my faith in humanity is renewed

[Corbin Law]

Grandfather fights 16-foot snake to free grandson

POSTED: 3:23 p.m. EST, February 8, 2007

Story Highlights

• Brazilian man waged 30-minute fight with anaconda

• Anacondas not poisonous, constrict to suffocate prey

• Boy needed 21 stitches to close bite on chest

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SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- A 66-year-old man saved his grandson from the grip of a 16-foot-long (5 meter) anaconda by beating the snake with rocks and a knife for half an hour, authorities said Thursday.

"When I saw the snake wrapped around my grandson's neck I thought it was going to kill him," Joaquim Pereira told Brazil's Agencia Estado news service. "It was agonizing, I pulled it from one side, but it would come back on the other."

Pereira's 8-year-old grandson, Mateus, was attacked by the anaconda while wandering near a creek on his grandfather's ranch in the city of Cosmorama, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) northwest of Sao Paulo.

While the boy was playing with friends, the snake attacked and wrapped itself around him, police officer Hudson Augusto said. Anacondas are not poisonous, but kill their prey by coiling around them and squeezing until victims suffocate.

"It brought me to the ground and bit me," the boy told Globo TV. "Then it started crawling up my neck and began suffocating me."

Mateus' friends ran to get his grandfather, who reached the scene and battled with the snake until he had hurt it so badly that it let go of his grandson.

Mateus had to be rushed to a hospital and needed 21 stitches on his chest where he was bitten. He was later released.

Globo TV showed footage of the dead snake, which weighed about 77 pounds (35 kilograms). Police said anacondas are not uncommon in the region where the attack occurred, but attacks on people are rare.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

this shit needs to start happeneing every day

a big fuck yeah for grandpa

[chromesquared]

this shit needs to start happeneing every day

I agree, there are far too many children wandering free in Brazil.

[ghostdeini]

if grandpa was a member on superfuture, I would give him +1 right now

[zehero]

last week a 65 year old man strangled a pitbull when it attacked him.

these guys are fucking badasses

[hideout]

i hope i'm 1/10 as cool as that guy when i'm 66.

[Darkadious]

old timer heroes will be the new plaid

[chronoaug]

link the actual article. wanted a link to send other people

[Corbin Law]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/02/08/snake.attack.ap/index.html

[lil brown brother]

65 is the new 40

[Kasper]

stuff like that keep testing my faith in humanity

WINDHAM, Connecticut (AP) -- Until recently, Julie Amero says, she lived the quiet life of a small-town substitute teacher, with little knowledge of computers and even less about porn.

Now she is in the middle of a criminal case that hinges on the intricacies of both, and it could put her behind bars for up to 40 years.

She was convicted last month of exposing seventh-grade students to pornography on her classroom computer.

She contended the images were inadvertently thrust onto the screen by pornographers' unseen spyware and adware programs.

Prosecutors dispute that. But her argument has made her a cause celebre among some technology experts, who say what happened to her could happen to anyone.

"I'm scared," the 40-year-old Amero said. "I'm just beside myself over something I didn't do."

It all began in October 2004. Amero was assigned to a class at Kelly Middle School in Norwich, a city of around 37,000 people about 40 miles east of Hartford.

Amero says that before her class started, a teacher allowed her to e-mail her husband. She says she used the computer and went to the bathroom, returning to find the permanent teacher gone and two students viewing a Web site on hair styles.

Amero says she chased the students away and started class. But later, she says, pornographic images started popping up on the computer screen by themselves. She says she tried to click the images off, but they kept returning, and she was under strict orders not to shut the computer off.

"I did everything I possibly could to keep them from seeing anything," she says.

Prosecutor David Smith contended at Amero's three-day trial that she actually clicked on graphic Web sites.

Several students testified that they saw pictures of naked men and women, including at least one image a couple having oral sex.

Computer consultant Herb Horner testified for the defense that the children had gone to an innocent Web site on hair styles and were redirected to another hairstyle site that had pornographic links. "It can happen to anybody," Horner said.

The defense argued that the images were caused by adware and spyware -- programs that are often secretly planted on computers by Internet businesses to track users' browsing habits. They can generate pop-up ads -- in some cases, pornographic ones.

"It's absolutely plausible," Ari Schwartz, deputy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said of Amero's case. "It's a huge problem."

But many remain skeptical, including Mark Steinmetz, who served on Amero's jury.

"So many kids noticed this going on," Steinmetz said. "It was truly uncalled for. I would not want my child in her classroom. All she had to do was throw a coat over it or unplug it. We figured even if there were pop-ups, would you sit there?"

The Federal Trade Commission has been cracking down on companies accused of spreading malicious spyware to millions of computer users worldwide. And pop-up blockers that can prevent so-called porn storms are now in wide use.

Amero and her supporters say the old computer lacked firewall or antispyware protections to prevent inappropriate pop-ups.

"What is extraordinary is the prosecution admitted there was no search made for spyware -- an incredible blunder akin to not checking for fingerprints at a crime scene," Alex Eckelberry, president of a Florida software company, wrote recently in the local newspaper. "When a pop-up occurs on a computer, it will get shown as a visited Web site, and no 'physical click' is necessary."

Smith, the prosecutor, would not say what he plans to recommend when Amero is sentenced March 2. John Newsone, a defense attorney in Norwich familiar with the case, said Amero might be spared prison or face perhaps a year to 18 months.

Principal Scott Fain said the computer lacked the latest firewall protection because a vendor's bill had gone unpaid. "I was shocked to see what made it through," he said.

But Fain also said Amero was the only one to report such a problem: "We've never had a problem with pop-ups before or since."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/02/13/teacher.porn.ap/index.html

[wEstSidE]

my grandpa is that grandpa. guy is rough and tumble. fought the I-talians in WWII and still going strong.

[damnIam]

my grandpa is that grandpa. guy is rough and tumble. fought the I-talians in WWII and still going strong.

Truth, just because you don't look as pretty as you used to absolutely does not mean you cannot kick some ass. I used to be an officer in an American Legion Post and some of those old dudes in there were some tough s.o.b.'s.

[superdupersang]

Russell Brand provokes 400 complaints

Chris Tryhorn, City correspondent

Thursday February 15, 2007

MediaGuardian.co.uk

ITV has received nearly 400 complaints from viewers scandalized by Russell Brand's risque humour at the Brit awards last night.

Media watchdog Ofcom has also received 135 complaints about the comedian's jokes at the music-industry event.

The ceremony was broadcast between 8pm and 10pm with a 30-second time delay to filter out swearing but Brand's gags offended some of the show's 5.3 million viewers.

Insiders said the jokes that had caused most controversy were Brand's cracks about "friendly fire", the Queen, Saddam Hussein's hanging and David Cameron's alleged drug-taking.

"I think a good international breakthrough would be if the British and American soldiers tell each other where they are standing," Brand said in one of the offending gags.

"Alternatively they could use a system I learned at school, where one team takes off their tops and the others don't. This makes the team distinction clear. It allows you to see fat lads' boobs, which can really lift the mood in a drab football match - or indeed a war."

In another joke, he said: "Can you genuinely say that if someone gives you an envelope with a photo of the Queen's privates inside, you wouldn't have a look?"

He also said: "Who among us didn't smoke just a little bit of weed at school to take the edge off those crack comedowns?

"It's the best anti-drugs message. Don't take drugs or you'll end up leader of the Tories."

[mizanation]

^^^ funny stuff!!!

[Corbin Law]

my grandpa killed a polar bear

yeah i said it

everyone else wish they said it.

[MAC SMALLS]

every time i step foot into my pharmacy my faith in humanity is lost

[soraanaam]

the reason grandpas are so badass is that...theyve got nothing to lose... so might as well join in the fun.