I'm Gina Smith

Album Lennon Signed for his Killer Up For Sale

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage

According to the site, the album's cover and dust jacket contain the "forensically enhanced" fingerprints of Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman.

Chapman shot the pop star outside the Dakota apartment building, Lennon's Manhattan home, on Dec. 8, 1980. The album was later found in a flower planter near the building and was used as evidence against Chapman.

Englishman Discovers He's an Indian Chief! (Reuters)

Yahoo! News - Englishman Discovers He's a Canadian Native Chief

LONDON (Reuters) - A 59-year-old retired builder from Yorkshire, northern England, was shocked to discover he is in fact a tribal chief with a claim to thousands of acres of land in Canada, British newspapers reported on Friday.

Mick Henry, the son of an English mother and a Canadian soldier over in Britain during World War II, was recently tracked down via the Internet by his long-lost Native Canadian relatives from the Ojibway tribe in the province of Manitoba.

"I never thought something like this could happen to anyone, certainly not someone like me," Henry told the Daily Mail newspaper.

"They are still looking for a proper ceremonial name for me. I thought they still lived in tents and went hunting for their food. In fact they all have lovely houses and enjoy a wonderful lifestyle," he said.

Says Charles A. Lindbergh

"Where am I?" Charles A. Lindbergh, first man to fly solo across the Atlantic, upon his arrival in Paris.

Lindbergh fathered three children in Germany (AFP)

I've been following this story for the DNA testing chapter of my upcoming biotech book. When you see the Germans' photos, you can immediately see the Lindbergh resemblance. Now it's official.

Yahoo! News - DNA tests say Lindbergh fathered three children in Germany

MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - DNA tests have confirmed that all-American hero and aviator Charles Lindbergh fathered three illegitimate children in Germany, their spokesman said. In a statement, he said the tests supported their assertions that Lindbergh, who won instant celebrity for making the first solo, non-stop transatlantic flight in 1927, was their father.

The probes, examined by a Munich university medical centre, compared their DNA with a sample from a member of Lindbergh's family.

The result, handed in writing to the three last week, showed a probability of paternity of more than 99 percent.

"They never had any doubt about the question," the spokesman Anton Schwenk told AFP when asked about their reaction.

How Southern?

Courtesy of Swamplog, I learn that fewer Southerners are calling themselves so. (I am a native Floridian who lives in San Franciso, but I still think of myself as Southern. And we had the sweet potato pie tonight to prove it!)

Average rate at which residents of the South think of themselves as Southerners from 1991 to 2001 by state:

Florida 51.1
Oklahoma 53.4
Virginia 64.1
Texas 69.4
Kentucky 73
Georgia 80.3
North Carolina 80.6
Arkansas 83.6
South Carolina 84.3
Tennessee 86
Louisiana 88.5
Alabama 89.7
Mississippi 90.1

SOURCES: Larry Griffin, Vanderbilt University; Southern Focus Polls, Center for the Study of the American South, University of North Carolina

First Heart Attack Gene Found

Researchers have found the first gene linked directly to heart attacks.

THE GENE, called MEF2A, plays a role in protecting the artery walls from building up plaque that can impede blood flow and lead to heart attacks, said Dr. Eric J. Topol of the Cleveland Clinic, head of a team that discovered the gene.

"This is the first heart attack gene," Topol said. "Everyone who has this gene mutation is destined to have the disease. If you don't have this gene in this family, you appear to be free from developing this disease."

A report on the discovery Friday was in the journal Science.

Says Albert Schweitzer

"Example is not the best thing when influencing others. It is the only thing."

Thai Man Stuck with his German Husband

He married him. Now he's stuck with him.

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage

BERLIN (Reuters) - A Thai man who masqueraded as a woman to wed a German man has failed to get the marriage annulled, and now seems saddled with his husband.

A German court dismissed the Thai's request for an annulment because same-sex marriages are not recognized in Germany, and therefore cannot be reversed.

"I don't know why they got married, whether it was love or the desire for a residence permit," said Ulrich Skwirblies, a spokesman for the court in the western town of Celle.

The 42-year-old Thai married the man in Denmark under a false name in 1994 and was later granted German residency.

The underside of gratitude. (Says Francois de La Rochefoucauld.)

Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)

Study Reveals Chemical Cocktail in Every Person (New Scientist)

New Scientist

Excerpt from New Scientist:

A cocktail of potentially harmful man-made chemicals has been found in the blood of every person tested in a new UK study.

The 155 volunteers, including EU environment commissioner Margot Wallstroem, were tested for gender-bending PCBs, flame retardants and organophosphates.

The study, commissioned by the environmental group WWF, focussed on 77 chemicals known to be "very persistent" in the environment and to accumulate in people's bodies. It is one of the most comprehensive studies to date.

The findings are "disturbing", says Matthew Wilkinson, lead author of the report and WWF UK toxics policy officer. "Every single person we monitored had a range of these chemicals."