Egypt fumes over fresh seven wonders competition for pyramids

CAIRO (AFP) - Egypt is fuming over a competition to choose the world's "new seven wonders," deriding it as a marketing stunt that demeans the pyramids of Giza, the only surviving ancient wonder.

"They are the only one of the seven wonders of the ancient world that still exists, it's ridiculous, they don't need to be put to a vote," Egypt's antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass was quoted as saying in local newspapers.

Culture Minister Faruq Hosni echoed the complaint, describing the project as "absurd" and its creator, Swiss-Canadian filmmaker Bernard Weber, as a man "concerned primarily with self-promotion".

The seven wonders of the ancient world were the pyramids, the hanging gardens of Babylon, the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus and the lighthouse of Alexandria. Among the 21 sites short-listed for the new competition are Petra in Jordan, the Eiffel Tower, the Acropolis in Athens, the Statue of Liberty, the Taj Mahal, the Sydney Opera House and the Great Wall of China.

"I had thought of excluding the pyramids from the competition, but Internet voters would have included them in their selections anyway," said Weber, who argued Egypt "should have pounced on the opportunity."

The New 7 Wonders of the World will be announced during the Official Declaration ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 07.07.07.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070125/wl_mideast_afp/egyptarchaeology

Shot Duck Survives 2 days in Refrigerator

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Neither gunfire nor two days in a refrigerator could slay this duck. When the wife of the hunter who shot it opened the refrigerator door, the duck lifted its head, giving her a scare. The man’s wife “was going to check on the refrigerator because it hadn’t been working right and when she opened the door, it looked up at her,” said Laina Whipple, a receptionist at Killearn Animal Hospital.

“She freaked out and told the daughter to take it to the hospital right then and there.” The 1-pound female ringneck ended up at Goose Creek Wildlife Sanctuary, where it has been treated since Tuesday for wounds to its wing and leg. Sanctuary veterinarian David Hale said it has about a 75 percent chance of survival, but probably won’t ever be well enough to be released back into the wild.

He said the duck, which has a low metabolism, could have survived in a big enough refrigerator, especially if the door was opened and closed several times. And he said he understands how the hunter thought the duck was dead. “This duck is very passive,” Hale said. “It’s not like trying to pick up a Muscovy at Lake Ella, where you put your life in your hands.”


Found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16725051/

Strange Laws in Maryland

Here are a few strange laws that are listed as still being on the books in Maryland. Enjoy.

* Thistles may not grow in one's yard.
* It's illegal to throw bales of hay from a second-story window within the city limits of Baltimore
* It's illegal to take a lion to the movies in Baltimore
* It is a park rule violation to be in a public park with a sleeveless shirt in Baltimore
* You may not curse inside the city limits of Baltimore
* Columbia: You can not have a antenna exposed outside of your house yet you can have a 25' satellite dish. Though clotheslines are banned, clothes may be draped over a fence.
* Eating while swimming in the ocean is prohibited.• In Baltimore it is illegal to mistreat oysters.
* In Baltimore, it is illegal to wash or scrub sinks no matter how dirty they get.• In Halethrope, Maryland kisses longer than one second are illegal.
* In Maryland, it is illegal to sell condoms from vending machines with one exception: prophylactics may be dispensed from a vending machine only "in places where alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises."

I hope you all are enjoying my strange laws from various states that are posted here at least once a week.

Dracula's castle is for sale

As a lover of vampire novels and the idea of vampires I find this news story from Yahoo.com interesting.

BUCHAREST, Romania - The Habsburg family said Wednesday that it wanted to sell a Transylvanian castle famous for its connections to the 15th century medieval ruler who inspired "Dracula" for 60 million euros, or $78 million, to the local authorities, an attorney said.

The local council says it is interested in buying Bran Castle, but a government minister criticized the price tag, calling it too expensive.

Dominic Habsburg, the owner, insisted the family had honorable intentions.

"We are trying to find the best way to preserve the castle in the interest of the family and the people of Bran," Habsburg said in a statement made available exclusively to The Associated Press.

The castle was returned to Habsburg, a New York architect, on May 26, decades after it was confiscated by the communists from Habsburg's mother, Princess Ileana, in 1948, the year the royals were forced to leave the country.

After the restitution, concerns were raised that the family could sell castle to a hotel chain and that the site could end up being the centerpiece of a Dracula theme park that would blight the surrounding, pristine countryside.

The castle, perched high on a rock and surrounded by snowcapped mountains in southern Transylvania, is one of Romania's top tourist attractions and is visited by 400,000 people each year.

Faced with the enormous expense of the castle's upkeep, Habsburg said he wanted to place the property in the hands of the local council with an eye toward ensuring its historic character is preserved.

"The family has the country and the people in their heart. We are grateful for the restitution as a moral act to amend injustice," the statement from Habsburg said.

But he added, "The way of life cannot be returned and the restitution has come with financial sacrifice. ... We would like Castle Bran to remain a symbol of everything that is honorable and good in Romania."

The community of Bran, where the fortress was built in the 14th century to help stave off invasion, gave it to Ileana's mother, Queen Marie, in 1920 to thank her for her efforts in unifying the country. It was briefly associated with Prince "Vlad the Impaler," whose cruelty inspired novelist Bram Stoker's creation, the vampire Count Dracula. History says he spent one night there.

In 1938, Ileana inherited the castle, which is located some 105 miles north of Bucharest.

In recent years, the castle — complete with occasional glimpses of bats floating around its ramparts in the twilight — has attracted movie makers as a backdrop for films about Dracula and other spooky themes.

For more on this story go here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070110/ap_on_fe_st/dracula_castle

Funny Picture

With the price of gas I'm sure there have been quite a few drive off cars at the gas stations. Now I'm not saying these people drove off without paying for their gas but one has to question wheather they got more than they barganed for after their fill up. Can you imagine driving down the street and seeing this in front of you? LOL I would freak out. Hope you enjoy your day and thank you for stopping my Unicorn Dreams.

Bet the Judge Didn't See This One Coming

While surfing the net I found this recount of what appears to be the best defense attorny in the state of this happening and also of the all to literal criminal.

According to www.dumb.com:

A lawyer defending a man accused of burglary tried this creative defense: "My client merely inserted his arm into the window and removed a few trifling articles. His arm is not himself, and I fail to see how you can punish the whole individual for an offense committed by his limb." "Well put," the judge replied. "Using your logic, I sentence the defendant's arm to one year's imprisonment. He can accompany it or not, as he chooses." The defendant smiled. With his lawyer's assistance he detached his artificial limb, laid it on the bench, and walked out.

Apparently the attorney, knowing of his clients atrificial limb worded the defense purposly and the judge, not knowing of the defendants artificial limb is possibly wishing he would have chosen better wording.

Crazy Laws in Alaska

Here are a few strange laws that are still on the books in Alaska. I think I will start this as a weekly blog entry on here so keep checking back to see what state I pick out next. Let me know if you find any funny or strange laws that I might have missed over the internet. Give me ideas on what state to pick next.


Strange Alaska Laws

A law in Fairbanks does not allow moose to have sex on city streets.

Fairbanks: It is considered an offense to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose.

It is illegal to whisper in someone's ear while they are moose hunting.

It is considered an offense to push a live moose out of a moving airplane.

Kangaroos are not allowed in barber shops at any time.

Moose may not be viewed from an airplane.

State policy states that emergencies are held to a minimum and rarely found to exist.

Persons may not allow "attractive nuisances" to exist.

There you have this weeks Crazy Laws. Check back to see what state is next. Post your ideas and comments.

A New Year, A New Outlook

Everyone always talks about how much better they hope the new year will be but do we ever really put as much effort toward making things better in our lives or have we bought into the myth that New Year's Resolutions are made to be broken?

This year is going to be a great one I hope. I have changed a lot within the last year and there have been bad influences in my life that I have done away with. I believe the new year is about letting go of the things that have drug us down and helped us to destroy ourselves.

There are things in this life that force us into unhappiness--wheather they be family memebers, or other issues that have passed into and out of our lives--but by dealing with those things which make us unhappy we better ourselves and therefore we grow personally and as a member of society and we can therefore keep those New Year's Resolutions of happiness and personal acomplishments.

Good luck to all those out there who have made New Year's Resolutions and I hope you find all the happiness in the coming year that you desire.

Colorado woman selling snow on eBay

According to a Yahoo.com news story Jim and Mary Walker of Colorado are attempting to sale snow from the blizards that have hit that area over the last two weeks and they are using eBay to do it.

They are encouraging people to not chose a shipping method but rather to stop by their home if the person is the lucky winner bidder of their auction and pick up their purchased snow in a dump truck.

"I figured eBay has ghosts and all sorts of weird stuff, so why not snow?" said Mary Walker. "We just wanted to just give some folks a laugh," she said.

For more on the story check Yahoo.com news at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070101/ap_on_fe_st/selling_snow_3