Huge Art Heist in Europe

What may be the largest art theft in Europe happened Monday, in Zurich.

Three thieves, clad in all black and ski masks strolled into the Emile Bührle Foundation, a private collection just outside of Zurich's city center.

Armed with a gun, one robber ordered staff and visitors to get on the groud. The other two removed four paitings from the walls; Monet’s “Poppy Field at Vetheuil,”


"Ludovic Lepic and his Daughter" by Edgar Degas,

Van Gogh’s “Blooming Chestnut Branches,”


and Cézanne’s “Boy in the Red Waistcoat.”



Their total worth is estimated at $163 million.

The men were seen fleeing in a white car with the trunk open, the paintings there to be seen.

Authorities don't think the theives set out to take these specific paintings. The four that were stolen were all on the same wall. They were also not the most expensive paintings in the gallery.


Last week, two Picasso oils valued at $4.5 million were stolen from a Swiss museum in Pfaeffikon, Agence France-Presse reported.


Authorities do not think these incidents are related.

Bars are Banning Strollers

Most people don't think of a bar as a place to find children. Obviously they haven't been to many of the trendy pubs in NYC suburbs.

Now so many parents are flocking to the local watering holes, the estabolishments have to post signs: No Strollers.

New York does not have a law keeping minors out of bars. It does say if the person is under 16, they must be accompanied by an adult.

With the recent smoking ban in bars, more parents are lugging their children to the local tavern.

The ususal visitors are flustered by the influx of strollers and babies and the owners are taking notice.

More pubs have posted the sign and the outcry from the parents is getting worse. The nurturers don't see anything wrong with their invasion.

Some inns have been forced to take down the No Strollers sign. Neither side is happy.

For more information on this story and others like it: No Babies in the Bars

Bar Bans Strollers

Lift on the Stroller Ban

Children-Free Pub

Facebook: Check Out Never Leave

Facebook membership is turning out to be a little more sticky than anticipated.

People are comparing Facebook membership to the likeness of gang membership; the only way out is in a coffin.

One can see the little “deactivation” button to cancel the account. But clicking on it is not all the process entails.

In the New York Times article, Maria Aspan wrote that the process is not as easy as it looks.

Aspan said one has to delete everything from the profile, line by line; every wall post, every group membership, every message, everything. And even after this is done, with a simple search, names and proof of membership can still be found.

The only way people were successful with terminating their membership and becoming untractable in the Facebook community was to take serious action.

One man sent the makers of Facebook a link to a video feed where he is seen discussing his dilemma with their networking site on national television.

Today, clicking delete is not as easy as it used to be.


Check out Facebook.

Get to know the maker of Facebook.

Facebook's competition - Myspace.

A Social Phenomenon.

Pig Brains can Hurt Your Brains

In Minnesota a medical mystery had unfolded.

Workers at a meatpacking plant have had the same unexplained symptoms; fatigue, tingling and numbness in the legs and weakness.

The only thing they had in common was that they all worked in the same meatpacking plant.

This condition baffled doctors until they noticed a pattern. All people worked at the plant at the same station and complained of the same problem, “heavy legs.”

People who worked at the “head blowing” were the only ones who were afflicted with this illness.

Their job at this station is to extract the brain from the head of the hog. To do this a metal rod is shoved through the spinal column. Compressed air shot through the rod. This liquefies the brain, usually spraying the workers with brain matter.

Workers said they were usually covered with the spray by the time they left work. They wore smocks and protective eyewear. But their arms were bare and none wore faceguards to protect them from ingesting or inhaling the pig brains.

Doctors determined the ailment to “immune mimicry.” Their workers’ bodies were fighting the pig enzymes and brain matter. The problem is the pigs’ genetic make up is too close to the genes of humans. Because the genes were close their immune systems were fighting not only the pig genes but their own genes as well.

This was causing the immune system to attack itself.

The plant no longer uses the compressed air technique and orders all workers to wear face masks and other protective gear.

For more stories on meat plants:

Pig Brains May be Cause of Illness

Largest Slaughter House Has no Problems

Pig Brain may Cause New Illness

Mystery Disease Could be from Pigs

Contaminated Drugs Cause Paralysis

Almost 200 leukemia patients thought they were getting injected with the medications they need. Most of them were unable to walk by the end of the treatment.

The injections the patients received were contaminated; they were laced with other drugs, half of them toxic.

Shanghai Hualian is the Beijing drug company behind this paralysis.

China’s food and drug administration stated that members of this company have been detained for the criminal investigation.

How does this affect the United States? The drug company is also the sole supplier of the abortion pill, RU-486, to the U. S.

Officials of the Beijing company say the abortion pills are manufactured at a different plant about an hour away.

For more informaton on abortion see:

ARTICLES ABOUT MIFEPREX (RU-486) (DRUG)

Abortion Rates Compare Among Countries

For more articles about leukemia see:

Leukemia in Beijing

What is Leukemia?

Machine Gun but no Liquor

Finally someone is standing up for the rights of minors in this Nation.

A South Carolina Congressman fathered a Bill to allow service men and women to drink before the age of 21.

The problem is states with a drinking age lower than 21 lose all highway funding.

And it would be only enlisted minors. If you aren’t enlisted, you could not buy a drink.

Some oppose the Democratic Bill. Nay-sayers claim lowering the drinking age makes local roads less safe.

The safety advocates also say studies show minors consuming alcohol is not safe for the military either.


For further reading on this topic:

Lowering the Drinking Age

Minors and Alcohol

Penalties for Alcohol Suppliers

Schools Hindering not Preparing

Principals in the Northeast are setting students back once again. ALISON LEIGH COWAN of the New York Times brought us a story about teachers hindering their students instead of preparing them for the life ahead.

Teachers at Connecticut’s Oakdale School have put restrictions on children’s recess activities.

Recess for them was usually 22 minutes of unstructured play. Now games like kickball, dodgeball, and tag are banned.

Principal Mark S. Johnson said he encourages kids to play with hula hoops instead of games like soccer and other “body-banging” activities, as he put it. Johnson said children can not only hurt their bodies but their feelings as well.

Children from Wyoming to New Jersey are having their recesses restricted as well. Parents aren’t taking this well.

School officials encourage children to play with hula hoops and engage in activities alone where they are “less likely” to hurt themselves and others.

Today even recess is structured. No creativity. And schools are also discouraging anything involving competition as well.

Are they kidding? This is hurting kids, not preparing them for the real world. Do they think that in the work place the boss is going to say “Okay guys, no competition, everyone is great and exceptional. You are all such special people.” NO! Competition is what this country strives on. Every aspect of our society would suffer if we had that mentality. Learning these things at an early age is only an advantage.

The San Francisco Chronicle has further reading on this subject.

To hear the other side of the story go to the New Haven Independent.

New Jersey state Assemblyman Joseph Malone, R-Ocean, Monmouth, Burlington, Mercer, is even trying to enact a law to make sure children are getting a set recess period. The News Transcript has this story.