Scientists Find Oldest Living Animal, Then Kill It

From www.foxnews.com:

British marine biologists have found what may be the oldest living animal — that is, until they killed it.

The team from Bangor University in Wales was dredging the waters north of Iceland as part of routine research when the unfortunate specimen, belonging to the clam species Arctica islandica, commonly known as the ocean quahog, was hauled up from waters 250 feet deep.

Only after researchers cut through its shell, which made it more of an ex-clam, and counted its growth rings did they realize how old it had been — between 405 and 410 years old.

Another clam of the same species had been verified at 220 years old, and a third may have lived 374 years. But this most recent clam was the oldest yet.

"Its death is an unfortunate aspect of this work, but we hope to derive lots of information from it," postdoctoral scientist Al Wanamaker told London's Guardian newspaper. "For our work, it's a bonus, but it wasn't good for this particular animal."

Harry Houdini

I don't know much about Harry Houdini (Erich Weiss) but he's in the news today. His grand-nephew wants to exhume his body from its tomb in Queens to see if he was poisoned by spiritualist enemies in 1926. He spent a lot of time debunking the spiritualists and they hated him.

True Crime - Phil Spector

Believe it or not, I'm into all the latest celebrity trials and scandals. Phil Spector seems like an incredibly strange psychopath and I'm interested in his behavior during this trial.

Bizarre news story

From San Diego Union-Tribune. Edited for space.

Couple arrested in rock-throwing siege
By Kristina Davis
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 20, 2006

SAN MARCOS – Nearly every night for a month, fist-sized rocks and pieces of brick rained down on three homes along Via Camellia.

The barrage shattered windows, dented family cars and chipped stucco, not to mention scaring residents who were afraid of getting pelted by just stepping outside.
...

A married couple who had repeatedly complained to deputies about damage to their home and who claimed to have been hit by a rock were not victims after all, authorities say.

Jesus Maldonado, 25, and his wife, Krystal Maldonado, 23, were taken into custody after deputies caught a man and woman launching rocks at their neighbors' homes from their backyard, detective Sgt. Tom Bulow said.
...

Neighbors, including the Maldonados, would help walk the streets in the middle of the night looking for the vandals, residents said.

“But then Jesus would say he had to go inside and check on his kids, and it would be when he was gone that they'd get hit again,” George Torres said yesterday.

It wasn't until Deputy Victor David began to notice that the Maldonados didn't seem as concerned as their neighbors about their vehicles being struck that his suspicions were aroused.

On Sunday, during a surveillance of the home, the deputy's hunch was validated, Bulow said.

“We were really shocked,” Heather Groom said about the Maldonados' arrests. “When we'd get hit at night, they'd come running over and ask, 'Did you get hit?' We would've never suspected them.”

The motivation behind the attacks is unclear, and theories abound.

Jesus Maldonado told investigators that a neighbor made an inappropriate sexual comment about his wife, Bulow said.
...

Kristina Davis: (760) 476-8233; kristina.davis@uniontrib.com

Bizarre news story

Omeed Aziz Popal's family, worried about his recent mental breakdowns and erratic behavior, tried to keep an eye on him all the time.

But Tuesday morning, relatives and authorities say, the automotive worker from Fremont slipped away -- pulling a trick on his mother and sister that got them out of his sport utility vehicle, then speeding off on a hit-and-run rampage that killed one man in Fremont and injured at least 19 people in San Francisco.

On Wednesday, San Francisco prosecutors charged Popal with 18 counts of attempted murder for crimes that police said he committed because he "just wanted to."

This guy was paranoid schizophrenic and had been hospitalized several times - the family admitted that they never left him alone. However, his mother and sister were easily tricked into leaving the vehicle, so that he was able to bolt back into it and go on a rampage. His family, knowing of his mental illness, also arranged for his marriage to some unsuspecting woman in Afghanistan! What were they thinking?!

He was very angry that the family wasn't allowing him to visit Afghanistan alone to see his bride. Basically, he was a two-year-old in an adult body, who had a deadly tantrum.

See full story at San Francisco Chronicle: www.sfgate.com

Wierd news story

(The Columbus Dispatch, August 24, 2006) Prank gone awry stuns Worthington -- Resident of ‘haunted’ house critically wounds teen. A modern-day Boo Radley/Norman Bates protecting his home and mother from what he thought was a home invasion, shot and seriously wounded a wholesome teenage girl. Girls were daring each other to approach the house, but they were shot while in their car. Norman Bates, I mean Allen S. Davis, didn't call police because his house was already the subject of neighbors' complaints. Read article: http://www.dispatch.com/emailme/emailme.php?
story=dispatch/2006/08/24/20060824-A1-02.html