CHENGDU, China (CNN) — A 60-year-old woman has been found alive after being trapped for 195 hours in the aftermath of the Chinese earthquake. She survived by drinking rainwater and suffered just facial bruises and a minor fracture, The Associated Press reports.
Survivors are still being found against all odds eight days after the devastating quake.
The woman was identified only by her last name Wang, according to Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite Television, AP said. An air force officer, Xie Ling Long, interviewed on the television channel said the woman was conscious when found Tuesday afternoon, AP reported. Wang was apparently trapped in a landslide that swept away a temple in the city of Pengzhou. She was able to initially move, but a later aftershock trapped her between two rocks, according to AP.
Her dramatic discovery came hours after rescue teams pulled two men men from the rubble in Sichuan province. One of the men was found in a mine in Qingchuna county and a second in a hydroelectric plant in Wenchuan county, state-run media reported. They had been buried for six days and 20 hours and seven days and 11 hours, respectively, according to China’s Xinhua news agency. The rescues give a glimmer of hope amid the rising daily death toll.
Official figures show the number dead has risen to 40,075 in the Sichuan province alone. Read the rest of this entry »
another great link from Pop Candy. Who knew there was anything so exhaustive? Go to http://www.shotgunrules.com/ for the official page.
This would have been so helpful growing up.
The Theory
The term “Shotgun” refers to the front passenger seat of an automobile. “Calling Shotgun” is the act of claiming the position of Shotgun for one’s self. As this position is the most coveted of all positions when riding in a car, the following list of rules has been created to ensure that Shotgun can be acquired in a fair and equitable manner by any passenger of an automobile.
The History
The history of calling “Shotgun” goes back to the days of covered wagons and the Wild West. On a trip across the plains, the driver of a wagon would hold the reins of his horse team and concentrate on driving. This left him and the occupants of his wagon susceptible to sneak attacks from bandits and thieves. To avoid this atrocious circumstance it became necessary for one person to sit next to the driver with a shotgun and fend off the enemy.
Defending against bandits is no longer the priority of Shotgun however, but it has evolved into a pre-driving ritual that is experienced before almost every car ride across America and even the world. Because of the obvious evolution that has already occurred with Shotgun, we ask you to consider Shotgun as a living entity and be aware that it is always changing for the better good of society.
The Rules
The following rules have been created through many years of exploring the ritual of Shotgun and are designed with the idea of fairness to all as the main priority. They are also the most complete and comprehensive listing of Shotgun rules available today.
You Must Say The Word “Shotgun”
You must say the word “Shotgun” to stake your claim on Shotgun. This must be done clearly and loud enough so that at least one other to-be occupant of the vehicle can hear you. No variations of this word are acceptable. After you have rightfully called Shotgun, you have exclusive rights to Shotgun for that ride. However, if no one hears you call Shotgun it is still fair game for everyone.
Tom Hanks started with Bosom Buddies. I’ve got a commercial. Yeah right.
Seriously, I have a friend at my church who is in the marketing world, and makes commercials from time to time. I was cheap acting. To see what you think, and of course, for a good laugh, here it is.
Houston being overrun by electronics-killing ants by Nilay Patel, posted May 15th 2008 at 2:36AM
We’ll let you read the hed again — nope, it’s not a joke. Apparently millions of tiny swarming ants called “crazy raspberry ants” are causing quite a ruckus down in Houston after they accidentally arrived on board a cargo ship and started busily invading homes and offices, where they are attracted to electrical equipment. So far they’ve messed up sewage pumps, cause fire alarms to go haywire, destroyed computers, and taken out at least one gas meter — and since they’re resistant to over-the-counter ant killers and each colony has multiple queens, they’re nearly impossible to kill. Worse, those that do die are used by the remaining ants as bridges over pesticide-treated areas. Yep — that’s insanely creepy. Anyone in Houston got any horror stories to share?
Honestly, I kinda forgot about this show. It has been soooooo long. Here is an update:
from USA today.com
‘24′ returns
Just in from Fox: 24 is back. Or rather, a two-hour “prequel event” is back. It’s slated for Sunday, Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Here’s what it’s about: Shot on location in South Africa, Jack Bauer battles an international crisis, while here at home the nation prepares for a new president on inauguration day. Taking place just a few months before the new day dawns, the prequel will set the stage for Season 7.
Fox says that the series has resumed production on “Day 7” and will unfold without interruption in its regular time period Mondays (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) beginning in January 2009. The season will be set in Washington, as planned. And look for former colleague Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) to return.
This just came out today, big buzz all around it. I have to say, although I’m only on first listen, I was excited enough to add a post.
Review from Christianitytoday.com:
The Myriad
With Arrows, With Poise (Koch Records)
Released May 2008
By Russ Breimeier
Sounds like … the alternative indie rock from bands like Lovedrug, Sleeping at Last, Radiohead, After Edmund, and Mew.
At a glance … though much of the songwriting is still rather cryptic on With Arrows, With Poise, The Myriad competes with their peers by creates tantalizing ambience through impressive alt-rock soundscapes and evocative imagery.
After only three years since their debut, it’s as if The Myriad were an all-new band—even though the only change in their lineup is new drummer Randy Miller. Though 2005’s You Can’t Trust a Ladder failed to make waves, the Seattle-based band kept at it and worked out a distribution deal with Koch Records, the top indie label in America. Exposure has since grown radically in anticipation of The Myriad’s follow-up. Opening for David Crowder Band on a high-profile club tour in late 2007 helped introduce them to a new audience, which surely played a part in viewers voting The Myriad as the breakout champion of MTV2’s Dew Circuit Breakout contest. Now they’re seen regularly in MTV’s rotation as With Arrows, With Poise is released to Christian and mainstream markets alike with more buzz than most.
1 Thessalonians 3:6-13 (ESV)
6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. 9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? 11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
We compare everything. If you buy a house, you look at other houses to see what they sold for. Picking out fruit in a grocery store is silly and gross. No one knows what they are doing, but they touch everything thinking they have come up with some way to find the best fruit. We want the guys office chair right next to ours, because his looks much more comfortable. Our clothes are bought and worn based on what others might think, or what we’ve seen the people on TV with terrific jobs and miserable real lives wearing. And our cars have sunroofs and alloy wheels, because it will have better resale and look better to the other cars out there. Everything is comparison. It’s funny how comparison rarely leads to contentment. Comparison can lead to pride, or dissatisfaction, but never contentment.
Somewhere, somehow, we have a standard in our head. We compare everything to how we think it “should” be. The goal, the standard, the ideal can be different for most. We talked about success a few weeks ago. We defined success as the achievement of a desired plan or goal. This goal for success is important as a parent, as a mother, and vital as a Christian. Read the rest of this entry »
From Endgadget.com
Survey finds 37% of Gen Y-ers text while driving
by Darren Murph, posted May 2nd 2008 at 3:26PM
Oh sure, Americans are adamantly against texting while driving (in theory), but that’s not stopping those mischievous Gen Y-ers from getting their SMS on while behind the wheel. According to a new survey of 1,200 people conducted by Nationwide Mutual Insurance (we know, we know), a third of the Gen Y-ers admitted to “always multitasking while driving,” and while the “always” bit does indeed frighten us a tad, the real juice was in the next statistic: 37-percent said they sent text messages while driving. Before you start belaboring the imprudent youth, think long and hard about your own in-car cellphone usage — remember that time you just had to reply “y w pep plz” in order to salvage your friend’s pizza order? Tsk tsk.
Posted by Jay Watson 
Posted by Jay Watson 
Posted by Jay Watson 
