I know this is old news and it happenned a year ago.

But I'm fascinated how some folks with the weirdest fettishes can rationalize their jobs or positions in their religious community in light of the kinky shit they do.



OCTOBER 8--An Alabama minister who died in June of "accidental mechanical asphyxia" was found hogtied and wearing two complete wet suits, including a face mask, diving gloves and slippers, rubberized underwear, and a head mask, according to an autopsy report.

more here: http://www.thesmokinggun....cuba1.html


URL edit
[Edited 9/22/08 9:49am]

i am SO not posting on this thread. nope. i mean hey, i DO have limits. even if the forum is dead today i still have my pride

okay. don't get me wrong, i think it's great that people have the initiative to start threads and nurture them along. but here is an alternative thread title/topic, just in case:

French itch with complaints over Chinese chairs
Customers say recliners, sofas are causing allergic reactions and infections
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26796608/

PARIS - After tainted baby milk, now toxic chairs from China.

Customers in France who bought Chinese-made recliners are complaining of stinging allergic rashes and infections.

One customer, Caroline Morin, said Friday she was stunned to learn the chair she bought last December appears to have caused the skin problems she says she suffered for months.

"You sit comfortably on something and in fact you have a bomb under your butt," she said.

The French distributor, Conforama, warned clients in July that some of the chairs and sofas presented an allergy risk "in rare cases." It has withdrawn them from sale and now says the health problems were linked to an anti-fungal chemical in the chairs.

The affair gained attention this week following French media reports exposing problems suffered by people who bought the chairs.

One was Dolores Ennrich, who says that because of long-term illness she spent a lot of time sitting in the recliner she purchased in March 2007.

She says she suffered painful eczema and skin infections on her left thigh, back and left arm that put her in a hospital for 12 days and led doctors to prescribe repeated courses of antibiotics.

"It went away, it came back, it went away. That went on for more than a year," she told The Associated Press. "It is very painful."

Conforama says it has severed its commercial ties with the Chinese supplier, Linkwise, and told its other suppliers to no longer use the chemical, dimethyl fumarate, to prevent mold.

Linkwise is based in the manufacturing hub of Dongguan in southern China.

A man who answered the phone at the company said Friday that it is working with the Chinese government's quality inspection watchdog to investigate the problem. He would not give details, his name or title.

Floods of cheap Chinese products on world markets have also been accompanied in recent years by scares over poor quality, particularly involving food.

The latest Chinese product crisis involves baby formula made from milk powder tainted with the industrial chemical melamine. It has been blamed for the deaths of four babies and illnesses in 6,200 others in China. Previous scandals involved contaminated seafood, toothpaste and a pet food ingredient, also tainted with melamine, blamed for the deaths of dogs and cats in the United States.

"Chinese, it's really dangerous. There's the chairs. The milk ...," said Ennrich. "We pay less but there are consequences."

Normally, just one sachet of the anti-mold chemical is meant to be inserted into the chairs, but some contained as many as 10, said a Conforama spokeswoman, Stephanie Mathieu.

She said the Chinese firm told Conforama that "as it was the monsoon season they decided that they needed to put more sachets in."

Conforama said it sold 38,000 of the Linkwise chairs and that customers have so far returned 800 of them.

Le Parisien newspaper, which has covered the case extensively this week, said the French Finance Ministry's market regulator, which polices consumer safety, is investigating to check that everything possible was done to protect clients.

Morin said she didn't make the connection between her skin problems and her recliner until she got a letter from Conforama in July.

"The chair has been out of my house for a month, and I feel a bit better, but I still have problems," she said.

A rash of cases have cropped up in Britain, too. British attorney Christian Shotton said his law firm, Russell, Jones & Walker, is representing 1,300 people who bought Linkwise recliners and sofas from British retailers and who are suing for compensation. He said there have been other cases in Sweden and Finland.

"Some of the children, some of the babies, are covered head to toe," in burns, rashes and infections, Shotton said.

"Some of the people sit on the sofa for 15 minutes and it looks like they have been out in the sun all day."
[Edited 9/22/08 9:59am]

or how about this newsy tidbit, which is a kind of public service announcement in a way:


Heated car seat may be too hot for men
Preliminary study finds 90 minutes in the hot seat may affect sperm quality
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26740892/

NEW YORK - Heated seats are a luxury in some cars, but they may be a little too hot for men, a preliminary study suggests.

Researchers found that 90 minutes on a heated car seat created a significant increase in men's scrotal temperature. Because heat stress on the testicles has been shown to impair sperm quality, the findings raise the possibility that over time, heated car seats could affect a man's fertility.

However, the study looked only at short-term changes in scrotal temperature, and not the effects on sperm, stressed lead researcher Dr. Andreas Jung, of Justus Liebig University Giessen in Germany.

"It is too early to (make) any conclusions concerning the influence of heating car seats on semen quality," Jung told Reuters Health.

Normal sperm production is temperature-dependent and requires a testicular temperature that is slightly below the body's core temperature, the researchers explain in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

In tests of 30 male volunteers, Jung's team found that, on average, 90 minutes on a heated car seat raised the men's scrotal temperature enough to nearly match their core body temperature.

Sitting for prolonged periods, on its own, raises a man's scrotal temperature, and the effect of a heated car seat is actually weaker by comparison, according to the researchers. However, they add, even a small additional effect on scrotal temperature might be enough to affect a man's sperm quality.

According to Jung, studies should now directly examine sperm quality to see if there is, in fact, a risk from heated car seats.

now THIS is inspiring! for all those people who have been cut in two by a train (and even if you have not been cut in half by a train) you should read this guy's story because he demonstrates real courage in facing adversity:

For man cut nearly in two by train, ‘life is good’
Despite horrific injuries, he dialed 911: ‘I wanted to see my babies grow up’
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26834245/

For more than two years after he was cut in half by a train, Truman Duncan avoided media requests for interviews as he recovered from his injuries and went back to a full and productive life. Now, he’s speaking out to let others, including soldiers who have suffered traumatic injuries like his, know that life is still very much worth living.

“Life is good,” Duncan told TODAY’s Matt Lauer Monday in New York. “Life goes on.”

The 38-year-old from Cleburne, Texas, pronounced this from a wheelchair, the stub of his right thigh showing from his pants leg.

Duncan is breaking his media silence now, he said, “just to let people know how I’m doing. I had so many people inquiring. And to help soldiers who are having a little bit of trouble — they’ve lost their limbs — and let them know life is good, goes on, you know.”

‘I think I’m cut in two’
A video had just aired that recounted the horrific June 2006 accident that took the rest of Duncan’s right leg as well as his left leg, pelvis and kidney. The railroad switchman fell off a moving train car at the Gunderson Southwest rail yard in Cleburne.

For some 20 seconds, Duncan hung onto the car, trying to run backward to escape being run over. But he fell underneath the car, got caught in the undercarriage, and was run over by steel wheels supporting 20,000 pounds of dead weight.

Remarkably, he remained conscious and had the presence of mind to call 911 on his cell phone. On the 911 tape, he sounds out of breath but remarkably calm.

“I need 911. CareFlite. I think I'm cut in two,” Duncan says on the tape.

“Someone got run over?” the operator asks.

“It was me,” Duncan responds. “I guess I'm going into shock. Hurry up, ma'am, because I'm about to pass out.”

It took 45 minutes for responders to arrive and extricate Duncan from under the train. Despite massive blood loss, he stayed conscious and even managed to call his family while he was waiting to be rescued.

Duncan has three children. His eldest son, Trey, 19, recounted the conversation for NBC News: “I told him I loved him with all my heart, and he was the best dad I could wish for.”

That best dad now plays catch with Trey, flinging a football with pinpoint accuracy from his motorized wheelchair.

‘God had some hand’
Dr. David Smith of Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital is the surgeon who was on call in the emergency room when Duncan was airlifted in. He calls the cheerful man with the stylish goatee nothing short of a miracle.

“When I first heard the report … I thought for sure I’d be going down to pronounce somebody dead,” Smith, who came to New York with Duncan, told Lauer. “When I got there, he was critical, he was unresponsive and his blood pressure was quite low.”

So, Lauer asked, what kept Duncan from bleeding to death before he got to the hospital?

“God had some hand in that, I’m sure,” Smith replied without hesitation. “His physiology is remarkable, and possibly the weight of the train itself helped keep some pressure on his arteries.”

Smith also said that Duncan’s will to live had a lot to do with it. Duncan himself has said that during his ordeal, his Red Cross training told him he was going into shock and losing large quantities of blood. But he also said he never thought that he was going to die.

“I wanted to see my babies grow up, just like everybody else. I just wanted to live so I could see my kids grow up,” he told Lauer.

Where did he get that incredible will, Lauer asked.

“I don’t know. It’s a good trait,” he said, his soft, low-key voice redolent of his Texas home. “I guess from Dad and my mom. Mom’s real strong-headed. Daddy is, too.”

23 surgeries
Smith and other doctors spent 3 ½ hours saving Duncan’s life and cleaning gravel, dirt and grass from his wounds. He was in a coma for three weeks and underwent at least 23 surgeries over the next four months before finally being released from the hospital.

Duncan’s insurance paid for remodeling his house to make it wheelchair-friendly, and Duncan went back to work at his old company, which repairs and refurbishes rail cars.

Duncan told NBC that it now takes him longer to do some things, but he still does everything he used to do, including swimming and playing with his kids. He drives himself in a car equipped with hand controls. And he’s looking forward to learning to get around with prosthetic limbs, a long process that he said will begin next week.

Lauer expressed amazement at Duncan’s indomitable will and infectious good spirits. He concluded that there’s just one reason that Duncan is still alive: “Surely, someone’s got a plan for you.”

“I guess so,” Duncan replied.

now i think this is just the sweetiest, cute and practical:

Superhero Cape Fights Dogs' Storm Fears

What it is: Storm Defender, a fabric cape for dogs to wear during thunderstorms ($54.99 and $64.99); www.stormdefender.com



What it claims to do: Keep your dog from becoming anxious and destructive during a big storm. You tie the cape lined with metallic fabric around the dog’s body at the first hint of thunder and lightning – or the first sign of worried canine behavior. The makers, Storm Defender LLC of Fairfield, Ohio, claim it disperses the static electricity that builds up before a storm, calming the dog (and the owner) without the use of drugs.

My experience: I was completely unprepared for the reality of a big dog on a dark and stormy night. I’ve been a cat person for most of my adult life, and happily so, until my husband and I allowed our teenaged son to talk us into a puppy. The teenager left for college, of course, and the puppy is now a 112-pound pooch with a sweet disposition – and a morbid fear of thunderstorms.

My history with felines never could have prepared me for the panting, the drooling, the whining or the sight of a giant animal standing on all four legs, looming over me as I lay in bed. A cat might slink behind a chair to quietly ride out a storm, but a dog – or this dog – insisted that everyone share her misery whenever the sky clouded over.

So after a particularly sleepless summer thunderstorm, I decided to try the Storm Defender. I was skeptical, but if the makers were right, it would relieve agitation all around: “Relax, you and your dog don’t have to suffer anymore!” they said.

You know what? They were right.

A few weeks after the cape arrived, my husband and I were awakened at 4:15 a.m. by the sound of heavy canine breathing as thunder rumbled in the distance. A flash of lightning sparked a round of whining and shaking, so I fumbled for the Storm Defender, pulling it from the drawer and tying it loosely around Chelsea’s neck and torso. The tomato-red cape with its shiny silver lining resembled a Halloween costume I once made for my kids, but I had to admit it did give the Lab-Shepherd mix a rather dashing air.

For the first hour, nothing happened. She paced and panted and tried to climb into the bed between us, all 6-foot-4 of her from nose to tail. I finally went out on the couch, where I fell asleep with one hand on her cape-clad back as she wheezed and trembled on the floor. When I woke two hours later, the storm was still raging, but, amazingly, the dog was not.

She wasn’t completely calm, of course, but she was subdued enough to let me go back to bed for a bit. And, after a while, she grew calm enough to sleep in her own bed at the foot of ours. The next time there was a thunderstorm? Same story, only Chelsea became quieter even quicker. By the third thunderstorm – the makers say it usually takes at least three tries to notice improvement – she seemed almost grateful when the cape came out first sign of a storm.

What the experts say: “It does work sometimes; it does not work all the time,” explained Bonnie Beaver, executive director of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists.

Whether the Storm Defender succeeds seems to depend on the level of static electricity that builds up in the coats of some medium- and long-haired dogs before and during a storm.

“The static electricity starts to tingle and they begin to dread that feeling when a storm is coming,” she said. “It’s a learned behavior.”

The cape cuts the static, Beaver explained. It may also simulate the comfort of a hug, she said.

Those theories were borne out by researchers at the Cummings School of Medicine at Tufts University who conducted two scientific studies of the Storm Defender. In the first trial, 10 out of 14 dog owners reported a moderate or good effect from the cape, while four reported little or no effect. Preliminary results of the second trial, which compared the Storm Defender with a placebo cape with no metallic lining, showed that two-thirds of dogs in both groups were calmed by the device.

But some dogs don’t feel the static, or don’t react to it, Beaver said. They may not be calmed by the cape because what frightens them about a storm is the loud sounds or sudden lights. For those dogs, a visit to the vet for anti-anxiety medications may be the only solution.

Bottom line: The embarrassment of dressing your dog like a magician is well worth the peace and quiet of a calm pooch on a stormy night.

"hmmmm," said goldilocks to herself, "this bed looks juuuussssst right."


Mom finds hungry stranger snoring in son's bed
Man on burglary charge allegedly ate cheese, used bathroom, fell asleephttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26799738/

BILLINGS, Mont. - A man was charged with burglary after he allegedly broke into a home, ate cheese from the refrigerator, made a mess in a bathroom and fell asleep on a child's bed.



Tracy Mullins, 47, of Billings, was arraigned in District Court on Thursday by video from the county jail.

Mullins pleaded not guilty to burglary. Judge Susan Watters set bail at $5,000 after rejecting a request that he be released without bail. Public defender Richard Phillips, who made the request, said Mullins had been receiving mental-health counseling.

Court records indicate a woman awoke in her home Monday at 8:30 a.m. to the sound of snoring coming from her 2-year-old son's bedroom. Her son had slept that night with her and her husband.

The woman said she found a strange man sleeping in her son's bed. She woke her husband and left to call police from a neighbor's house. The husband confronted the man with an unloaded shotgun and held him until police arrived.

Actually, that really the type of thing I try NOT to remember.

Dig hints at Stonehenge’s healing role
Scientists say site was ‘Neolithic Lourdes,’ based on study of rocks, bones

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26838058/

LONDON - An analysis of rocks and bones unearthed around Stonehenge supports the claim that the mysterious ancient landmark served as a kind of "Neolithic Lourdes," drawing prehistoric pilgrims from around Europe, two researchers reported Monday.

Professors Geoffrey Wainwright and Timothy Darvill have long suspected that Stonehenge was viewed as a place of healing thousands of years ago, and they said their recent excavation at the site provided new evidence for their hypothesis.

"We found several reasons to believe that the stones were built as part of a belief in a healing process," Wainwright told journalists assembled at London's Society of Antiquaries.

Other researchers have said the stone circle apparently started out as a burial site for ancient kings or chieftains — although they acknowledge that Stonehenge could have taken on additional significance through the centuries, as a sacred place as well as an ancient astronomical observatory. Such a scenario wouldn't necessarily rule out the "healing hypothesis" set forth by Wainwright and Darvill.

The two researchers, who were the first to conduct an excavation at Stonehenge in more than 40 years, said the key to their theory was the site's double circle of bluestones — a rare rock known to geologists as spotted dolomite — which lie at the center of the monument.

Dragged or floated on rafts from Pembrokeshire in Wales to Salisbury Plain in southern England, the bluestones were prized for their healing properties — as evidenced by the small mountain of flakes the scientists uncovered during their dig, Wainwright said.

Pieces of bluestone ended up buried in tombs across the area, a testament to people's fascination with the rocks, Wainwright said.

Proof in the bones
The researchers said the proof was not only in the stones, but also in the bones found around Stonehenge. Skeletons recovered from the area showed signs of serious disease or injury.

"People were in a state of distress, if I can put it as politely as that, when they came to the Stonehenge monument," Darvill said.

The evidence, they said, pointed to a kind of shrine where people from across the Europe would go to seek healing. But they cautioned that that did not rule out alternative theories for Stonehenge's uses.

"It could have been a temple, even as it was a healing center," Darvill said. "Just as Lourdes, for example, is still a religious center."

Indeed, their findings indicated that the Stonehenge site may have been inhabited as long ago as 7200 B.C. Past excavations have indicated that a wooden circle was erected around 3000 B.C., and earlier this year, a different research group reported that remains were buried at the site starting in that same time frame.

‘Amesbury Archer’: A test case
The bluestones came later, however: The latest round of radioisotope dating indicated that the holes for the stones were dug around the year 2300 B.C., which is slightly later than previous estimates.

The BBC noted that the new estimate tied in closely with the date for the burial of the "Amesbury Archer," whose tomb was discovered six years ago near Amesbury, 3 miles (5 kilometers) from Stonehenge.

The Amesbury grave contained arrowheads, gold ornaments, copper knives and other artifacts hinting that the person buried there held high social status. Tests on the remains indicated that he came from the Alps region of continental Europe, that he was between 35 and 45 years old, and that he had suffered from a knee injury and an infected jaw before he died.

Wainwright and Darvill speculated that the Amesbury Archer came to Stonehenge to be healed.

"It's quite extraordinary that the date of the Amesbury Archer is identical with our new date for the bluestones of Stonehenge," Darvill told the BBC. "These two things happening within living memory of each other for sure is something very, very important."

okay fine. who wants to talk about rubber suit fetish guy who suffocated wuith a dildo besides him?

!

XxAxX said:

Let's get this thread back on track:

abierman said:

Mars23 said:

Is ‘nerdcore’ hip-hop on the rise?
New film chronicles first tour of MC Frontalot, the movement's ambassador



When you think hip-hop, which artists come to mind? Jay-Z? Missy Elliott? Kanye West? MC Frontalot?

What, you’ve never heard of MC Frontalot? Come on. He’s the godfather of the “nerdcore” hip-hop genre and he raps about stuff that nerds care about, like “Star Wars” and unattainable Goth girls. “Front” didn’t come up hard in the ‘hood — he studied English at Wesleyan — which may explain why he’d think to rhyme “braggadocio” with “Ralph Macchio.”

MC Frontalot is the subject of a new documentary, “Nerdcore Rising,” which is also the name of his 2005 debut album. The film chronicles Front (real name: Damian Hess) and his band of nerdy musicians during their 2006 inaugural tour of the United States. It’s a funny, endearing snapshot of a band trying to make it, the fans who feel as if someone (finally) gets them and the nerdcore movement’s struggle to be taken seriously.


“Hip-hop grew up to be the essence of cool,” mainstream hip-hop artist J-Live says in the movie. “Nerdcore prides itself on not being that.”

Perhaps nothing sums this up more than the euphoric declaration, from a guy in the movie, about what the music means to him. (I’ll paraphrase, since we’re a family Web site.)

“Nerdcore hip-hop is like playing ‘Halo’ while (obtaining sexual favors) from Hello Kitty.”

OK, well, “Nerdcore Rising” director Negin Farsad didn’t go quite that far when explaining why she decided to follow Front and his merry band of music-makers to places like Tallahassee, Fla., and Lawrence, Kan. She saw the band play in her hometown of New York and thought the lyrics were smart and funny, and that the band had a funky groove. But what really sealed the deal? Front’s fans.

“They would travel hours. They would have these hilarious debates about ‘Magic: The Gathering’ cards, and algorithms and a bunch of things that totally flew over my head,” she told me in an interview. “They ran the gamut of all types of fans that identified themselves as nerds. And that’s what really made me want to follow them, was how wonderful they were. “

Spirits are high as Front and his band — keyboardist Gaby Alter, bassist Brandon Patton and drummer Sturgis — roll out of Brooklyn to start the tour. But behind the clowning there’s a touch of angst. (These are, after all, nerd dudes.) As the four touch elbows in a super-sensitive pre-tour huddle, Front tells his band, “Chances are you’re all going to be filled with horrifying regrets.”

Patton (stage name: Blak Lotus) confides to the camera that he has “no awareness of fans, because Damian just makes these exaggerated claims and I have no idea if they’re true or not.” Front estimates the number at about 30,000, but that’s based on server traffic to the band’s Web page.

“Who knows? It’s the Internet,” says Patton.


Nerd fans do show up to see MC Frontalot. These are the guys who eat lunch alone in the art room, who get beat up and called names. They dance awkwardly, chant the lyrics they know so well, and ask the rapper for hugs after the shows.


“Nerdcore hip-hop, they get so excited about the stuff that we do every day,” says Erica, who showed up at the show in Chapel Hill, N.C., to celebrate her five-year anniversary with boyfriend Martin. “And it’s not, like, drugs or violence or anything like that. It’s playing video games.”

And then there’s Jaylyn, the band’s only groupie, who drove 19 hours to hit three shows in the Southeast. “She’s part of the Grateful Dork entourage,” cracks Alter.

But not everyone gets it. Some shows are better attended than others. The film shows Front getting dissed by Georgia Tech radio (they were just too busy to have him on) and disparaged by jock types and other cool kids.

“I definitely did sometimes want to be like, ‘Dude, you’re like the whole reason why this music is necessary.’” filmmaker Farsad told me in an interview.

But she says she didn’t make the movie as a “nerds unite” rallying cry. She saw it as the classic underdog story — “Rocky,” with a pocket protector and some tight rhymes.

“I wanted to build a story about someone who’s trying to make it, who’s trying to make it in a genre that some people don’t take seriously,” she said. “I think that in this day and age, everyone’s a nerd.”

The grand finale, the culmination of this 17-stop tour, is at the 2006 Penny Arcade video game convention, where the band will play to the true believers. Will they wow the tabletop gamers, the “World of Warcraft” addicts, the live-action role-playing gamers?

(I’m not telling.)

Front told me that his fan base has grown a lot since 2006, with more and more people mail-ordering his stuff and buying it off iTunes. The band’s “Livin’ at the Corner of Dude & Catastrophe” is available as downloadable content for “Rock Band.” And in November, the band starts its fourth tour.

“It’s become a full-time job,” Front said. “Even, without irony, I can call it a career these days.”

So will nerdcore break through to a wider, mainstream audience, like “X-Men” or “Batman” or “The Lord of the Rings”?

“There’s a lot more of us than there are of the football players or the prom queens or whatnot,” one fan says in the film. “So, with that big of a potential fan base, there’s certainly no reason that it couldn’t hit the mainstream.”

KFC shoring up security for its secret recipe
Colonel’s chicken recipe removed from safekeeping for first time in decadeshttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26622082/

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Pssst. The secret’s out at KFC. Well, sort of.

Colonel Harland Sanders’ handwritten recipe of 11 herbs and spices was removed Tuesday from safekeeping at KFC’s corporate offices for the first time in decades. The temporary relocation is allowing KFC to revamp security around a yellowing sheet of paper that contains one of the country’s most famous corporate secrets.

The brand’s top executive admitted his nerves were aflutter despite the tight security he lined up for the operation.

“I don’t want to be the president who loses the recipe,” KFC President Roger Eaton said. “Imagine how terrifying that would be.”

The recipe that launched the chicken chain was placed in a lock box that was handcuffed to security expert Bo Dietl, who climbed aboard an armored car that whisked away with an escort from off-duty police officers.

Eaton’s parting words to Dietl, “Keep it safe.”

So important is the 68-year-old concoction that coats the chain’s Original Recipe chicken that only two company executives at any time have access to it. The company refuses to release their names or titles, and it uses multiple suppliers who produce and blend the ingredients but know only a part of the entire contents.

Dietl, a former New York City police detective, assured Eaton that the iconic recipe would be safe.

“There’s no way, shape or form ... that anybody is going to get their hands on this recipe,” he said. “And if they get their hands on this recipe, they have to take me with them.”

His security firm is also handling the security improvements for the recipe at headquarters, but he wouldn’t say what changes they’re making.

KFC executives said they decided to upgrade security after retrieving the recipe amid preparations to add a new line of Original Recipe chicken strips.

The recipe has been stashed at the company headquarters for decades, and for more than 20 years has been tucked away in a filing cabinet equipped with two combination locks. To reach the cabinet, the keepers of the recipe would first open up a vault and unlock three locks on a door that stood in front of the cabinet.

Vials of the herbs and spices are also stored in the secret filing cabinet.

“The smell is overwhelming when you open it,” said one of two keepers of the recipe in an interview at company headquarters.

The biggest prize, though, is a single sheet of notebook paper, yellowed by age, that lays out the entire formula — including exact amounts for each ingredient — written in pencil and signed by Sanders.

Others have tried to replicate the recipe, and occasionally someone claims to have found a copy of Sanders’ creation. The executive said none have come close, adding the actual recipe would include some surprises.

Sanders developed the formula in 1940 at his tiny restaurant in southeastern Kentucky and used it to launch the KFC chain in the early 1950s.

Sanders died in 1980, but his likeness is still central to KFC’s marketing.

“The recipe to him, in later years, was everything he stood for,” said Shirley Topmiller, his personal secretary for about 12 years.

Larry Miller, a restaurant analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said the recipe’s value is “almost an immeasurable thing. It’s part of that important brand image that helps differentiate the KFC product.”

KFC had a total of 14,892 locations worldwide at the end of 2007. The chain has had strong sales overseas, especially in its fast-growing China market, but has struggled in the U.S. amid a more health-conscious public. KFC posted U.S. sales of $5.3 billion at company-owned and franchised stores in 2007.

The initial depravity of this thread is being watered down. So it's about time to mention....

Michael Barrymore!

And why not mention the English Conservative MP Stephen Milligan who died in 1994.

"Results of final forensic tests released three days later found Stephen Milligan had died of asphyxiation from the electrical flex tied in a noose round his neck. Murder was ruled out.
Further details of the appearance of his body - including a black bin liner over his head and wearing stockings and suspenders - were consistent with auto-erotic sex practices."

He also reportedly had an orange in his mouth. What made me remember this death was that the BBC TV show 'Have I Got News For You' apparently sent out a press release a couple of months later announcing the next series. Accompanying the press release was a pair of tights, a black bin liner and an orange.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/ont...538165.stm

World's shortest man meets leggiest woman
Publicity stunt pairs shortest guy with gal with the longest legs

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26741641/

LONDON - Trafalgar Square routinely serves as a stage for mimes, jugglers and other acts, but the tourist attraction drew an exceptionally curious crowd Tuesday when the shortest man who can walk met the woman with the longest legs.

He Pingping of China stands precisely 2 feet 5.37 inches tall. The 20-year-old was born with a type of dwarfism.

He called Svetlana Pankratova's legs "very beautiful."

The two met, with He standing at Pankratova's knees, to publicize the release of "Guinness World Records 2009." This year's version of the popular book is due out Wednesday.

Pankratova, 36, who is Russian but lives in Spain, has legs that are nearly 52 inches long, or more than 4 feet long. Her upper body has nearly typical proportions, giving her a giraffe-like appearance.

Dressed in a bright-blue mini-dress and low-heeled pumps, Pankratova, 36, said she liked her legs, though they can complicate things. "It's hard to find clothes, especially pants," she said.

She isn't the tallest woman on record. Sandy Allen, of Shelbyville, Indiana, who died recently, held that title, according to the book. And He is the shortest man who is mobile, the book says.

The latest edition of the book lists pop star Britney Spears as the most-searched person on the Internet and the television show "Lost" as the most-downloaded show of all time.

The book has been around for half a century. About 3.5 million copies are sold each year, according to editor-in-chief Craig Glenday.

There is a mountain of information on this thread, and we would all be dumber for reading it.

Im Not Doing This Todaaayyyy

Imago said:

well don't blame me. i tried. i really tried.

well what am i supposed to do really? you devote your time and precious energy to a thread, even a mediocre thread, and you expect at least a small response. like, people will show up and care. even just a little bit. how can the world be so cold? how can people click on a thread and not ever say a word about it? or post on it? true, this thread had humble beginnings. i saw that right away. but i had hope for this thread, real hope even though it was begun on a monday morning. i thought maybe with enough love, with enough caring and devotion this baby would grow wings and fly!!! but no. i hoped that inspiration would flame through the ORG, hearts and minds would catch that flickering glow and join hands around the circle of friends that we are, here. but no. i hoped that somehow, someway we could post a positive message here, or at least try, or at least post a bunch of random shit, but no. so now i guess all that remains is to eat the last cookie and go home, which is nothing i can't handle.

Personal Effects : One yellow metal ring on finger, one dildo.

thebumpsquad said:

I know!!! : http://www.thesmokinggun....scuba4.gif

XxAxX said:

Oh My god, I just saw a clip of this on CNN.
She has the world's longest legs, but it says nothing about her being the world's tallest woman.

So who's the world's tallest woman???

at 52 inches long, her legs are almost as tall as me