A house in The Middle of The Street
‘Nail house’ holds up traffic as homeowners fight local government
A car stops beside a house in the middle of a newly built road in Wenling, China, on Thursday. Two couples have refused to agree to allow their homes to be demolished.
BEIJING – In the “there today, gone tomorrow” world of Chinese construction, entire communities can often disappear and be replaced by high rises or other public works in a matter of weeks or months without any sign of its past residents.
Not so for the drivers on this new road in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang.
Municipal officials in Wenling had been planning a new access road that would lead to a new railway station just outside the city.To make way for the road though, city planners decided they would have to tear down a section of homes in the nearby village of Xiazhangyang that were in its path.
Through methods that range at times from fair compensation all the way down to cajoling, intimidation, beatings and forced evictions, local governments tend to get their way when they have their hearts set on projects.
However, every once in a while, even after the majority of landowners in an area are persuaded to give up their property, one or two steely owners will stand their ground either on principle or determination to squeeze out more compensation from the government.
These lone homes that stand in the way of progress have been nicknamed “nail houses,” on account of the difficulty in prying them out of the earth.
In this case, two families who occupy this five-story building have refused to hand over their property, arguing that the compensation being offered by city officials was insufficient.
One of the residents, Zhang Ling, 46, told the U.K’s Mirror newspaper: “They didn’t offer us enough compensation to leave, so we’re staying.”
The financial motivations for these nail house owners to hold out are understandable: Real estate prices in China have skyrocketed in recent years due in no small part to inflation and a lack of other financial vehicles for Chinese to invest their money here on the mainland.
Insufficient compensation from local officials then would make it extremely difficult for homeowners to buy new properties in the areas they live in now, much less closer to the cities that have swallowed up their homes.
Perhaps wary of looking like they are bullying residents, Wenling officials have gone to the building owners with offers, but have been roundly rejected each time. Nevertheless, in a sign of the times here, the government went ahead with the road, simply building around the dilapidated structure.
The road has yet to be officially opened, but homeowner Zhang seemed optimistic about his plight.
“It could be a great opportunity for us,” Zhang told the Mirror. “We could open up a drive-though shop on the ground floor.”
A car stops beside a house in the middle of a newly built road in Wenling, China, on Thursday. Two couples have refused to agree to allow their homes to be demolished.
BEIJING – In the “there today, gone tomorrow” world of Chinese construction, entire communities can often disappear and be replaced by high rises or other public works in a matter of weeks or months without any sign of its past residents.
Not so for the drivers on this new road in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang.
Municipal officials in Wenling had been planning a new access road that would lead to a new railway station just outside the city.To make way for the road though, city planners decided they would have to tear down a section of homes in the nearby village of Xiazhangyang that were in its path.
Through methods that range at times from fair compensation all the way down to cajoling, intimidation, beatings and forced evictions, local governments tend to get their way when they have their hearts set on projects.
However, every once in a while, even after the majority of landowners in an area are persuaded to give up their property, one or two steely owners will stand their ground either on principle or determination to squeeze out more compensation from the government.
These lone homes that stand in the way of progress have been nicknamed “nail houses,” on account of the difficulty in prying them out of the earth.
In this case, two families who occupy this five-story building have refused to hand over their property, arguing that the compensation being offered by city officials was insufficient.
One of the residents, Zhang Ling, 46, told the U.K’s Mirror newspaper: “They didn’t offer us enough compensation to leave, so we’re staying.”
The financial motivations for these nail house owners to hold out are understandable: Real estate prices in China have skyrocketed in recent years due in no small part to inflation and a lack of other financial vehicles for Chinese to invest their money here on the mainland.
Insufficient compensation from local officials then would make it extremely difficult for homeowners to buy new properties in the areas they live in now, much less closer to the cities that have swallowed up their homes.
Perhaps wary of looking like they are bullying residents, Wenling officials have gone to the building owners with offers, but have been roundly rejected each time. Nevertheless, in a sign of the times here, the government went ahead with the road, simply building around the dilapidated structure.
The road has yet to be officially opened, but homeowner Zhang seemed optimistic about his plight.
“It could be a great opportunity for us,” Zhang told the Mirror. “We could open up a drive-though shop on the ground floor.”
A hero to the end: Fearless Mexican mayor who survived two assassination attempts is murdered
As mayor of the town of Tiquicheo, Maria Santos Gorrostieta defied the area’s drug cartels, once baring her scars from two assassination attempts to rally support for her war on drugs. Her body was found mutilated in a ditch this month, days after she was abducted.
TRUE COURAGE:As mayor of the town of Tiquicheo, Maria Santos Gorrostieta defied the area’s drug cartels, once baring her scars from two assassination attempts to rally support for her war on drugs. Her body was found mutilated in a ditch this month, days after she was abducted.
Courageous Mexican mayor Maria Santos Gorrostieta cheated death twice when she survived assassination attempts by druglords — but three times was too much.
Gorrostieta, dubbed a “heroine of the 21st century” for her refusal to be cowed by the ruthless cartels that rule much of Mexico, was kidnapped in broad daylight this month after leaving her home in the town of Morelia.
She was driving her daughter to school when thugs in another vehicle blocked her white van. They pulled her out and began kicking and beating her in front of passers-by.
The 36-year-old mother begged the men to spare her girl and appeared to get into the thugs’ vehicle voluntarily, witnesses said.
As mayor of the town of Tiquicheo, Maria Santos Gorrostieta defied the area’s drug cartels, once baring her scars from two assassination attempts to rally support for her war on drugs. Her body was found mutilated in a ditch this month, days after she was abducted.
Gorrostieta, mayor of the town of Tiquicheo from 2008 to 2011, had previously had a police escort and government security assigned to her.
But despite the two ambushes — which killed her husband and left her horribly scarred — her protection was pulled after she left office.
“No one could do anything to help her,” newspaper El Universal said of her abduction two weeks ago.
Her relatives waited for a call from the kidnappers, hoping they would trade her for ransom.
No call came. The family alerted police, who launched a search.
Five days after her disappearance, farm workers found Gorrostieta’s body — stabbed, burned and beaten — in a roadside ditch in the town of San Juan Tararameo.
Her relatives identified the body of the mother of three the next day.
As mayor of the town of Tiquicheo, Maria Santos Gorrostieta defied the area’s drug cartels, once baring her scars from two assassination attempts to rally support for her war on drugs. Her body was found mutilated in a ditch this month, days after she was abducted.
Parts of Mexico have become a no-man’s-land, where legal authorities fear to tread and death comes cheap.
Over the weekend, 19 bodies were found in the northern border state of Chihuahua, including those of eight people who had been tortured and killed on Friday.
Many of the dead have been victims of the drug cartels, which have increasingly included elected and appointed officials.
Since Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched a war on the cartels six years ago, about two dozen mayors have been murdered.
Gorrostieta was one of at least seven women who were willing to serve as mayors or police chiefs.
Two of them, Hermila Garcia Quinones and Silvia Molina, were assassinated. A third, Erika Gandara, was kidnapped and is feared dead, and a fourth, Marisol Valles Garcia, 21, left her job and fled to the United States.
Gorrostieta, a doctor who studied medicine in a university in Morelia, began getting threats after she ran for mayor of Tiquicheo and was elected as a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party in 2008.
She ignored the threats — at her own peril. In October 2009, her car was attacked by gunmen in the town of El Limone. Her husband, José Sanchez — who had escaped a showdown with an armed mob that year — died in the fusillade.
Gorrostieta was seriously wounded but soon returned to work, as defiant as ever.
Three months later, in January 2010, she was attacked again, this time on a road between the states of Guerrero and Michoacan as she headed to a meeting.
Gunmen with assault rifles fired 30 bullets at her van. Three hit her, leaving serious wounds. Her brother and a reporter were wounded.
But Gorrostieta sought to use the publicity to get the public to join her war on drugs. She bared her scars in photos that appeared in a local newspaper.
“I wanted to show them my wounded, mutilated, humiliated body because I’m not ashamed of it,” she said, “because it is the product of the great misfortunes that have scarred my life, that of my children and my family.”
The wounds left her in near constant pain. She had to wear a colostomy bag.
Gorrostieta, a devout Catholic, said she couldn’t understand why she had been marked for death.
“I have a clear conscience,” she said.
“I have never had any issues of any kind, be it money, family or crime related, and I have never had any fights with any neighbors or residents of my town or any other town.”
After the second attack, she considered quitting — but couldn’t. She said she had an obligation to her town of 13,000-plus people as well as to the memory of her slain husband.
“At another stage in my life, perhaps I would have resigned from what I have, my position, my responsibilities as the leader of my Tiquicheo,” she said.
“But today, no.”
“It is not possible for me to surrender when I have three children whom I have to educate by setting an example,” she said.
“And also because of the memory of the man of my life, the father of my three little ones, the one who was able to teach me the value of things and to fight for them.”
She admitted to being plagued by the memory of the two attacks.
“I struggle day to day to erase from my mind the images of the horror I lived, and that others who did not deserve or expect it also suffered,” she said.
Nevertheless, Gorrostieta rebuilt her life. She married again, to Nereo Delgado Patinoran. She switched political parties.
After her stint at Tiquicheo was over, she ran in an election for Mexico’s legislature, the Congress of the Union, but failed to win a seat.
Her death is being investigated by Mexico’s Anti-Kidnapping and Extortion Institution.
The unit has another task: Gorrostieta’s second husband, Patinoran, vanished when she did and is still missing.
Naked Protesters Occupy John Boehner's House Office
Naked AIDS activists, with painted slogans on their bodies, protest inside the lobby of the Capitol Hill office of House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012, prior to World AIDS Day, Dec. 1. Three women AIDS activists saying they wanted to highlight the “naked truth” about potential spending cuts in HIV programs were arrested after taking their clothes off in the lobby Boehner's office.
Some protesters dropped trou to launch a protest at House Speaker John Boehner's office in the Longworth House Office building in Washington.
U.S. Capitol Police public information officer Shennell Antrobus confirmed: "three females arrested for lewd and indecent acts in the Speaker's Longworth office. Demonstrators disbursed that area."
This is an office across the street from the Capitol Building. The speaker, who has a plush suite of offices in the Capitol Building, never works in the district office, so he wasn't privy, as it were, to the privates.
The protesters, who had red ribbons painted on their bodies, appear to have been protesting potential budget cuts to AIDS programs.
It's unclear why the naked women were arrested, but the naked man in the picture was not.
An aide to Boehner said there would be no official comment about the incident, but confirmed there were seven individuals from the group ACT Up who came into the office and proceeded to remove their clothing. That is when staffers to Boehner's office notified Capitol Police, who came and handled the situation from there.
Nude AIDS activists arrested in Boehner's office
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three women AIDS activists saying they wanted to highlight the "naked truth" about potential spending cuts in HIV programs were arrested Tuesday after taking their clothes off in the lobby of House Speaker John Boehner's office.
The trio had the words "AIDS cuts kill" painted on their bodies and had linked arms with four men who also disrobed as part of the protest. The nude protesters, along with dozens of other clothed demonstrators chanted slogans, including: "People with AIDS are under attack. What do we do? Fight back."
The three women were arrested by Capitol Police as they mingled with other protesters in the hall outside Boehner's district office after putting their clothes back on. The naked male protesters appeared to have left.
"People with AIDS are sick and tired of being pushed over the cliff," said Jennifer Flynn, 40, of New York City, who was among those arrested. "We need to make sure they stop going after people with AIDS."
Michael Tikili, 26, of New York City, said he is HIV-positive and depends on Medicaid for treatment.
"Just the idea of these programs being cut is horrible," Tikili said.
The three nude female protesters were charged with lewd and indecent acts under the District of Columbia's disorderly conduct law, a Capitol Police spokesman said.
The protest occurred as congressional leaders and President Barack Obama seek a deal to avert automatic spending cuts and tax increases in January. A coalition of AIDS activist groups gathering in Washington for Saturday's World AIDS Day organized the protest.
Belgian ends 19-year marriage after wife comes out as transgender
Husband says he feels 'assaulted' after discovering his Indonesian spouse is transgender and admits reacting violently
Husband says he feels 'assaulted' after discovering his Indonesian spouse is transgender
Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont
A Belgian man wants his 19-year marriage anulled after he discovered his Indonesian wife is transgender.
The 64-year-old, known only as Jan, met his partner during a previous marriage when she was working as his children's au-pair.
He says his world 'collapsed' when his 48-year-old spouse Monica admitted her gender identity.
'I feel I've been assaulted,' he told the Het Nieuwsblad newspaper.
'I brought her to Belgium. That was not easy. The Belgian courts had serious doubts about the authenticity of her birth and her identity papers, but eventually they accepted it anyway. I thought she was an attractive woman, all woman. She had no male traits.'
He added that he never suspected a thing until his friends and family told him they had heard rumors that Monica was transgender.
Furious, he confronted her about the allegations after discovering flirtatious messages from other men on her computer. And he admits reacting violently to the news.
'I pushed her against the wall and said: Now I know the truth. Are you a man?' he said.
'She then announced that she was born as a boy and that she had been operated on. She was now a woman, and so she did not need to tell me about her past as a man. My world collapsed. That evening came to blows. The police came.'
Jan is now undergoing psychiatric treatment and has now started legal proceedings in Belgium to have the marriage annulled on the grounds that Monica 'deliberately deceived' him.
Women and men in three pictures (from single to married)
Women in three pictures…
Men in three pictures…
China - Country of The Future
An eye opener - Watch it and towards the end of this video
there are other topics of interest on China . . . . . .
- Abdul Baha -
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT "MUST WATCH" VIDEO AS ITS AN EYE OPENER AS TO HOW PAROCHIAL MOST MIDDLE AMERICA IS REGARDING THE WORLD - THIS IS ALSO BEING SENT TO MANY AMERICAN FRIENDS - I DO THIS NOT BECAUSE I AM INSENSITIVE BUT BECAUSE IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR THE WORLD TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THE DYNAMICS & IMPLICATIONS OF CHANGE.
The Americans are irritated by the rise of China but they fail to recognise these key factors:
1. the Chinese culture of hard work & thriftiness, of deferring gratification - compare this with the American culture of living the good life and spending what you don't have ie living on credit(applies to both Govt and people). On this alone, it will be hard to beat China .
A few years ago, on a visit to Shanghai & Beijing, I noticed that there were always groups of young people in animated discussions (I am a compulsive eavesdropper) - there was always a common topic of discussion in these groups and they were always talking about how to build businesses, how to make more money, how to improve things.
Then I went to San Francisco and in the Starbucks outlets, I noticed young people in America also having discussions - and they were talking about skiing holidays, the latest movies and whats new with Apple products.
So how the heck do you compete with a China that is many times larger in people and land area, that has a highly motivated young generation, totally focussed on getting ahead? Its CULTURE, stupid !
Unless America changes its culture, it's going to be trampled by a thundering locomotive called " CHINA " !
Yes SIZE DOES MATTER, especially when its size on super steriods !
2. The speaker talks about USA having the edge on "Entrepreneurship" and "Innovation"- what myopic stupidity ! He obviously hasn't been to China lately !
The Chinese will lead in everything from being price competitive in both products, services and technology-already they are making household names like ABB/Alstorm, Westinghouse who once lead the world in powerplant building, quake in their shoes.
USA may have invented many things like telephones, PCs etc. but whilst they slept Japan overtook them. Then whilst Japan dozed, Korea crept in and swiped a big chunk of their market.
Now guess who is beating the shit out of Korea ?? Why do you think that Hyundai and Kia only recently came up with a 5 year UNLIMITED mileage warranty on their cars ??
- They had NO CHOICE !
3. Without China, the inflation rate in the USA would have been MUCH higher
- I reckon over 80% of EVERYTHING the Americans use, come out from China(for that matter 80% of everything the whole world uses comes from China)
- over the last 15 years, China SINGLE HANDEDLY kept down world inflation by giving the world more affordable goods.
Yes China is NOW a superpower but unless it is threatened or suffers internal threat like a food shortage, it has no external ambitions.
4. In the next 2 decades, growth will be largely between East Asia and India - and countries located in between will prosper but such countries must orientate themselves to be an integral part of this growth process to remain relevant and to take advantage of the spin-offs. We in Malaysia are such a country but if we continue to allow ourselves to indulge in racial divisiom, in discriminatory practices and allow nepotism, cronyism and corruption to overwhelm the virtues of meritocracy, then we are dead in the water as we will be irrelevant and unable to participate in the growth process that is undoubtedly coming - I appeal to our politicians to wake up and plan for this; don't get so caught up in your political survival issues that the country misses the big picture !
5. Yes, whilst the world slept, China planned - they realised their long term need for resources and in the last 2 decades, they went all over the world to work out G2G and private sectors deals to lock in long term supply of every key resource they will need to keep their production process going and uninterrupted. The Chinese are brilliant, pragmatic and astute in their business planning - and they have developed this to such a macro level and unerring accuracy ! Maybe their many years of centrailzation has helped but this is an admirable trait, not something to be feared but something to be emulated.
6. We would be clever to use Chinese technology, Chinese capital, Chinese resources and Chinese influence to help develop our country
- we must not be small minded and act like the proverbial "frog under the coconut shell" (katak di bawah tempurong)
- be bold, be open, be honest and most of all BE HONORABLE IN ALL OUR COMMITTMENTS to everyone, including all foreigners.
there are other topics of interest on China . . . . . .
- Abdul Baha -
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT "MUST WATCH" VIDEO AS ITS AN EYE OPENER AS TO HOW PAROCHIAL MOST MIDDLE AMERICA IS REGARDING THE WORLD - THIS IS ALSO BEING SENT TO MANY AMERICAN FRIENDS - I DO THIS NOT BECAUSE I AM INSENSITIVE BUT BECAUSE IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR THE WORLD TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THE DYNAMICS & IMPLICATIONS OF CHANGE.
The Americans are irritated by the rise of China but they fail to recognise these key factors:
1. the Chinese culture of hard work & thriftiness, of deferring gratification - compare this with the American culture of living the good life and spending what you don't have ie living on credit(applies to both Govt and people). On this alone, it will be hard to beat China .
A few years ago, on a visit to Shanghai & Beijing, I noticed that there were always groups of young people in animated discussions (I am a compulsive eavesdropper) - there was always a common topic of discussion in these groups and they were always talking about how to build businesses, how to make more money, how to improve things.
Then I went to San Francisco and in the Starbucks outlets, I noticed young people in America also having discussions - and they were talking about skiing holidays, the latest movies and whats new with Apple products.
So how the heck do you compete with a China that is many times larger in people and land area, that has a highly motivated young generation, totally focussed on getting ahead? Its CULTURE, stupid !
Unless America changes its culture, it's going to be trampled by a thundering locomotive called " CHINA " !
Yes SIZE DOES MATTER, especially when its size on super steriods !
2. The speaker talks about USA having the edge on "Entrepreneurship" and "Innovation"- what myopic stupidity ! He obviously hasn't been to China lately !
The Chinese will lead in everything from being price competitive in both products, services and technology-already they are making household names like ABB/Alstorm, Westinghouse who once lead the world in powerplant building, quake in their shoes.
USA may have invented many things like telephones, PCs etc. but whilst they slept Japan overtook them. Then whilst Japan dozed, Korea crept in and swiped a big chunk of their market.
Now guess who is beating the shit out of Korea ?? Why do you think that Hyundai and Kia only recently came up with a 5 year UNLIMITED mileage warranty on their cars ??
- They had NO CHOICE !
3. Without China, the inflation rate in the USA would have been MUCH higher
- I reckon over 80% of EVERYTHING the Americans use, come out from China(for that matter 80% of everything the whole world uses comes from China)
- over the last 15 years, China SINGLE HANDEDLY kept down world inflation by giving the world more affordable goods.
Yes China is NOW a superpower but unless it is threatened or suffers internal threat like a food shortage, it has no external ambitions.
4. In the next 2 decades, growth will be largely between East Asia and India - and countries located in between will prosper but such countries must orientate themselves to be an integral part of this growth process to remain relevant and to take advantage of the spin-offs. We in Malaysia are such a country but if we continue to allow ourselves to indulge in racial divisiom, in discriminatory practices and allow nepotism, cronyism and corruption to overwhelm the virtues of meritocracy, then we are dead in the water as we will be irrelevant and unable to participate in the growth process that is undoubtedly coming - I appeal to our politicians to wake up and plan for this; don't get so caught up in your political survival issues that the country misses the big picture !
5. Yes, whilst the world slept, China planned - they realised their long term need for resources and in the last 2 decades, they went all over the world to work out G2G and private sectors deals to lock in long term supply of every key resource they will need to keep their production process going and uninterrupted. The Chinese are brilliant, pragmatic and astute in their business planning - and they have developed this to such a macro level and unerring accuracy ! Maybe their many years of centrailzation has helped but this is an admirable trait, not something to be feared but something to be emulated.
6. We would be clever to use Chinese technology, Chinese capital, Chinese resources and Chinese influence to help develop our country
- we must not be small minded and act like the proverbial "frog under the coconut shell" (katak di bawah tempurong)
- be bold, be open, be honest and most of all BE HONORABLE IN ALL OUR COMMITTMENTS to everyone, including all foreigners.
Chinese schools in Malaysia hold rally to protest education overhaul
More than 2,000 people attended a rally in Padang Timur, Petaling Jaya, organised by United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia, known locally as Dong Zong, on Sunday to protest against a government plan which they claim to have sidelined vernacular schools.
KUALA LUMPUR - An influential association of Chinese schools held a rally on Sunday against a government plan to overhaul the education system that the group and its supporters say disregards the importance of the mother tongue and sidelines vernacular schools.
More than 2,000 people, including opposition members and civil liberties groups, attended the two-hour peaceful rally held by the United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia, also known as Dong Zong.
They carried banners that say "We protest against the National School Curriculum replacing Vernacular Schools Curriculum".
The rally was the second held by the association in two months, amid a growing discontent over the country's education system.
KUALA LUMPUR - An influential association of Chinese schools held a rally on Sunday against a government plan to overhaul the education system that the group and its supporters say disregards the importance of the mother tongue and sidelines vernacular schools.
More than 2,000 people, including opposition members and civil liberties groups, attended the two-hour peaceful rally held by the United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia, also known as Dong Zong.
They carried banners that say "We protest against the National School Curriculum replacing Vernacular Schools Curriculum".
The rally was the second held by the association in two months, amid a growing discontent over the country's education system.
Dozens of People Live as John Doe
For the John Does walking among us, their lives are mysteries to society and to themselves. These seemingly invisible citizens can't answer the simple questions, "What's your name?" or "Where are you from?" They are blank slates.
They aren't eligible for health insurance, can't pay rent or get a driver's license. They can't get a job or apply for unemployment benefits.
Many of them suffer from mental illnesses that render them unable to remember who they are. Scans of their fingerprints lead to no matches, indicating that they do not have criminal records. Their faces do not appear in databases for missing people.
In February, a man was brought to a Fort Worth, Texas, hospital with a cranial bleed. He did not know his name or remember any details from his life. He was admitted under the name "Bobby Jones," but only answered to "Smiley." They have guesstimated his age to be about 76. He can speak, but rarely answers questions. He is paranoid and no longer able to walk.
"I just keep thinking he was somebody's little baby once and you think about how much you love your children and what happened to his parents? Where have they gone?" wondered Kathleen Evans, the inpatient case manager for Fort Worth's JPS Health Network where Smiley was a patient.
The caretakers know that Smiley has been on the streets and in shelters in the Fort Worth area for about 20 years. He has no police record, proven by the lack of a fingerprint match. The hospital has been paying $24,000 every three months for his care, but Evans sees no other choice.
"We couldn't put him out on the streets," she said firmly. "I can't lay him out on the sidewalk. He's a human being and you have to send him to a safe place and the street would not be safe for him."
Smiley is now in a nursing home. Evans and the hospital tried every known avenue to search for his identity.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), working under the U.S. Department of Justice, has several databases, but does not currently have one that includes the living unidentified. But after being presented with a number of cases of living unidentified, they are developing a new database that they hope to launch by the end of this year.
"The traditional system is in dealing with unidentified deceased, but we know there are unidentified living," NamUs spokesman Todd Matthews told ABCNews.com. "We have to include the missing. They're missing from somewhere."
Matthews does not have an exact count on the number of cases, but NamUs is aware of "dozens" of men and women living without identities. He believes there are many more cases out there that have not been reported because hospitals and authorities don't know what to do with them.
"I think people have seen this as a homeless person and they've just fallen ill, but that's not always the case," Matthews said. "I think we're really going to have people to focus on this and see how many are out there."
"It's a real problem," he said.
Benjaman Kyle can tell you how big and bewildering the problem is. Kyle is a working, productive member of society, whose lack of identity is a daily struggle. He made up the name Benjamin Kyle just so he would have a name.
In August 2004, he was found naked, unresponsive and covered with fire ant bites behind a Burger King Dumpster in Richmond Hill, Ga. When he awoke in a hospital, he was confused.
"I had no idea who I was. I couldn't remember," Kyle told ABCNews.com. "I had no idea how I got there."
Dozens of People Live as John Doe, Not Knowing Who They Are
The hospital called him "BK unknown" since he was found behind a Burger King. He felt strongly that his first name was Benjaman, but could not remember his last name. When pressed by the hospital for a last name, he picked Kyle—the first name he could think of that started with a "k."
Fingerprints and searches in both national and international databases turned up no matches for Kyle. He has been fingerprinted more than five times by the FBI with no luck.
"A police officer in Georgia told me once that it means one of two things—either I've never committed a crime or I'm so good at it that I never got caught," he said with a laugh.
Despite maintaining a sense of humor, there is sadness and frustrations beneath the surface.
"I'm not in any of the databases that they can search," he said. "Basically, I don't exist. I'm a walking, talking person who is invisible to all the bureaucracy."
There are a few bits and pieces of his life that Kyle remembers.
He believes his birthday is Aug. 29, 1948, making him 64 years old. He remembers that date because it is exactly 10 years before Michael Jackson's birth date. He also thinks he was born in Indianapolis and recalls sitting in the library at the University of Colorado at some point.
Kyle has two scars on his elbow and no tattoos or piercings. He has been diagnosed with amnesia and does not know if whatever unknown events that led up to him ending up behind the Dumpster caused him to lose his memory.
John Wikstrom, 21, made a documentary about Kyle and found himself personally frustrated with how few resources there are for the living unidentified.
"People who are unidentified, there's nothing they can do. There's absolutely nothing," Wikstrom told ABCNews.com. "It's incredibly frustrating. It makes you want to appeal to the highest possible authority and figure out if someone can get him out of this mess. Someone has to be able to do something."
When making his film, Wikstrom was struck by how normal Kyle is, a typical functioning and productive member of society.
"He's witty and articulate. Talking to him, it's shocking and I think one of the more sobering facts when relating to him is because he's so relatable," he said. "He has a family somewhere, even if it's not an immediate family. This isn't just some strange, distant icicle of a man. This guy is fun, which is again, a very strange concept."
Wikstrom has posted the documentary, "Finding Benjaman," online and recently launched a website dedicated to discovering Kyle's true identity.
Following the documentary's release, Kyle was able to get a special Florida state identification card, but still doesn't have a birth certificate or Social Security number. He has been told that due to the presumption that he was given a Social Security number at some point, he cannot get another one.
After hearing his story, a Florida restaurant gave him a job in the kitchen and a landowner is allowing him to live in a shed on his property. The restaurant owner is paying Kyle out-of-pocket because without any information, he can't be on the official payroll.
Kyle believes he may have worked in a restaurant in the past because once he was in the kitchen, he discovered that he knew how to work the machines and fix a broken stove.
Kyle acknowledges the naysayers who may accuse him of faking his condition, but insists there would be no reason to do so.
"You'll find a lot of people who say it's all bogus, that I'm faking it for whatever reason, but one thing's for sure—I'm not getting rich out of it," Kyle said. "I'm 64. I'm trying to get on with my life as best as I can. I figure I've got 10 more years to live considering my social and economic bracket. I can't make any long terms plans other than try to get along mostly day to day."
They aren't eligible for health insurance, can't pay rent or get a driver's license. They can't get a job or apply for unemployment benefits.
Many of them suffer from mental illnesses that render them unable to remember who they are. Scans of their fingerprints lead to no matches, indicating that they do not have criminal records. Their faces do not appear in databases for missing people.
In February, a man was brought to a Fort Worth, Texas, hospital with a cranial bleed. He did not know his name or remember any details from his life. He was admitted under the name "Bobby Jones," but only answered to "Smiley." They have guesstimated his age to be about 76. He can speak, but rarely answers questions. He is paranoid and no longer able to walk.
"I just keep thinking he was somebody's little baby once and you think about how much you love your children and what happened to his parents? Where have they gone?" wondered Kathleen Evans, the inpatient case manager for Fort Worth's JPS Health Network where Smiley was a patient.
The caretakers know that Smiley has been on the streets and in shelters in the Fort Worth area for about 20 years. He has no police record, proven by the lack of a fingerprint match. The hospital has been paying $24,000 every three months for his care, but Evans sees no other choice.
"We couldn't put him out on the streets," she said firmly. "I can't lay him out on the sidewalk. He's a human being and you have to send him to a safe place and the street would not be safe for him."
Smiley is now in a nursing home. Evans and the hospital tried every known avenue to search for his identity.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), working under the U.S. Department of Justice, has several databases, but does not currently have one that includes the living unidentified. But after being presented with a number of cases of living unidentified, they are developing a new database that they hope to launch by the end of this year.
"The traditional system is in dealing with unidentified deceased, but we know there are unidentified living," NamUs spokesman Todd Matthews told ABCNews.com. "We have to include the missing. They're missing from somewhere."
Matthews does not have an exact count on the number of cases, but NamUs is aware of "dozens" of men and women living without identities. He believes there are many more cases out there that have not been reported because hospitals and authorities don't know what to do with them.
"I think people have seen this as a homeless person and they've just fallen ill, but that's not always the case," Matthews said. "I think we're really going to have people to focus on this and see how many are out there."
"It's a real problem," he said.
Benjaman Kyle can tell you how big and bewildering the problem is. Kyle is a working, productive member of society, whose lack of identity is a daily struggle. He made up the name Benjamin Kyle just so he would have a name.
In August 2004, he was found naked, unresponsive and covered with fire ant bites behind a Burger King Dumpster in Richmond Hill, Ga. When he awoke in a hospital, he was confused.
"I had no idea who I was. I couldn't remember," Kyle told ABCNews.com. "I had no idea how I got there."
Dozens of People Live as John Doe, Not Knowing Who They Are
The hospital called him "BK unknown" since he was found behind a Burger King. He felt strongly that his first name was Benjaman, but could not remember his last name. When pressed by the hospital for a last name, he picked Kyle—the first name he could think of that started with a "k."
Fingerprints and searches in both national and international databases turned up no matches for Kyle. He has been fingerprinted more than five times by the FBI with no luck.
"A police officer in Georgia told me once that it means one of two things—either I've never committed a crime or I'm so good at it that I never got caught," he said with a laugh.
Despite maintaining a sense of humor, there is sadness and frustrations beneath the surface.
"I'm not in any of the databases that they can search," he said. "Basically, I don't exist. I'm a walking, talking person who is invisible to all the bureaucracy."
There are a few bits and pieces of his life that Kyle remembers.
He believes his birthday is Aug. 29, 1948, making him 64 years old. He remembers that date because it is exactly 10 years before Michael Jackson's birth date. He also thinks he was born in Indianapolis and recalls sitting in the library at the University of Colorado at some point.
Kyle has two scars on his elbow and no tattoos or piercings. He has been diagnosed with amnesia and does not know if whatever unknown events that led up to him ending up behind the Dumpster caused him to lose his memory.
John Wikstrom, 21, made a documentary about Kyle and found himself personally frustrated with how few resources there are for the living unidentified.
"People who are unidentified, there's nothing they can do. There's absolutely nothing," Wikstrom told ABCNews.com. "It's incredibly frustrating. It makes you want to appeal to the highest possible authority and figure out if someone can get him out of this mess. Someone has to be able to do something."
When making his film, Wikstrom was struck by how normal Kyle is, a typical functioning and productive member of society.
"He's witty and articulate. Talking to him, it's shocking and I think one of the more sobering facts when relating to him is because he's so relatable," he said. "He has a family somewhere, even if it's not an immediate family. This isn't just some strange, distant icicle of a man. This guy is fun, which is again, a very strange concept."
Wikstrom has posted the documentary, "Finding Benjaman," online and recently launched a website dedicated to discovering Kyle's true identity.
Following the documentary's release, Kyle was able to get a special Florida state identification card, but still doesn't have a birth certificate or Social Security number. He has been told that due to the presumption that he was given a Social Security number at some point, he cannot get another one.
After hearing his story, a Florida restaurant gave him a job in the kitchen and a landowner is allowing him to live in a shed on his property. The restaurant owner is paying Kyle out-of-pocket because without any information, he can't be on the official payroll.
Kyle believes he may have worked in a restaurant in the past because once he was in the kitchen, he discovered that he knew how to work the machines and fix a broken stove.
Kyle acknowledges the naysayers who may accuse him of faking his condition, but insists there would be no reason to do so.
"You'll find a lot of people who say it's all bogus, that I'm faking it for whatever reason, but one thing's for sure—I'm not getting rich out of it," Kyle said. "I'm 64. I'm trying to get on with my life as best as I can. I figure I've got 10 more years to live considering my social and economic bracket. I can't make any long terms plans other than try to get along mostly day to day."
Who would win in a WAR
Yahoo Answer Fails -> yahoo linked
Who would win in a war..?
USA and Russia vs All
USA vs Canada
Canada vs Mexico
Germany vs Australia
Isreal vs Iraq
UK vs USA
Russia vs All (Discluding US)
US vs All (Discluding Russia)
Right the country and a short reason.
USA vs Canada, you think Canada is a real country or something, it's United States Junior. Sure it's a british commonwealth, but Britain is United States Jr. too. So Canada would be United States the 3rd. If Congress passed a law annexing Canada, there would be nothing the Canadians could do about it. Also, Canadians talk like Americans do, not like British. And the US is even better than Canada at hockey, while the British don't even play hockey, they play cricket. And Canada plays much closer to American football than British football.
Canada vs Mexico, the US wouldn't allow that to happen. They'd each have to stand at their border with the US and yell insults from 4000 miles away. Mexico would have the advantage, being the world's leading experts on sneaking across borders, but when they got to Canada, they would just get jobs.
In what crazy universe could Germany possibly go to war with Australia... they haven't had a decent navy in almost 100 years. Why would they even want to attack Australia, Australia has nothing but a giant desert, lots of sheep, and a serious kangaroo overpopulation problem. Attacking Australia is almost as nuts as attacking the Gobi Desert.
Israel vs Iraq would provoke all the Arab and Shiite countries to attack Israel, since Iraq is both Arab and Persian, it would be a serious mistake for Israel, it would be crushed.
The USA would easily defeat the UK. The only reason to have the fight would be that the first one wasn't fair, since the French intervened, and because the war of 1812 was inconclusive. Both have nukes, but the US has more, and it has missile subs too. Just a few nukes lobbed over Britain would wipe it out in 5 minutes, and there would be no retaliation. USA big, Britain little.
Russia vs All depends on who is doing the invading. Russia might be able to capture back the USSR, but they can't take on the world offensively until the arctic ice cap melts, at which point they will have over half of the world's oil reserves since they claimed the sea floor there. On the other hand, if all the countries on Earth formed a massive army and marched it into Russia, they would be marching to a doom of freezing and starvation. Even if the United States was involved. One of history's most important lessons is, don't invade Russia. The last people to successfully invade Russia were the Russians, and they came from Norway originally, but modern Norway probably couldn't even win a war against Estonia let alone Russia. Invading Russia should be considered a method of suicide.
US vs All is one that might actually happen, if the US gets another fascist president. I hate to have to tell you this, but even without the Russians selling the world's best fighter planes to the All side, the US would have no chance because the All side has most of the oil. If the entire world were at war with the USA, it would naturally embargo all the crude oil. And the US military can't operate without petroleum. About 2/3 of America's crude oil used is produced in North America, that's the oil industry slogan, but that includes Canada, Mexico and Central America, so it wouldn't all be available. And even if it were, losing that other 1/3 would be a death blow to the US economy. 300 million vs 7 billion is hopeless odds.
Now I've got one for you, who would win a war between the American Legion and the Foreign Legion? Assuming of course they could get across the ocean on their triremes and quadriremes.
Who would win in a war..?
USA and Russia vs All
USA vs Canada
Canada vs Mexico
Germany vs Australia
Isreal vs Iraq
UK vs USA
Russia vs All (Discluding US)
US vs All (Discluding Russia)
Right the country and a short reason.
Best Answer
USA and Russia vs Ali? Nobody can beat Muhammad Ali.USA vs Canada, you think Canada is a real country or something, it's United States Junior. Sure it's a british commonwealth, but Britain is United States Jr. too. So Canada would be United States the 3rd. If Congress passed a law annexing Canada, there would be nothing the Canadians could do about it. Also, Canadians talk like Americans do, not like British. And the US is even better than Canada at hockey, while the British don't even play hockey, they play cricket. And Canada plays much closer to American football than British football.
Canada vs Mexico, the US wouldn't allow that to happen. They'd each have to stand at their border with the US and yell insults from 4000 miles away. Mexico would have the advantage, being the world's leading experts on sneaking across borders, but when they got to Canada, they would just get jobs.
In what crazy universe could Germany possibly go to war with Australia... they haven't had a decent navy in almost 100 years. Why would they even want to attack Australia, Australia has nothing but a giant desert, lots of sheep, and a serious kangaroo overpopulation problem. Attacking Australia is almost as nuts as attacking the Gobi Desert.
Israel vs Iraq would provoke all the Arab and Shiite countries to attack Israel, since Iraq is both Arab and Persian, it would be a serious mistake for Israel, it would be crushed.
The USA would easily defeat the UK. The only reason to have the fight would be that the first one wasn't fair, since the French intervened, and because the war of 1812 was inconclusive. Both have nukes, but the US has more, and it has missile subs too. Just a few nukes lobbed over Britain would wipe it out in 5 minutes, and there would be no retaliation. USA big, Britain little.
Russia vs All depends on who is doing the invading. Russia might be able to capture back the USSR, but they can't take on the world offensively until the arctic ice cap melts, at which point they will have over half of the world's oil reserves since they claimed the sea floor there. On the other hand, if all the countries on Earth formed a massive army and marched it into Russia, they would be marching to a doom of freezing and starvation. Even if the United States was involved. One of history's most important lessons is, don't invade Russia. The last people to successfully invade Russia were the Russians, and they came from Norway originally, but modern Norway probably couldn't even win a war against Estonia let alone Russia. Invading Russia should be considered a method of suicide.
US vs All is one that might actually happen, if the US gets another fascist president. I hate to have to tell you this, but even without the Russians selling the world's best fighter planes to the All side, the US would have no chance because the All side has most of the oil. If the entire world were at war with the USA, it would naturally embargo all the crude oil. And the US military can't operate without petroleum. About 2/3 of America's crude oil used is produced in North America, that's the oil industry slogan, but that includes Canada, Mexico and Central America, so it wouldn't all be available. And even if it were, losing that other 1/3 would be a death blow to the US economy. 300 million vs 7 billion is hopeless odds.
Now I've got one for you, who would win a war between the American Legion and the Foreign Legion? Assuming of course they could get across the ocean on their triremes and quadriremes.
Made in China Food - Dangerous!!!
AVOID CHINA MADE FOOD: CHOCOLATES Coffee mate. latte's - Better read this...
Another scary thing to deal with! Ai Yah! Please scroll down. It is important to take note of the barcodes
Everything you need to know about MELAMINE
Make sure you read to the very end - very interesting - perhaps the best way to tell where things are made....
Another scary thing to deal with! Ai Yah! Please scroll down. It is important to take note of the barcodes
Everything you need to know about MELAMINE
Make sure you read to the very end - very interesting - perhaps the best way to tell where things are made....
Interactive Health Tutorials - Online Doctor
This is one of the best article I have ever read. It is worth preserving.
You can definitely spend your precious time going through the contents of this mail as it covers a number of physical ailments affecting us. Moreover, it covers the health issues in detail and in a systematic manner.My sincere thanks to the person/s who collected and collated this information.
A fantastic job !
This is very informative, whichever disease you click-upon (hopefully you don't have one), it gives you the video explanation !!!
Interactive Sites on Medical Information
The tutorials listed below are interactive health education resources from the Patient Education Institute. Using animated graphics, each tutorial explains the procedure or condition in easy-to-read and understand language. You can also listen to the tutorial.
JUST CLICK ON YOUR CHOSEN AILMENT
These tutorials require a special Flash plug-in, version 6 or above... If you do not have this in your PC, you will be prompted to obtain a free download of the software before you start the tutorial.
You can definitely spend your precious time going through the contents of this mail as it covers a number of physical ailments affecting us. Moreover, it covers the health issues in detail and in a systematic manner.My sincere thanks to the person/s who collected and collated this information.
A fantastic job !
This is very informative, whichever disease you click-upon (hopefully you don't have one), it gives you the video explanation !!!
Interactive Sites on Medical Information
The tutorials listed below are interactive health education resources from the Patient Education Institute. Using animated graphics, each tutorial explains the procedure or condition in easy-to-read and understand language. You can also listen to the tutorial.
JUST CLICK ON YOUR CHOSEN AILMENT
These tutorials require a special Flash plug-in, version 6 or above... If you do not have this in your PC, you will be prompted to obtain a free download of the software before you start the tutorial.
MedlinePlus presents interactive health tutorials from the Patient Education Institute.
Learn about the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment for a variety of
diseases and conditions. Also learn about surgeries, prevention and
wellness. Each tutorial includes animated graphics, audio and
easy-to-read language.
Diseases and Conditions
- Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
- Acne
- Allergies to Dust Mites
- Alopecia
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Angina
- Anthrax
- Arrhythmias
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Atrial Fibrillation
- Back Pain - How to Prevent
- Bell's Palsy
- Brain Cancer
- Breast Cancer
- Burns
- Cataracts
- Cerebral Palsy
- Clubfoot
- Cold Sores (Herpes)
- Colon Cancer
- Congestive Heart Failure
- COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
- Crohn's Disease
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Depression
- Diabetes - Eye Complications
- Diabetes - Foot Care
- Diabetes - Introduction
- Diabetes - Meal Planning
- Diverticulosis
- Endometriosis
- Epstein-Barr Virus (Mononucleosis)
- Erectile Dysfunction
- Fibromyalgia
- Flashes and Floaters
- Fractures and Sprains
- Ganglion Cysts
- Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
- Glaucoma
- Gout
- Hearing Loss
- Heart Attack
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C
- HIV and AIDS
- Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
- Hypoglycemia
- Incisional Hernia
- Influenza
- Inguinal Hernia
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Kidney Failure
- Kidney Stones
- Leukemia
- Low Testosterone
- Lung Cancer
- Lupus
- Macular Degeneration
- Malaria
- Melanoma
- Meningitis
- Menopause
- Migraine Headache
- Multiple Myeloma
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Myasthenia Gravis
- Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS)
- Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) - Types
- Osteoarthritis
- Osteoporosis
- Otitis Media
- Ovarian Cancer
- Ovarian Cysts
- Pancreatitis
- Parkinson's Disease
- Pneumonia
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Prostate Cancer - What Is It?
- Psoriasis
- Retinal Tear and Detachment
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Rotator Cuff Injuries
- Sarcoidosis
- Seizures and Epilepsy
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases
- Shingles
- Skin Cancer Non-Melanoma
- Sleep Disorders
- Sores
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Strokes
- Temporomandibular Joint Disorders (TMJ)
- Tinnitus
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Tuberculosis
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Uterine Fibroids
- Varicose Veins
Tests and Diagnostic Procedures
- Amniocentesis
- Bone Densitometry
- Breast Lumps - Biopsy
- Bronchoscopy
- Colonoscopy
- Colposcopy
- Coronary Angiography and Possible Angioplasty
- CT Scan (CAT Scan)
- Cystoscopy - Men
- Cystoscopy - Women
- Echocardiogram
- Knee Arthroscopy
- Mammogram
- MRI
- Newborn Screening
- Pap Smear
- Upper GI Endoscopy
- C-Section
- Carotid Endarterectomy
- Chemotherapy
- Cholecystectomy - Open and Laparoscopic (Gallbladder Removal Surgery)
- Clinical Trials
- Clubfoot Treatment - Ponseti Method
- Colostomy
- Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG)
- Dilation and Curettage (D & C)
- Epidural Anesthesia
- General Anesthesia
- Heart Valve Replacement
- Hemorrhoid Surgery
- Hip Replacement
- Hip Replacement - Physical Therapy
- Hysterectomy
- Knee Replacement
- Massage Therapy
- Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) - Treatment
- Neurosurgery - What Is It?
- Open Heart Surgery - What to Expect
- Pacemakers
- Sinus Surgery
- Sores - Treatment
- Stroke Rehabilitation
- Taking Acetaminophen Safely
- Thyroid Surgery
- Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy
- TURP (Prostate Surgery)
- Vaginal Birth
- Vasectomy
NOTE: These tutorials require Flash, version 8 or above. If you do not
have Flash, you will be prompted to download it before you start the
tutorial. You can also download Adobe Flash at http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/.
Lateral Thinking Questions
1 The Man In The Elevator: A man lives on the tenth floor of
a building. Every day he takes the elevator to go down to the ground floor to
go to work or to go shopping. When he returns he takes the elevator to the
seventh floor and walks up the stairs to reach his apartment on the tenth
floor. He hates walking so why does he do it? Solution.
2 The Man In The Bar: A man walks into a bar and asks the
barman for a glass of water. The barman pulls out a gun and points it at the
man. The man says 'Thank you' and walks out. Solution.
3 The Man Who Hanged Himself: Not far from Madrid, there is
a large wooden barn. The barn is completely empty except for a dead man hanging
from the middle of the central rafter. The rope around his neck is ten feet
long and his feet are three feet off the ground. The nearest wall is 20 feet
away from the man. There is a puddle of water nearby. It is not possible to
climb up the walls or along the rafters. The man hanged himself. How did he do
it? Solution.
4 Red Light: A police officer was sitting on his motorcycle
at a red traffic light when two teenagers in a sports car drove by him at
50mph. He did not chase them or try to apprehend them. Why not? Solution.
5 Car In The River: A man was driving alone in his car when
he spun off the road at high speed. He crashed through a fence and bounced down
a steep ravine before the car plunged into a fast flowing river. As the car
slowly settled in the river, the man realized that his arm was broken and that
he could not release his seat belt and get out of the car. The car sank to the
bottom of the river. He was trapped in the car. Rescuers arrived two hours
later, yet they found him alive. How come? Solution.
6 The Coal, Carrot And Scarf: Five pieces of coal, a carrot
and a scarf are lying on the lawn. Nobody put them on the lawn but there is a
perfectly logical reason why they should be there. What is it? Solution.
7 Trouble With Sons: A woman had two sons who were born on
the same hour of the same day of the same year. But they were not twins. How
could this be so? Solution.
8 Recovery: A truck driver called into his office to report
that his truck had broken down. A tow-truck was sent out to tow back the
disabled truck. When they arrived, the truck that had broken down was towing
the tow-truck. Why? Solution.
9 Man Overboard: A man holidaying abroad was alone on his
yacht when he fell off into deep water. He was a non-swimmer and he was not
wearing anything to keep him afloat. He was rescued half an hour later. Why
didn't he drown? Solution.
10 The Great Wall: An American, who had never been to any
country other than the United States, was standing one day on solid ground when
he saw the Great Wall of China with his own eyes. How come? Solution.
11 The Cut Finger: A man is peeling potatoes when he cuts
his finger. He immediately puts his finger into water and leaves it there for
thirty seconds. However, when he pulls his hand out the cut has entirely
disappeared. How can this have happened? Solution.
12 Manhole Covers: Why is it better to have round manhole covers
than square ones? Solution.
13 Bouncing Baby: How could a baby fall out of a
twenty-storey building and live? Solution.
14 Small Furniture: A factory specializes in producing
furniture that is 20% smaller than normal furniture. The furniture is not
designed for or sold especially to smaller sized people. Why do they make it?
Solution.
15 The Twelve: From the beginning of time and up to the time
of this writing, twelve and only twelve people have achieved this feat. What is
it? Solution.
16 See Saw: A deaf man need to buy a saw to cut some wood.
He went into a hardware store. How did he indicate to the storekeeper that he
wanted to buy a saw? Solution.
17 Radio On: A young girl was listening to the radio.
Suddenly it went off for a minute and then came back on again. There was
nothing wrong with the radio or with the program transmission from the radio
station. She did not touch the radio controls. Why did it go off and on?
Solution.
18 The Penny Black: The famous 'Penny Black', the world's
first postage stamp, was introduced in England in 1840. The idea of postage
stamps was a great success and was taken up worldwide. Yet the 'Penny Black'
was in use for only one year before it was replaced by the 'Penny Red'. Why?
Solution.
19 The Cellar Door: A little girl was warned by her parents
never to open the cellar door or she would see things that she was not meant to
see. One day while her parents were out she did open the cellar door. What did
she see? Solution.
20 The Truck Driver: A police officer saw a truck driver
clearly going the wrong way down a one-way street, but did not try to stop him.
Why not? Solution.
21 The Key: Every night before he went to bed, a man
carefully locked all the doors of his house. Then he placed the front door key
inside a bucket of cold water. In the morning he retrieved the key from the
bucket in order to open the door. Why did he do this? Solution.
22 February 1866: What happened in February 1866 that will
not happen again for another two and a half million years? Solution.
23 Price Tag: Many shops have prices set just under a round
figure, e.g. £9.99 instead of £10.00 or £99.95 instead of £100.00 . It is
assumed that this is done because the price seems lower to the consumer. But
this is not the reason the practice started. What was the original reason for
this pricing method? Solution.
24 Large Number: Assume there are approximately
5,000,000,000 (5 billion) people on Earth. What would you estimate to be the
result, if you multiply together the number of fingers on every person's
left-hands? (For the purposes of this exercise, thumbs count as fingers, for
five fingers per hand.) If you cannot estimate the number then try to guess how
long the number would be. Solution.
25 The Coconut Millionaire: A man buys coconuts at £5 a
dozen and sells them at £3 a dozen. As a result of this he becomes a
millionaire. How come? Solution.
26 The Fallen Guide: A mountain climber in the Himalayas
took along with him two mountain guides. After a few hours, one of the guides
fell into a deep crevasse. The climber and the other guide continued the climb
and did not raise the alarm. Why? Solution.
27 Rich Man, Poor Man: A man making over £10,000,000 a year
drives a small car, lives in a modest house, and insists he can't afford
luxuries. Why not? Solution.
28 The Hairdresser: A New York City hairdresser recently
said that he would rather cut the hair of three Canadians than one New Yorker.
Why? Solution.
29 Cheap Treasure: A man acquired an item without choosing
it specifically. It was not of particular value to him, but a second man
offered him £5,000 for it, as he wanted it as a gift for his wife. The wife was
delighted with her present, but within a week she damaged it. This was not a
problem as a replacement was easily made at a cost of £20. Sometime later the
wife reluctantly sold it to another woman for £8,000. What was it? Solution.
30 The Coconut Grove: An American nightclub called 'The
Coconut Grove' had a terrible fire in which over 400 people died. A simple
design flaw in the building led to the death toll being so high. Subsequently,
regulations were changed to ensure that all public buildings throughout the
country eliminated this one detail, which proved so deadly. What was it?
Solution.
31 The Two Fingers: A Frenchman cut off the first and second
fingers on the right hand of six other men. Why? Solution.
32 Happy Or Sad: Three women dressed in swimsuits were
standing together. Two were sad and one was happy. But the sad women were both
smiling and the happy one was crying. Why should that be so? Solution.
33 The Unseen Walker: On a busy Friday afternoon, a man
walked several miles across London from Westminster to Knightsbridge without
seeing anybody or being seen by anybody. The day was clear and bright. He had
perfect eyesight and he looked where he was going. He did not travel by any
method of transport other than by foot. London was thronged with people yet not
one of them saw him. How? Solution.
34 One Step Beyond: A man stood looking through the window
on the sixth floor of an office building. Suddenly, he was overcome by an
impulse. He opened the window and leapt through it. It was a sheer drop outside
the building to the ground. He did not use a parachute or land in water or on
any special soft surface. Yet the man was completely unhurt when he landed. How
could that be so? Solution.
35 Coming Home: A man walked home after having been out
drinking. He walked down the middle of a deserted country road. There were no
streetlights to illuminate the road and there was no moonlight. He was dressed
all in black. Suddenly a car that did not have its headlights on came racing
down the road. At the last moment, the driver of the car saw the man and
swerved to avoid him. How did he manage to see him? Solution.
36 King George IV: King George IV was born in 1763. He was
King of England from 1820 until his death in 1830. He was not a great king, but
he did start a new trend in footwear. His boots were different from everybody
else's. The innovation concerning his boots was copied and it is commonplace
today, but at the time was very unusual. What was it? Solution.
37 The Lonely Man: A man lived alone in a house for two
months. Nobody came to visit him and he never went out. At the end of that
time, he became deranged. One night he put out the fire, turned off the lights,
and walked out of the house. He was never seen or heard of again. His actions
in leaving that house resulted in the deaths of ninety people. Why was that?
Solution.
38 Silent Murder: The police went to an apartment building
to investigate a murder and found the body on the living room floor, with the
murder weapon, a shotgun, nearby. The time of the murder was narrowed down to a
three-hour period, and the victim's neighbors were questioned. Both of the
people in the adjacent apartment, separated from the victim's living room by
only a thin wall, were home at the time of the murder. Separately questioned,
they both denied hearing a gunshot. The police were not surprised. Why not?
Solution.
39 Defying Gravity: A man was painting using an ordinary
brush and paint container. Something startled him. He dropped the paintbrush
and it fell on the ceiling, not the floor. Why? Solution.
40 Avoiding The Train: Another man was walking along a
railway track when he spotted an express train speeding towards him. To avoid
it, he jumped off the track, but before he jumped he ran ten feet towards the
train. Why? Solution.
41 A Safe Place: Chuck leaves home. When he tries to return,
a man wearing a mask blocks his path. a) What is Chuck doing? b) What is the
masked man's occupation? c) Where is Chuck's 'safe place'? Solution.
42 The Stranger: A married couple was speeding into town
when their car ran out of petrol. The man went for help after making sure his
wife closed the windows and locked the doors of the car. Upon his return, he
found his wife dead and a stranger in the car. The windows were still closed,
the doors were still locked, and no damage was done to the car. How did the
woman die, and what was the stranger doing? Solution.
43 What Are They?: "How much will one cost?" asked
the customer in a hardware store. "Twenty pence," replied the clerk.
"And how much will twelve cost?" "Forty pence." "Okay.
I'll take one hundred and twelve." "Fine. That will be sixty
pence." What was the customer buying? Solution.
44 A Job In A Million: Robert Bradley is a lucky man indeed.
He is only 29 and works for an important corporation with offices all over the
world. Robert travels extensively, always first-class, staying at the best
hotels. He does not buy or sell anything and yet is in close contact with
important business people and even royalty. When he speaks, everyone listens
with undivided attention. Arriving at his destination, he spends his time at
the swimming pool, if he is not out shopping. After a day or two, he leaves,
without having concluded any business. Explain. Solution.
45 Pilot Error: Tim Shaw, a pilot for eighteen years, had an
outstanding safety record. One afternoon he was trying to land a British
Airways 757. Visibility was good in spite of a slight snow flurry. He was
easing the plane gently down towards the runway when it happened. It appeared
that Tim had throttled back too early and the plane, one of the safest in
service, stalled and crash-landed. Although no one was hurt, the accident was
clearly due to pilot error, and in spite of this blemish on his record, his
career remained unaffected. How was this possible, considering the stringent
safety measures applied by all international airlines? Solution.