Men who use mobile phones face increased risk of infertility

 

by JENNY HOPE - Last updated at 21:01pm on 23rd October 2006

Phone the doctor: Men who use mobile phones could face increased risk of infertility. Men who use mobile phones could be risking their fertility, warn researchers.

A new study shows a worrying link between poor sperm and the number of hours a day that a man uses his mobile phone.

Those who made calls on a mobile phone for more than four hours a day had the worst sperm counts and the poorest quality sperm, according to results released yesterday at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in New Orleans.

Doctors believe the damage could be caused by the electromagnetic radiation emitted by handsets or the heat they generate.

The findings suggest millions of men may encounter difficulties in fathering a child due to the widespread use of mobile phones and offers another possible explanation for plummeting fertility levels among British males.

Sperm counts among British men have fallen by 29 per cent over the past decade, a drop which has also been blamed on increasing obesity, smoking, stress, pollution and 'gender-bending' chemicals which disrupt the hormone system.

The latest study backs up previous research which indicated a link between mobile phone use and sperm quality, but it is the biggest and best designed to date.

US researchers in Cleveland and New Orleans, and doctors in Mumbai, India, looked at more than 360 men undergoing checks at a fertility clinic who were classified into three groups according to their sperm count.

Men who used a mobile for more than four hours a day had a 25 per cent lower sperm count than men who never used a mobile.

The men with highest usage also had greater problems with sperm quality, with the swimming ability of sperm - a crucial factor in conception - down by a third.

They had a 50 per cent drop in the number of properly formed sperm, with just one-fifth looking normal under a microscope.

Professor Ashok Agarwal, director of the Reproductive Research Center at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, who led the study, said "Almost a billion people are using cell phones around the world and the number is growing in many countries at 20 to 30 per cent a year.

"In another five years the number is going to double. People use mobile phones without thinking twice what the consequences may be.

"It is just like using a toothbrush but mobiles could be having a devastating effect on fertility. It still has to be proved but it could have a huge impact because mobiles are so much part of our lives."

Altogether 361 men in the study were divided into four groups, with 40 never using a mobile, 107 men using them for less than two hours a day, 100 men using them for two-four hours daily and 114 making calls for four or more hours a day.

The main finding was that on four measures of sperm potency - count, motility, viability and morphology, or appearance - there were significant differences between the groups.

The greater the use of mobile phones, the greater the reduction in each measure. Prof Agarwal said "This was very clear and very significant. Many in the lowest group for sperm count would be below normal as defined by the World Health Organization."

The WHO says a normal sperm count is above 20 million per millilitre of seminal fluid. "There was a significant decrease in the most important measures of sperm health with cell phone use and that should definitely be reflected in a decrease in fertility" he said.

Motility measures the swimming ability of sperm, viability measures whether non-swimming sperm are still alive while morphology is the appearance compared to the norm.

Although the men were seeking fertility treatment at a clinic in Mumbai, not all would have had a problem - it could be their partners, he added.

Prof Agarwal said the most likely mechanism was damage to sperm-making cells in the testes caused by electromagnetic radiation or heat, although a fall in hormone production could also affect sperm motility and sperm DNA.

He said: "These cells in the testes have been shown to be susceptible to electromagnetic waves in previous research in animals.

"Somehow electromagnetic waves may be causing direct damage to these cells and that perhaps causes a decrease in sperm production."

Mobiles may also increase temperature in the groin, if a man was wearing it on a belt or carrying it around in a pocket.

Prof Agarwal said it was too early to advise men trying to start a family about whether they should limit their mobile phone use. He said "We still have a long way to go to prove this but we have just had another study approved."

More than 40 million people in Britain are thought to use mobile phones. Alasdair Philips, director of the consumer pressure group Powerwatch said "It's a plausible link between the amount of time spent using a mobile phone and a possible effect on male fertility.

"The eyes, breasts and testicles are the areas of the body most likely to absorb the energy and many men carry their mobiles attached to their belt."

Sending text messages uses less power than talking but it can be a more intense emission of radiation, especially on trains, he said.

"I've seen men on trains spending two or three hours continually texting with their mobile phones held in their laps, and they press Send in the same position when it starts to seek a signal.

"This needs a considerable amount of power within what is effectively a metal box. We advise people to send a text with their arm outstretched next to the window when traveling on a train" he added.

He said local heating of the groin triggered by a mobile phone might also be involved in affecting sperm quality.

"Sperm is very temperature sensitive as shown by many studies, and a short-term rise in temperature could be responsible" he added.

However, Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said "This is a good quality study but I don’t think it tackles the issue.

"If you’re using your phone for four hours a day, presumably it is out of your pocket for longer. That raises a big question: how is it that testicular damage is supposed to occur?"

He said mobile phone use may be a marker for other lifestyle factors known to affect sperm quality.

"Maybe people who use a phone for four hours a day spend more time sitting in cars, which could mean there’s a heat issue. It could be they are more stressed, or more sedentary and sit about eating junk food getting fat. Those seem to be better explanations than a phone causing the damage at such a great distance" he added.

Men who use mobile phones face increased risk of infertility | the Daily Mail

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ABC News: 50-Pound Face Tumor: One Man's Nightmare

 

By DAN CHILDS
ABC News Medical Unit
Jan. 11, 2008

To see the face of 32-year-old Huang Chuancai is to witness a rare genetic condition in its most terrible form.

Chinese doctors say Huang, of China's southern Hunan province, suffers from a disease known as neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder of the nervous system that primarily affects the development and growth of neural cell tissues.

For many of its sufferers, the disease means abnormal growth of these tissues and, as a result, facial disfigurement. But Huang's case could well be the most extreme case of such disfigurement in the world today.

Before surgical intervention, 50 pounds of tumor tissue had pulled and twisted Huang's face into a distorted form, nearly unrecognizable as human. According to wire reports, doctors found that the heavy mass that droops from his head and face had deformed his backbone, stunting his growth. The tumor had totally covered his left eye, while his left ear hung down to his shoulder, and his right ear and jaw were completely engulfed.

Now, after more than two decades of suffering the horrific advance of his tumor, Huang is recovering from a second round of surgery on Monday to remove the massive growth. The initial operation, which took place last July, was a risky one-and-a-half-hour procedure that removed the largest of Huang's tumors, which weighed about 33 pounds.

While many more operations will be needed to remove all the excess tissue, Huang is reportedly hopeful that the treatments will allow him to lead a more normal life.

"I hope that when my illness is cured, I can go back home and have a nice spring festival with my family," he told Reuters.

Unfortunately, plastic and cosmetic surgeons say, it is highly unlikely that the surgeries will result in a normal appearance.

There is "zero chance of [Huang] looking normal, since the muscles, nerves, eye, bone and sometimes brain can be involved," notes Dr. Henry Kawamoto, clinical professor of plastic surgery at UCLA and director of the university's craniofacial clinic.

"I doubt that this patient will look 'normal' as suggested by [past media coverage]," agrees Park Avenue plastic surgeon Dr. Darrick Antell. "The patient would certainly be substantially better, but the degree of the problem is so large that 'normal' is unlikely in my opinion."

ABC News: 50-Pound Face Tumor: One Man's Nightmare

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James Daley: Insurers are cannier than you think

The amazing story of John Darwin's "resurrection" and arrest on suspicion of fraud made for captivating reading this week. I should be clear from the outset that there is no evidence that Mr Darwin or his wife have committed any kind of fraud, but the whole episode left me wondering just how common deception really is in the insurance world.

According to a recent report by the Association of British Insurers, more than one in 10 general insurance claims have a fraudulent element to them. Most of these are car or homeowners inflating the value of the items that have been lost, stolen or damaged. For example, when their house is burgled, a sizeable proportion of people will happily throw in a few extra items on to the list of stolen goods, or will claim that their Casio watch was in fact a Rolex.

The report also reveals that certain demographic groups are more likely to make fraudulent claims than others. People who live in the north of England, for example, are 1.7 times more likely to commit insurance fraud than the average person. Men, as well as people with unsecured debts of over £1,000, are also more likely to exaggerate or falsify a claim.

But perhaps more surprisingly, the ABI discovered that people with high levels of savings are also more likely than the average person to make a fraudulent insurance claim, illustrating the fact that modern-day insurance fraud has become a very middle-class crime.

According to the Financial Ombudsman Service, one of the most common types of deception these days is a practice called "fronting", where families name one of the parents as a primary driver on their child's car, and put the teenager down as a secondary driver. This dramatically reduces what are usually punitively expensive premiums for younger drivers – but is totally fraudulent and illegal. According to Zurich insurance, more than one in 10 (predominantly middle-class) families are now guilty of fronting, many of whom are not even aware that they are in breach of the law.

As fraud levels have grown over the past few years, insurers' techniques to catch the perpetrators have become all the more ingenious. A number of insurance companies now regularly use lie-detector technology to analyse customers' voices when they call in to make a claim, referring them to a specialist investigator for an hour-long interrogation if they fall foul of the test.

One of the insurers most vocal about its use of such techniques has been Esure. The company claims that it has had great success with its lie-detector software (technology that was originally designed for Israeli border-control guards, no less).

Once it has singled out someone using its software, Esure gets one of its investigators to spend an hour getting the customer to tell the story again. Then the investigator goes back to somewhere in the middle of the timeline and asks the customer to talk about what happened just before. This jumping around almost always trips up fraudsters.

Disappointingly, very few perpetrators of insurance fraud are ever actually prosecuted. With the average fraudulent claim coming in at around £800, it's not worth the insurer's costs to take a civil case – after all, they've already saved themselves having to pay the claim.

The Crown Prosecution Service is also reluctant to take on such cases because of a lack of resources, even though the insurers have usually already done most of the work for them. This means that, perversely, there's no real incentive to not give relatively small-time insurance fraud a go. Fortunately for the insurance companies, the vast majority of people are too honest to try it on.

Quoted from http://money.independent.co.uk/personal_finance/invest_save/article3231443.ece:

James Daley: Insurers are cannier than you think - Independent Online Edition > Invest & Save

Technorati Tags: Business,International,Privacy,Scary

Man freed after 100 hours trapped in a lavatory

LONDON (Reuters) - A retired Scottish school teacher was recovering on Monday after spending nearly four days trapped inside a men's toilet with no food or mobile phone.

David Leggat was locked inside the bathroom at a lawn bowling club near the Scottish city of Aberdeen after the door jammed and the handle on the outside fell off.

The 55-year-old kept warm by dipping his feet in hot water but only managed to get about three hours' sleep a night in the freezing temperatures, the local Evening Express newspaper reported.

He was rescued when the cleaner at the club, which is little used in winter, turned up to collect her cleaning equipment.

Leggat said a survival course he had once done had helped him endure his captivity. The cleaning lady said he looked shaken and grey when he emerged. Leggat was stoical.

"At least there was a toilet to use," he said. "The only thing I regret is not getting trapped behind the bar."

(Reporting by Luke Baker; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)

 

Quoted from http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL1032522120071210?rpc=92:

Man freed after 100 hours trapped in a lavatory | Oddly Enough | Reuters

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China cremator dumps half-burnt bodies to save fuel

HONG KONG, Dec 7 (Reuters) - China's worst fuel crunch in years has led a crematorium to dump half-burnt corpses to try to save on diesel costs, a Hong Kong newspaper said on Friday.

Villagers in Hengyang county, in the southern province of Hunan, discovered the practice when an "unbearable stench" started coming from the site, and tried to block a road on Wednesday to stop funeral vehicles from delivering more bodies.

The village sent people to investigate the smell and the South China Morning Post said they saw "crematorium workers putting half-burnt human remains and organs in plastic bags and throwing them into a nearby ditch".

"As the price of diesel rose, we saw more and more bags thrown out from the crematorium," the paper quoted Xiao Gaoyi, a village representative and one of the witnesses, as saying.

China was hit by its worst fuel supply crisis in four years from October to November, as a widening gap between low, state-regulated domestic prices and market-driven international prices forced Chinese refiners to cut output.

Fuel in many parts of the country was rationed and there were long queues at petrol stations.

An increase of nearly 10 percent in the prices of domestic diesel and gasoline from Nov. 1, the first in almost a year and a half, failed to lift refining margins back into the black. (Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

 

Quoted from http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKHKG6025220071207?rpc=92:

RPT-China cremator dumps half-burnt bodies to save fuel | Markets | Reuters

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'Beer fridges' present a gassy problem

Getting rid of vintage “beer fridges” – secondary fridges which many North American and Australian homes boast – could have a significant impact on household greenhouse gas emissions, suggests a new study.

Beer fridges are additional fridges that are generally used to keep beer and other drinks cold on top of a household’s primary fridge for food. One in three Canadian households has a second fridge, many of which are ageing, energy-guzzling models, according to Denise Young, a researcher at the University of Alberta, Canada.

Young suggests that getting rid of older models, in Canada at least, would have an impact on energy usage. Her study analyses industry data and the results of a national survey to look at the environmental effects of having beer fridges in Canada.

"People need to understand the impact of their lifestyles," says Joanna Yarrow, director of Beyond Green, a sustainable development consultancy in the UK. "Clearly the environmental implications of having a frivolous luxury like a beer fridge are not hitting home. This research helps inform people – let's hope it has an effect".

 

High demands

The survey that Young analysed was commissioned by Natural Resources Canada and suggests that 30% of households have two or more refrigerators. About 20% of secondary fridges are older models that are kept after the household buys a newer model as their primary refrigerator.

Having a second fridge for cooling drinks means more demand for electricity, and this demand is even worse when the second fridge is an older model.

The Canadian Appliance Manufacturers Association estimates that typical 1985 refrigerator models use 1060 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy per year, while a 1975 model uses 1580 kWh per year. In contrast, more recent and energy-efficient models can use as little as 380 kWh per year.

The survey shows that in 2003 about 65% of beer fridges were more than 10 years old. About 30% were at least twice that age.

Using the survey's information on the distribution of beer fridges and the data on energy consumption, Young calculated that the 65% of beer fridges that are 10 years or older consume 1165.7 million kWh of energy each year – roughly equivalent to the annual consumption of 100,000 average US suburban homes.

By abandoning beer fridges altogether, Canada's 11.5 million households could save 3500 million kWh each year, says Young.

 

Class divide

Young also found that low-income families were less likely to retire their old refrigerators to the garage to store drinks after buying a new model. She says this is probably because these households find the cost of running an additional fridge (up to $150 per year) too high.

She concludes that middle- to high-income families should be targeted by campaigns to remove old secondary refrigerators. Existing schemes encourage people to buy new more energy-efficient fridges by offering financial bonuses for each purchase – sometimes with a cash-back offer for handing in older fridges.

Young warns, however, that "these financial incentives may also induce a household to purchase a new unit earlier than they would have otherwise done so", which can actually encourage people to keep a second fridge.

Instead, Young supports government-run "round-ups" offering to pick up and dispose of old refrigerators. A 2006 study commissioned by the Ontario Power Authority showed that such programmes have been successful in the past, especially when they are boosted by information on how much money and energy can be saved by getting rid of the beer fridge.

But environmental effect of beer fridges depends on the source of electricity. "In Canada, there are major regional differences," notes Young. "In places where hydroelectric power is used, the greenhouse gas emissions are negligible. In places where coal or natural gas are used, the impacts can be substantial."

She calculates that a 1975 fridge in British Columbia – where most electricity comes from hydropower – is responsible for a negligible increase in emissions. But the same fridge in Alberta, where electricity is primarily generated from natural gas and coal, would be responsible for 1.4 tons of greenhouse gases every year.

 

Quoted from http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn12975-beer-fridges-present-a-gassy-problem.html:

'Beer fridges' present a gassy problem - earth - 28 November 2007 - New Scientist Environment

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New traffic circle can cause confusion

By Karen Dandurant

kdandurant@seacoastonline.com

RYE — It seems that some area residents are having a bit of difficulty with the new roundabout at Foyes Corner.

It opened to traffic on Tuesday Nov. 20. By Wednesday, Police Chief Kevin Walsh was dealing with the first problem — people were entering and driving to the left, instead of the correct way, which is to the right.

Since that time former Executive Councilor Ruth Griffin said she has been fielding complaints about the newly reconfigured intersection.

Police and officials from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation advise residents to be cautious and to realize there is a learning curve involved, especially for those who have been driving the intersection for many years.

At least one resident, who did not want to be named, called the roundabout “disastrous” and said there was nothing wrong with the old intersection.

Griffin agrees.

“The incidents of accidents at Foyes Corner, compared to some other intersections, were minimal,” said Griffin. “There was no earthly need under the sun to spend limited highway money on that folly, plus the heritage that went with the Cavaretta house at the corner is gone.”

The big white farm house owned by the Cavaretta family had to be torn down to make way for the new intersection. Several efforts to have the house moved failed.

“People are calling to complain that it’s too small, that there’s too much access to drive over the middle of it, and that it’s in the wrong position,” said Griffin. “People are asking me for help and that’s what I’ll do.”

Griffin said she plans to call NHDOT Commissioner Charles O’Leary.

“I’ll tell him I’m giving his phone number to everyone, that I’m turning them over to him,” she said.

Walsh said people have to get used to it.

“I’m all for how the traffic pattern is designed to slow cars down. Drivers have to be aware of their surroundings. When it first opened I saw a person driving while talking on a cell phone and he went up and over the cement. Drivers need to put their phones down and drive.”

Walsh said he thinks it will take about one year to fully adjust, as each season changes.

“We will start to do some enforcement,” said Walsh. “Vehicles are driving too fast in getting in the circle. We’ll try to be visible and if people drive too fast, we will address that issue.”

DOT engineer Alex Vogt was the project manager. He said they started informing people before the roundabout opened.

“We put up message boards and new signs,” said Vogt. “We put fliers at the town hall and contacted local media.”

As for people driving over the top, Vogt said it is visibly different from the road surface.

“The center is concrete where the other is pavement,” he said. “If correctly entering, it directs you around the surface.”

The roundabout at Foyes Corner is the fourth built by DOT in the state. Vogt said it seems like the first week or so there are some complaints, but also praise.

“We’re willing to listen to any concerns people have and if there seem to be ongoing issues we can make some adjustments,” he said. “The purpose is to slow down traffic to 10-15 miles per hour.”

NHDOT spokesperson Bill Boynton said roundabouts have several positive attributes and are rapidly becoming part of state transportation mixes.

“There’s a low risk of injury-causing crashes,” he said. “It keeps traffic flowing, and saves fuel because you’re not sitting idling at a traffic signal.”

Quoted from http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/NEWS/71126033:

Seacoastonline.com: New traffic circle can cause confusion

 

Technorati Tags: Cars,Maine,Scary

Honey, I doomed the universe

ASTRONOMERS may have unwittingly hastened the end of the Universe by simply looking at it, according to a theory reported in the latest edition of New Scientist.

The novel idea is being aired by two US physicists, who attack the notion that the universe, believed to have been created in the "Big Bang'' some 13.7 billion years ago, will go on, well, forever.

In fact, the poor old cosmos is in a rather delicate state, they say.

Until recently, a common idea was that the energy unleashed in the Big Bang happened when a "false vacuum'' - a bubble of high energy with repulsive gravity - broke down into a safe, zero-energy "ordinary'' vacuum.

But recent evidence has emerged that places a cosmic question-mark over this cosy thought.

For one thing, cosmologists have discovered that the Universe is still expanding.

And, they believe, a strange, yet-to-be-detected form of energy called dark energy pervades the universe, which would explain why the sum of all the visible sources of energy fall way short of what should be out there.

Dark energy, goes the thinking, is a result of the Big Bang and is accelerating the universe's expansion.

If so, the universe is not in a nice, stable zero-vacuum state but simply another "false vacuum'' state that may abruptly decay again - and with cataclysmic consequences.

The energy shift from the decay would destroy everything in the universe, "wiping the slate clean", says Lawrence Krauss of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

The good news is: the longer the universe survives, the better the chance that it will mature into a stable state. We are just beyond the crucial switching point, Mr Krauss believed.

The bad news is: the quantum effect, a truly weird aspect of physics that says whenever we observe or measure something, we reset its clock.

Mr Krauss and colleague James Dent pointed to measurements of light from supernovae in 1998 that provided the first evidence of dark energy.

These measurements might have reset the decay clock of the "false vacuum'' back to zero, back before the switching point and to a time when the risk of catastrophic decay was greater than now, said Mr Dent and Mr Krauss.

"Incredible as it seems, our detection of the dark energy may have reduced the life expectancy of the universe,'' said Mr Krauss.

"We may have snatched away the possibility of long-term survival for our universe and made it more likely it will decay.''

The report says the claim is contested by other astrophysicists and adds reassuringly: "The fact that we are still here means this can't have happened yet.''

Quoted from http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22801758-5005962,00.html:

AdelaideNow... Honey, I doomed the universe

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CDC warns of mumps outbreak

 

By Meg Haskell
Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - Bangor Daily News

With confirmed and suspected cases of mumps on the rise in Maine - including a suspected case in an employee at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor - and a much more serious outbreak just across the border in Canada, Maine’s chief public health officer on Monday issued updated recommendations for vaccination against the potentially serious illness.

"Because this outbreak [in Maine] has spread, we are updating vaccination recommendations, especially among children, college and university students and hospital workers,’’ said Dr. Dora Anne Mills, head of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Because of the environments where they live and work, such individuals are most likely to contract and spread the virus, Mills said.

Since September, seven cases of mumps have been confirmed in southern and central Maine, four of them in November alone. The state is awaiting the results of lab tests on as many as two dozen more suspected cases, according to the Maine CDC. The age of the sickened individuals ranges from the late teens to the late 50s.

While the number of cases in Maine may seem insignificant, more than 900 individuals in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, mostly college students, have been sickened with mumps since last winter.

And on Monday, a housekeeper at EMMC was given a preliminary diagnosis of mumps, pending confirmation by laboratory testing. Donna Dunton, director of infection control at EMMC, confirmed Monday evening that the housekeeper has been asked to stay out of work until lab reports of her mumpslike symptoms are complete. The employee is not thought to have been in close enough contact with any patients to have spread the virus, Dunton stressed, and routine infection control measures such as hand washing are likely to have minimized the possibility of transmission.

Mumps is a viral infection of the salivary glands. Symptoms typically include fever, headache, muscle ache, and swelling and tenderness of the glands at the corner of the jaw. Symptoms may last seven to 10 days, and infected individuals are contagious for at least three days before becoming ill and as long as nine days after symptoms appear.

Infection occurs through direct contact with respiratory droplets from the nose or throat, through saliva, coughing, sneezing, sharing drinks, kissing or from contact with any surface that has been contaminated with the virus.

Rarely, mumps infection can lead to meningitis, inflammation of the testicles or ovaries, inflammation of the pancreas, and temporary or permanent hearing loss.

"Although mumps is a virus and is not treatable with antibiotics, the good news is that mumps can be prevented or its impact reduced with vaccine," Mills said.

The MMR vaccine — which protects against mumps, measles and rubella, or "German measles" — is the most common vaccine used to protect against mumps.

The Maine CDC’s updated guidelines are as follows:

ä For students in kindergarten through 12th grade, all vaccine records should be reviewed and updated. For any students who are not current with their MMR vaccines, a letter should be given to the parents notifying them of the mumps outbreak and informing them that if their child remains nonimmunized and the infection is detected in their school, their child will be excluded from school for at least 18 days.

ä For college and university students, all vaccine records should be reviewed and updated. All students should have documentation of two doses of MMR, rather than the previously required one dose. Most students will have had two doses as part of their routine childhood vaccinations, but older "nontraditional" students may be lacking the second dose.

ä Hospital health care workers with direct patient contact should have their vaccine records reviewed and updated. Adequate mumps vaccination for those born in 1957 or later now consists of two doses of MMR, rather than the previously required one dose. Adequate mumps vaccination for those born before 1957 now consists of one dose of MMR, rather than no doses, as previously required.

Besides the additional vaccinations, the Maine CDC also recommends that individuals who become infected should be isolated for nine days after the onset of illness. Those who are not immunized and who are exposed should be isolated for about 18 days after the last known exposure.

Mills acknowledged that compliance with these recommendations may be financially and logistically burdensome for some individuals, institutions and families. The average cost of a mumps vaccine is about $45, she said, but the state is trying to secure supplies of lower-cost vaccine. The Maine CDC can assist institutions with the process of reviewing records, setting up vaccine clinics and obtaining vaccine supplies, she said.

Mills added that the new recommendations are likely to be upgraded to requirements through departmental rule making in the near future.

"While there is no apparent direct connection between people in Maine with confirmed infection and the current outbreak in Canada, it is not surprising that a border state like Maine would see an outbreak," Mills said.

A student health official at the University of Maine was unavailable Monday to comment on how the new recommendations might affect the Orono campus.

At EMMC, Dunton said employee charts have been under review for several months in response to changes in vaccine recommendations from the Maine CDC issued earlier this year. Monday’s announcement, she said, is likely to "step up the pace" of that review, and many employees are likely to be asked to roll up their sleeves.

For information on mumps, visit the Maine CDC’s Web site: www.mainepublichealth.gov.

CDC warns of mumps outbreak

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ADHD Drugs Have No Long Term Benefits

London (ECN) - Ritalin and other drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have no long term effectiveness, according to a new study which will be part of a BBC television special.

A long-term monitoring program involving 600 kids across the United States since the beginning of the 1990s will be shown in a TV program from BBC called 'Panorama' - with some of its results revealed.

Researchers found drugs such as Ritalin and Concerta do work well for short term, but no do offer improvement in a children's behaviour after three years.

The studies co-author from the University of Buffalo Professor William Pelhamsays, says he believes the beneficial impact of medication is exaggerated.

It had been thought that kids would have better outcomes if they were medicated for longer - however, it is not the case, there were no beneficial effects at all.

"I think that we exaggerated the beneficial impact of medication in the first study," Pelham told BBC. "We had thought that children medicated longer would have better outcomes. That didn't happen to be the case. In the short run (medication) will help the child behave better, in the long run it won't. And that information should be made very clear to parents."

The Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD study also found that these drugs may also stunt a child's growth, the BBC reported.

"The children (taking the medication) weren't growing as much as other kids both in terms of their height and in terms of their weight," the studies co-author from the University of Buffalo Professor WilliamPelham told BBC.

Pelham believes that behavioral therapy and Omega-3 should be the first steps in helping a child with ADHD.

 

Quoted from http://www.ecanadanow.com/news/health/adhd-drugs-have-no-long-term-benefits-20071112.html:

eCanadaNow.com - ADHD Drugs Have No Long Term Benefits

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Tipster fired from job

By Holly Wagner, WINK News

EE COUNTY, Fla. - Fired for doing the right thing, that's what a Lee County man says happened to him after he turned in one of the county's most wanted fugitives.

"I thought I did the right thing," said Kirk Zahradka.

Newspaper photographs of Crimestoppers most wanted tipped Kirk Zahradka off. "Bunch of us seen the electricians name on it, picture on it," says Zahradka. The man in one of the pictures, Stanley Forcier, was his co-worker. "I called Crimestoppers reported him, got the case number," said Kirk Zahradka. That phone call did them both in. "He got arrested," said Kirk Zahradka. Zahradka got fired the same day. "She (his boss) handed me my paycheck said I was detrimental to the company and I shouldn't have done it like that. Her son said that I just should have keep my nose out of other people's business," said Kirk Zahradka.

Zahradka worked at Advanced Machine Repair off Metro Parkway in Fort Myers for six years. "I've never done anything to the company. She said I was fired. I told just her I can't believe you are firing me over this," said Kirk Zahradka.

He claims his boss knew about his co-workers trouble with the law and claims they even hung up the Crimestoppers photos at his work. WINK News wanted to know how a call to Crimestoppers justified firing someone. His boss, Linda Wright says they had other internal issues with Zahradka. Wright says Zahradka had also been bad mouthing management.

Attorney Dennis Webb who doesn't represent anyone in the story says right or wrong, Florida law can't help. "It's the classic no good deed goes unpunished situation, I don't think these people have any recourse," says Webb.

Now Zahradka is looking for a new job

 

Quoted from http://www.winknews.com/news/local/11214681.html:

Tipster fired from job | WINK News - Southwest Florida | Local & Florida

Technorati Tags: Justice,Lame,Scary

Devices Enforce Silence of Cellphones, Illegally

By MATT RICHTEL Published: November 4, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 2 — One afternoon in early September, an architect boarded his commuter train and became a cellphone vigilante. He sat down next to a 20-something woman who he said was “blabbing away” into her phone.

“She was using the word ‘like’ all the time. She sounded like a Valley Girl,” said the architect, Andrew, who declined to give his last name because what he did next was illegal.

Andrew reached into his shirt pocket and pushed a button on a black device the size of a cigarette pack. It sent out a powerful radio signal that cut off the chatterer’s cellphone transmission — and any others in a 30-foot radius.

“She kept talking into her phone for about 30 seconds before she realized there was no one listening on the other end,” he said. His reaction when he first discovered he could wield such power? “Oh, holy moly! Deliverance.”

As cellphone use has skyrocketed, making it hard to avoid hearing half a conversation in many public places, a small but growing band of rebels is turning to a blunt countermeasure: the cellphone jammer, a gadget that renders nearby mobile devices impotent.

The technology is not new, but overseas exporters of jammers say demand is rising and they are sending hundreds of them a month into the United States — prompting scrutiny from federal regulators and new concern last week from the cellphone industry. The buyers include owners of cafes and hair salons, hoteliers, public speakers, theater operators, bus drivers and, increasingly, commuters on public transportation.

The development is creating a battle for control of the airspace within earshot. And the damage is collateral. Insensitive talkers impose their racket on the defenseless, while jammers punish not just the offender, but also more discreet chatterers.

“If anything characterizes the 21st century, it’s our inability to restrain ourselves for the benefit of other people,” said James Katz, director of the Center for Mobile Communication Studies at Rutgers University. “The cellphone talker thinks his rights go above that of people around him, and the jammer thinks his are the more important rights.”

The jamming technology works by sending out a radio signal so powerful that phones are overwhelmed and cannot communicate with cell towers. The range varies from several feet to several yards, and the devices cost from $50 to several hundred dollars. Larger models can be left on to create a no-call zone.

Using the jammers is illegal in the United States. The radio frequencies used by cellphone carriers are protected, just like those used by television and radio broadcasters.

The Federal Communication Commission says people who use cellphone jammers could be fined up to $11,000 for a first offense. Its enforcement bureau has prosecuted a handful of American companies for distributing the gadgets — and it also pursues their users.

Investigators from the F.C.C. and Verizon Wireless visited an upscale restaurant in Maryland over the last year, the restaurant owner said. The owner, who declined to be named, said he bought a powerful jammer for $1,000 because he was tired of his employees focusing on their phones rather than customers.

“I told them: put away your phones, put away your phones, put away your phones,” he said. They ignored him.

The owner said the F.C.C. investigator hung around for a week, using special equipment designed to detect jammers. But the owner had turned his off.

The Verizon investigator was similarly unsuccessful. “He went to everyone in town and gave them his number and said if they were having trouble, they should call him right away,” the owner said. He said he has since stopped using the jammer.

Of course, it would be harder to detect the use of smaller battery-operated jammers like those used by disgruntled commuters.

An F.C.C. spokesman, Clyde Ensslin, declined to comment on the issue or the case in Maryland.

Cellphone carriers pay tens of billions of dollars to lease frequencies from the government with an understanding that others will not interfere with their signals. And there are other costs on top of that. Verizon Wireless, for example, spends $6.5 billion a year to build and maintain its network.

“It’s counterintuitive that when the demand is clear and strong from wireless consumers for improved cell coverage, that these kinds of devices are finding a market,” said Jeffrey Nelson, a Verizon spokesman. The carriers also raise a public safety issue: jammers could be used by criminals to stop people from communicating in an emergency.

In evidence of the intensifying debate over the devices, CTIA, the main cellular phone industry association, asked the F.C.C. on Friday to maintain the illegality of jamming and to continue to pursue violators. It said the move was a response to requests by two companies for permission to use jammers in specific situations, like in jails.

Individuals using jammers express some guilt about their sabotage, but some clearly have a prankster side, along with some mean-spirited cellphone schadenfreude. “Just watching those dumb teens at the mall get their calls dropped is worth it. Can you hear me now? NO! Good,” the purchaser of a jammer wrote last month in a review on a Web site called DealExtreme.

Gary, a therapist in Ohio who also declined to give his last name, citing the illegality of the devices, says jamming is necessary to do his job effectively. He runs group therapy sessions for sufferers of eating disorders. In one session, a woman’s confession was rudely interrupted.

“She was talking about sexual abuse,” Gary said. “Someone’s cellphone went off and they carried on a conversation.”

“There’s no etiquette,” he said. “It’s a pandemic.”

Gary said phone calls interrupted therapy all the time, despite a no-phones policy. Four months ago, he paid $200 for a jammer, which he placed surreptitiously on one side of the room. He tells patients that if they are expecting an emergency call, they should give out the front desk’s number. He has not told them about the jammer.

Gary bought his jammer from a Web site based in London called PhoneJammer.com. Victor McCormack, the site’s operator, says he ships roughly 400 jammers a month into the United States, up from 300 a year ago. Orders for holiday gifts, he said, have exceeded 2,000.

Kumaar Thakkar, who lives in Mumbai, India, and sells jammers online, said he exported 20 a month to the United States, twice as many as a year ago. Clients, he said, include owners of cafes and hair salons, and a New York school bus driver named Dan.

“The kids think they are sneaky by hiding low in the seats and using their phones,” Dan wrote in an e-mail message to Mr. Thakkar thanking him for selling the jammer. “Now the kids can’t figure out why their phones don’t work, but can’t ask because they will get in trouble! It’s fun to watch them try to get a signal.”

Andrew, the San Francisco-area architect, said using his jammer was initially fun, and then became a practical way to get some quiet on the train. Now he uses it more judiciously.

“At this point, just knowing I have the power to cut somebody off is satisfaction enough,” he said.

 

Quoted from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/technology/04jammer.html?_r=3&ei=5088&en=e80e8e8d2c6a9275&ex=1351828800&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all:

Devices Enforce Silence of Cellphones, Illegally - New York Times

Technorati Tags: Cell Phones,Scary,Sad

Attack Plane Taranis Can Fly Without Pilot

Pilotless Plane Can Launch Own Attacks

By Geoff Meade
Defence correspondent
Updated:09:31, Friday November 02, 2007

 

It sounds like something straight out of a Terminator film script.

Future air battles may be fought by robots with minimum human input.

Attack plane has no pilot

 

The Ministry of Defence is spending £124m developing a prototype of Britain's first unmanned fighter-bomber.

Named Taranis after the Celtic god of thunder, the sinister bat-wing shape will be the size of one of the Red Arrows' Hawk display jets. Its range will be intercontinental.

It can carry bombs, missiles and canon. And, for the first time, it will be capable of shooting down other aircraft.

"This is a machine able to think for itself," said Chris Allam, project director at BAE Systems' top secretworks at Salmesbury, near Preston in Lancashire.

"It's a new generation of UAV (unmanned air vehicles). It won't need a pilot on the ground with a joystick. It will be assigned an area to operate in and then will acquire and track targets autonomously."

The prospect raises obvious fears. What if the deadly machine turned on its creators?

That's science fiction say the designers. "At no time will the machine be able to take the decision to release a weapon. That will always require human authorisation."

Although that may reassure flesh and blood pilots, there is strong lobbying for unmanned aviation.

A conventional fast jet costs £40,000 an hour to operate. Drones can be cheaper and - because no life is at stake - more expendable.

"They're valuable for operations that are dull - such as protracted surveillance - dirty, operating in a contaminated environment or dangerous, where there's heavy anti-aircraft fire," explained aviation writer Jon Lake. "But their sensors are far inferior to a human being's whose eye can take in detail in an instant."

I was the first TV journalist to be allowed inside the factory to see the first metal being cut on the prototype.

The builders are justly proud of a project which restores Britain to the premiership of aerospace innovation. It should fly within two years and could be operational in ten.

The French are developing a similar weapon, whilst America is building a solar-powered plane to stay aloft for a year.

This really could be the rise of the machines.

Quoted from http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1291122,00.html?f=rss:

Attack Plane Taranis Can Fly Without Pilot |Sky News|UK News

Technorati Tags: International,Scary,Science

Tax ruling leaves 150 Raytheon workers out in cold

Pay for Antarctic work not considered by IRS as earned outside US

By Jonathan Berr, Globe Correspondent | October 31, 2007

Meghan Prentiss thought working for Raytheon Co.(RTN) as a meteorologist at McMurdo Station in Antarctica was "like going to the moon for a year." But as far as the IRS is concerned, she never left the state of Massachusetts.

What the 31-year-old Boston resident describes as "the ultimate adventure" seven years ago turned into a painful lesson in tax law. Prentiss is among about 150 people who worked on the frozen continent for the Waltham-based defense contractor who were penalized by the Internal Revenue Service for claiming on their taxes that they were working outside the United States.

Because other federal courts have ruled that Antarctica is a foreign country with regards to tort claims and the Fair Labor Standards Act, the workers believed they were on safe ground claiming the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, which allows some US citizens who work overseas to exempt as much as $82,400 in income from federal taxes.

But the Tax Court, which handles disputes between the IRS and taxpayers, thought otherwise. In a January ruling that's binding for all the cases, the court said the workers' arguments were "irrelevant or without merit" since they were based on laws other than the tax code, which specifies that foreign countries must have governments recognized by the US government. The US rejects any territorial claims over Antarctica.

"I guess I fought the law and the law won," joked Prentiss, whose case was officially decided this month.

Many Raytheon workers claimed the foreign income deduction for years, according to Dean Klein, who spent 12 seasons at the South Pole. Raytheon took over running the Polar research stations for the National Science Foundation in 2000. The company hires about 1,000 contract workers at the South Pole and employs 400 there full-time, supporting three year-round research stations and two vessels.

"Until Raytheon took over, there was never an issue with the IRS," said Klein, 45, a North Carolina resident who hasn't been hired back by Raytheon since 2005. "I was told that you didn't need to worry."

But a company spokesman, Jonathan Kasle, said workers hired for Antarctica are told during orientation that they can't claim the foreign income exclusion.

Many of the workers who had the tax problems used a Colorado accounting firm run by former IRS official Joyce Zeglin, said Scott Saltzman, a former Raytheon worker from Brockton. At Zeglin's suggestion, they hired a tax attorney together. "The idea was power in numbers," Saltzman said.

It didn't work out that way. Zeglin said she was disappointed with the ruling. Larry Harvey, the Colorado lawyer who represented the workers, said he isn't filing an appeal because chances are slim for prevailing.

The question of who owns Antarctica is unsettled as a matter of international law. New Zealand claims sovereignty over the Ross Dependency, where McMurdo and Palmer Station are located. The United States doesn't recognize New Zealand's claim.

"Not all [New Zealand] law is automatically applied to or exercised in the Ross Dependency," said Lorraine Schofield, a spokeswoman for the New Zealand Embassy in Washington, who said she was unable to determine if tax law was applicable. "It is significant to note, though, that [New Zealand] does not exercise jurisdiction over other national programs in Antarctica, including the US"

Tangling with the IRS has taken its toll on the former polar workers. When she first was notified the agency had questioned her taxes, Prentiss immediately posted a $5,000 bond, which forced her to borrow more than she planned to go to graduate school. Other former Raytheon workers found themselves in worse shape.

Saltzman fell down a flight of stairs at Palmer in 2002, breaking his neck leaving him disabled. He took the same deduction Prentiss did in 2001 and now owes the IRS $12,604.71, which includes $1,665.75 in penalties, and $2,112.93 in interest, which he's paying off in monthly installments of $171. The IRS seized his social security benefits from his bank account and wouldn't release them until he worked out a payment arrangement.

"I got a raw deal," said Saltzman, 43, who lives in Florida part of the year because he can no longer take New England winters. "Now, if I miss a payment they will take my disability away again."

Quoted from http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/10/31/tax_ruling_leaves_150_raytheon_workers_out_in_cold/:

Tax ruling leaves 150 Raytheon workers out in cold - The Boston Globe

Technorati Tags: International , Lame , Laws , Scary

Swarm of Fleas Attack Police Officers

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Four officers investigating a burglary were attacked, not by a fleeing burglar, but a swarm of fleas in a filth-ridden vacant house.

The tiny, biting attackers were so overwhelming that the South Bend patrolmen had to be decontaminated and ended up being sent home early from their shifts.

"They were all over the place—in our socks and even in our shorts. It was disgusting," said Cpl. Ken Stuart.

To avoid infesting their squad cars, the police station or relatives, Stuart, Cpl. Chris Slager and Patrolman Paul Strabavy endured a lengthy flea decontamination process.

A van took them back to the station, where the men showered with flea/lice shampoo and soap. A wife of one of the officers brought them spare clothes.

As many as seven officers helped with the decontamination on Sunday.

"The guys were very angry. The last thing they wanted to deal with was fleas," said Sgt. Chuck Stokes. "That killed the whole shift."

Stokes said the house's tenants had recently been evicted, but returned periodically to feed a dog tied up in the backyard and allowed it to run around inside the garbage-filled house.

Swarm of Fleas Attack Police Officers

Technorati Tags: Justice , Scary

Alleged robber on lam

By CRAIG CROSBY

Staff Writer

FREEDOM -- Frank Morello figured he would be a good neighbor and offer to lend a hand when he looked down Goosepecker Ridge Road and saw a young man using a four-wheeler to pull a pickup truck from a ditch.

Morello got the shock of his life, however, when he got close enough to see that the four-wheeler, and the coins and jewelry scattered in the back of the pickup, were all his own.

"I went to call the cops and I saw he trashed my house," Morello said.

The Thursday encounter kicked off an intense eight-hour manhunt that involved the State Police Tactical team, the Maine Warden Service, and the Waldo County Sheriff's Department. Police believe the young man was Derek Creasy, 25, of Knox. Creasy is believed to have stolen guns, coins and the all-terrain vehicle from Morello's home before fleeing on foot to a Halldale Road home, where he allegedly rummaged through the house for valuables and stole another four-wheeler, according to police.

Creasy, who police say ditched the second stolen four-wheeler when confronted by citizens on Route 220 in Montville, was still on the loose Friday afternoon.

Morello was returning home for lunch around 1:30 p.m. when he saw the four-wheeler in the road and the young man talking on a cell phone. When confronted by Morello, Creasy said he had borrowed the four-wheeler from a homeowner at the end of the nearby driveway. The driveway happened to be Morello's.

Morello, who at that point did not know Creasy had allegedly broken into his home, told Creasy to wait while Morello went to the house to call the police.

"I hurried back and he was gone," Morello said. "I would have shot (him)."

Creasy fled on foot, leaving behind the pickup and most of Morello's guns, jewelry, and a stash of collectible coins worth about $1,000, Morello said.

"Most of the stuff was in the back of the truck," Morello said.

A loaded .22-caliber handgun is still missing, however.

Police searched the woods around the area of Route 220 -- where the second stolen four-wheeler was found -- until 11 p.m., according to Lt. Gerard Madden of the Maine State Police. Police obtained a warrant for Creasy's arrest on Friday and continued to search for him in the area.

It is the second time this year police have accused Creasy of robbery. He was free on bail after being arrested by Trooper Dan Webber in March and charged with stealing more than $1,000 from seven vehicles in Unity, Madden said.

Police believe Creasy still has at least one gun. Members of the public are urged to stay away from Creasy, but anyone with information is urged to call state police at (800) 452-4664.

Morello said it is going to take time and money to get things back to normal. The four-wheeler runs poorly now and his homeowners' insurance will not cover repairs. A door on the house was broken, Morello said, and repairs will eat up most of the $500 deductible. Morello said he and his wife spent about five hours cleaning up the mess left behind.

"He dumped every drawer and cabinet," Morello said. "He was looking for money hard.

"I guess it could have been a lot worse. How else can you look at it?"

Alleged robber on lam

Technorati Tags: Justice , Maine , Scary

Man blames health drink for unwanted erection

 

29-year-old claims Boost Plus caused condition that required surgery

NEW YORK - A man has sued the maker of the health drink Boost Plus, claiming the vitamin-enriched beverage gave him an erection that would not subside and caused him to be hospitalized.

The lawsuit filed by Christopher Woods of New York said he bought the nutrition beverage made by the pharmaceutical company Novartis AG at a drugstore on June 5, 2004, and drank it.

Woods’ court papers say he woke up the next morning “with an erection that would not subside” and sought treatment that day for the condition, called severe priapism.

They say Woods, 29, underwent surgery for implantation of a Winter shunt, which moves blood from one area to another.

The lawsuit, filed late Monday, says Woods later had problems that required a hospital visit and penile artery embolization, a way of closing blood vessels. Closing off some blood flow prevents engorgement and lessens the likelihood of an erection.

Woods’ lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, names Novartis Consumer Health Inc. as a defendant. A spokeswoman for the company, Brandi Robinson, said Tuesday the company was aware of the lawsuit but does not comment on pending litigation.

Woods’ lawyer did not return telephone calls for comment Tuesday.

Novartis’ Boost Plus Web site describes the drink as “a great tasting, high calorie, nutritionally complete oral supplement for people who require extra energy and protein in a limited volume,” in vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.

Man blames health drink for unwanted erection - Men's Health - MSNBC.com

Technorati Tags: Health , Scary , Weird

Conman shot nails into himself

By JOHN COLES
October 05, 2007

A CONMAN shot himself seven times with a nail gun in a bid to win compensation, a court heard.

X-ray ... five nails in chest

David Russell blasted five two-inch nails into his chest and another two into his forearm.

One came within an inch of his heart and those in his arm bent as they hit bone.

Russell’s blood-soaked T-shirt was pinned to his body.

Arm in pain ... two nails in limb

Doctors took an hour to remove the nails.

Russell, 38, told cops he was wounded by muggers.

But he later admitted inflicting the injuries on himself in the hope of landing a handout from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

He owned up after cops uncovered inconsistencies in his story and were unable to find witnesses or evidence to support it.

In agony ... Russell

Telephone engineer Russell claimed three youths grabbed him from behind and fired a 10in-long nail gun at him.

A judge at Gloucester Crown Court said Russell faced jail after hearing that he had pulled off another stunt three years ago — and won £4,175 damages.

Shot himself with ... nail gun

Russell admitted perverting the course of justice and also pleaded guilty to a similar count relating to the previous incident.

He will be sentenced after psychiatric assessment.

 

Quoted from http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007460246,00.html:

The Sun Online - News: Conman shot nails into himself

Technorati Tags:Funny,International,Lame,Sad,Scary,Weird

Grits for Breakfast: Dallas PD to participate in study of lineup procedures

From the "Grits for Breakfast" blog, Thanks to Scott Henson for this interesting post:

The new web poll I've posted for the week asks: "If a serious crime were committed and you were falsely accused, would you have an alibi for last night?" If your answer is "No," or "only part of the evening," how would you feel if a crime victim picked your face out of a photo lineup and insisted that you were guilty?

Quoted from http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2007/09/dallas-pd-to-participate-in-study-of.html:

Grits for Breakfast: Dallas PD to participate in study of lineup procedures

Technorati Tags:Justice,Scary

Woman runs over own legs

PHOENIXVILLE — The Phoenixville Police Department is investigating a freak accident in which a borough woman ran over both of her legs in the drive-through lane at McDonald’s, 651 Nutt Rd., Friday afternoon.

According to Cpl. Pat Mark, a black Chevrolet Blazer, driven by a 53-year-old borough woman, was in the drive-thru lane at McDonald’s around 1:55 p.m. September 28.

“For some unknown reason, her legs were run over by her vehicle,” said Mark. “We are investigating how this accident could’ve happened.”

What police are trying to determine is how the woman exited her vehicle and how her vehicle rolled over both legs.

Emergency personnel arrived on scene and began treatment before placing her on a stretcher.

The woman was conscious while speaking with emergency personnel, as they were focused on her legs.

The woman was transported via West End Ambulance to Friendship Field, where a waiting PennStar helicopter airlifted her to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) for unknown injuries to her legs.

Police are not releasing the name of the woman due to the uncertainty about her injuries.

One witness said that it looked like the woman had placed an order, and her vehicle was slowly moving forward.

The witness said that the next thing they knew, the woman had somehow fallen out of the Blazer and landed partially in the lane, and her legs went underneath her vehicle.

The distance from the Blazer to the restaurant wall in the drive-thru lane was approximately 53 inches, as measured by police.

The Blazer came to a stop just before the next drive-thru window at the restaurant.

Several blood stains were prevalent in the drive-thru lane, but were cleaned up by emergency personnel.

The Blazer was towed away from the scene by Dominick’s Auto Body, Phoenixville.

Mark said this accident is currently under investigation by police.

Assisting at the scene were Phoenixville Police Department, Phoenixville Fire Department and Phoenixville Fire Police.

Quoted from http://www.phoenixvillenews.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/Daily?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.pgpath=/PVN/News&r21.content=/PVN/News/ContentTab_Feature_715762:

PhoenixvilleNews.com

Technorati Tags:Scary,Weird