Does anyone have an update for this 2-year old story?

It was published on Fri May 4, 2007 10:07am EDT…

PATNA, India (Reuters) – Hundreds of people are flocking to a remote village in eastern India to catch a glimpse of an old man who has spent six years lying inside his own grave waiting to die as he mourns for his wife, officials said.

Basanta Roy claims he is 103 and spends his day clearing weeds from the grave and lying in it. Belonging to a Hindu caste who bury their dead, Roy dug his grave close to his wife’s after she died in the late 1990s.

“He cleans his grave every day and waits for his death, which seems to be eluding him,” said Shyam Narayan Ram, a senior government official from Jharkhand state.

from “Mourning man lies in own grave, and waits to die“

I was so moved by this modern day Romeo & Juliet story.  If you can provide any details or links regarding this gentleman, please post it.

Thank you.

Vacation under the sea in this 5-star underwater seafloor resort

The Poseidon Resort in Fiji (opening in early 2010) has underwater suites and island villas.

To get information on their beach bungalows, the underwater library, the wedding chapel, the restaurants, and more visit: Poseidon Resort

Greased Lightbox

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[12 photos] Video stills from final video of Princess Diana

Read the details to all these photos here.

[photos] Staircase to…

Where does this staircase, located at Palace of Congresses in Biel, Switzerland lead to?

Source

 

(39) Heart-warming photos of Barak Obama

Here are my favorite “behind the scene” photos taken from the website below.  I love the “natural” depictions of the President.  The first example is my favorite.  And take note of the caption in the second photo–how precious is that!

President Barack Obama bends over so the son of a White House staff member can pat his head during a family visit to the Oval Office. The young boy wanted to see if the president's hair felt like his own. (May 8, 2009)

Source

Library waives $52,000 fine

Image via Wikipedia

The largest library fine I ever received was for $42 for late fees because I misplaced some video tapes during a move–oh, the shame.  Then I found out about this gentleman…

An Illinois handball coach returned a book that was over 145 years overdue!

“The leather-bound volume was taken from the shelves of the Washington and Lee University library in Lexington, Virginia on 11 June 1864 by a Union soldier when General David Hunter and his army of West Virginia raided the area. Passed down by the soldier, CS Gates, through generations of his family, it eventually came into the possession of Mike Dau, of Lake Forest, Illinois, from one of Gates’s descendents.”

Read the whole story here

Aerial tour of New York

Image via Wikipedia

I don’t have the money to travel but thanks to the internet I can virtually travel to all kinds of places–like New York.  All made possible by Pixelcase.  What a stunning tour of this city!  See it for yourself.  Just click any of the icons to zoom in, zoom out, travel west, etc.

Source

via The Presurfer

Banishment is mayor’s solution to disorderly locals [news]

Mayor Ed Charrier is considering a novel way of dealing with disorderly locals: anyone breaking the law three times a year is banished.  The only thing standing in his way is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The proposed bylaw, Charrier says, is an attempt to deal with “never-ending crime and violence” in the town, which has been plagued by unemployment since the Ruttan Mine closed in 2002. The local RCMP detachment insists crime there is no worse than in any comparable town in northern Manitoba, but Charrier is unapologetic. “If you’ve been in my drunk tank three times in one year—you have to go for rehab or incarceration,” he says. And “you’re not coming back here till you do.”

Leaf Rapids other bylaws:

• In 2007, it put itself on the map by becoming the first Canadian municipality to ban plastic bags.
• Next up? Canada’s first bylaw allowing golf carts on city streets. “You couldn’t use them in winter,” Charrier admits. Other than that, though, “they’re just so practical.”

Source

What do you think of this proposed bylaw?

My thoughts after seeing the Susan Boyle video

Explanation: I am writing this hours after posting the rant below.  After rereading it, I was going to delete it but decided not to.  Actually, I’m amazed at what I had written.  I watched four/five minutes of awe-inspiring talent and ended up writing about bullying.  Seeing and hearing the word ‘bully’ anywhere stirs up intense emotions.  I guess the opinion below came after reading a little bit about Susan Boyle and Paul Potts background, which led me to think about Kelly Yeoman.

I wonder if this is a good lesson about posting things.  Write it; save a draft and then reread it later.   Anyway, I’ve mellowed out since then  Oh, my thoughts about Susan?  My heart swells with joy every time I watch the video.  I doubt her fame will tarnish her humble disposition.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

In my post, Kleenex Moment: The YouTube video that got over 9 million hits, I mention Paul Potts who had apparently been bullied in school:

In the interview that was broadcast before his performance in the semi-final, Potts said that he had been bullied in school, and that experience may have had an influence on his lack of self-confidence. He made a similar remark in 1999 — that his voice had always been a source of solace in the past when bullied. [Source]

I also found out that Susan Boyle had been bullied:

Learning difficulties as a child led to bullying at school, and Boyle promised her recently deceased mother she’d honor her memory by auditioning for the show.  [Source]

What a great attitude Susan has about those who bullied her >>> Look at this video interview.

After learning this, I immediately thought of Kelly Yeoman who was bullied to the point of suicide.  If those who had judged her “cover” would have left her to be who she was, could she have revealed such jaw-dropping talent that the world would have given her a standing ovation like Susan Boyle?  It may not have been a singing gift; maybe she would have written a novel or saved lives like Captain Sully or captured our hearts like Princess Diana.

Why do we (I include myself) continue to abort the dreams of so many hidden gems because of preconceived judgments and jealousies?  Why do we trash gifts because of the color or size of the wrapping?  It doesn’t just relate to judges but also to editors who trash manuscripts, to parents who discourage their children from pursuing their gifts–the list goes on.  We need to go on a “judgment” diet.  We need new eye examinations and  replace our “this is what success looks like” glasses.

To all the undiscovered “Susan Boyle”s: If you know you have something to offer the world, please, please, please do not let the laughter and judgment of others squelched your dream.  Keep going.  Somewhere someone will notice you.  But most of all…forgive us for not looking with better eyes.

__________

Thanks for listening.

__________

See my previous post on Kelly Yeoman.

The Barak Obama engraved journal [product]

Although I’m a Canadian, I thought this was a nice product for Americans: The Barak Obama Engraved Journal.

The Barack Obama HOPE Laser Etched and Engraved Moleskine Notebook is bound in cardboard, with a ‘moleskine’ cover with rounded corners and an elastic enclosure. The acid-free pages are thread bound and the notebook includes an expandable inner note holder made of cardboard and cloth. Each Moleskine journal has a ribbon placeholder and removable card with the history of Moleskines.

Visit here to see all of the Obama covers available.

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• Designer Moleskines (makezine.com)

Woman claims to have Princess Diana’s kidney [photo]

Image via Wikipedia

RUMOR: Francoise Gaellar believes she received Princess Diana’s kidney on September 2, 1997.

French School Worker Has one of Princess Diana’s Kidneys

There is a French woman who claims that her kidney transplant was thanks to Princess Diana of Wales.  She received her kidney in France around the time that Princess Diana was killed in a car crash along with her boyfriend in Paris.  She’s convinced of it and has convinced a lot of her friends and coworkers of it, but the authorities and Princess Diana’s families all say it’s not true.
She said there was more than one person who told her that she was getting a special kidney but that she had to keep it a secret.
No matter what the authorities say, she said she knows that Princess Diana’s death saved her life.

[Taken from here]

[Photo/story of Francoise Gaellar]

Free criminal searches

Image via CrunchBase

Do you really know who these people are? We associate with them and even invite them in our homes. Do they have a criminal background? Are your children safe with them? Find out now for FREE!

Neighbor, babysitter, nanny Cleaning service, janitor Construction workers School teachers Electrician, plumber, gardener

Your children’s friends Locksmith Acquaintances Hedge fund managers Activist shareholders

This site gives you a free criminal check for anyone in the United States.  It reveals the following offenses:

• Behavioral
• Business
• Drugs & Alcohol
• Sex related
• Theft/Robbery
• Violent
• Traffic & other

It gives the person’s date of birth, aliases, sentence type & details, and lots more!

[Criminal Searches]

Four unseen images of smiling Princess Diana [photos]

Previously unseen CCTV footage of the last hours of Princess Diana’s life has been released in court as part of the inquest into her death.

1 of 4 pictures

Source

Full evidence list: Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed inquest

Image via Wikipedia

The following website contains the full evidence list of the coroner’s inquest into the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed.  You will find things like:

• Diana’s last words
• Photos of taken during the seizure
• Letters from Diana to Dodi
• Toxicology reports

And more!

Source

Related sources

The newspaper article that had a profound effect on me

HATED TO DEATH

Disregard the phrase, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me.”  I was flung into an emotional whirlwind this morning while going through an old shoebox of forgotten papers.  The newspaper article that I had saved [dated Thursday, October 2, 1997] had a profound effect on me.  Research about this event caused an even more intense emotion than I originally felt.  Kelly Yeoman was a tormented teen who took her life because she was taunted about her weight.

Her teenage tormentors threw salt in her school lunch and dumped her clothes in the garbage.  Last week (1997) they pelted her house, first with stones and finally with butter and eggs–the ingredients for cake.

The chubby, sweet-faced 13 year old told her parents she couldn’t stand the abuse anymore.  while they slept Sunday night, she took a fatal overdose of pain killers.

Police have arrested four neighborhood boys and one girl, ranging in age from 13 to 17, and say more arrests are possible.  However, the arrested youths were not charged with any crime and were released without bail.  It was not clear what would happen to them since all are juveniles, authorities said.

“She was a bubbly, charming little angel who would do anything for anybody,” said Ivan Yeomans, Kelly’s father.  “We were just an easy target and they are cowards, but I hope they can sleep at night after what has happened.”

Kelly lived with her parents and 16-year-old sister Sarah in the working-class Allenton neighborhood of Derby, 210 kilometers northwest of London.  She played the tambourine in the local Salvation Army band and visited elderly patrons at its Allenton centre.

But her sister said Kelly was regularly teased about her weight and was abused at school and in her neighborhood.  As a result, she always left her gym class after everyone else to avoid being seen in exercise clothes.

“We tried to help her over the bullying she got,” her best friend, 15-year-old Marie Porter, told the Guardian newspaper yesterday.  “She didn’t talk about it much, but they didn’t let her alone.”

Neighbors said a gang of as many as 15 youths gathered outside the family’s house for several consecutive nights last week.  They attacked the home several times, throwing a block of margarine through the window, shouting abuse about lard and fat, and calling her “smelly.”

“It was after that Kelly told us ‘Mom and Dad, it’s nothing to do with you but I can’t stand it.  I’m going to take an overdose,” said her mother, Julie Yeomans.

But, her mother said, she and her husband never thought Kelly would kill herself.  They knew only that she was depressed.

Michael Shaw, head teacher at Merill College, the high shcool that Kelly attended, said yesterday that she had complained about bullying at school only once–after the salt was thrown in her food in February 1996.

Last week, she told a teacher her family was being tormented at home, and the teacher suggested they contact the police or a lawyer, he said.  It was unclear whether they had done so.

“We take bullying very seriously,” Shaw said, “and all cases are dealt with swiftly, appropriately and thoroughly.”

He said those arrested were not schoolmates of Kelly’s.

Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour government has started a campaign against bullying in schools, including a leaflet for parents on what to do if their children are bullied, or are bullying others.

Pauline Hasler, director of the Anti-Bullying Campaign, siad such harassment is widespread in Britain.  Ten people die every year as a result of bullying, she said, and the campaign’s hotline receives 16,000 calls annually.

From Associated Press

I just found out that Kelly died after taking 13 times the minimum lethal dosage (40 pills) of the drug Coproxymoy, which her mother used for a knee complaint (source).  Click here to see what sentence her accusers received.

Were you bullied?  What effect did it have?  Did you know Kelly Yeomans?  Please post your comments about this subject.

Dream content of Democrats and Republicans

Image via Wikipedia

I found an interesting article regarding the frequency and dream content of Democrats and Republicans.  According to Kelly Bulkeley, Republicans’ nightmares are “characterized by more aggression, misfortune, and physical threats to family and friends, while Democrats’ nightmares are moderated by familiar settings, familiar characters, and more elements of hope, power, and positive action.” The whole article is found here.

<<<What about you>>>

Are you a Democrat or a Republican?  Do your nightmares coincide with the above findings?