Reuters: Oddly Enough: U.S. kindergarten boy brings heroin to show and tell

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U.S. kindergarten boy brings heroin to show and tell Apr 10th 2012, 22:10 Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:10pm EDT (Reuters) - A five-year-old boy brought packets of heroin to a show and tell at his Connecticut kindergarten, leading to the arrest of his stepfather, police said on Tuesday. The child was proudly displaying packets of a powdery substance to his kindergarten classmates in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on Monday when his teacher noticed what he was holding, Detective Keith Bryant of the Bridgeport Police Department said. "He was waving it around," Bryant said, adding that the teacher collected the packets and immediately notified her supervisors. Authorities were called and a field test determined the substance was heroin, he said. Later, the child's stepfather, Santos Roman, 35, showed up at the school and was arrested. "He went to retrieve it (the heroin), and it wasn't there so he came back for his stepson," Bryant said. Roman was arraigned on Tuesday on three drug-possession charges, including intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school and risk of injury to a minor, police said. Roman was held on $100,000 bail. (Reporting by Gianna Palmer; Editing by Barbara Goldberg, Cynthia Johnston and David Brunnstrom) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Oddly Enough: Hold the chives: giant spud travels to plug Idaho potatoes

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Hold the chives: giant spud travels to plug Idaho potatoes Apr 10th 2012, 19:12 By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho | Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:12pm EDT SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - A six-ton replica potato, strapped to the trailer of a semi-truck, is on a coast-to-coast U.S. tour to promote the tuber that is Idaho's claim to fame but has fallen out of favor with diet gurus for its carbohydrate content. The towering model, built of metal and cement, is the Idaho Potato Commission's way of heralding 75 years of marketing the potassium-rich product that has put Idaho on the map and the state's spuds on the table. The "Famous Idaho Potato Tour" peeled out of Boise on Monday equipped with an entourage that includes a publicist. The supersized spud is to make stops in major cities, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago and New York. The outsized ambassador has also been tasked with a special diplomatic mission to the U.S. agriculture department in Washington, D.C., in hopes federal officials will eye the humble potato in a new light, said Frank Muir, president of the commission. Idaho's 12-billion-pound (5.4-billion-kg) output accounts for a third of annual U.S. potato production. The top market for Idaho russets is New York, where chefs prize the trademarked potato for its light texture, Yet the agriculture department last year eyed - but ultimately shelved - a plan to cut the number of potato servings in school lunches to lower the amount of starchy vegetables served to students. Low-carb, high-protein diets like Atkins have also sprouted anti-potato talk. Muir said he has been battling potato propaganda for nine years. He said the 32-state, seven-month tour of the oversized tuber will root out any misconceptions about an Idaho product that last year was certified "heart healthy" by the American Heart Association. "Look at the potato: It's oblong, it's brown . . . it's not as pretty as cauliflower or broccoli or even carrots. But it's less about how the food looks compared to how it makes you look," Muir said. Calling its latest campaign to boost the profile of the produce "huge," the commission hopes the 12,000-pound (5.4 ton) potato will take its place alongside other larger-than-life foodstuff replicas like the Oscar Mayer wiener. (Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Cynthia Osterman) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Oddly Enough: When it comes to war, beer beats silver and gold

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When it comes to war, beer beats silver and gold Apr 10th 2012, 18:05 By Leslie Gevirtz Tue Apr 10, 2012 2:05pm EDT (Reuters) - The Dutch drank their way to victory and independence from Spain in 1648 through the taxes they paid on beer, according to a report in the April issue of the Journal of American Association of Wine Economists. Economists Koen Deconinck of the University of Leuven and Johann Swinnen of Stanford University wrote that taxes on beer "played a crucial role in financing the revolt ... (and) were the single largest revenue source" for the outnumbered and outgunned Dutch, who were facing "the mightiest empire on earth." Since beer was safer to drink than water, cheaper to buy than wine, and not as easily spoiled as milk, it was the drink of choice for many Dutchmen. In his book, "Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance," Robert Unger estimated that by the year 1600 per capita consumption of beer in Holland ranged from 400 liters to 600 liters (106 gallons-159 gallons). As the Dutch revolt dragged on for 80 years, taxes on beer were increased until they became Holland's largest source of income. The levies were collected through a method "resembling the VAT system in use in many European countries ... (and it) allowed them to outlast the Spanish," Deconinck and Swinnen said. At their peak, they estimated, war costs represented 11 percent of Dutch gross domestic product. The Congressional Research Service estimated that at its peak, the Iraq war represented 1 percent of U.S. GDP. Spain, financing its war with Holland largely with taxes on gold and silver mined at colonies in the New World, spent roughly 6 percent of its GDP, Deconinck estimated. Unable to pay its troops for months at a time and facing almost annual mutinies, Spain signed the Treaty of Munster in 1648, officially recognizing the Dutch Republic and ceding the land north of Flanders to the rebels. The Dutch were also allowed to keep their overseas possessions and their monopoly over the East Indies trade, which they acquired during the revolt. The treaty set the boundaries that still divide Belgium from the Netherlands. The full report is available at: here (Reporting By Leslie Gevirtz; Editing by Steve Orlofsky) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Oddly Enough: New Jersey man survives 4-inch nail in heart

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New Jersey man survives 4-inch nail in heart Apr 9th 2012, 03:00 A nail is shown in the chest of of Dennis Hennis before undergoing life saving cardiac surgery at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey April 6, 2012. Hennis, 52, who was revived from cardiac arrest before being airlifted for surgery, shot a 4-inch nail into his heart while trying to clear his jammed nail gun. Credit: Reuters/Cooper University Hospital/Handout By Barbara Goldberg Sun Apr 8, 2012 11:00pm EDT (Reuters) - A New Jersey man who survived accidentally shooting a 4-inch (10-cm) nail into his heart while trying to clear a jammed nail gun said on Friday he feels like he won the lottery. Dennis Hennis, 52, who was revived from cardiac arrest before being airlifted for surgery to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey, laughed off Dr. Michael Rosenbloom's suggestion that he buy a lottery ticket. "I've already won the lottery," said Hennis of Vineland, New Jersey, in an interview. "I got a new grandson on my birthday on March 23 and a week later I'm almost dead. Now we can celebrate birthdays together," he said. Hennis, a self-employed builder, was working with his son, age 28, on a neighbor's roof on Saturday when his nail gun jammed and he tried to clear it, mistakenly pointing it toward him. The powerful tool was built to fire 4-inch nails at 120 pounds per square inch (8.4 kg per square cm), said hospital spokeswoman Lori Shaffer. "It was about a foot away and it went right into my chest, right into my heart," Hennis recalled. The nail pierced his right ventricle, which supplies blood to the lungs, and Hennis soon went into cardiac arrest. Hennis, whose son called an ambulance, was rushed to a local hospital and revived but clearly needed immediate surgery at a trauma center like Cooper, nearly an hour's drive away, Rosenbloom said. "Imagine there is a nail in the heart and they have to do CPR. It turns a little puncture wound into a laceration," the surgeon said. Fog had grounded the medical helicopter but it suddenly lifted and Hennis was flown to Cooper and rushed into the operating room. Hennis' recovery from surgery has been remarkable and he was expected to be discharged in time to celebrate Easter with his family, including his third and newest grandchild. "We closed the hole and his heart is strong," Rosenbloom said by telephone. Hennis lucked out with knowing to not remove the nail himself, prompt medical attention and suddenly cooperative weather, Rosenbloom said. "I told him he should go play the lottery," the surgeon said. (Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in Maplewood, New Jersey; Editing by Greg McCune and Cynthia Osterman) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Oddly Enough: Wyoming town - population 1 - sells for $900,000 to Vietnamese buyer

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Wyoming town - population 1 - sells for $900,000 to Vietnamese buyer Apr 9th 2012, 02:59 By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho | Sun Apr 8, 2012 10:59pm EDT SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - The town of Buford, Wyoming - population 1 - was sold for $900,000 to an unidentified buyer from Vietnam on Thursday after an 11-minute Internet auction that attracted worldwide interest. The tiny Western town garnered online viewers and bidders from 46 countries for the sale of 10-plus acres with a convenience store, gas station and modular home located in southeastern Wyoming between Cheyenne and Laramie. The buyer, who wished to remain anonymous, flew to Wyoming from Vietnam for a purchase he likened to "the American dream," according to a statement released by Williams & Williams, the Oklahoma auction house handling the sale. "Owning a piece of property in the U.S. has been my dream," the buyer said in the statement. Don Sammons, long the town's sole resident, moved with his wife, Terry, from Los Angeles to the Buford area in 1980. In 1992, six years after his wife died, Sammons purchased the town. Sammons decided to auction off the Interstate 80 hamlet, billed as "the nation's smallest town" and named after Civil War Union Army General John Buford, to move to Colorado to be near his adult son. "My family is gone. Our purpose for moving here has kind of been completed, and now I want to find out what other adventures I have in store," Sammons, 61, told Reuters in an interview. Speaking before the sale, which was broadcast online, an executive with Williams & Williams said the firm had never seen the level of buzz that attended the Buford auction. "Auctions always bring a lot of attention, but even we were amazed at the amount of attention to Buford worldwide," said Amy Bates, chief marketing officer for Williams & Williams. "It's the Wild West in the U.S. It's owning your town and getting away from it all." The high-elevation town sprang to life in the 1860s as a military outpost amid construction of the transcontinental railroad. Buford's population dwindled when the fort moved to Laramie and the county seat was shifted from Buford to Cheyenne. For some decades, Buford remained a central point for outlying ranches. The settlement is one of two tiny Western towns recently put up for sale by owners whose spouses have died and whose grown children live elsewhere. Pray, Montana, population 8, has been placed on the market for $1.4 million by owner Barbara Walker, 52. The town had been in the family of her late husband since 1953. The 5-acre town sits in the Paradise Valley near Yellowstone National Park, a scenic, mountainous area home to celebrities like Jeff Bridges. (Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Cynthia Johnston; Desking by Cynthia Osterman) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Oddly Enough: New Jersey man survives 4-inch nail in heart

Reuters: Oddly Enough Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

New Jersey man survives 4-inch nail in heart Apr 6th 2012, 20:27 A nail is shown in the chest of of Dennis Hennis before undergoing life saving cardiac surgery at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey April 6, 2012. Hennis, 52, who was revived from cardiac arrest before being airlifted for surgery, shot a 4-inch nail into his heart while trying to clear his jammed nail gun. Credit: Reuters/Cooper University Hospital/Handout By Barbara Goldberg Fri Apr 6, 2012 4:27pm EDT (Reuters) - A New Jersey man who survived accidentally shooting a 4-inch ( 10-cm) nail into his heart while trying to clear a jammed nail gun said on Friday he feels like he won the lottery. Dennis Hennis, 52, who was revived from cardiac arrest before being airlifted for surgery to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey, laughed off Dr. Michael Rosenbloom's suggestion that he buy a lottery ticket. "I've already won the lottery," said Hennis of Vineland, New Jersey, in an interview. "I got a new grandson on my birthday on March 23 and a week later I'm almost dead. Now we can celebrate birthdays together," he said. Hennis, a self-employed builder, was working with his son, age 28, on a neighbor's roof on Saturday when his nail gun jammed and he tried to clear it, mistakenly pointing it toward him. The powerful tool was built to fire 4-inch nails at 120 pounds per square inch (8.4 kg per square cm), said hospital spokeswoman Lori Shaffer. "It was about a foot away and it went right into my chest, right into my heart," Hennis recalled. The nail pierced his right ventricle, which supplies blood to the lungs, and Hennis soon went into cardiac arrest. Hennis, whose son called an ambulance, was rushed to a local hospital and revived but clearly needed immediate surgery at a trauma center like Cooper, nearly an hour's drive away, Rosenbloom said. "Imagine there is a nail in the heart and they have to do CPR. It turns a little puncture wound into a laceration," the surgeon said. Fog had grounded the medical helicopter but it suddenly lifted and Hennis was flown to Cooper and rushed into the operating room. Hennis' recovery from surgery has been remarkable and he was expected to be discharged in time to celebrate Easter with his family, including his third and newest grandchild. "We closed the hole and his heart is strong," Rosenbloom said by telephone. Hennis lucked out with knowing to not remove the nail himself, prompt medical attention and suddenly cooperative weather, Rosenbloom said. "I told him he should go play the lottery," the surgeon said. (Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in Maplewood, New Jersey; Editing by Greg McCune and Cynthia Osterman) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Oddly Enough: Five charged after Chinese teen sells kidney to buy iPhone

Reuters: Oddly Enough Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Five charged after Chinese teen sells kidney to buy iPhone Apr 6th 2012, 13:56 BEIJING | Fri Apr 6, 2012 9:56am EDT BEIJING (Reuters) - Five people in southern China have been charged with intentional injury in the case of a Chinese teenager who sold a kidney so he could buy an iPhone and an iPad, the government-run Xinhua News Agency said on Friday. The five included a surgeon who removed a kidney from a 17-year-old boy in April last year. The boy, identified only by his surname Wang, now suffers from renal deficiency, Xinhua quoted prosecutors in Chenzhou city, Hunan province as saying. According to the Xinhua account, one of the defendants received about 220,000 yuan (about $35,000) to arrange the transplant. He paid Wang 22,000 yuan and split the rest with the surgeon, the three other defendants and other medical staff. The report did not say who received and paid for the kidney. The teen was from Anhui, one of China's poorest provinces, where inhabitants frequently leave to find work and a better life elsewhere. He bought an iPhone and iPad, and when asked by his mother where he got the money, admitted selling a kidney. Apple products are hugely popular in China, but are priced beyond the reach of many Chinese. IPhones start at 3,988 yuan ($633), and iPads begin at 2,988 yuan ($474). Wang's renal deficiency is deteriorating, Xinhua quoted prosecutors as saying. Only a fraction of the people who need organ transplants in China are able to get them, leading to "transplant tourism" where patients travel overseas for such operations, and to a black market for human organs. China banned the trading of human organs in 2007, Xinhua said. Several other suspects involved in the case are still being investigated. (Reporting by Terril Yue Jones; Editing by Peter Graff) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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