that state because it was too much trouble to defend itself in New York. Theresa Danza sued Costco in her hometown of Brooklyn, New York, claiming she was hospitalized for spinal and shoulder trauma and needed months of treatment by a chiropractor after a tumble in a Costco in North Miami, Florida, on Jan. 24, 2009.)

Angler fishes out Minnesota woman's prosthetic leg (Eagle Herald) 

(A woman who lost her prosthetic leg while swimming in a western Minnesota lake three years ago has been reunited with the limb thanks to an angler. Beth Krohn was fishing last month on Lake Ida in Alexandria. She says her line kept snagging on something, and that she hoped it wasn't a dead body.)

Racist Goes Berserk at South-County Mall -- Attacks Group with Pickaxe (Riverfront Times) 

(Daily RFT just got off the phone with Lieutenant Karl Bulla with the St. Louis County police department. Bulla was one of the officers responding to the scene Tuesday night involving a racist man chasing teens with a pickaxe and attempting to run over them with his pickup truck.)

Red State’ Review: Kevin Smith’s Statement of Irrelevance (Big Hollywood) 

(I’ve followed Kevin Smith’s career since I was old enough to sneak into Dogma, and I fell out of love with him at about the same as everyone else: the one-two punch of the solipsistic Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back and the maudlin, ill-timed Jersey Girl. What’s funny is how much the rest of Hollywood caught up with Kevin Smith. Even before the raunchy-sweet dude humor of Judd Apatow’s productions took over where Smith’s films left off, Star Wars and Marvel Comics superheroes reemerged in their own ways to national attention and suddenly Smith’s fixations on such nerd culture became a lot less special.)

My Favorite Mistake: Kevin Smith (Daily Beast) 

(I tried to get on a Southwest Airlines flight last year, and it didn’t go too well. I had just done a podcast for the International Bear Rendezvous, which was a big gay get-together for dudes who look like me. It was a fantastic feeling because I was in a room with people who for the first time were sexualizing me. I boarded the plane, and the stewardess showed me to the only available seat on this flight. It was between two petite women. Then a lady from the front desk told me to get off because there were "safety issues." And I said, "Ma’am, please don’t make me leave this plane because you’re saying I’m too fat." After I left, I tweeted about what happened. My mistake was thinking the story was going to be that I caught a lousy corporation that f--ks with people. But instead the story became "fat guy in a little chair.")

Kevin Smith’s ‘Hit Somebody’ Update: First Film Scripted, Both Films Titled (Slash Film) 

(Kevin Smith took to Twitter Friday morning to update his fans on his next and final film, Hit Somebody. Smith recently announced that the hockey film would be released in two parts, ala Kill Bill, and as of today the first script is done and he’s moved on to part two. He’ll call part one Hit Somebody: Home and the second part Hit Somebody: Away referring to the fact that the first film will see the main character Buddy, played by Nicholas Braun, growing up and the second will see him playing pro hockey. Smith’s also aiming for the first part to be rated PG-13 and the second part R. Yes, another PG-13 Kevin Smith movie. There’s more after the jump.I’ve followed Kevin Smith’s career since I was old enough to sneak into Dogma, and I fell out of love with him at about the same as everyone else: the one-two punch of the solipsistic Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back and the maudlin, ill-timed Jersey Girl. What’s funny is how much the rest of Hollywood caught up with Kevin Smith. Even before the raunchy-sweet dude humor of Judd Apatow’s productions took over where Smith’s films left off, Star Wars and Marvel Comics superheroes reemerged in their own ways to national attention and suddenly Smith’s fixations on such nerd culture became a lot less special.)

Why Batman Will Die In 'The Dark Knight Rises' (Ology) 

(Christopher Nolan​'s take on the Batman franchise has had a good run. Batman Begins set a solid stage, The Dark Knight was probably the best comic book film ever made, and most signs point to The Dark Knight Rises being even more epic. The series has also made a pretty hefty amount of cash by riding the Batman train, so why would they hop off after only three stops? It's not like movie studios to stop printing free money. Still, I am certain that The Dark Knight Rises will feature the death of Batman, and I will stake my nonexistant reputation as a ScreenOlogist on it. )

Man comes to aid of struggling cop: 'It was like something out of Batman' (Chicago Tribune) 

(Tom Lashinski was walking his mother's small dog in the North Center neighborhood early Sunday when he noticed two people scuffling in an alley. "It was like something out of Batman ... with Batman jumping into someone and people rolling around and getting up and going back at it.")

Batman returns to the Brecon Beacons (Wales Online) 

(WALES has been revealed as the home of the Batcave, after moviemakers were spotted filming parts of the next blockbuster instalment here. Not content with West Walian Christian Bale playing the title role, the superhero franchise’s Welsh credentials have been further boosted by a Brecon Beacons waterfall doubling for the famous cavern.)

Review: Batman Live, The O2 (Wharf UK) 

(It takes a while for Batman to hit the stage, fully clad in contoured and menacing black. Too long if you're an seven-year-old boy dressed in similar attire, waving your merchandise in the air and shouting his name.But when he arrives, spiralling out the sky to curtail an avaricious Catwoman, he delivers: blows, kicks, thumps, straight-faced messages of doom, redemption and bags of style.)

Batman Arkham City Impressions & Details‎ (Platform Nation) 

(Yesterday, I got a chance to get some hands on time and questions answered about WB’s highly anticipated title, Batman: Arkham City. This was my favorite title that WB had to show here at PAX, followed closely by Lollipop Chainsaw. It’s likely that you already know a fair amount about the game already, so I won’t waste your time with the basic run down. There isn’t a lot that has changed visually in the game since Arkham Asylum (but as the saying goes: if it ain't broke, don’t fix it), however there are some nice changes and additions to the gameplay.)

Tom Hardy Talks about Playing Bane in ‘Dark Knight Rises’ (IB Times) 

(Tom Hardy speaks out on playing the role of "Bane" for "Dark Knight Rises". Total Film got a chance to interview Tom Hardy about his role in Christopher Nolan's latest film. Is he happy playing the muscle bound, mask-wearing villain?)

"Batman" Producer Ordered to Pay $3M in Sex Case (NBC LA) 

(Movie producer Jon Peters was found guilty of sexually harassing a former personal assistant. The producer behind "Batman" and "The Color Purple" was ordered to pay Shelly Morita more than $3 million, Reuters reported Friday.)

Batfest celebrates Austin's famed bridge-dwellers (YNN) 

(t's a scene as unique to Austin as it gets. For nearly 25 years, crowds have gathered on the Ann Richards Bridge to watch more than one million bats wake up and from beneath the bridge in search of food. Batfest: Night of the Bat celebrates this Austin tradition. "We have local vendors of Arts and Crafts food and musicians out here with the bats, it's kind of everything Austin is about all in one location," French Smith with Night of the Bat said.)

'Baby fever' is a real thing -- and not just in women, study claims (MSNBC) 

(They squeal, they scream, they burble and burp -- and according to popular culture (not to mention various episodes of "30 Rock" and "Sex and the City"), nearly every American female over the age of 30 is ga-ga to get their hands on one of them.)

Neanderthal sex boosted immunity in modern humans (CNN) 

(Sexual relations between ancient humans and their evolutionary cousins are critical for our modern immune systems, researchers report in Science journal. Mating with Neanderthals and another ancient group called Denisovans introduced genes that help us cope with viruses to this day, they conclude. )

First Glimpse Into Birth of the Milky Way (Science Daily) 

(For almost 20 years astrophysicists have been trying to recreate the formation of spiral galaxies such as our Milky Way realistically. Now astrophysicists from the University of Zurich present the world's first realistic simulation of the formation of our home galaxy together with astronomers from the University of California at Santa Cruz. The new results were partly calculated on the computer of the Swiss National Supercomputing Center (CSCS) and show, for instance, that there has to be stars on the outer edge of the Milky Way.)

Female chickens have the weirdest birth control method ever (io9) 

(Female chickens are among the most promiscuous members of the animal kingdom, with wild and domestic fowl alike tending to mate with way more males than necessary to fertilize their eggs. But just because they get around doesn't mean these hens aren't selective about who they choose to reproduce with. In fact, recent research shows that female chickens actually practice a pretty reliable method of birth control — but how they do it is as bizarre as it is graphic. )

Eyeborg: Man Films Through His Missing Eye (Sky News) 

(A film-maker who lost his eye during a shooting accident as a child has turned his prosthetic one into a video camera.)

Apple working on a TV set for 2012? (CNET) 

(The latest Apple TV rumor may seem like a rerun, but this one has been updated. The latest iteration of the longstanding rumor is that Apple will get in to the business of selling TVs by building a digital TV based on iOS. That's according to multiple Silicon Valley sources cited by Venture Beat. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told Venture Beat that he predicted Apple would produce a TV set by the end of 2012 or early 2013.)

Can fish oil help curb the epidemic of military suicides? (Time) 

(That's the startling finding in a new study just published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. It links suicides by military personnel to low level of docosahexaenoic acid -- found in fish oil -- and finds that troops with higher levels of DHA in their blood were less likely to take their own lives.)

Is Lady Gaga More Powerful Than Oprah? (Time) 

(Don't blame the Lady for her fame, Oprah. After all, she was just born this way. This week, Forbes released its annual World's Most Powerful Women list, which ranks the women of the world in terms of money, media presence and overall impact.)

Merriam-Webster Dictionary Adds 'Tweet' and 'Bromance' to Latest Edition (Time) 

(The editors of the Merriam-Webster dictionary would like you to know that "cougar" doesn't just refer to an animal. It can also invoke a "middle-aged woman seeking a romantic relationship with a younger man.")

U.K. Man Arrested for Attempted Murder in Riots (Time) 

(Police on Sunday arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder of two Metropolitan Police officers during the height of the London riots earlier in August. The suspect, who has not been named, is suspected of taking part in the early morning attack that left two policemen hospitalized with knee, leg and shoulder injuries.)

Super typhoon leaves at least 13 dead (The Age) 

(Super-typhoon Nanmadol left at least 13 people dead after hitting the Philippines, and the toll is expected to rise as hopes of finding those missing fade, the civil defence chief said today. More than 61,000 people are still evacuated from their homes after Nanmadol, the strongest storm to hit the country this year, lashed the northern edge of the main island of Luzon on the weekend, causing landslides and floods.)

Soldier kills four, found dead in Pennsylvania (Reuters) 

(Pennsylvania authorities hunting for a U.S. soldier accused of killing four people and opening fire on police officers have found the man's body after he apparently took his own life, police said on Sunday. Police and prosecutors said the body they believed to be of Army Capt. Leonard John Egland, 37, of Fort Lee, Virginia, was found behind a vacant business at a major intersection of Warwick Township.)

U.S. accuses Syrian regime of 'targeted' attack on popular cartoonist (CNN) 

(The U.S. State Department got personal in its complaints against the Syrian government Thursday, accusing it of a "targeted, brutal attack" on a popular Syrian political cartoonist, Ali Farzat. Shortly after a cartoon by Farzat depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hitching a ride with outgoing Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi began circulating in Syria, Farzat was reportedly kidnapped by masked men, beaten and thrown unconscious from a van onto a road in Damascus.)

Tropical Storm Irene: Flood Worries And Some Relief In Irene's Wake (Huffington Post) 

(Stripped of hurricane rank, Tropical Storm Irene spent the last of its fury Sunday, leaving treacherous flooding and millions without power – but an unfazed New York and relief that it was nothing like the nightmare authorities feared. Slowly, the East Coast surveyed the damage – up to $7 billion by one private estimate. The center of Irene crossed into Canada late Sunday, but for many the danger had not passed.)

For Virginia town at epicenter of earthquake, near miss by Irene is proof they’re not cursed (Washington Post) 

(Staring out at her shell-shocked congregation Sunday, the Rev. Marian Windel felt the need to reassure her flock that God was not “mad at us in any way.” “For us, this past week has been trying at the least,” the Episcopal minister said, her clear voice echoing off the high-pitched ceiling of the Church of the Incarnation, Mineral’s oldest house of worship. “There was little, if anything, that we could have done to prepare for the earthquake. And who would have thought it would be followed by a hurricane?”)