Wal-Mart worker dies after shoppers knock him down

Truly a tragedy – it gives new meaning to the term “Black Friday.” – Greg

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NEW YORK – A worker was killed in the crush Friday after a throng of shoppers eager for post-Thanksgiving bargains burst through the doors at a suburban Wal-Mart, authorities said.At least four other people were injured, and the store in Valley Stream on Long Island was closed.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Bentonville, Ark., called the incident a “tragic situation” and said the employee came from a temporary agency and was doing maintenance work at the store.

“He was bum-rushed by 200 people,” co-worker Jimmy Overby, 43, told the Daily News. “They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too. … I literally had to fight people off my back.”

Nassau County police said the 34-year-old worker was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at about 6 a.m. The man’s name was not released and the cause of death was not immediately known.

A police statement said shortly after the store’s 5 a.m. opening time, shoppers “physically broke down the doors, knocking (the worker) to the ground.”

A metal portion of the door was crumpled like an accordion.

Shoppers around the country lined up early outside stores in the annual bargain hunting ritual known as Black Friday. Many stores open early and stay open late, and some of the most dramatic bargains are available in limited quantities.

Among the bargains offered by Wal-Mart for Friday were Samsung 50-inch high definition Plasma TVs for less than $800.

Witnesses told the Daily News that before the store was closed, eager shoppers streamed past emergency crews as they worked furiously to save the worker’s life.

“They were working on him, but you could see he was dead,” said Halcyon Alexander, 29. “People were still coming through.”

A 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital for observation, and she and the unborn baby were both reported to be OK, said Sgt. Anthony Repalone, a Nassau County police spokesman. Four or five other people suffered minor injuries, he said.

Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman at National Retail Federation, said the group knew of no other incident where a retail employee has died working on the day after Thanksgiving.

Wal-Mart is working closely with police, company spokesman Dan Fogleman said.

“The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority,” Fogleman said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families at this difficult time.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081128/ap_on_re_us/wal_mart_death

Accused drunk driver ends up running over himself

SANTA FE, N.M. – A 21-year-old man was accused of driving drunk and leading police on a chase that finally ended with him running over himself. The man was treated for minor injuries at a Santa Fe hospital and booked in to the Sandoval County detention center on charges of aggravated driving while intoxicated, fleeing a police officer, careless driving and two other outstanding traffic warrants.

A tip to the state’s DrunkBuster hot line Sunday afternoon alerted authorities to a possibly drunken driver.

State Police Officer Grace Romero spotted the man’s pickup truck swerving across both lanes of a highway, driving slowly and then fast. He refused to stop.

After narrowly missing other vehicles, police said the suspect drove through a ditch and a barbed-wire fence before stopping. He tried to put the truck into park, but it ended up in reverse.

Police said the man fell from his open door and both of his legs were run over by the front driver’s side tire.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081126/ap_on_fe_st/odd_drunken_driver

Panda in China zoo bites student who wanted a hug

BEIJING (AP) – A college student in southern China was bitten by a panda after he broke into the bear’s enclosure hoping to get a hug, state media and a park employee said Saturday.

The student was visiting Qixing Park with classmates on Friday when he jumped the 6.5-foot (2-meter) -high fence around the panda’s habitat, said the park employee, who refused to give his name.

The park in Guilin, a popular tourist town in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, houses a small zoo and a panda exhibit. It was virtually deserted when the student scaled the fence surrounding the panda, named Yang Yang, the employee said.

He said the student was bitten in the arms and legs. Two foreign visitors who saw the attack ran to get help from workers at a nearby refreshment stand, who notified park officials, the employee said.

The student was pale as he was taken away by medics but appeared clear-headed, he said.

“Yang Yang was so cute and I just wanted to cuddle him. I didn’t expect he would attack,” the 20-year-old student, surnamed Liu, said in a local hospital, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Liu underwent surgery Friday evening and was out of danger, but will remain in the hospital for several days, Xinhua said.

Yang Yang, who was flown to Guilin last year from Sichuan province, was behaving normally on Saturday and did not seem to suffer any negative psychological effects, the park employee said.

He said it was not clear whether the facility would add more signs around the enclosure or put more fences up.

“We cannot make it like a prison. We already have signs up warning people not to climb in,” he said. “There are no fences along roads but people know not to cross if there are cars. This is basic knowledge.”

Pandas, which generally have a public image as cute, gentle creatures, are nonetheless wild animals that can be violent when provoked or startled.

Last year, a panda at the Beijing Zoo attacked a teenager, ripping chunks out of his legs, when he jumped a barrier while the bear was being fed.

The same panda was in the news in 2006 when he bit a drunk tourist who broke into his enclosure and tried to hug him while he was asleep.The tourist retaliated by biting the bear in the back.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081122/D94K27E00.html

Man hopes jet pack takes him across Colorado gorge

DENVER – A daredevil hopes to propel himself across a southern Colorado canyon using a jet pack powered by hydrogen peroxide.

Eric Scott tells the Rocky Mountain News he’s never travelled as far as he wants to Monday – 457 metres.

The Royal Gorge is more than 335 metres deep.

A bridge spanning it was the site of a deadly stunt in 2003 when a parachute jumper miscalculated and fell.

Scott works for Denver-based Jet P.I. The company developed a jet pack for stunts and promotions that is based on one developed in the 1960s for the military.

The original one could fly for only about 20 seconds.

The new one can go for more than 30 seconds at faster than 113 kilometres an hour.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=cp_gg9vrefld2

Canadian prisoner, too fat for cell, released early

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian prison authorities were forced to release a 450-pound (205 kg) drug gang member this week because he was too large for his cell, the Journal de Montreal newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Michel Lapointe — known as Big Mike — was arrested in September 2006 and received a five-year sentence in May this year. The paper said he could not fit on the chair in his Montreal prison cell and when he went to bed, his body protruded six inches on either side.

A letter from the authorities to Lapointe said: “You have been detained for more than 25 months and your prison conditions are difficult because of your health”.

The authorities also cited the refusal of two other facilities to accept the 37-year-old. He was freed late on Tuesday.

“I’m going to have a proper bed and finally have a chair I can sit in,” he told the paper outside the prison.

“I want a normal life. I’ve done some stupid things and I’ve paid for them,” he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081112/od_nm/us_fat;

Peru offers bald dog of Incas to Obamas

LIMA (Reuters) – Peruvians crazy about their national dog, a bald and often toothless breed popular among Incan kings, offered Monday to send a hypoallergenic puppy to the Obama family.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has promised daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, a new pet for the White House. But Malia is allergic to most breeds, he said Friday as speculation swirled about the dog the family would choose.

Owners of the Peruvian Hairless Dog, a breed dating back 3,000 years and depicted in pre-Hispanic ceramics, say it is perfect for kids who are sensitive to dogs.

“They do not cause any type of allergy and are very friendly and sweet,” said Claudia Galvez, 38, director of the Friends of the Peruvian Hairless Dog Association.

“We want to give a male puppy to Obama’s daughters, so they get to experience all the joys of having a dog but without any allergies.”

According to Peruvian folklore, the dogs have above-average body temperature, which compensates for their lack of hair and helps alleviate symptoms of asthma or arthritis suffered by their owners.

Galvez delivered a letter detailing her offer to the U.S. embassy in Lima Monday and hopes Obama will accept it.

Galvez has a 4-month-old pedigree puppy to send to the Obama family. For now, she is calling it Ears because it has two large, perky ones.

“But if we send it to the United States, its official name will be Machu Picchu,” she said, referring to the ancient Incan citadel, Peru’s top tourist attraction.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081111/od_nm/us_obama_dog

Car impounded after dog drives away from car wash

PRYOR, Okla. – A dog waiting in a car while at a car wash slipped the vehicle into gear and drove in a loop before the car came to a stop. Pryor police officer Brent Crittenden said the dog’s owner was washing the vehicle when the 70-pound pit bull jumped on the dash and somehow shifted the car into reverse.

The car backed out of the car wash bay, continued onto a highway and then looped around before coming to a stop at an automated car wash lane.

Crittenden said the vehicle was impounded because its owner was unable to provide proof of insurance.

Because the dog was registered with the city, Crittenden said the owner was allowed to walk the pooch home.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081107/ap_on_fe_st/odd_driving_dog

Michigan woman: Supporting Obama? No treats for you

No matter where you stand on the American election, this is just sad. – Greg

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Sat Nov 1, 4:29 pm ET

GROSSE POINTE FARMS, Mich. – A suburban Detroit woman has decided to scare up the vote among neighborhood children by just offering treats to John McCain supporters.

Shirley Nagel of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., handed out candy Friday only to those who shared her support for the Republican presidential candidate and his running mate Sarah Palin. Others were turned away empty-handed.

TV station WJBK says a sign outside Nagel’s house warned: “No handouts for Obama supporters, liars, tricksters or kids of supporters.”

Nagel calls Democrat Barack Obama “scary.” When asked about children who were turned away empty-handed and crying, she said: “Oh well. Everybody has a choice.”

Fax and phone messages left at numbers for Nagel were not returned.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081101/ap_on_fe_st/odd_halloween_politics

Study: Bee Gees’ ‘Stayin’ Alive’ Has Perfect Beat for CPR

Sounds like the Bee Gees knew what they were talking about – and were years ahead of medical research.The band’s iconic 1977 disco anthem “Stayin’ Alive” provides an ideal beat to follow while performing chest compressions as part of CPR on a heart attack victim, U.S. doctors have found.

The American Heart Association calls for chest compressions to be administered at a rate of 100 per minute during cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. Ironically, “Stayin’ Alive” chimes in with 103 beats per minute, Reuters reports.

In a small study headed by Dr. David Matlock of the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, listening to “Stayin’ Alive” helped 15 doctors and medical students to perform chest compressions on dummies at the proper speed, according to the Reuters report.

“The theme ‘Stayin’ Alive’ is very appropriate for the situation,” Matlock told Reuters. “Everybody’s heard it at some point in their life. People know the song and can keep it in their head.”

The findings will be presented this month at a meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians in Chicago.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,439543,00.html

McCain-Obama tie possible in presidential race

What if it’s a tie?

A handful of battleground states are likely to determine the November 4 U.S. presidential election and it’s possible that Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama could split them in a manner that leaves each just short of victory.

If that happens, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives would pick the president but it’s unclear whether Democrats would have enough votes to send Obama to the White House.

The House last decided an election in 1824. But the legal skirmishing and partisan rancor would probably resemble a more recent election — the 2000 vote in which Republican George W. Bush narrowly defeated Democrat Al Gore after a disputed Florida vote count and legal battle.

“This would be the seamy side of democracy, the lobbying and the money would be so intense,” said American University history professor Allan Lichtman.

In the United States, presidential elections are determined on a state-by-state basis rather than a nationwide popular vote. Each state, along with the District of Columbia, is allotted a number of votes in the Electoral College that correspond to the number of representatives it has in Congress. To become president, a candidate must win at least 270 electoral votes.

If McCain wins Virginia, New Hampshire, Florida and Ohio but loses Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico and Iowa to Obama, both candidates could end up with 269 electoral votes.

Other, less likely scenarios — McCain losing Virginia and New Hampshire but winning Michigan, for example — also could result in a tie.

Under the U.S. Constitution, the House would then decide the election when it meets in January, with each state getting one vote — regardless of its size — if the chamber has to break a tie.

Democrats, who control the 435-seat House, outnumber Republicans in 27 state congressional delegations and could see that number rise in the November elections.

Republicans have a majority in 21 state delegations. Two states have an equal number of Republican and Democratic representatives.

Some members could feel pressure to vote for the other party’s candidate if he carried their state or district or if he won a clear margin of the national popular vote, said Northwestern University law professor Robert Bennett.

They would also be under extraordinary pressure from party leaders to stick together.

“There would be bargaining in that context and lots of room for rancor and bitterness. It would be a mess,” Bennett said.

The dispute probably would not be confined to Congress.

“Do you believe for one moment that this won’t end up in the courts?” Lichtman said.

Other possible scenarios, according to Bennett:

* Before the House meets, the Obama and McCain campaigns could try to convince the Electoral College voters who actually cast each state’s electoral votes to switch their support. This has happened occasionally in past elections but has never affected the outcome of an election. Electors in roughly half of the states are bound by law to honor the popular vote.

* While the House picks a president, the Senate picks the vice president in the event of a tie. The Democratic-controlled chamber could pick Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden even if McCain wins the House vote.

* The newly minted vice president could become acting president if the House doesn’t reach a resolution by the time President George W. Bush leaves the White House on January 20.

* House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would become acting president if neither chamber could settle on a president or vice president but she would have to resign her post.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE4941C220081005