Man Gets Arm Stuck in Train Toilet

This is pure genius...who is really attached to their phone this bad? If you are, please let know so I can hang around just to knock your phone down something just as disgusting. It's all for a good laugh, you'll see. Enjoy the read...

Here's something you don't read about happening every day. The BBC has this story about a man traveling on the TGV in France Sunday who got his hand sucked down the train's toilet.

Apparently the man's cell phone had fallen in and he was trying to retrieve it.

The train had to stop for two hours while rescue crews responded, cutting through the train's plumbing to free...the toilet [and the retard that was attached to it].

That's right: The man was taken off the train with the toilet still attached to his hand (or, his hand still stuck in the toilet). A witness tells the BBC that emergency responders had to saw the toilet in half to free the man's hand.

Probably a good thing this happened on the TGV, whose toilets are typically in a little better shape than, say, the toilets on an overnight train in Ukraine.

Sunlight Melting Hotdogs & Steel?

Using just the power of the sun a fancy setup, you can cook whatever you want in about 3 seconds. Don't try this at home...

British Columbia Man Paralyzed after Flu Shot

A New Westminster man is raising a warning flag after he contracted a rare and debilitating condition linked to the flu shot that left him paralyzed for almost five months. Every fall, health care workers across Canada distribute 10 million influenza vaccinations, and for the vast majority of people, the flu shot causes no major problems.

Within two weeks of getting his annual flu shot in 2007, however, Richard Ryan, 44, went from being happy and healthy to being in excruciating pain. At first, Ryan thought he had injured his back, and he checked into the local hospital emergency room, he told CBC News on Wednesday.

But Ryan was also suffering some numbness, and when a neurologist tested his reflexes, he found Ryan had none, he said. "The doctor asked me what was going on in my life. And as soon as I said I was feeling ill after getting a flu shot, he said, 'Stop right there, I know what you have,'" Ryan said.

The neurologist diagnosed Ryan with Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disease that attacks the nervous system. According to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, the chance of developing that particular disease from a flu shot is one in a million.

But as Ryan learned the consequences can be severe. By the time the emergency room exam was over, he was unable to get up. He spent the next 10 weeks recovering in hospital, including three weeks in intensive care, barely able to breathe or eat for himself. "My face was paralyzed. I had no feeling inside my mouth. I couldn't feel my tongue. My left eye wouldn't close so it had to be taped shut to sleep," he said.

The illness progressed into a lifelong condition known as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), and a year later he remains heavily medicated, unable to work, and has memory problems. Although the disease is in remission, he is not expected to make a full recovery, and the chronic condition could return at any point in the future.
Worth the risk?

Now Ryan say he is concerned that public health officials are promoting the flu vaccine while most people are not fully aware of the risks. However, Dr. Danuta Skowronski, an epidemiologist at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, says the benefits of the flu vaccine still outweigh the risks for the vast majority of people.

"Nothing is completely risk-free," she told CBC News. "It is always a matter of weighing the benefits and the risks." Medical information provided with flu shots does mention the one-in-a-million chance of getting Guillain-Barré syndrome.

But it is especially important for people with heart and lung problems, the elderly and the chronically ill, to get the influenza vaccine because it could save their lives, Skowronski said. "Influenza itself can be life threatening, and it's those groups that we want to make sure are not put off from receiving influenza vaccine unnecessarily," said Skowronski.

There are more than 2000 flu-related deaths in Canada every year. Seniors, people with weak immune systems and some children are at highest risk. More common possible side-effects of vaccinations can include fever, muscle pain and weakness.

For his part, Ryan maintains that he's a good example of the fact that the benefits of the vaccination don't always outweigh the risks. "I think if people knew how serious the illness is, they would think twice about the flu shot," he said.

Oh by the way, I just got my shot this morning. Slight chance of risk...take the risk already!

The Daily 11

1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.

2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.

3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.

4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.

5. Every night, someone thinks about you before they go to sleep.

6. You mean the world to someone.

7. You are special and unique.

8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.

9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.

10. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take another look.

11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.

Social Oddity Networks

I ran across a list of some of the weirdest online social networks, nothing like the mainstream ones(myspace, facebook, and so on). Here are a few I picked to place on here that could be interesting to some or a good opportunity for laughter. They are as follows: Hamsterster.com, FamersOnly.com, StachePassions.com, and Spot-a-Potty. You pick!

Portrait Contest by DPS

If you have time to click the link below, vote for my portrait entry for the Digital Photography School Contest, hosted by Photrade. The contest is running for the full month of October. Thanks for helping out!
Vote for my entry!

Vote!

Shocking Smokers

This is some news from the UK(Mail Online UK). I rather like the idea and wish the United States would also do away with the lame surgeon general's warning and put something truly scary for some real convincing. Read on:
Shocking pictures of throat cancer and rotting teeth are to appear on cigarette packets from today to illustrate the health risks of smoking. Among the other images smokers will see are rotting lungs, a corpse in a morgue and a body cut open during surgery. The photos will appear on the back of packets accompanied by a written health warning.

New figures showed written warnings had motivated more than 90,000 smokers to call the NHS Smoking Helpline, the Department of Health said. However, smoking is still the biggest killer in England where it causes the premature death of more than 87,000 people each year.The photos are expected to be more effective than text, and research suggested that warnings should be changed periodically to maintain their effectiveness, the DoH said.

Canada was the first country to introduce picture warnings in 2001. Research a year later found 31 per cent of ex-smokers said the images had motivated them to quit the habit while 27 per cent said they had helped them to remain non-smokers, according to the DoH. Graphic images are now used on tobacco products sold in Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Venezuela, Thailand and Uruguay.

The smokers' lobby group Forest criticized the new warnings as 'unnecessarily intrusive' and 'gratuitously offensive'. Forest director Simon Clark said: 'We support measures that educate people about the health risks of smoking, but these pictures are designed not just to educate but to shock and coerce people to give up a legal product.

Insanity & Human Wings

These guys are crazy, but they have "mastered" their love for flying("gliding") by coming within a couple feet of rocks, trees, and that huge mountain they are tempting to meet. All I know, they have drawn a very thin line between 100% pure adrenaline & a quick death wish.

Google Time Machine?

In celebration of their 10 year anniversary as a search engine, google is going retro! They've launched a period accurate recreation of 2001 in the form of a search engine. Featuring the ability to "Search 1,326,920,000 web pages!" retro-google will take you back to the days when Ipod meant "The Image Proof of Deposit Document Processing System." Can an actual Google time machine be far behind? We will have thought not.

Stop Paying: 15 Free Services

With rising prices for services or for the need to save money, here are some helpful resources to cut back at monthly costs. Everyone needs to spend less, period.
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Free Television
Cut that cable bill and use Hulu.com for your movie and television viewing pleasure. Hulu offers full episodes of your favorite current and classic TV shows, full-length movies and thousands of clips– all for free!

Free College Fund
Upromise offers a great way to beef up Junior’s college fund without costing you a penny. Upromise puts a percentage of the money you spend on every day purchases into a special 529 Plan. It’s completely free.

Free Kids Meals
Want to go out to eat at a restaurant that doesn’t charge you for your little one’s meal? Simply plug in your zip code at KidsMealDeals.com and you’ll get a list of nearby eateries offering free food for youngsters.

Free Invoicing
Here’s a tip for small business owners. Check out BillingBoss.com for an easy (and completely free) way to create, send and track invoices.

Free Business Cards
Snag lots of free stuff at VistaPrint.com. We’re talking business cards, address labels, sticky notes and much more for free.

Free Computer Software
If you need software for word processing, spreadsheets, graphics, and presentations, check out OpenOffice.org. It’s a completely free download for anybody.

Free Directory Assistance
Need a number? Rather than tacking on more to your phone bill, try 1-800-Free-411. Get the digits you desire without spending a dime. You may have to listen to a short advertisement but, hey, it’s free.

Free Photo Processing
At Snapfish.com you won’t pay for prints– at least not right away. The first 50 are completely free when you register on the site. After that they're $.09 each.

Free Recipes
Rather than pay for a cookbook, find free recipes on the Internet with sites like Epicurious.com and AllRecipes.com.

Free Landscaping
Need to spruce up your garden? Order some free trees at FreeTreesandPlants.com . It’s a non-profit charity that utilizes the help of disabled employees to process orders.

Free Credit Report
Once a year you are allowed free access to your credit report. Check out AnnualCreditReport.com to check your credit and stop identity theft.

Free Diet Help
Can’t afford a personal trainer or a dietician to help you stay healthy? Try visiting SparkPeople.com for free meal plans, fitness tracking and exercise demos. You can also download a free printable tape measure to measure your success.

Free DVD Rentals
Rather than subscribing to a movie rental service or visiting your neighborhood video store every Friday night, try visiting your local library. Their selection of DVD’s might surprise you, but it won’t come as a surprise that it’s completely free. After all, it is the library.

Free Music
Save money on your music fix by trying out free online streaming radio. Sites like Pandora.com and Free Napster let you decide exactly what you want to listen to. Hear the latest hits or your old favorites for free.

Free Lodging
Hotel stays can cost big bucks, but thanks to CouchSurfing.com you can find a couch to crash on in just about every city for free.