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The Bakkers realize many of the bigger items — like the alien or a 3.35-metre-tall giraffe — will require a special client, but they add to the festive atmosphere that makes the bazaar such a unique shopping experience.
In June, a psychic offered information in the case of Lisa Stebic, a 37-year-old mother of two missing since April 30. The psychic claimed that Stebic would be found in Silver Springs State Park. The family endured a “roller coaster” of emotions as police and volunteers searched the park for Stebic’s remains.
At first, it appeared that the psychic was right; bones were eventually found in the park. Sadly, the bones were of native deer, not a woman.
Once again, the Stebic family’s hopes for closure were raised—then shattered—by a psychic’s false information. Several other “psychics” also offered incorrect and contradictory information; Stebic remains missing.
The same thing happened in the search for Madeleine McCann. The four-year-old British girl disappeared May 4 while at a resort in Portugal. A psychic had directed police to search an area where she would be found; the police checked but returned empty-handed. There was no sign of the missing toddler. These situations a...
In one of the worst errors, “psychic” Sylvia Browne, a regular on the "Montel Williams" show, told the parents of missing teenager Shawn Hornbeck in 2003 that their child had been kidnapped by a dark-skinned man with dreadlocks, and that Shawn was dead. In fact, Hornbeck was found very much alive in January 2007; his a...
There are many instances of psychics contacting the families of missing children and offering their services for a fee. The parents are usually so desperate for news that they willingly pay, even if they are skeptical.
Even those psychics who do not exploit the bereaved for monetary gain are still hurting instead of helping. Aside from falsely raising the family’s hopes, psychic tipsters waste valuable police time and resources following up on their information.
Anyone who follows the news regularly can see for themselves whether psychics have the powers they claim. Simply follow the next high-profile missing person case and see if and how the person is eventually recovered. Did psychic information lead police to the person? Did police find him or her through routine policewor...
People should also ask themselves some simple questions when they hear psychics’ claims. If psychics can really find missing people, why aren’t they in Iraq, rescuing kidnapped hostages? Why haven’t psychics caught serial killers before they kill again? Why do different psychics give contradictory information? Why do w...
Benjamin Radford investigates and writes about “unexplained” phenomenon for the non-profit Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is author or co-author of three books, including “Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us.” This and other books are available on his website. He shares his ske...
Before the days of Des van Rooyen and Mosebenzi Zwane, we would dwell on the fact that Bongani Bongo went from being an unnoticed MP to a top Cabinet post in one leap but that is no longer exceptional.
Similarly, in the good old days, when the government still had a vaguely rational executive, we would consider it too early to rate Bongo. He has only been in the position since October, after all.
But these days a lot of things can happen in a few months.
True, we have no solid data yet on which to rate Bongo’s financial management skills or his efficiency. Also, his predecessor David Mahlobo (2016 grade: E) set the bar incredibly low.
But we have learned two things about Bongo: he wore outrageously patterned socks to an emergency meeting with Robert Mugabe just after Zimbabwe’s coup that apparently wasn’t a coup, and there are enough questions surrounding him to warrant his stepping down.
In November alone, Bongo oversaw attempts by the State Security Agency to remove Jacques Pauw’s book, The President’s Keepers: Those Keeping Zuma in Power and Out of Prison, from circulation, was accused of accepting kickbacks and allegedly tried to bribe an evidence leader to waylay Parliament’s inquiry into state cap...
Bongo has the only qualification required of Cabinet ministers these days — his loyalty to President Jacob Zuma is unwavering. On every other score, he should realise he is not fit to oversee the nation’s intelligence apparatus.
There is one caveat. We must allow for the possibility that Bongo is, in fact, a master of espionage who, for reasons of national security, has gone deep undercover as a corrupt sycophant. If that turns out to be the case, we reserve the right to amend his grade.
I am a person who lives in intersections. My life is spent standing in the place where class, race, gender, sexuality, ability, and mental health all form a crossroads. Someone should really put a round-a-bout here, but that is a different blog post. I’m seminary educated, but I’m a lay person. I am from a small rural ...
Intersections. They can be dangerous. There is a whole lot of folklore out there about strange and evil creatures lurking in them. I think I found a few on Facebook that day. They are called exclusion and hatefulness.
Christmas is strange when you live in the intersections of life. I know some people that assume I must celebrate Kwanzaa because I am Black. Other people in my life have decided that I am not nearly black enough to celebrate it. Assumptions all around about my identity. None of those assumptions are taking into account...
This season can bring out the best and the worst in people on many sides. Stress is high. Money is tight. But, we are supposed to be cheerful and generous. Through all of this, there is the Church, which is itself divided. On the one hand, we speak out against the consumerism which runs wild during this season and how ...
Maybe have a little more grace with each other. I can’t speak for other faith traditions, but for Christians, this season is about Christmas, and Christmas is about extravagant and ostentatious grace. We have been showered with grace, and maybe we should be gifting grace with all the other things that we give away duri...
KABUL, Afghanistan – The governor of Afghanistan's central bank says the scandal that saw almost $1 billion embezzled from the Kabul Bank by senior shareholders has been resolved.
More than $330 million has been recovered, and $500-600 million worth of assets have been identified, Noorullah Delawari said on Wednesday.
He says the amount still to be repaid is now being pursued through the courts, or is subject to requests to other countries, including the United States, for help in recovery.
The Kabul Bank collapsed in 2010 and was placed in receivership after major shareholders, including relatives of senior politicians such as the former president and vice president, were accused to using it to fund lavish lifestyles.
The scandal shook international confidence in Afghanistan's financial sector and ability to oversee its banking sector.
TAMPA, Fla. � B.J. Daniels threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns, and South Florida rebounded from two subpar defensive performances to frustrate No. 20 West Virginia in a 30-19 victory Friday night.
The Bulls (6-2, 2-2 Big East) allowed 75 points and 887 yards in losses to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh the previous two weeks, yet found a way to hold Noel Devine of the Mountaineers to his lowest rushing total of the season.
West Virginia (6-2, 2-1) lost to the Bulls for the third time in four years.Devine was limited to 42 yards on 19 carries. He entered averaging 130.3 yards per game.
MURFREESBORO – Cameras worth more than $20,000 combined were stolen from a Rutherford County building, according to a Murfreesboro Police Department incident report.
According to the report, two Canon cameras, two lenses and two battery packs were stolen from the Rutherford County register of deeds office.
Heather Dawbarn, the county’s register of deeds, told police the items were last seen April 17, the report stated.
According to the report, Dawbarn said her office noticed the items were missing Tuesday, the report stated.
Detectives were notified about the theft report and were called to follow up, the report stated.
The moment everyone remembers is Daenerys Targaryen taking back her dragon. There’s a good reason for that: It’s one hell of a scene, a twist of delicious revenge that features Emilia Clarke doing some of her best work and the character really earning her title Mother Of Dragons. But before the fire-breathing retaliati...
When she goes to meet the slaver Kraznys to acquire her army of 8,000 Unsullied (the castrated men trained from birth to be the ultimate fighting force), he laughs and mocks her in Valyrian, a tongue of which they believe she’s ignorant. But his lazy scorn disappears the moment she offers him a dragon. Her advisors, Jo...
Tyrion is assigned to his new role as Master Of Coin by his recently returned father, who has assumed the job of the Hand (in a scene that’s also one of the best moments of comedy in the entire series); Jon Snow is dragged with Mance Rayder and his invading force from the North towards the Wall, and a display of vivise...
Previously: Bran, Rickon, Hodor, and Osha meet the Reeds, and viewers meet the concept of the Three-Eyed Raven.
THE NEW'YORKER decided on the second day. ThIs J ap- . anese youth has a soundly developed ground game that is a match for al- most any of our best. His forehand is an exact counterpart of Zenzo Shimidzu's. Made with a rotating wrist and excessive top spin, his back- hand is electrifying when he meets the ball just rig...
Transport secretary James Macharia said key stakeholders have been meeting to make a decision on the viability of the project.
He could neither confirm nor deny whether the project had been cancelled, only saying that the outcome of its fate will be known in a couple of weeks.
The construction was supposed to start in the current quarter and tenders had already been floated, with over 50 firms bidding.
A decision on whether construction of the second runway at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) will proceed will be known in the next six weeks, amid claims that the project has been cancelled.
Mr Macharia said a loan facility from the African Development Fund (AfDB), which is funding the project, was still in place. The bank approved a Sh16 billion loan in November last year with the government required to top up the 20 per cent of the total cost. “In the next six weeks the decision will be out on whether we...
The government argues that construction of a second runway is a heavy investment project and wants to be sure if there is value for money before embarking on the development.
In February, Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) announced that the cost of the airport had been revised downwards from Sh37 billion to Sh21.9 billion. If cancelled, this will mark the second major project to be abandoned at JKIA after cancellation of the Green Field Terminal in 2016.
The Transport ministry said in March 2016 that the quashing of the plan was informed by findings that the terminal would yield little value for money and that the funds would be better used in building a second runway.
Authorities in Tanzania have announced that construction of a new passenger terminal at the Julius Nyerere International Airport will be completed in June 2019.
The Sh30.27 billion project has been delayed over a funding hitch after President John Magufuli questioned its cost and implementation timeframe in February last year.
This map shows the southern sky as of 8:30 p.m. local time from midnorthern latitudes in late January. Lepus the Hare is below Orion, with Columba the Dove even lower in the sky. The bright star Sirius is to the left of Lepus.
AKRON, Ohio - Akronites will finally feel spring weather Wednesday. The morning will still feel like winter, but by the afternoon you can ditch that heavy jacket. A scattered rain shower can't be ruled out.
In the morning, lows will hit the 30s, and with gusty winds, that will bring chills into the 20s. By 2 p.m., temperatures will top 50 degrees before maxing out in the mid 50s by the late afternoon.
A weak area of low pressure will be enough to bring in mostly cloudy skies and a chance of scattered, very light showers.
At Grand Mart (6255 Little River Tpk., Alexandria; 703-941-1177; seven other locations), a small chain of ethnic supermarkets catering to Northern Virginia's Asian and Latino communities, the produce aisle holds wonderful varieties of greens so fragrant you'd think you were at a farmers market.
We also love the abundant seafood–even the frozen stuff is superior to most grocery stores' fresh stock. Among the array of meats you'll find plump duck legs, fresh tongue, and a filet mignon that could feed a family of eight for the price of a Big Mac and fries. No less a fan than Galileo chef Roberto Donna was seen s...
Financial safeguard to ensure that clearing members (usually companies or corporations) perform on their customers' open futures and options contracts. Clearing margins are distinct from customer margins that individual buyers and sellers of futures and options contracts are required to deposit with brokers. See Custom...
IF you don't love a good Beaujolais you don't love wine.
To me, that's a bottom line. You can throw out all the other reasons that people buy and drink wine, whether for status or religious observance, as an investment, as an intellectual exercise, as a social lubricant or simply to get drunk.
Those all may be legitimate motives for opening a bottle. But the sheer joyous lip-smacking pleasure of drinking a good lively Beaujolais is what separates those who love wine for wine's sake from those more concerned with the added values a bottle might bring.
The problem is finding a good Beaujolais. Any number of mediocre, pallid or tricked-up wines call themselves Beaujolais. Technically they have the right, if the wines are made from the gamay grape and are grown in the Beaujolais region south of Burgundy. If the grapes come from better parts of the hilly northern end of...
But over the last 25 years or so the identity of Beaujolais has become muddied. Once it was clearly an inexpensive, exuberant wine, served by the barrelful in French bistros. Then came the Beaujolais nouveau explosion of the 1970's and 80's, which turned a quaint local custom of celebrating the new vintage into a world...
Other factors contributed to a fall in demand for Beaujolais. More and more cheap wine became available from Australia, South America, South Africa and Eastern Europe, cutting into the market. And as a side effect of the Beaujolais nouveau promotions, many grape growers and producers took shortcuts to make a reliable m...
This is not to paint a nostalgic picture. There was always plenty of bad Beaujolais to go around. But today it takes extra effort to find a good Beaujolais, the kind that makes you happy to have a glassful of wine.
To help pick out a few good bottles, the Dining section's wine panel decided to taste a selection from the vintage of 2003. As you may recall, heat waves swept through France that year, producing unusual vintages in the Burgundy and Beaujolais regions. Many have heralded this Beaujolais vintage because the heat let gro...
Luckily, the panel -- Florence Fabricant and I, joined by our guests, Chris Goodhart, wine director of Balthazar in SoHo, and Karen King, beverage director of the Modern in Midtown -- concluded that the 2003 vintage was excellent.
It was one of our rare areas of agreement about the 26 bottles that we tasted, which included 3 plain Beaujolais, 5 Beaujolais-Villages and 18 cru Beaujolais, those named after one of the superior communes. And yet we were all excited by what we liked. Ms. King loved the silky, velvety textures of the wines and found t...
Yet there were frustrating moments. I loved a fresh, unpretentious wine with plenty of fruit and a pleasing bitterness. It turned out to be a Beaujolais-Villages from Château de la Rigodière, marketed as Le Petit Coq in a cute 500-milliliter bottle for $10. But Mr. Goodhart and Ms. King were so unimpressed that the bot...
On the other hand, Mr. Goodhart and Ms. King very much admired a Juliénas, sold under the ubiquitous Georges Duboeuf flower label, which I found way too sweet and candied. It squeaked onto our list at No. 10. Personally I find over-sweetness a common flaw in many wines, including Mr. Duboeuf's flower-label series, but ...
We had no such disputes at the top of the list, though. Our top choice, a Fleurie from Château de Chénas, was just what we were looking for, a lively, juicy wine with an almost chewy texture that was pure pleasure in the mouth. A Juliénas from Michel Tête, No. 2 on our list, was pleasing and graceful, with fruit, herb ...
While most of the best Beaujolais come from the crus, it is not a hard rule. Our No. 3 wine was a Beaujolais-Villages from Domaine de la Madone, and our No. 6 was a plain Beaujolais. It illustrates what dedicated producers can accomplish when they don't cut corners.
Too often producers more interested in high grape yields than in quality will pick early, before the grapes ripen sufficiently. They will then make adjustments in the cellar, like adding sugar or acidity: legal, but shortcuts just the same. Harsh filtering can assure stability for shipping but can also strip away chara...
Better producers may make less wine, but chances are it will be more distinctive. It may cost a few dollars more, but these producers take greater risks in delaying their harvests and trying to preserve the individuality of their wines.
Even so, Beaujolais is not really a wine that lends itself to extended analysis. People have told me that if you take a fine cru Beaujolais and age it for a decade, it begins to resemble a Burgundy. No doubt. But making aging potential the measure of a Beaujolais misses the point.
Why not celebrate the simplicity of a good Beaujolais? A simple wine does not have to be a childish wine, sweet and sappy as soda. It can be a grown-up pleasure, offering joy that is profound in its own way. I think all wine lovers can agree on that.
Ratings reflect the panel's reaction to wines, which were tasted with names and vintages concealed. The panelists this week are Eric Asimov; Florence Fabricant; Chris Goodhart, the wine director of Balthazar; and Karen King, the beverage director of the Modern. The tasted wines represent a selection generally available...
nytimes.com Recent wine columns from the New York Times are online: nytimes.com/wine. This week, members of the panel discuss their favorite 2003 Beaujolais.
WinUtilities Free Edition is an unusually comprehensive suite for cleaning, repairing and optimising your PC.
It includes all the tools you'd expect to find in this kind of package. So there are modules to find and delete junk files, clean your Registry, remove unwanted startup programs, and locate duplicate files that could be wasting your hard drive space, for instance. One or two of these are weak (the program found very fe...
But there are also plenty of surprises. Like a defrag tool that doesn't just reproduce the standard Windows module, but also adds a host of configuration options: you can move files to the end of the disk, or sort files by name, size, or according to their last access, change or creation time, so there's a good chance ...
The suite includes some interesting security options. The Document Protector module allows you to password-protect any confidential files or documents to prevent others from accessing them, for example. While the EXE Protector applies a similar principle to your chosen application executable files, so they can't be run...
And there are a host of other useful tools here, including modules to locate and fix broken shortcuts; defragment, back up and restore your Registry; undelete files, and clear your browser and application histories.
Powerful though this is, the authors also produce a Pro version of WinUtilities that does more, providing extra system optimisation features, additional automation possibilities (so you can schedule particular modules to run whenever you like), and can be used commercially (the free version is for personal use only). P...
The public space travel company, Virgin Galactic, has identified a new departure point for flying people to the suborbital heights: New Mexico.
Adventurer and British businessman, Sir Richard Branson -- who founded Virgin Galactic in the mid-1990s as one of over 250 business entities inside the Virgin empire--will reportedly outline flight operations in the state next week with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
State economic development officials confirm that Virgin Galactic's interest in utilizing the New Mexico spaceport will be detailed in a December 14 press gathering at the New Mexico State Capitol Building in Santa Fe.
"It's the biggest event in the space industry in the last decade," said Rick Homans, Spaceport Authority Chairman and New Mexico Economic Development Department Secretary.
We'll be announcing a very strong and bold partnership between the state of New Mexico and Virgin Galactic," Homans told SPACE.com. "We expect that people will be traveling into space from New Mexico in the next three to four years...and not just one or two but hundreds of people and eventually thousands of people...to...
Homans said he expected the agreement will accelerate the level of innovation, not only in suborbital travel, but orbital and even lunar travel. "That's where this industry is headed, and that's what New Mexico views as the great opportunity," he said.
"Virgin is the best anchor tenant one could hope for," Homans said. "It's a pretty simple agreement, but it has a lot of ramifications for the state and for Virgin Galactic. It's a very deep and important commitment to one another to launch this new industry here in the state of New Mexico."
Next week's announcement will put a lot of wheels in motion, Homans added, and "opens the opportunity for New Mexico to move forward with construction of its spaceport."
New Mexico has already begun blueprinting the still-to-be-built spaceport.
The New Mexico spaceport is to be located near Upham, roughly 45 miles north of Las Cruces and 30 miles east of Truth or Consequences. The now barren stretch of land covers some 27 square miles, having a north-south configuration.
Work is also underway preparing the necessary Environmental Impact Statement paperwork - documentation needed to obtain a spaceport license.
Since 1996, the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Office of the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (AST) has licensed five spaceports in the United States: California Spaceport at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Spaceport Florida at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Virginia Space Flight C...
Regarding the Branson deal with New Mexico, Patti Grace Smith, Associate Administrator for AST told SPACE.com: "We have no information beyond what's appeared in the press. But those reports are entirely consistent with the mounting interest in private human space flight. It has a bright future, and that future might be...
Branson's Virgin Galactic will own and operate privately built suborbital spaceships, based on SpaceShipOne's design that repeatedly flew to the edge of space last year. That rocket plane was fabricated by aerospace designer Burt Rutan and his team at Scaled Composites in Mojave, California.
Virgin Galactic officials have stated in the past that they expect to create around 3,000 astronauts over five years time. The price per seat on each flight--which will include at least three days of pre-flight training--has been price tagged at $190,000.

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